Vincent G. Rinn Law Library

Exuberant Linking in the Blawgoshere, Oh My !

    Brooke Chappell,regular writer for the site Lawcrossings provides a wry anaysis of   why so much cross-citation seems to take place among many legal blogs. Is it only giving credit where credit is due ? She suggest some more interesting reasons .

Help! I've been robbed! Of fantasy money...

As virtual environments become more elaborate and absorbing, just how far should the law reach in order to preserve order?  Ars Technica reports on one controversy stemming from a bank robbery-- in an online game:

It might have been a scene out of some movie about the Great Depression. Hundreds of frantic people tearing their hair out as they mob the doors to a bank, only to realize that the bank's owners, along with their money, had vanished into thin air.

This scene, however, took place not in some seemingly distant historical period, but much closer to home (for some of us). The location was EVE Online—a science-fiction-based MMORPG, and the bank was the Eve Intergalactic Bank—a privately run in-game institution that for several months convinced EVE Online players to deposit their spare "money" into accounts with the enticement of accruing several points of interest per month. That seemingly virtuous idea came to a crashing halt when the proprietor of the EIB, known to the game universe as "Cally," absconded with around 790 billion simoleons ISK—the currency of the EVE Online world.

EIB was supposed to function much as a real bank would, turning its assets into investment capital, then using the returns to pay interest to bank clients and provide a tidy profit to the bank itself. Instead, it functioned more like a 1980s-era savings and loan, with no FSLIC to protect the clients. In short, Cally got away scot-free, even leaving behind a (rather boring) 10 minute video (download) to taunt those whose "fortunes" were lost.

Ars Technica's writer, Peter Pollack, dismisses the idea that the law might ever get involved in such controversies.  But he observes that the "money" so stolen could be sold for as much as $170,000 via online auction sites.  And people without legal recourse have been known to pursue other forms of redress: in 2005, a Shanghai gamer was given a suspended death sentence for murdering another player who had stolen his virtual sword in an online game.  (The same article observes that the South Korean police have a section devoted to in-game crime.)

Barney the dinosaur sued after legal threats

Barney just can't get no respect ! His likeness and effigy  have been frequently subjected to unflattering depictions  & even some pain and suffering.(See Anti-Barney humor in Wikipedia). When Barney's owners,the Lyons Partnership,threatened to sue Stuart  Frankel for his parody of the plump dinasaur.The Electronic Frontier  Foundation sued Lyons and "...hopes this case will help put an end to  Barney's unfounded threats once and for all, and serve as a lesson to other overreaching rights holders." It's unclear whether Barney himself  supports his lawyers' efforts. After all, so much attention can be very  useful in expanding Barney's market presence and self-confidence.

Complaint  [PDF, 1.1M]

Decision in 1917 Espionage Act case may threaten journalists

Following up on a previous posting here 

Judge T.S. Ellis ruled in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in favor of the defandants in the case of  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. STEVEN J.ROSEN,KEITH WEISSMAN, that they  did not solicit actual classified documents and that the government cannot now claim that they did.

However, the resulting judicial interpretation of the WWI statute opens the door to criminal prosecution for those who receive information from a government source.The judge states that "...the government can  punish those outside of the government for the unauthorized receipt and  deliberate retransmission of information relating to the national defense," Under this interpretation the reporters who disclosed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal could be prosecuted under this law.

In his opinoin Judge Ellis seems to recognize the broader implications of his ruling. He says that he is following the letter of the law but that this old act may well need to be rewritten in light of contemporary technological changes and "...contemporary views about the appropriate  balance between our nation's security and our citizens' ability to engage  in public debate about the United States' conduct in the society of nations."

Under the present Congress, such a thoughtful reassessment seems rather unlikely.

See these links for coverage of story :

Judge Rejects Dismissal of Pro-Israel Lobbyists Case
By Jerry Markon   Washington Post

AIPAC Defendants Did Not Seek Classified Document, Court Rules

Recipients of "Leaks" May Be Prosecuted, Court Rules

No Secrets Allowed

Law Library Orientation Tours for 1Ls

The librarians will be conducting tours of the law library for incoming law students: Everything You Need To Know About Using DePaul’s Law Library In 30 Minutes (Or Less).  Tours will begin at the law library reference desk, and are scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday, 8/22 - 8/26, at 10:00 AM, 11:15 AM, 12:30 PM, 3 PM and 5 PM.  Interested students should sign up in advance at the reference desk.

Advice for First-Years

As the academic year begins, CALI's Pre-Law Blog rounds up advice for new law students from professors and students across the blogosphere.

Google Book Project Examined

The Washington Post has a fascinating in-depth article that focuses on the the Google Book digitization project.  The article recounts the history of how the project was conceived, where it is currently, and where it will ultimately lead if copyright issues don't get in the way.  The arguments for and against scanning from that perspective are laid out fairly well in the text.

An ironic note, Microsoft's Paul Allen may have been an inspiration that pushed the project along.

Reminder: Library Liaison Program for Faculty

As we near the beginning of the academic year, the library would like to remind the faculty about the Library Liaison program, which matches all full-time faculty with a reference librarian.  Liaisons serve as your primary point of contact for the library's services, and can provide assistance with research projects, presentations and library tours for students, current awareness sources, document delivery, interlibrary loan, and non-Blackboard print and electronic reserves.

Not sure who your library liaison is?  You can always check via the library's web page, under Services.  (Direct link here.)

Man sues employer for allowing him to drink spilled automobile fuel

From posting on "boingboing"

"Here's a recent article from the Des Moines Register about Cory Neddermeyer,  a recovering alcoholic who was fired from an ethanol plant for drinking spilled ethanol...What makes this story even better is the following legal battle for unenmployment benefits where Mr. Neddermeyer argues that his employers are partly to blame for this because the spill provided an opportunity for him to drink the fuel."

ABA Takes Position On Presidential Use of Signing Statements

LOUD AND CLEAR
ABA House of Delegates Adopts Policy Opposing Presidential ‘Misuse’ of Signing Statements
ABA Journal Report BY JAMES PODGERS

"As adopted by the House,[on 8/8/2006] the policy on signing statements "opposes, as contrary to the rule of law and our constitutional system of separation of powers, the misuse of presidential signing statements by claiming the authority or stating the intention to disregard or decline to enforce all or part of a law the president has signed, or to interpret such a law in a manner inconsistent with the clear intent of Congress."

See article in Boston Globe by Prof. Laurence Tribe for differences with the ABA approach :

`Signing statements' are a phantom target
By Laurence H. Tribe
( free registration required )

Or at Harvard Law School site here