Category: About This Site

Editors of the ABA Journal have again selected internetcases as one of the 100 best law blogs. This is the second time the American Bar Association has honored the blog, having also placed it on the list of top law blogs of 2011.

The internetcases blog is included in the “9th Annual Blawg 100,” a list of the magazine’s 100 favorite legal blogs. The ABA Journal says the list recognizes “the very best law blogs, known for their untiring ability to craft high-quality, engaging posts.”

Chicago attorney Evan Brown authors the blog, which focuses on issues involving the internet, technology, intellectual property, social media, privacy, and new media. Evan created the blog in 2005 and draws from his many years of legal experience and his work as a domain name panelist for the World Intellectual Property Organization, deciding cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Evan is a partner in the Chicago-based law firm Much Shelist P.C., and is an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and John Marshall Law School, both in Chicago. Evan also provides analysis on cybersquatting cases at the blog UDRP Tracker.

The ABA Journal is read by half of the nation’s 1 million lawyers every month. It covers the trends, people and finances of the legal profession from Wall Street to Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue. The ABA is the largest voluntary professional association in the world. With more than 400,000 members, the ABA provides law school accreditation, continuing legal education, information about the law, programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public.

I’m pleased to welcome Brian Beckham, the newest contributor to Internet Cases. Brian is currently based in Switzerland as a Case Manager with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center. He’s licensed to practice law in Virginia, and while he was practicing in the states, he focused on trademark law (as well as communications related contracts and licensing and nonprofit law) before joining WIPO in 2007. He holds a degree in philosophy from Ohio University, a J.D. and LL.M. in information technology from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, and can often be found cycling the Alps surrounding Geneva, Switzerland. Drop him a line at brian.beckham [at] gmail.com. Although Brian works for WIPO, his posts are made in a personal capacity and recap publicly available information. Here’s a link to a more complete bio: http://jbrianbeckham.blogspot.com.

Brian’s first post deals with NASCAR’s unsuccessful attempts to wrangle a domain name from another party using the mark within a domain name.

I’ve started up a group on Facebook, and if you’re a member of the Facebook community, I invite you to join. I have no agenda for the group’s activities, if there ever are any. But the discussion board feature could be fun, and it also seems like it could be a good networking catalyst. Hope to see you there.

Here’s a link to the group page: http://turo.us/3Hrhf

(Drop me a line if you have any trouble accessing it.)

Website terms and conditions are a strange animal. And they’re sometimes even more puzzling when they’re on a lawyer’s website. I’ve been thinking about what the terms and conditions for this site should say, and so I’ve come up with the following. Sure I could make it all legalese and complicated, but I’m trying a more conversational approach. Here goes.

Dear Reader:

When you read this website, Internet Cases, please keep the following in mind. If you cannot or will not accept what is stated below, please direct your browser somewhere else. If you go ahead and read the content on the site, I’ll conclude that you agree to all of this. I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding as to the purpose of this website or as to the relationship between author and reader.

This is a website that provides information. It is not legal advice. Is it an advertisement for legal services? I say no. I don’t intend for this website to be an advertisement, and I don’t think you should either.

Unless you have signed a written agreement with my employer, I am not your lawyer and therefore, you are not my client. That means there is no attorney-client relationship. Even if you are one of my clients, the information here is intended for a general audience and is not tailored for your specific needs. If you need legal advice, get in touch with a lawyer directly. You’d be foolish to make important decisions relating to your life, liberty or property based only on information you read online. You shouldn’t do that with any website, and certainly not this one.

Although I try my best in every instance to be accurate, it could be that some information on this website contains errors. I’m a lawyer, all lawyers are human, and therefore, I’m a human. Moreover, the information you find here may have become out-of-date. Opinions get overruled and the law changes. I DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE INFORMATION ON THIS SITE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE ACCURACY OR CURRENTNESS OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREUPON.

The vast majority of the time I do not editorialize or state opinions of what I think the law should be. Instead I talk about what the law is. In the rare instances that I do indicate some opinion or put a spin on an issue, that is in no way a reflection on or a representation of any opinion held by my employer. Furthermore, I never write about ongoing matters in which I represent the participants.

I like getting e-mail from my readers, and if you’d like to contact me, go right ahead. But please use discretion when doing so. Again, unless there’s a written agreement in place, I’m not your lawyer, and so the question of confidentiality in that situation may be problematic. (What if I already represent the other side?) If you write to me and I don’t get back to you, please don’t take it personally. It does not mean that I don’t like you. It’s just that I’m very busy and I have to prioritize.

If you’re with the press, or are looking for a speaker at your event, I’ll probably be more than happy to talk with you.

Check back to this page from time to time, as I reserve the right to modify these terms and conditions, and if you continue to visit the site after those changes are made, I’ll assume you accept them.

Thank you for visiting Internet Cases.

Sincerely,
Evan Brown

Gregory Smith, a second year law student at Chicago-Kent College of Law, has agreed to be a contributor to InternetCases.com. Greg has a strong background and interest in both law and technology, which is demonstrated by his creation of the law blog aggregator Juris Novus. He also created the popular bicycling social networking site velospace. Before starting law school, Greg received a bachelor’s degree in network technology from DePaul University. He has worked for the Illinois Attorney General’s High Tech Crimes Bureau as a law clerk, and is an avid bicyclist and gin rummy player.

Greg’s ability and enthusiasm is sure to add to the quality of material you can find at InternetCases.com. Check out his first contribution — a summary of the recent case of Dedvukaj v. Maloney.

Contact Greg by e-mail at greg [at] metanovus dot com.

And by the way, I’ve given myself a bit of a promotion as well. I will now call myself the “Editor & Publisher” of this site.

Each week, a different law blogger takes a turn hosting a wrap-up of notable “blawg” postings from the past week. See, for example, Blawg Review #9 hosted this week by Juris Pundit. Blawg Review is a great way to see in a snapshot what’s new and interesting in the legal blogosphere.

InternetCases.com will be hosting Blawg Review #10, which will be posted on Monday, June 13, 2005. If you are a “blawgger” and write a posting about which you’re particuarly proud this week, or if you run across someone else’s blog posting that is law-related and noteworthy, let me know about it before the end of the day this coming Saturday, June 11. I’ll try my best to include it. Please see the submission guidelines.

InternetCases.com is a new weblog that will highlight some of the more interesting court cases dealing with issues relating to the Internet and new technologies.

About Me: I am an attorney in Chicago, Illinois, practicing in the areas of intellectual property and computer-related law. It is my goal — at least here in the beginning — to discuss one or two cases a week. As time goes on and I realize that it will be useful to write more or less, I will do so. Drop me a line at ebrown@internetcases.com.