Cyber Law: Software and Computer Networks (Intellectual Property Law)

This casebook contains 160 federal court of appeals decisions and five Supreme Court decisions that address many of the legal issues affecting software developers, end-users and those who design, deploy and use computer networks. The selection of court of appeals decisions spans from 2000 through 2011 and is organized by federal circuit. The decisions are listed in the order of frequency of citation. The most cited decisions appear higher in each section.

While many of the cases involve intellectual property disputes, the cases raise and address a great variety of issues. Some address First Amendment rights. See, e.g., United States v. American Library Ass'n., Inc., 539 US 194 (2003). In a criminal case, the First Circuit addresses whether interception of an e-mail message in temporary, transient electronic storage is an offense under the Wiretap Act. US v. Councilman, 418 F. 3d 67 (1st Cir. 2005)

Some of the cases resolve questions pertaining to the music and entertainment industries. Arista Records, LLC v. Doe 3, 604 F. 3d 110 (2nd Cir. 2010) addresses the music industry's right to uncover the identity of college students who, in seeming anonymity, downloaded music recordings through an online file-sharing network. See also US v. American Soc. Of Composers, Authors, 627 F. 3d 64 (2nd Cir. 2010).

We highlight four recent decisions:

Absolute Software Inc. v. Stealth Signal, Inc., (Fed. Cir. 2011) involves a patent dispute. The software program at issue communicates information about the location and identity of portable electronic devices to a host system via the Internet. It permits its users to track and locate lost or stolen items such as laptops, PDAs and cell phones.

Yahoo!'s instant messaging product, Yahoo! Messenger, inserts references to advertisements on end-users' computers. At issue is whether Yahoo! infringes on a patent in which references to advertisements are inserted at a server between end-users. Creative Internet Advertising Corporation v. Yahoo!, Inc., (Fed. Cir. 2011)

DISH Network's customer service telephone system allows its customers to perform pay-per-view ordering and customer service functions over the telephone. The innovation at issue in this intellectual property dispute is the integration of telephone systems with computer databases and a live operator call center to provide interactive call processing services. Dish Network Corporation v. Arch Specialty Insurance Company, (10th Cir. 2011)

Network Automation, Inc. v. Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc., (9th Cir. 2011) involves two companies that develop job scheduling and management software. The question presented is whether one competitor engages in a clever and legitimate use of readily available technology, such as Google's AdWords, or is violating the Lanham Act by its method of advertising.