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Cybersquatting: Lady Gaga and the UDRP

In August, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta – professionally known as Lady Gaga – looked toward the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) to obtain control of the domain name <ladygaga.org>.  The domain name had been registered in June 2008 by “oranges arecool XD”,...

Bearing Printed Arms

For a good understanding of 3D printing, it’s probably easiest to watch a video demonstration.  For those of you short on time, however, it’s what those in the biz refer to as additive manufacturing technology.  A machine uses a schematic from a computer to lay down...

Are the FCC’s Indecency Regulations Constitutional?

Five nonprofit groups recently filed an amicus brief (PDF) in FCC v. Fox urging the Supreme Court to strike down the FCC’s policy of fining broadcast television stations for airing indecent content. The groups argue that the FCC’s policy violates the First Amendment’s...

FTC and Facebook Close to Privacy Settlement

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported  the impending settlement, is reporting that Facebook and the Federal Trade Commission are close to a settlement over alleged deceptive practices with respect to several Facebook features, including its privacy settings....

Supreme Court Hears Argument on Police Use of GPS Technology

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in U.S. v. Jones, where the Court considered whether tracking a vehicle on public streets with an affixed GPS device and without a warrant violates the vehicle owner’s Fourth Amendment rights. This question has...

House Introduces Stop Online Piracy Act

Yesterday the House of Representatives introduced its version of the Protect IP Act, known as the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (“SOPA”). The Senate previously placed a hold on the Protect IP Act over worries that it violated the First Amendment, after commentators from...

Spotify Lawsuit Demonstrates Weaknesses of Patent Law System

In July 2011 a new on demand music-streaming service, Spotify, launched in the United States. However, within two weeks of its U.S. launch it was hit with a lawsuit. The complaint was not filed, as many had expected, by a record label company, but instead by the...

Golan v. Holder: Copyright & the 1st Amendment

Last Wednesday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments concerning Golan v. Holder, potentially one of the most influential copyright cases in United States history. This case centers around whether Congress has the power to restore copyright protection to works whose...

Regulating Electronic Health Care Records

In a 2009 Berkeley Technology Law Journal paper, E-Health Hazards: Provider Liability and Electronic Health Record Systems, Sharona Hoffman and Andy Podgurski argued that potential liability arising from the widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) could end...

Cable Carriage and the Modern Marketplace of Ideas

Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes coined the term “marketplace of ideas” in his 1919 Abrams v. United States dissent.  He compared freedom of information to the economic idea of the “free market,” in which the quality of a product determines consumer demand,...

CLE for Patent Attorneys and Agents

Most states and territories in the United States require attorneys to meet continuing legal education (CLE) requirements in order to practice law before their courts.  Only Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Washington D.C., and Michigan do not...

Posts on the MTLR Blog are editorial opinion pieces written by student-editors of the Michigan Technology Law Review. The opinions expressed in these editorial posts are not espoused or endorsed by the University of Michigan or its Law School. To view scholarly Articles and Notes published by the Michigan Technology Law Review, please visit the MTLR home page.