Victorian Internet Revisited

Okay, I want to take everyone on a trip down memory lane. Remember when we first started. We learned all about the history of telecommunications and how when telegraphs and later phones came into use, a whole new set of laws had to be developed. We talked about how this would need to happen with regard to the current Internet.

Today I attended a law conference and a Principal's conference (that's the kind of thing we do during the summer). I though you might be interested in some of the more recent legal developments.

With regard to cell phones:
States and some cities have really taken different approaches. New York and Detroit both have by law banned cell phones from school campuses. Having a cell phone at school is a chargeable offence. As a result, a new cottage industry has cropped up. Businesses near school as installing "Cell Phone Lockers" for students to store phones. Several states have adopted something similar to Spotsy's model of don't show / don't turn on, a sort of twist on don't ask don't tell, but it works the same way (sometimes). As long as we don't know you have a phone, you can keep it.

Some schools are installing cell phone detectors of jammers (illegal in VA).

In some cases, administrators are searching phones for evidence of cheating, photos etc. The ACLU is openly seeking a case to go after the issue by suing a principal. The claim is that school officials do not have the right to search private phone records.

One state, Florida, has taken a very different approach. By law, phones are permitted on school grounds. Schools cannot create rules banning phones.

As for Web pages: While students cannot be disciplined at school in most cases (it's got to be really bad and disruptive), several teachers have sued students and be awarded damages from the students for cruel or libellous statements. A few administrators have been sued for taking improper disciplinary action.

IPODS,
Duke has been providing IPODs to incoming students for the past three years to see how the devices can be used to support education. Professors are encouraged to podcast lectures.

Data Storage:
There is a web site, Turnitin.com that will store and check papers to make sure they are not reused by students. Two students from McLean (and two from Arizona) copyrighted their papers prior to turning them in and are suing the owners of Turnit.com for copyright infringement - sort of along the lines of the Google book storage issue.

We'll have to wait to See how much of this shakes out, but it is interesting to watch.