Busy Semester for Berkman Clinical Program
The Berkman Center's Clinical Program in Cyberlaw wrapped up another busy semester last week. Among the major projects completed by students enrolled in the Program was an amici curiae brief on behalf of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the American Prosecutors Research Insitute with the Massachusetts state Appeals Court. The brief was filed in an appeal, which likely will be heard directly by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, brought by a person convicted of fraud and other charges in part based on evidence found on computers seized pursuant to a search warrant. The amici brief urges the court not to accept the defendant's argument that a Massachusetts statute, which requires search warrants to be executed within seven days of issuance, should be extended to require that all forensic review and analysis of the contents of seized computers also be completed in that seven day period. Prepared in large part by Berkman Clinical students Melinda Gordon and Rita Lomio, the brief gives the court a detailed background of the technological and practical reasons why such a rule would have devastating consequences for the investigation of child pornography and other online child exploitation cases. The brief also explains why computer users' privacy rights would not be enhanced by extending the seven-day rule.
The Clinical Program in Cyberlaw provides second- and third-year Harvard Law School students a variety of real-world cases and other legal work for real clients to enhance their classroom learning and their preparation for high-tech practice. The clinic handles a range of matters including litigation, client counseling, advocacy, legislation, transactional and research and writing projects. The work focuses on cutting-edge issues of law and the Internet, new technology, and intellectual property. Other significant projects and clients this semester included reviewing licenses and helping prepare a podcast legal guide for Creative Commons, advising a client regarding the Massachusetts' Information Technology Division's recently announced OpenDoc initiative, drafting releases and licenses for a major museum and a local nonprofit group to use for content they intend to distribute via podcast, and drafting an international license for use by a nonprofit organization that digitizes and distributes materials to visually handicapped users.
For more information on the Clinical Program, or to determine if the Clinic might be able to assist with a particular high-tech legal issue, visit http://cyber.harvard.edu/home/clinical.
The Clinical Program in Cyberlaw provides second- and third-year Harvard Law School students a variety of real-world cases and other legal work for real clients to enhance their classroom learning and their preparation for high-tech practice. The clinic handles a range of matters including litigation, client counseling, advocacy, legislation, transactional and research and writing projects. The work focuses on cutting-edge issues of law and the Internet, new technology, and intellectual property. Other significant projects and clients this semester included reviewing licenses and helping prepare a podcast legal guide for Creative Commons, advising a client regarding the Massachusetts' Information Technology Division's recently announced OpenDoc initiative, drafting releases and licenses for a major museum and a local nonprofit group to use for content they intend to distribute via podcast, and drafting an international license for use by a nonprofit organization that digitizes and distributes materials to visually handicapped users.
For more information on the Clinical Program, or to determine if the Clinic might be able to assist with a particular high-tech legal issue, visit http://cyber.harvard.edu/home/clinical.