2012 Syllabus

CPSC 183: Law, Technology, & Culture
Brad Rosen (brad.rosen@yale.edu)
Fall 2012: M W, 4:00-5:15, WLH 119

CPSC 183 is a class that is open to non-majors. You do not need a background in tech or computer science to enjoy the class. The class offers some project options for CS majors as well. Note: The name of the class has changed from previous years, the content has not.

As a general rule, we will adapt the syllabus to take into account current events. We may need to add supplemental readings if breaking news changes the topics being discussed. Please review the syllabi from previous years: 2009, 2010, and 2011. These should give you a flavor of what the class will ultimately look like.

Please note: the course topics and speakers are subject to change as the semester progresses and due to speaker availability. After the start of the semester, we will post the provisional syllabus here, but you should pay attention to announcements in class and check back here in case there are changes.

1.) Should Gossip Be News? – 8/29[Note: Time will be set aside to discuss an overview of the course, as well as grading and what you can expect. These readings are to stimulate a class discussion.]

Pop Star’s Photos Aren’t Fair Game
Monge v. Maya (Read Pages 9173-9177)
Snooki Gives Birth
Naked Prince Harry Photos Inspire Humorous Las Vegas Ad Campaign

2.) The Past and Future of Cyberlaw – 8/31

John Perry Barlow, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace
Lawrence Lessig, Code 2.0 (Preface to the First Edition, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Preface to the Second Edition – read preface to the second edition last – p. xii-23, ix-xi)
Frank Easterbrook, Cyberspace and the Law of the Horse, 1996 U. Chi. Legal F. 207
Mike Madison, Is Cyberlaw Making Us Stupid? (also read the comments)
David R. Johnson and David G. Post, Law and Borders–The Rise of Law in Cyberspace, 45 Stan. L. Rev. 1367 (1996) [excerpt]
Lawrence Lessig, The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach, 113 Harv. L. Rev. 501 (1999) [excerpt]

3.) The Past and Future of Cyberspace – 9/5

Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet — and How to Stop It (Chapters 1, 2 – p. 11-35)
U.S. v. Morris (Concentrate mainly on the “Facts” section, don’t worry if you don’t understand some of the more complicated issues in the “Discussion” section)
Jack L. Goldsmith, Against Cyberanarchy, 65 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1199 (1998) [excerpt]

4.) What is law? (Dudley don’t hurt me…) – 9/10

Lon Fuller, The Case of The Speluncean Explorers: http://www.nullapoena.de/stud/explorers.html
Regina v. Dudley and Stephens (Wikipedia) (SKIM)

5.) “15 Minutes of Fame” – 9/12

William Adams
- Judge William Adams Beats Daughter
- South Texas Judge In Video Beating Gets Warning From State Ethics Panel

Lee Paige
- DEA Cop Shoots Himself [VIDEO]
- DEA Agent In Foot Shoot Suit
- DEA Agent ND
Jessica Beagley
- Abusive Mom on the Dr. Phil Show [VIDEO]
- ‘Dr. Phil’ mother who punished son for lying by squirting hot sauce in his mouth AVOIDS jail
Jessica Slaughter
- Why My Daughter Will Never Have a Webcam: The Jessi Slaughter Story [VIDEO]
- Know Your Meme: About Jessica Slaughter [VIDEO]
Andrew Meyer
- University of Florida Taser Incident [VIDEO]
- About University of Florida Taser Incident
Amber Lee Ettinger
- Crush on Obama [VIDEO]
Ghyslain Raza
- Star Wars Kid [VIDEO]
- American Dad Meets Star Wars Kid [VIDEO]
- About Star Wars Kid
Antoine Dodson
- Reaction to an attempted rape of a Huntsville, Alabama woman [VIDEO]
- Bed Intruder Song [VIDEO]
- About Antoine Dodson

6.) Introduction to Digital Copyright and Fair Use – 9/17

Constitution Art 1 Sec. 8 clause 8 (Only read the first part and the clause starting with “To promote the progress..”)
17 USC §102
17 USC §103
17 USC §105
17 USC §106
Feist v. Rural Telephone
Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture (Ch 6-7, 85-99)
Christina Mulligan, Copyright and Glee
Andrew Leonard, The Copyright Wars Come to”Glee”

7.) Fair Use Part Deux and the DMCA – 9/19

17 USC §107
Warner Bros. v. RDR Books (Skim “Conclusions of Law” and “I. Copyright Infringement,” but pay special attention to “II. Fair Use”)
Lenz v. Universal
Pierre Leval, Toward a Fair Use Standard

8.) Fair Use and Remix Culture – 9/24

Francesca Coppa, A Fannish Taxonomy of Hotness
Francesca Coppa, Women, Star Trek, and the early development of fannish vidding
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music
Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. [summary]
Skim: Brownmark Films LLC v. Comedy Partners (7th Cir)
OPTIONAL: Rhythm, melody, life: Human hearts have always warmed to the rhythm of music

9.) P2P Law and Piracy – 9/26

Sony v. Universal [Majority Opinion]
Arista v. Limewire (read pages 1-5, and 26-49)
Remitting the Remittal of Joel Tenenbaum’s Remittitur Motion
Do Porn Companies Blackmail Illegal Downloaders
FAQs for Subpoena Targets
Judge Sides With P2P Porn Plaintiffs

10.) DRM and Anticircumvention – 10/1

Gabriella Coleman, Legal Tinkering, Expertise, and Protest Among Free and Open Source Software Developers (p. 435-448)
Lexmark International, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. (read section IV only)
Spore Complaint (read p. 1-15)
Richard Stallman, The Right to Read
DMCA Rulemaking Primer
ArsTechnica, LOC asks how should we let you break DRM?
(skim) EFF Press Release, EFF Wins New Legal Protections for Video Artists, Cell Phone Jailbreakers, and Unlockers
James H. Billington, Statement of the Librarian of Congress Relating to Section 1201 Rulemaking (July 26, 2010),
(explore) http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ and (skim) http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2012/responses/
(optional) Randall Picker, Razor-and-Blade Myth(s)

11.) Free Software, Patents, Copyleft – 10/3

America Invents Act (Judicial Review): Link
Priority Rules: An Empirical Exploration of First-to-Invent Versus First-to-File (only read pages 1–14)
The Effects of the America Invents Act on Technological Disclosure
GNU General Public License (read Preamble and 2, 3, 4, 12)
Ira Heffan, Copyleft: Licensing Collaborative Works in The Digital Age, 49 Stan. L. Rev. 1487 (July 1997) (skip footnotes, skip appendix)
Christopher M. Kelty, Two Bits (read 98-117)
Jonathan Zittrain, Normative Principles for Evaluating Free and Proprietary Software, 71 U. Chi. L. Rev 265 (2004) (p. 1-9)

12.) Intro to Free Speech – 10/8

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) (read majority opinion)
Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1997), (read majority opinion)
Ashcroft v. ACLU
Jack M. Balkin, The Future of Free Expression in the Digital Age, 36 Pepp. L. Rev. 2008 (Read pp. 102-112)
Jack M. Balkin, Media Access: A Question of Design, 76 George Wash. L. Rev. 2008 (Read I,II,III, skim IV)
Batzel v. Smith, 333 F.3d 1018 (9th Cir. 2003) (Read majority opinion only, 8431-8460)
FCC v Fox, 556 U.S. ___ (2009) (Read: Syllabus and the Concurring Opinion by Justice Thomas. Skim the Majority Opinion Sections “Statutory and Regulatory Background” and “Governing Principles.”)
FCC v. Fox (Fox II)(2012), (Read: Syllabus, Skim: Part 2 and 3)
Jonathan Weinberg, Rating the Net [Excerpt] (OPTIONAL)

13.) Defamation and Hate Speech – 10/10

The Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 558 Elements of Defamation (only read § 558)
Communications Decency Act §230
Jonathan Zittrain, A History Of Online Gatekeeping, 19 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 253 (Spring 2006), (p. 257-263)
Barrett v. Rosenthal, 40 Cal.4th 33 (2006) (1-34)
Doe v. Ciolli (Order Denying Motion to Quash)
Findlaw, Cyberbullying: A Rundown of Cyberbulling laws
D.C. v. R.R, 182 Cal App. 4th (2d Dist 2010) (Read majority opinion; skim dissent for the posts made by commenters)
Ars Technica, FCC Asked to Monitor “Hate Speech, Misinformation Online”
SKIM: Defamation Case Attacks Google Autocomplete Results, Cyberbullying Law Threatens Student Speech in North Carolina

14.) Censorship I — Leaks and Creeps – 10/15

Pentagon Papers Case a.k.a. New York Times Co v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971) (read Per Curium Opinion and J. Brennan’s Concurrence)
Miller v. California, 415 U.S. 15(1973) (read syllabus)
New York v. Ferber, 485 U.S. 747 (1982) (read syllabus)
United States v. Ortiz-Graulau, 526 F.3d 16 (2008) (read pp. 1-8)
Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (read syllabus)
Wikileaks, About Wikileaks
Wikipedia, Wikileaks (SKIM Backlash and Pressure)
John F. Burns & Ravi Somaiya, WikiLeaks Founder Gets Support in Rebuking U.S. on Whistle-Blowers
Raffi Khatchadorian, No Secrets
The Shameful Attacks On Julian Assange
The Abuse of Private Manning
Iphone Misc.: One, Two, Three

15.) Censorship II & Great Walls – 10/17

Google Transparency Report (skim)
Jeffrey Rosen, Google’s Gatekeepers
ONI, Cracking Down on Digital Communication and Political Organizing in Iran
Bruce Schneier, Review of Access Denied
Jonathan Zittrain, China and Internet Filters
David Drummond, A New Approach to China
Miguel Helft & David Barboza, Google Shuts Down China Site in Dispute Over Censorship
S. 3804: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act
Mike Masnick, Even Without COICA White House Asking Registrars to Voluntarily Censor Infringing Sites
Browse http://www.herdict.org

16.) Search & Seizure in the Digital Age – 10/22

Fourth Amendment
Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001)
United States v. White, 401 U.S. 745 (1971) (read summary)
United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696 (1983) (read summary)
California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207 (1986) (read summary)
EFF, Privacy: Searching and Seizing Computers (skim)
Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985) (read majority opinion)
Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (2007) (read majority opinion by J. Scalia and J. Stevens’ Dissent)
OPTIONAL: Scott v. Harris Chase Video
Bryan v. MacPherson, 630 F.3d 805 (9th Cir. 2010) (superseding opinion)