Policing the Internet: Jake Baker and beyond
March 9, 1995
This archive details a debate which occurred on March 9, 1995 at the University of Michigan concerning the celebrated Jake Baker case (a student who wrote a violent pornographic work of fiction using the name of a fellow student.) The following is a page the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review set up to cover the event.
The Baker case, at the trial level, has been published and is available online.
- Introduction: Jeffrey Lehman, Dean of the Michigan Law School
- Moderator: Professor Joan Lowenstein
- Panelists:
- Catharine Mackinnon, University of Michigan Law School, Professor of Law
- Daniel Weitzner, Center for Democracy and Technology, Deputy Director
- Scott Charney, Department of Justice, Director of Computer Crimes
- Barry Steinhardt, American Civil Liberties Union, Associate Director
- Donald Lively, University of Toledo, Professor of Law
- Virginia Rezmierski, Information Technology Division, Assistant to the Vice Provost
- The Transcript
- PLEASE READ: Editorial Policy regarding transcript
- Opening Statement by Dean Lehman
- Introduction by Joan Lowenstein
- Scott Charney's Opening Statement
- Virginia Rezmierski's Opening Statement
- Daniel Weitzner's Opening Statement
- Catharine MacKinnon's Opening Statement
- Barry Steinhardt's Opening Statement
- QUESTION ONE: What is the Department of Justice's position on prosecution of encryption
- QUESTION TWO: Anonymity, accountability, and the 'Net
- QUESTION THREE: How can the Internet be used for empowerment
- QUESTION FOUR: Rights for Computer programs?
- QUESTION FIVE: How should lawmakers be educated as to current technology?
- QUESTION SIX: Is a civil suit pending in the Jake Baker case?
- QUESTION SEVEN: Will Federal Law preempt state law in cases involving the Internet?
- QUESTION EIGHT: Comment about the Baker affidavit
- QUESTION NINE: Why did the University of Michigan choose to respond in this way to the Baker incident?
- QUESTION TEN: A question about Catharine MacKinnon's positions on obscenity and pornography
- QUESTION ELEVEN: Does pornography drive the 'Net?
If you'd like to know basic information about the event, here is the original press release with more details.
The Baker Case
Additional information about the Baker case itself is available at Peter Swanson's Jake Baker page.
Symposia Archive
- Green Technology and Economic Revitalization
in Michigan (2011) - The Law and Economics of
Drug Development (2008) - 21st Century Copyright Law in the Digital Domain (2006)
- Life Sciences, Technology, and the Law (2003)
- Law, Policy, and
The Convergence of Telecommunications and Computing Technologies (2001) - Challenging Traditional Legal Paradigms: Is Technology Outpacing the Law? (1999)
- Redefining Access to Information: Power, Politics, Law, and the New Technology (1997)
- Advising Businesses in an Online Digital World: The Risks and Rewards of Electronic Commerce (1996)
- Policing the Internet:
Jake Baker and beyond (1995) - Competition and the Information Superhighway (1994)
