Widener Law Journal

In today’s society, the internet is arguably the most dominant medium in which the general public expresses its views, thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Posting items on Facebook or MySpace, tweeting and blogging have spurred an entire new genre of communication in which the legal world has only begun to navigate. This new form of expression will no doubt affect the current landscape of individual constitutional freedoms in the United States.

This symposium will be broken down into two sessions. The morning session will focus on the issues of constitutional law and criminal procedure that arise in internet expression. Some individuals use the internet to share pictures and stories, to make new friends with similar interests, or to discuss a problem in hopes of receiving some good advice. This session will center on the extent to which the internet can be an inconsequential forum of free speech and expression versus an unprotected sounding board in which every individual that makes a questionable posting can be prosecuted.

The afternoon session will focus on the intersection of internet expression and property law. Aspiring artists, musicians, authors, and poets all readily use the internet and social networks to gain exposure in their respective fields. This session will center on issues of ownership and use within the realm of property and intellectual property law.

The Widener Law Journal aspires to gather a distinguished group of legal academics in these fields to discuss the applications and consequences of this new and important area of the law on February 22, 2010.  The following speakers will be attending:

Peter K. Yu – Director of the Intellectual Property Law Center and Professor at Drake University School of Law

Steven Jamar – Associate Director of the Institute of Intellectual Property and Social Justice and Professor at Howard University School of Law

Laurie Baughman – Senior Attorney for the Pennsylvania Civil Legal Representation Project at the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Ed Marsico – Dauphin County District Attorney

Evan D. Brown - Associate at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in Chicago, IL, focusing on trademark and copyright law

If you would like to join this group of esteemed attorneys and present at this year’s symposium, please contact Nicole Santo, Symposium Editor for the Widener Law Journal, at nsanto820@gmail.com.