Computer Law - Guide to IT Law

The Committee was created in 1997 as a successor to the Coordinating Commission on Legal Technology (CCOLT) and is comprised of representatives from a number of Association entities selected by the ABA President to provide guidance and oversight for the Association's technology initiatives.

BitLaw is a comprehensive Internet resource on technology and intellectual property law. In this site, you will find complete copies of the United States Patent, Copyright, and Trademark statutes, as well as the relevant regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations. BitLaw also includes converted versions of the TMEP and MPEP (the office manuals created by the United States Trademark and Patent Offices, respectively). Each of these documents include links to the relevant statutory and regulatory sections. Finally, BitLaw contains a great deal of custom written descriptions of how these areas of the law affect the computer and technology industries.

Information Technology Law (or IT Law) is a set of recent legal enactments, currently in existence in several countries, which governs the process and dissemination of information digitally. These legal enactments cover a broad gamut of different aspects relating to computer software, protection of computer software, access and control of digital information, privacy, security, internet access and usage, and electronic commerce. These laws have been described as "paper laws" for "paperless environment".

In 1987, the U.S. Congress, led by Rep. Jack Brooks, enacted a law reaffirming that the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), a division of the Department of Commerce, was responsible for the security of unclassified, non-military government computer systems. Under the law, the role of the National Security Agency (NSA) was limited to providing technical assistance in the civilian security realm. Congress rightly felt that it was inappropriate for a military intelligence agency to have control over the dissemination of unclassified information.

The EDUCAUSE / Cornell Institute for Computer Policy and Law provides leadership to colleges and universities in developing information technology policies. Founded in 1996 at Cornell University, the Institute incorporates experts from a wide variety of fields, including chief information officers, student judicial-affairs administrators, librarians, attorneys, policy officers, and many others. The Institute supports the professional development of information technology, policy and legal professionals within higher education to facilitate the creation and administration of effective information technology policies. It also monitors and analyzes changes in technology and law to assess the impact of those changes on academic information technology policy.

Legislators and business leaders long recognized that the passage of some kind of digital legislation was of central importance to the development of e-commerce. However, for several years Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress haggled over what should be included in such a bill. In the meantime, several states passed their own legislation allowing some forms of digital signatures to be legally binding in certain situations. When a major piece of national legislation went into effect in 2000, it was heralded as a giant step toward the harmonization of interstate and international laws, and was expected to help propel e-commerce forward in the early 2000s.

On June 30, 2000 President Clinton signed the "Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act" (ESIGN) using his electronic signature ID, and thereby established the validity of electronic signatures for interstate and international commerce.

This bill encourages the use of clinical health care informatics systems and services by offering monetary incentives to health care providers in order to offset the related costs of such technology. It would also seek to develop national standards regarding data and communication health information technology, working towards the goals of efficient data exchange and improved health care quality while protecting patient privacy and security.

The E-Government Act [Public Law 107-347] passed by the 107th Congress and signed into law by the President in December 2002 recognized the importance of information security to the economic and national security interests of the United States. Title III of the E-Government Act, entitled the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), included duties and responsibilities for the Computer Security Division in Section 303 “National Institute of Standards and Technology.”

The Computer Law Association (CLA) is one of the world’s largest international organizations of information technology law professionals. With members on all continents except Antarctica, and with 70 percent of new members joining from countries other than the United States, CLA enjoys a unique position in bringing together the world’s information technology law community.

The Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID), an initiative approved by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2006, was launched after comprehensive worldwide consultations with governments, the private sector, civil society, the technical and Internet communities and academia.

In March 2001, the United Nations Economic and Social Council requested the Secretary-General to establish an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force. This initiative is intended to lend a truly global dimension to the multitude of efforts to bridge the global digital divide, foster digital opportunity and thus firmly put ICT at the service of development for all.

The Canadian IT Law Association ("IT.CAN") was founded in 1997 by a group of Canadian information technology lawyers from across the country. It was intended to provide a national forum for Canadian practitioners to discuss the uniquely Canadian aspects of IT law and related fields of e-commerce and intellectual property.

CPSR is a global organization promoting the responsible use of computer technology. Founded in 1981, CPSR educates policymakers and the public on a wide range of issues. CPSR has incubated numerous projects such as Privaterra, the Public Sphere Project, EPIC (the Electronic Privacy Information Center), the 21st Century Project, the Civil Society Project, and the CFP (Computers, Freedom & Privacy) Conference. Originally founded by U.S. computer scientists, CPSR now has members in 26 countries on six continents.

From the Internet to the iPod, technologies are transforming our society and empowering us as speakers, citizens, creators, and consumers. When our freedoms in the networked world come under attack, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense. EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990 — well before the Internet was on most people's radar — and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights.

IAAIL is a nonprofit association devoted to promoting research and development in the field of AI and Law, with members throughout the world. IAAIL organizes a biennial conference (ICAIL), which provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of the latest research results and practical applications and stimulates interdisciplinary and international collaboration.

ITechLaw is a not-for-profit organization established to inform and educate lawyers about the unique legal issues arising from the evolution, production, marketing, acquisition and use of information and communications technology. We provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and in-depth examination of information technology and telecommunications law issues.

The Mission of LEITSC is to foster the growth of strategic planning and implementation of integrated justice systems. Together, participants from these organizations represent the voice of law enforcement as a whole on information technology standard issues.

What is Information Law? We see it as an obvious convergence of intellectual property doctrine, communications regulation, First Amendment norms, and new technology. As information becomes the most precious commodity of the 21st century, the law surrounding it will have to evolve. That’s what we want to talk and think about here — along with various related and not-so-related threads (“information” covers a lot of ground!).

The International Journal of Law and Information Technology provides cutting edge and comprehensive analysis of Information Technology, communications and cyberspace law as well as the issues arising from applying Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to legal practice. International in scope, this journal has become essential for legal and computing professionals and legal scholars of the law related to IT.

The John Marshall Journal of Computer & Information Law is an international law review dedicated to current issues in information technology and privacy law. As one of the first of its kind, the Journal fills a unique niche among legal academic publications, addressing cutting-edge topics with input from scholars around the world.

First in its field, the Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal strives to keep judges, policymakers, practitioners and the academic community abreast of the dynamic legal issues arising from society's interaction with computers and emerging technologies. Rutgers law students founded the Journal in 1969, far in advance of the ubiquity of computers and networking technology. Since its inception, the Journal has maintained a tradition of excellence and has designed each issue to foster critical discourse on the technological breakthroughs impacting the legal landscape. The Journal's success is reflected in a subscription base of about four hundred national and international subscribers, as well as in its citation in numerous texts, articles and judicial opinions, including those of the United States Supreme Court.

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Science and Technology including: biotechnology, chemical law, computer and software, data protection, information technology, internet law, research and development, telecommunications law.