MEJO 341 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND ACCURATE
ANSWERS
What are the 4 types of law? - Answers - Common, statutory, constitutional,
administrative
The Golden Rule - Answers - Was there a reasonable expectation to privacy?
Net neutrality - Answers - -the principle that traffic on the Internet is not privileged
-all packets (data) travel equally (in theory)
-i.e. your blog has an equal chance of being seen as does the NYTimes
commercial speech - Answers - advertising
FCC and net neutrality - Answers - Tried to encourage net neutral principles, labeling
ISPs "information providers" they could regulate
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - Answers - -created in 1914 by FTC Act
-regulatory branch
-writes administrative law
-created to prevent companies from using false and deceptive ads for unfair competition
- to create a monopoly
-body of commissioners (5) three from the party power, two from minority party
Third Party Doctrine - Answers - -Information lawfully held by third parties is treated
differently. It can be obtained by subpoenaing the third party, by securing the third
party's consent or by any other means of legal discovery; the "owner" has no role in the
matter, and, often, no search warrant is required. (Smith v. Maryland, 1979)
-Notion that a person who surrenders information to a third party consents to that third
party's disclosure of such information to others.
Common Law - Answers - Law that comes out of the courts
Stare decisis - Answers - "let the decision stand"
Common Carrier - Answers - -A business using some public good that gov't must
regulate in the interest of all
-common carrier is the preferred legal designation to fully regulate telecomm companies
Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942) - Answers - BAD LAW
said purely commercial speech is not be the first amendment
,Third Party Doctrine - Answers - Global Positioning System tracking case, U.S. v. Jones
(2012). Police cannot attach a GPS device to a suspect's car without a warrant.
Riley v. California (2014): The police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital
information on a cellphone seized from an individual who has been arrested.
Precedent - Answers - basis for all other decision in that subject going forward
FCC v. Verizon (DC Cir. 2014) - Answers - -Verizon & more challenged the FCC's
authority to regulate their businesses and the "Open Internet Order" that said that
businesses can't discriminate traffic
-Verizon & more wanted to discriminate traffic on the internet to improve streaming
services and charge high bandwidth customers more
-DC Cir. ruled that while FCC has authority to regulate the Internet, "Open Internet
Order" was not within their power
-To have that power, FCC must declare broadband providers to be "common carriers"
(like phone companies); FCC had classified them as "information providers"
-FCC had been hesitant to declare internet a common carrier
NY Times v. Sullivan (1964) - Answers - weakened rule from Valentine v. Christense by
protecting editorial ads
Third Party Doctrine - Answers - Justice Sonia Sotomayor's concurrence in Jones
described the third-party records doctrine as "ill-suited to the digital age, in which people
reveal a great deal of information about themselves to third parties in the course of
carrying out mundane tasks."
Types of Privacy Claims - Answers - Publication torts
Newsgathering torts
A tort is a type of injury...a wrong against someone
Due process of law - Answers - same expectations to the way law applies to all of us
Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976) -
Answers - SCOTUS reverses precedent set in Valentine v. Christensen, commercial
speech now protected
Open Internet Order - Answers - Kept: Transparency requirement
Ditched: Anti-blocking requirement; Anti-discrimination requirement
judicial restraint vs. judicial activism - Answers - those who practice judicial restraint
have a greater willingness to accept lower court decisions and defer to other branches
of government.
Judicial activism is wanting to challenge them
, New FCC Rules - Adopted Feb. 2015 - Answers - -No blocking: broadband providers
may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices
-No throttling: broadband providers may not impair or degrade lawful internet traffic on
the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices
-no paid prioritization: broadband providers may not favor some lawful internet traffic
over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind - aka no fast lanes.
Also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates
Protections of commercial speech - Answers - -Commercial speech undergoes the
intermediate scrutiny test
--"substantial interest to regulate the speech"
-false commercial speech NOT protected
-Prior restraints are allowed
-Can be compelled
Publication torts - Answers - These include three privacy torts
Appropriation
False Light
Public disclosure of embarrassing private facts
Statutory Law - Answers - Made by legislators. On the federal, state, or local level
Just and Reasonable Conduct provision - Answers - -allows the FCC to decide what is
acceptable on a case-by-case basis
-Congress?
-v current event
-American Commitment - Koch brothers' group delivers 540,000 signatures to congress
vs. 140 startups (etsy, buzzfeed, tumblr, kickstarter, etc) signing a letter to the FCC
thanking them
Why are we harsher on commercial speech? - Answers - -comm. speech is hardier --
advertisers won't be intimidated like political speech
-comm. speech can be verified
Appropriation - Answers - The use of a person's name or image for commercial
purposes without that person's permission
Celebrities suffer a violation of "right of publicity"
Private people suffer emotional distress due to shame and humiliation -
commercialization of their identity
Recognized in NC
Vanna White v. Samsung (1993) - Answers - Vanna sued Samsung for using her
likeness without her permission....vanna won the case
Central Hudson Gas and Electric v. Public Service Commission (1980) - Answers - -
Created the Central Hudson Test
ANSWERS
What are the 4 types of law? - Answers - Common, statutory, constitutional,
administrative
The Golden Rule - Answers - Was there a reasonable expectation to privacy?
Net neutrality - Answers - -the principle that traffic on the Internet is not privileged
-all packets (data) travel equally (in theory)
-i.e. your blog has an equal chance of being seen as does the NYTimes
commercial speech - Answers - advertising
FCC and net neutrality - Answers - Tried to encourage net neutral principles, labeling
ISPs "information providers" they could regulate
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - Answers - -created in 1914 by FTC Act
-regulatory branch
-writes administrative law
-created to prevent companies from using false and deceptive ads for unfair competition
- to create a monopoly
-body of commissioners (5) three from the party power, two from minority party
Third Party Doctrine - Answers - -Information lawfully held by third parties is treated
differently. It can be obtained by subpoenaing the third party, by securing the third
party's consent or by any other means of legal discovery; the "owner" has no role in the
matter, and, often, no search warrant is required. (Smith v. Maryland, 1979)
-Notion that a person who surrenders information to a third party consents to that third
party's disclosure of such information to others.
Common Law - Answers - Law that comes out of the courts
Stare decisis - Answers - "let the decision stand"
Common Carrier - Answers - -A business using some public good that gov't must
regulate in the interest of all
-common carrier is the preferred legal designation to fully regulate telecomm companies
Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942) - Answers - BAD LAW
said purely commercial speech is not be the first amendment
,Third Party Doctrine - Answers - Global Positioning System tracking case, U.S. v. Jones
(2012). Police cannot attach a GPS device to a suspect's car without a warrant.
Riley v. California (2014): The police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital
information on a cellphone seized from an individual who has been arrested.
Precedent - Answers - basis for all other decision in that subject going forward
FCC v. Verizon (DC Cir. 2014) - Answers - -Verizon & more challenged the FCC's
authority to regulate their businesses and the "Open Internet Order" that said that
businesses can't discriminate traffic
-Verizon & more wanted to discriminate traffic on the internet to improve streaming
services and charge high bandwidth customers more
-DC Cir. ruled that while FCC has authority to regulate the Internet, "Open Internet
Order" was not within their power
-To have that power, FCC must declare broadband providers to be "common carriers"
(like phone companies); FCC had classified them as "information providers"
-FCC had been hesitant to declare internet a common carrier
NY Times v. Sullivan (1964) - Answers - weakened rule from Valentine v. Christense by
protecting editorial ads
Third Party Doctrine - Answers - Justice Sonia Sotomayor's concurrence in Jones
described the third-party records doctrine as "ill-suited to the digital age, in which people
reveal a great deal of information about themselves to third parties in the course of
carrying out mundane tasks."
Types of Privacy Claims - Answers - Publication torts
Newsgathering torts
A tort is a type of injury...a wrong against someone
Due process of law - Answers - same expectations to the way law applies to all of us
Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976) -
Answers - SCOTUS reverses precedent set in Valentine v. Christensen, commercial
speech now protected
Open Internet Order - Answers - Kept: Transparency requirement
Ditched: Anti-blocking requirement; Anti-discrimination requirement
judicial restraint vs. judicial activism - Answers - those who practice judicial restraint
have a greater willingness to accept lower court decisions and defer to other branches
of government.
Judicial activism is wanting to challenge them
, New FCC Rules - Adopted Feb. 2015 - Answers - -No blocking: broadband providers
may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices
-No throttling: broadband providers may not impair or degrade lawful internet traffic on
the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices
-no paid prioritization: broadband providers may not favor some lawful internet traffic
over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind - aka no fast lanes.
Also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates
Protections of commercial speech - Answers - -Commercial speech undergoes the
intermediate scrutiny test
--"substantial interest to regulate the speech"
-false commercial speech NOT protected
-Prior restraints are allowed
-Can be compelled
Publication torts - Answers - These include three privacy torts
Appropriation
False Light
Public disclosure of embarrassing private facts
Statutory Law - Answers - Made by legislators. On the federal, state, or local level
Just and Reasonable Conduct provision - Answers - -allows the FCC to decide what is
acceptable on a case-by-case basis
-Congress?
-v current event
-American Commitment - Koch brothers' group delivers 540,000 signatures to congress
vs. 140 startups (etsy, buzzfeed, tumblr, kickstarter, etc) signing a letter to the FCC
thanking them
Why are we harsher on commercial speech? - Answers - -comm. speech is hardier --
advertisers won't be intimidated like political speech
-comm. speech can be verified
Appropriation - Answers - The use of a person's name or image for commercial
purposes without that person's permission
Celebrities suffer a violation of "right of publicity"
Private people suffer emotional distress due to shame and humiliation -
commercialization of their identity
Recognized in NC
Vanna White v. Samsung (1993) - Answers - Vanna sued Samsung for using her
likeness without her permission....vanna won the case
Central Hudson Gas and Electric v. Public Service Commission (1980) - Answers - -
Created the Central Hudson Test
