David Post has a comprehensive outline of the legal issues affecting cyberspace, many of which are addressed by cypherpunks, at: http://www.cli.org/cyberspace/index.html It's very much worth reading, pondering and learning from. Here are excerpts: ----- Law of Cyberspace Seminar Fall 1996 Prof. David G. Post (david.post@counsel.com) Introduction The emergence of the global network -- the "Internet" and its constituent networks -- and the associated "digital revolution" -- the ability to access, store, and transmit vast amounts of information in digital form (computer software, videogames, music, text, etc.) -- presents an array of new problems and opportunities for lawyers preparing to practice in the 21st Century. It is becoming increasingly evident that the process of "mapping" existing legal concepts and tools into this new domain is not going to be straightforward, and that a number of familiar legal concepts will need to be rethought before they can be efficiently applied in the new environment. The goal of this course is threefold: First, to introduce you, by means of a series of specific case studies chosen to illustrate the clash between existing legal regimes and new technologies, to a reasonably comprehensive subset of the legal problems that will need to be addressed in this new environment; Second, to help you, through fairly intensive work on your research papers, to prepare publishable quality written work; and Third, to help you become comfortable with the information-retrieval and transmission capabilities of this new medium, both because no discussion of the "law of cyberspace" can be very fruitful without some basic understanding of the special characteristics of the new domain, and because lawyers will increasingly be called upon to demonstrate some familiarity with Internet navigation as businesses (including law firms) increasingly utilize the global network as a means of delivering their services. [Big snip of bountiful thoughts and links to information sites] Appendix 3: Possible Paper Topics This list is just designed to get you started thinking about possible paper topics. It is by no means exhaustive; feel free to choose a topic not mentioned below. Protection of employee electronic mail. Are new rules required regarding online sexual harassment? Trademarks and Internet domain names -- can they be reconciled? Intermediary (system operator) liability for subscribers' copyright or trademark infringements or other "wrongful" conduct. Does Web browsing, or the caching of World Wide Web pages, constitute copyright infringement? Analysis of electronic shrinkwraps: Are online disclaimers enforceable? What procedural steps can be used to enhance enforceability? Jurisdiction and choice of law in cyberspace. Dispute resolution in cyberspace. Should true anonymity be allowed in online contexts? Who will bear the responsibilities of anonymous actions? Taxation in cyberspace (e.g., application of foreign states' sales tax laws to online transactions). Dataveillance. The use of online data profiles in marketing research. Compilation copyrights for collective online activities. Legality of online gambling. "Moral rights" in cyberspace. Analysis of legal issues regarding programs that extract information from a user's hard drive and communicate back to a central server (Windows 95, Netscape Navigator). Data authentication, the use of computer-generated evidence and computer-generated signatures in contracts. Content regulation in cyberspace: Obscenity, indecency, and false advertising Licensing and professional liability (e.g. the application of licensing schemes and other regulatory provisions to professional practice of lawyers, doctors, or others on the net). Internet self-regulation: cyber-democracy, frontier justice, and other regulatory models in cyberspace. The control of online defamation. Product liability for on-line products. Clipper, encryption and decryption. Net commerce: Digital money and other solutions. Net commerce: Copyright management systems and other schemes for charging by the byte. Do we need new rules regarding enforcement of the antitrust laws in cyberspace? ----- Thanks to David Post for this IP lift lift.