Week 6 introduces us to Internet, Social Media, and Privacy law, along with Criminal law. The chapter on Internet, Social Media, and Privacy law has a lot of deadwood in it, but there is also some interesting and pertinent information to be had. Criminal law, as we will see, is concerned with the protection of the interests of society at large from major violations of important social rules. Criminal law is not concerned with compensating victims of crime - that is the role of the tort system - but with punishing wrongdoers. Because of the imbalance of resources between the state and the defendant, numerous protections of the rights of the accused exist, and the procedure has marked differences from civil procedure.

There are two discussion board topics this week. If your last name begins with the letters A-L, your initial post will be on Question 1, and if your last name begins with the letters M-Z your initial post will be on Question 2. You will not be able to see anyone else's post until you have made your initial post. Your second post will be on the question you did not address in your initial post. Your third post will reflect your review of all posts on your initial question and will address whether that review has caused you to reconsider your position - and, if so, how your position has changed. Remember that initial posts are due by Wednesday evening, response posts are due by Friday evening, and R/R posts are due no later than 9:59 pm on Saturday!

As a general rule on the discussion board, we are looking for analysis. A student's personal opinion that is not somehow tied to our course concepts is just that - a personal opinion - and as such is entitled to little weight. You are free to express your opinion, but to obtain a good grade you need to tie your discussion to our course concepts analytically.

Question 1: Read the article "Charging 'extortion,' Tigard cell phone company sues Consumer Affairs website for $5 million". What concepts from Chapter 8 do you think the plaintiff, Consumer Cellular, can use in its lawsuit against ConsumerAffairs.com? What defenses could ConsumerAffairs.com raise against those claims? Who do you think will prevail in the lawsuit?

Question 2: A homeowner was notified by his alarm company of an intruder in his home. He raced home and spotted a man running from the home. He called 911 and told the police that he had chased the suspect but lost sight of him. The police searched for the suspect without success. A few hours later, the homeowner went looking for the suspect again, and spotted him crouched in a ditch. The homeowner shouted at the suspect to stop, but the suspect ran off toward some woods. The homeowner fired two shots at the suspect but lost him again. Two days later, a neighbor found the suspect's body in the woods, with two gunshot wounds in the back. In the deceased suspect's pockets were items of jewelry that the homeowner had reported missing two days before.

What crime, if any, do you think the suspect committed? Was the homeowner within his rights in looking for and confronting the suspect? Was he within his rights in firing at the suspect? If not, what criminal charges might be brought against him? What defenses might he raise against such charges?