On December 14, 2017 the FCC voted to repeal the net neutrality rules adopted by the FCC on February 26, 2015. The repeal goes into effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. When the 539 page repeal order was released on January 4, 2018 it was not known when it would be published in the Federal Register. The repeal is being…

Electronic media accessibility has come a long way since the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In 2010, the Communication and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) mandated closed captioning many online videos and called for making video blind accessible through audio descriptions. The Department of Justice (DOJ) ruled Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)…

Technology, when used appropriately, can empower learning, engage and motivate students, and help make learning interactive. Students can benefit from educational technology because it can personalize instruction and adapt to their strengths and weaknesses. Today's digital tools and resources support and enhance learning at home and in the…

How do we ensure that all students have the tools and resources they need to succeed in today's educational context? In this article, we explore how the right to education generally and to specific educational tools and resources in California have been protected through litigation in the past; how the COVID-19 pandemic revealed technology-based…

In "Pietrylo v. Hillstone Restaurant Group," the plaintiff filed a wrongful-discharge claim against his employer after he was fired for content he had posted about the employer on a social media web site. This article discusses the implications of the court's decision on athletes in the sport industry.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, speaking at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January, called for an open Internet which would make sure that ISPs had economic incentives to build better networks while still protecting consumers and innovators. His specific recommendations were shared with the other members of the FCC in February. One of…

Last month brought an explosion of breaking news about intellectual-property issues, including copyright--the public battle over Internet-piracy bills in Congress, with ideological alliances crisscrossing standard lines, and sponsors turning against their own bills; the Supreme Court decision, "Golan v. Holder," which strengthened copyright…

On the morning of December 16, 1965, in Des Moines, Iowa, a 13-year-old junior high school student named Beth Tinker got dressed and went to school. She wore a black armband to protest the war in Vietnam. The school promptly suspended her for wearing a symbol of political dissent. So began one of the nation's most celebrated cases involving…

This article examines the coverage in three Malaysian newspapers on an issue popularly known as the "Allah" issue. In 2009, the Catholic Church took the Malaysian government to court over the right to use the word "Allah". In a landmark court decision, the Church was given the right to use the word "Allah" in the…

The first sale doctrine says that after a copyright holder first sells a copy of his or her work, the new owner may do whatever he or she pleases with that copy (assuming that use is legal). This concept came up through common law and was eventually codified in the Copyright Act of 1976. In 2010, two cases were working their way through the U.S.…

Copyright in the world of digital information is changing at a fevered pace, even as educators and librarians digitize, upload, download, draw on databases, and incorporate materials into Web-based instruction. It's essential to stay abreast of the basics of copyright law and fair use. Kenneth D. Crews has completely revised his classic text to…

School districts are often given the challenging task of addressing problematic online behaviors committed by students while simultaneously protecting themselves from civil liability by not overstepping their authority. This is difficult, because the law concerning these behaviors is ambiguous and continuously evolving, and little consensus has…

Since its first publication in 2005, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has distributed more than 138,000 print and online copies of its "Guide to Free Speech on Campus." In that time, FIRE's commitment to advocating on behalf of the essential rights discussed in the pages that follow has remained unwavering;…

The use of Internet filters in public classrooms in the USA has been intensely debated, both in terms of its effectiveness and legality. The debate pits concerns to protect students from indecent material against issues of unconstitutional censorship. This paper examines the legal issues addressed in various rulings by the US Supreme Court…

Assesses what the Internet can do for legal researchers compared to the LEXIS and WESTLAW commercial online services. Highlights include the United States Code, Code of Federal Regulations, Supreme Court decisions, directories of lawyers and law firms, state law, Congressional information, and listservs and newsgroups. (LRW)