Gillmor & Barron: Mass Communications Law: Cases and Comment

A Review of Mass Communications Law: Cases and Comment by Donald M. Gillmor and Jerome A. Barro

Peer-to-Peer and Mass Communication Effect on Revolution Dynamics

Revolution dynamics is studied through a minimal Ising model with three main influences (fields): personal conservatism (power-law distributed), inter-personal and group pressure, and a global field incorporating peer-to-peer and mass communications, which is generated bottom-up from the revolutionary faction. A rich phase diagram appears separating possible terminal stages of the revolution, characterizing failure phases by the features of the individuals who had joined the revolution. An exhaustive solution of the model is produced, allowing predictions to be made on the revolution's outcome

Time varying gravitational constant G via the entropic force

If the uncertainty principle applies to the Verlinde entropic idea, it leads to a new term in the Newton's second law of mechanics in the Planck's scale. This curious velocity dependence term inspires a frictional feature of the gravity. In this short letter we address that this new term modifies the effective mass and the Newtonian constant as the time dependence quantities. Thus we must have a running on the value of the effective mass on the particle mass $m$ near the holographic screen and the $G$. This result has a nigh relation with the Dirac hypothesis about the large numbers hypothesis (L.N.H.) [1]. We propose that the corrected entropic terms via Verlinde idea can be brought as a holographic evidence for the authenticity of the Dirac idea.Comment: Accepted for publication in "Communications in Theoretical Physics (CTP)",Major revisio

The Needle and the Damage Done: The Pervasive Presence of Obsolete Mass Media Audience Models in First Amendment Doctrine

Do audiences need the government\u27s protection from mass media? Or are they capable of choosing media and protecting themselves? For decades, judicial opinion on this issue developed in the form of judicial notice, speculation, and assumption. Yet during that time, a rich social science discipline was emerging that could have helped to address these issues based on empirical research about mass media effects and audiences. Given the renewed importance of this issue, it is time to bridge the gap between the law of mass media content regulation and the social science research into mass media consumption. To that end, this article presents an interdisciplinary critique of the law\u27s assumptions about the effects of mass media on the audience, the nature of that audience, and how those assumptions have shaped First Amendment doctrine. Part I reviews important First Amendment rulings concerning content regulation of electronic media, as well as analogous cases involving non-broadcast speech. The goal is to identify the judicial assumptions used to justify giving less First Amendment protection to broadcasting than to other media. Part II critiques these assumptions against the conclusions of social science theorists who have been studying the question of mass communications effects and audiences since the early twentieth century. This critique shows that most of the law\u27s current assumptions about the nature of mass communications are based on an early, and now discredited, view of mass communications effects known as the Hypodermic Needle Model. More sophisticated models have since supplanted the Hypodermic Needle Model, which failed to account for the interactive and social dimensions of mass communication. Finally, Part III returns to the question of how new media should be treated under the First Amendment and analyzes the potential impact of the critique presented in Part II on the development of the law of content regulation in the twenty-first century

Mass-Marketing Fraud: A Threat Assessment

Mass-marketing fraud is a term increasingly used around the world to refer to fraud schemes that use mass-communications media – including telephones, the Internet, mass mailings, television, radio, and even personal contact – to contact, solicit, and obtain money, funds, or other items of value from multiple victims in one or more jurisdictions. Although law enforcement and regulatory authorities often use a variety of names to refer to the phenomenon – including “advance-fee fraud,” “419 fraud,” “Internet fraud,” and “telemarketing fraud” – the growing profusion of labels for these fraud schemes tends to obscure the fact that such schemes often are conducted using multiple communications channels to identify and contact victims, as well as identical or highly similar methods of operation that are not dependent on a single communications medium. Today, mass-marketing fraud schemes operate from, and increasingly seek to target victims in, numerous countries on multiple continents. Moreover, such schemes are aware and take advantage of differences between countries in legislative authorities prohibiting such schemes. As a consequence, mass-marketing fraud has become a substantial concern for law enforcement in several regions of the world. The International Mass-Marketing Fraud Working Group (IMMFWG) prepared this threat assessment to provide governments and the public with a current assessment of the nature and scope of the threat that mass-marketing fraud poses around the world. The IMMFWG, which was established in September 2007, consists of law enforcement, regulatory, and consumer protection agencies from seven countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as Europol. The IMMFWG seeks to facilitate the multinational exchange of information and intelligence, the coordination of cross-border operations to detect, disrupt, and apprehend mass-marketing fraud, and the enhancement of public-awareness and public-education measures concerning international mass-marketing fraud schemes. The information and analysis in this assessment is current through May 2010, and are derived principally from public and non-public law enforcement and non-law enforcement sources in Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States

The Internet and Its Legal Ramifications in Taiwan

Part I of this Article briefly introduces the five main legal issues related to Internet use in Taiwan. Part II discusses network-related copyright issues, including the doctrine of fair use, personal and corporate use of the Internet, and one of the first court cases in Taiwan on this issue. Part III discusses issues arising from commercial activity on the Internet, including the validity of on-line contracts, the use of digital signatures for authentication, and the applicability of Taiwan\u27s Broadcasting and Television Law, Cable Television Law, and Fair Trade Law to regulating commercial advertising on the Internet. Part IV discusses the relationship of the Internet and conventional mass communications media such as television and radio. It addresses the question of free speech, libelous or obscene content, and other issues which are familiar in a mass communications context but remain to be addressed as relating to the Internet. Part V deals with the protection of personal data on the Internet, especially in relation to the recently enacted Computer Processed Personal-Data Protection Law, and also touches on the protection of e-mail addresses and domain names. Part VI considers larceny, fraud, and other criminal acts perpetrated via computer networks (old crimes in new guises that have been termed “white collar” crime)

The Internet and Its Legal Ramifications in Taiwan

Part I of this Article briefly introduces the five main legal issues related to Internet use in Taiwan. Part II discusses network-related copyright issues, including the doctrine of fair use, personal and corporate use of the Internet, and one of the first court cases in Taiwan on this issue. Part III discusses issues arising from commercial activity on the Internet, including the validity of on-line contracts, the use of digital signatures for authentication, and the applicability of Taiwan\u27s Broadcasting and Television Law, Cable Television Law, and Fair Trade Law to regulating commercial advertising on the Internet. Part IV discusses the relationship of the Internet and conventional mass communications media such as television and radio. It addresses the question of free speech, libelous or obscene content, and other issues which are familiar in a mass communications context but remain to be addressed as relating to the Internet. Part V deals with the protection of personal data on the Internet, especially in relation to the recently enacted Computer Processed Personal-Data Protection Law, and also touches on the protection of e-mail addresses and domain names. Part VI considers larceny, fraud, and other criminal acts perpetrated via computer networks (old crimes in new guises that have been termed “white collar” crime)

Should Public Relations Experts Ever Be Privileged Persons?

This Comment addresses the issue of whether, and under what circumstances, a lawyer’s communications with a public relations expert, whose advice is only valuable to the extent that it is communicated fully and freely with the attorney, will be protected by the attorney-client privilege. This Comment focuses on the role of public relations firms in the criminal law context, where constitutional concerns often arise. The author begins by laying out the history and background of the attorney-client privilege, and how the defense lawyer’s role has changed as a result of the rise of mass media. The Comment then goes on to explore the recent case law from the Second Circuit involving public relations firms and their applicability to the attorney-client privilege. From these cases the author synthesizes what she believes are the relevant factors used to decide whether the privilege attaches to public relations firms. Applying these factors the Comment argues that in orderr for our system of adjudication to be fair and just, we must permit attorneys to engage the media through assistance of public relations experts to whom the attorney-client privilege reaches