Author(s): Chris Jay Hoofnagle Year: 2008 Abstract: There is widespread agreement that identity theft causes financial damage to consumers, lending institutions, retail establishments, and the economy as a whole. Surprisingly, there is little good public information available about the scope of the crime and the actual damages it inflicts. The publicly available data on identity […]
Identity Theft: Making the Known Unknowns Known
Measuring Identity Theft (Version 2.0)
Author(s): Chris Jay Hoofnagle Year: 2008 Abstract: There is no reliable way for consumers, regulators, and businesses to assess the relative rates of identity fraud at major financial institutions. This lack of information prevents a consumer market for bank safety from emerging. As part of a multiple strategy approach to obtaining more actionable data on […]
Debunking the Commercial Profilers’ Claims: A Skeptical Analysis of the Benefits of Personal Information Flows
Author(s): Chris Jay Hoofnagle Year: 2004 Abstract: In comments to the Federal Trade Commission, the authors propose a model for evaluating the costs to personal privacy imposed by uses of personal information. Under this proposal, the costs of information flows would be measured against Fair Information Practices, principles that set out the rights and responsibilities […]
Reviving Telecommunications Surveillance Law
Author(s): Paul M. Schwartz Year: 2008 Abstract: Consider three questions. How would one decide if there was too much telecommunications surveillance in the United States, or too little? How would one know if law enforcement was using its surveillance capabilities in the most effective fashion? How would one assess the impact of this collection of […]
Internet Privacy and the State
Author(s): Paul M. Schwartz Year: 2000 Abstract: In Internet Privacy and the State, Professor Paul M. Schwartz argues that the dominant rhetoric concerning the use of personal data in cyberspace slights the State’s important role in shaping both a privacy market and privacy norms. This Article reaches this conclusion in three steps. In Part I, […]
Protecting Early Innovators: Should Second-Generation Products be Patentable?
Author(s): Suzanne Scotchmer Year: 1998 Abstract: Incentives to develop basic technologies are greater if the patentholder profits from applications or other second-generation products. Assuming that such products infringe the basic patent and that there is not much delay between the innovations, I argue that (i) patents on second-generation products are not necessary to encourage their […]
As Many as Six Impossible Patents Before Breakfast: Property Rights for Business Concepts and Patent System Reform
Author(s): Robert P. Merges Year: 1999 Abstract: In this paper I describe the emergence of patents for business “methods” or concepts, such as the Priceline.com airplane ticket Internet purchase system. I am essentially agnostic about whether these patents are worthwhile. Nevertheless, I argue that the increased volume of patent applications stemming from this newly patentable […]
An Economic Map of Cybercrime
Author(s): Chris Jay Hoofnagle Year: 2009 Abstract: The rise of cybercrime in the last decade is an economic case of individuals responding to monetary and psychological incentives. Two main drivers for cybercrime can be identified: the potential gains from cyberattacks are increasing with the growth of importance of the Internet, and malefactors’ expected costs (e.g., […]
Reconsidering Cybor: A Hybrid Standard of Appellate Review of Patent Claim Construction Rulings
Author(s): Peter S. Menell Year: 2013 Abstract: This brief contends that the Federal Circuit’s Cybor plenary de novo standard of appellate review of claim construction rulings misapprehends the mixed fact/law nature of patent claim construction and has frustrated district courts’ distinctive capabilities for apprehending and resolving the factual disputes inherent in claim construction determinations, undermined […]
Americans Reject Tailored Advertising and Three Activities that Enable It
Author(s): Chris Jay Hoofnagle Year: 2009 Abstract: This nationally representative telephone (wire-line and cell phone) survey explores Americans’ opinions about behavioral targeting by marketers, a controversial issue currently before government policymakers. Behavioral targeting involves two types of activities: following users’ actions and then tailoring advertisements for the users based on those actions. While privacy advocates […]