Computers and the Law (IT 803) field trips!

Computers and the Law (IT-803) aims to familiarize students with technology in order to help them appreciate how it has shaped the law and how the law has shaped it.

This year students in the class disassembled hard drives and examined microprocessors in order to familiarize themselves with the inner workings of computers before discussing topics like whether copyright should be treated differently in a digital world.


To see the application of computers and the law outside of the classroom, students ventured on a number of off-site field trips. For instance, XO Communication lead a private tour of one of their downtown data centers, which handles network traffic for the Chicago Board of Trade, and officials talked about how they manage security and prevent fraud.

The founders of Threadless, one of the hottest startups in the Chicago area, invited students to visit their headquarters and discuss how computers help them facilitate vibrant creative communities with participants around the world but how they also create business risks in terms of managing intellectual property.

JCIL Notes

Congratulations to our recent JCIL award winners!


This year, the Journal editorial board voted to award the prestigious Trubow Writing Award (named after Professor Emeritus George B. Trubow, founder of the Journal) to Sarah Knight for her case note addressing United States v. Andrus, and to Katherine Rengel for her article, “The Americans with Disabilities Act and Internet Accessibility for the Blind.”

Also honored were Sarah Knight and Robin Ficke who received the McGovern Award, recognizing special service to the Journal.

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The John Marshall Journal of Computer and Information Law remains one of the top ranked specialized law journals in the world. Read in more than 35 countries, this flagship publication of the Center for Information Technology and Privacy law, published four issues this year containing articles on subjects ranging from online music licensing and collective rights organizations, open-source programming, to Internet accessibility for the blind, accessing Holocaust records, identity theft, and privacy of nutrition labels. In addition, the Journal’s symposium issue, “Information Convergence: At the Boundaries of Access,” included 10 articles addressing how information law and policies affect all other areas of law, practice and life.

The Journal was cited by the Supreme Court of the United States in its landmark decision, Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc.

The article, The Future of Licensing Music Online: The Role of Collective Rights Organizations and the Effects of Territoriality, published earlier this year, was chosen as one of the best bar journal and law review articles published within the last year in the fields of entertainment, publishing and the arts. As such, it has been selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of the ENTERTAINMENT, PUBLISHING AND THE ARTS HANDBOOK, published annually by Thomson Reuters (West).