This chapter traces the history of the internet, sometimes called the network of networks. It first looks at the origins of computer networks, beginning with the introduction of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network or ARPANET, followed by the ALOHANET and the SATNET. The chapter then outlines the development of the internet that began when Bob Kahn built an Internetwork Protocol and also explains how the modern internet functions, along with net neutrality. Finally, it considers the third network layer, the applications layer where higher-level protocols such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol make it possible to carry out operations such as web surfing.
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2. The network of networks
Chapter
12. Copyright infringement in the digital environment
This chapter analyses cases of copyright infringement in the online environment. It begins by analysing some early cases regarding file-sharing technologies, including A&M Records, Inc. v Napster, Inc., MGM Studios, Inc. v Grokster, Ltd, and Sweden v Neij et al. (The Pirate Bay case). It assesses new techniques for fighting illegal file-sharing, such as blocking access to websites offering file-sharing technology or indexes with a focus on the operation of s.97A website blocking orders. It examines the Supreme Court decision in Cartier International v British Sky Broadcasting and its application in the Nintendo cases Nintendo Co Ltd v Sky UK Ltd and Nintendo Co Ltd v British Telecommunications Plc. Finally, it describes the slightly controversial process known as speculative invoicing and examines the recent case of Mircom International v Virgin Media.
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20. Obscenity in the information society
This chapter, which examines pornography and obscenity on the internet, first provides an overview of the UK common law standard known as the Hicklin principle and the Obscene Publications Acts. It then discusses the UK standard and US statutory interventions on pornography, the impact of the case ACLU v Reno on the regulation of sexually explicit content on the internet, pseudo-images and images depicting child abuse as the most extreme form of pornographic image, and the policing of pseudo-images in the UK and internationally. The chapter also considers the law on non-photographic pornographic images of children, non-consensual disclosure of private sexual images (revenge porn) along with private regulation of pornographic imagery and proposals for Age Verification.
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14. Branding, trade marks, and domain names
This chapter examines the role of trade marks in the creation of brand portfolios online, including internet addresses or domain names. It first provides an overview of branding and trade marks in the global business environment, trade mark characteristics, and the distinction between registered and unregistered trade marks, and then looks at domain names as address tools and brand identifiers. The chapter also considers early disputes over rightful ownership of trade marks and domain names, examining the development of cybersquatting case law before the UK and US courts. It discusses the allocation of new generic top-level domains under the New gTLD procedure and examines the legal safeguards for trade mark holders under the procedure. The primary focus of the chapter is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and its domestic counterpart in the UK, the Nominet Dispute Resolution Service.
