FALL 2004 |
Computer Law |
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Course No. 9200 711 001
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MW 10:30 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
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Room W-214
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| Professor Jay Dratler, Jr. |
Room 231D (IP Alcove)
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(330) 972-7972
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dratler@uakron.edu, dratler@neo.rr.com
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| Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 Jay Dratler, Jr. For permission, see CMI. |
Overview |
| This is an interdisciplinary survey course. It will include material on computers, programming, the businesses of computers, software, the Internet, and economics, as well as the law. Its goal is to acquaint you not only with key areas of the law that impact computer-related businesses, but also with the technological and business conditions that underlie the legal rules. (Indeed, it's often hard to understand or appreciate the legal rules without this background.) |
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Course Content |
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Legal topics covered include the kinds of intellectual property most
relevant to computers (copyrights, patents, and trade secrets), antitrust
and misuse, contracts, computer fraud and negligence, warranties, electronic
transactions, and the use and abuse of computer-related evidence. The
focus is on laws and legal principles regulating the use and exploitation
of computers and software as objects and instruments of commerce.
This year, for the first time, we will explore the antitrust and business aspects of the D.C. Circuit's decision in Microsoft III and debate whether the judicial remedy was proper and is likely to be effective. We will also study the doctrine of "misuse" of intelletual property, an adjunct to the antitrust laws. Licensing of Intellectual Property covers this material in greater detail and with better background. This course provides only an introduction to these difficult and highly conceptual subjectsl, which at times may seem like the proverbial "drinking from a fire hose." Students often ask about the differences between this course and Cyberlaw. Although there are significant areas of overlap, there are also significant differences between the two courses. Areas of overlap include copyright protection for computer programs, cybersquatting, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This course, however, delves much more deeply than Cyberlaw into copyright protection for various types of computer-related material (including operating systems, application programs, and microcode ). This course also covers the following topics not covered in Cyberlaw: the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act ("SCPA"), patent and trade secret protection for computer programs, contract formation (including "shrinkwrap" contracts), fraud and negligence relating to computer contracts, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which purports to make electronic transactions as valid as paper ones, a brief overview of antitrust and misuse issues relating to computer software, and computer-related evidence. This course does not cover the following topics from Cyberlaw: the First Amendment, free speech on the Web, regulation of obscenity and indecency, privacy, electronic eavesdropping, wiretapping, antitrust and competition theory and policy, regulatory theory, and telecommication policy. This course also differs from Cyberlaw in that it covers trademark infringmement, unfair competition, cybersquatting, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in much less detail than does Cyberlaw. Treatment of these subjects in this course are bare introductions. In sum, this course looks at computers and computer programming more as objects and instruments of commerce, focusing on the laws that regulate business relating to them, including intellectual property, antitrust, misuse, the common law, and special statutes like the SCPA and UETA. In contrast, Cyberlaw looks at computer technology more as a medium of communication, focusing on the aspects of its regulation that affect communication and commerce, including private (noncommercial) communication, and the First-Amendment and privacy implications of the Web. |
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Prerequisites |
| This is not a course for computer experts or "nerds." While
experience with computers and programming of course won't hurt, none is
required. This course should provide all the background you will need. There are, however, two prerequisites of a more general nature. First, before taking this course, you should have had, or be taking concurrently, at least one course in intellectual property. Introduction to Intellectual Property is preferable, but one or more of the three core courses (Copyright Law, Patent Law and Policy, or Trademarks and Unfair Competition) are acceptable. Second, you must have access to a personal computer with e-mail and "Web-surfing" capability in order to enroll in this course. All class announcements and assignments will be posted on this Website, and some assignments may be given by e-mail alone. (See Electronic Communication). Any kind of personal computer will do. Your computer need not be IBM-compatible or run Windows. Apple owners and Linux users are welcome. If you do not have a personal computer of your own, you may still take this course. Just see the Library staff for instruction on using the Library's computers to send and receive e-mail and "surf the Web." If you have a laptop computer, you are welcome to bring it to class as long as you don't disturb other students (for example, by manic hard typing or by watching extraneous material on the Web during class). The supplemental readings for this course will all be offered on this Website, in HTML format only. While you may print them out using your Web browser (Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer), you may find it easier to using them directly in your browser. With your browser, for example, you can go to and return from footnotes at the click of a mouse, or you can use your browser's "Find and Replace" feature to find words or phrases in a long opinion. |
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Pedagogic Approach |
| This course will have a distinct interdisciplinary flavor. We will
discuss—at a general level suitable for lawyers!—how computers,
operating systems, applications and utilities work and how they interact.
You will learn, for example, the difference between source code and
object code and its practical and legal implications. We will also spend a good deal of time discussing the practical, business and economic aspectcs of the computer industry, including both its hardware and software "wings." Our goal will be to gain a practical appreciation of how the industry works, the better to assess whether the laws and decisions governing it are reasonable, appropriate, and effective. More than most courses, this course will focus on critical analysis of the law and predicting consequences and future trends, for "Computer Law," more than most subjects, is still largely a work in progress. Whatever we discuss, we will consider the practical implications of legal rules on computer-related businesses and those who use computers daily, which today means most of us. |
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Study Groups |
| Because this course is conceptually challenging and involves complex material, I strongly urge those who have study groups to maintain them, and those who do not to consider forming them, either in general or specially for this course. No one (not even your professor!) sees all of the angles, all of the time, in complex legal matters, let alone those involving complex or cutting-edge technologies. Therefore having a regular "sounding board" and "reality check" among your peers can improve your understanding, as well as increase your confidence in yourself and your enjoyment of the course. |
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Reading Material |
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Our primary text will be Maggs, Soma, and Sprowl, Internet and Computer Law: Cases — Comments — Questions (West Group 2001) [the "Casebook"], and the 2004 supplement to it, if any [the "Supplement"]. Much of computer law depends upon the various intellectual property statutes. Accordingly, I have also assigned the following statutory compendium as a companion to the casebook:
This book contains not only the copyright statute, to which we will frequently refer, but also the most important statutes from other fields of intellectual property, including patents and trademarks, as well as governing treaties and international agreements. Please bring the Casebook and the Statute Book with you to class every
day. Also, please bring the Supplement to class when we have readings
from it. When there are supplementary readings from this Website,
you may bring a laptop computer containing them or your own printouts.
Except for those in the Supplement, supplementary readings will
appear on this Website in electronic form only. |
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Course Goals |
| 1. To alleviate "computer phobia," make you comfortable
with computer systems, and help you conceptualize the operation of computers,
software, the Internet, and the computer industry from a business and legal
standpoint;
2. To provide an overview of the technological, business and economic forces that drive the computer, software and Internet industries and the peculiar legal problems that they create; 3. To survey applicable legal doctrines in enough depth to allow you to spot significant issues and, if you do not know the answers immediately, to help you to find them quickly; 4. To give you intellectual grounding in the law governing these vital industries as they evolve, a feeling for how rapidly that law changes, and some skill in predicting likely future trends; and 5. To provide you with the analytical tools to solve new problems as they arise, to evaluate new laws and decisions, and to develop new approaches and legal arguments for new problems. |
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FALL 2004 COURSES |