FINAL EXAM-SPRING 2002
PROFESSOR MARC GREENBERG

INTERNET & ONLINE LAW- GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY

THIS IS AN OPEN BOOK. OPEN MATERIALS EXAM. You have three hours to complete the exam. You may use any notes, books or other materials to assist you in responding to the questions.

There are two (2) essay questions on this exam. Each question is worth fifty (50) points. I suggest you spend 1/3` of your time on each question outlining your response, and then write for the remaining time you allocate for each question. If you use the full period of three hours, this would mean outlining for 30 minutes and writing for 60 minutes on each question. Each subpart is equally weighted for grading purposes, so divide your response evenly among the subparts - do not write a full answer for one part and a short answer for another part. Answer each question as fully as you can, citing any appropriate cases, industry standards, and statutes that are relevant. Write your answer in a blue book, or type it on plain, unmarked typing paper. PLACE YOUR EXAM NUMBER ON EACH BLUE BOOK. At the end of the exam, please turn in your exam books, scratch sheets and exam questions.

DO NOT WRITE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE PAGE. WRITE LEGIBLY OR PRINT IF YOUR HANDWRITING 1S DIFFICULT TO READ. WRITE ON EVERY OTHER LINE. If I cannot read your response to a question, your grade will be adversely affected.

Question No. 1 (50 Points)

You have been approached by Conquest, Inc., a Texas based company that produces and maintains a web site on the World Wide Web. The site is a passive information site, which is dedicated to spreading Conquest's message, which is that what the world needs now is a return to the principles of Nazism as spelled out by the Nazi party in the 1930's. The Conquest site, although based in Texas, is available through Yahoo and other search engines, all over the world. A German peace group has accessed the site in Berlin, and has filed a suit in Germany against Conquest, alleging violation of Germany's hate crime laws, which forbid pro-Nazi organizations from distributing pro-Nazi information.

Conquest has also experienced problems in the U.S. about their site. The site contains excerpts from a variety of previously published works, both in the U.S. and from Europe, all of which are from authors who are either still alive, or died within the last 55 years. Conquest does not have any permission from anyone to post these excerpts, and both they, and their Internet Service Provider, a Texas company called Albeit, have been sued for copyright infringement.

Conquest asks you to advise them about the legal issues they and Arbeit face in the two lawsuits. In particular, they ask what is the relevant law governing the issues presented in the suits, and what defenses they can raise in response to the suits. As always with clients, they also ask what arc their chances of successfully defending against each suit. What is your advice for them?

Question No. 2. (50 Points)

Based on their belief that the recent legal problems of Microsoft has left an opening in the marketplace for a competing combined operating system and business management system, a company called The Authority has developed a new operating system and business management software package called Planetary. The Authority plans to secure worldwide rights, both online and in the real world, to the name "Planetary". To secure its place in the market, The Authority plans to offer major, well known software developers such as Adobe and Symantec generous cash incentives if they will only write software to run on the Planetary system, and cease writing software for Windows, Apple, or Linux. After driving competition out of the marketplace, their inside office memos reflect that they plan to drive the price of the Planetary system very high, based on the fact that they will then be the only such system on the marketplace.

The Authority asks you for advice on the following points:

1. How can they protect the name "Planetary" in both the online and real world?  What steps should they take to obtain name protection?

2. How can they protect the intellectual property rights in the operating system and business management software package? What problems, if any, will they face in attempting to secure this protection?

3. Are they likely to incur any legal problems in carrying out their marketing plan, and if so, what are those problems, and what can they do to overcome them?  What is your advice to The Authority?