2 3 yale law report summer 2008 news in brief Yale Information Society Project Ten Successful Years and Going Strong The Information Society Project Among its many stellar accomplish- “Here, they can engage in supervised aca- at Yale Law School celebrates ments over the past decade, the ISP has: demic research and writing, co-author pub- its tenth anniversary this year, lished works with faculty and fellows, and a decade marked by rapid produced academic scholars, activists, present their work at conferences.” growth, innovation, and out- lawyers, and entrepreneurs who are In addition, said DeNardis, students can standing accomplishments. addressing leading issues in law and take part in reading groups, an Access to technology around the globe. Knowledge practicum, a Harvard-Yale-MIT contributed to the development of the Cyberscholar working group, and a weekly IT was 1997 when Jack Balkin, Knight Access to Knowledge (A2K) movement, speaker series featuring prominent schol- Professor of Constitutional Law and the which aims to build an intellectual ars and practitioners. First Amendment, founded the ISP, a venue framework that will protect access to “Overall, the Information Society in which young scholars and activists knowledge both as the basis for sustain- Project provides the Law School with a could explore the impact of the Internet able human development and to safe- strong law and technology presence,” and new information technologies on guard human rights. With a grant from added DeNardis, “and it enhances Yale’s law and society. Since then, the ISP has the MacArthur Foundation, the ISP is global reputation through its Access to grown into one of the world’s leading intellectual centers, where ISP faculty, “(ISP) ... quickly found its voice, its audience, and its theme: the right of postdoctoral fellows, and law students access to knowledge as a keystone entitlement in an information age.” engage in activities that promote global access to knowledge and support democratic values online. piloting a series of studies to measure Knowledge activism and advocacy for civil “I started the ISP to create a community the status and challenges to access to liberties online.” at Yale for people interested in every aspect knowledge in various regions of the To commemorate its tenth anniversary, of law and technology,” said Balkin. world. the ISP will host its third annual Access to “Dozens of brilliant students and scholars produced white papers, law journal arti- Knowledge conference (A2K3) in Geneva, have become part of the ISP family, work- cles, and edited volumes such as Switzerland, September 8–10. The confer- ing on everything from biotechnology Cybercrime: Digital Cops in a Networked ence will bring together hundreds of deci- to cyberdemocracy. We’ve ranged from the Environment and The State of Play: sion-makers and experts on global knowl- politics of virtual worlds to the politics of Laws, Games, and Virtual Worlds. edge to discuss the urgent need for policy global intellectual property and the gap hosted numerous interdisciplinary con- reforms. At the conference, the ISP plans to between rich and poor countries.” ferences addressing cutting-edge law launch a major new research initiative “The Information Society Project was and technology topics such as Access to called A2K Global Academy. founded in the early days of the Internet,” Knowledge, Regulating Search, Other research being undertaken by the said Dean Harold Hongju Koh, “but quickly Cybercrime, Reputation Economies in center will focus on Civil Liberties Online; found its voice, its audience, and its theme: Cyberspace, the Global Flow of Digital Education; Access to Knowledge as the right of access to knowledge as a Information, and Open Standards. a Human Right; Intellectual Property keystone entitlement in an information Reform and Innovation Policy; and Law, age. The strongest measure of ISP’s “The Yale ISP provides a home for stu- Genomics, and eHealth. influence is its pervasive presence in the dents interested in technology and law,” virtual world.” said ISP Executive Director Laura DeNardis. http://www.law.yale.edu/isp 4 5 yale law report summer 2008 news in brief the environment Yale Center for Environmental Law & Appointments Policy Releases 2008 Environmental Performance Index The 2008 ENvironmental Performance Index (EPI) was released January 23 at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The index mea- sures the environmental performance of various countries based on established targets. It is produced by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy—a joint initiative of Yale Law School and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies—and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre. Tracey L. Meares was named Thomas W. Merrill, a specialist in Douglas Kysar, a visiting professor Scott J. Shapiro ’90 joined the Yale Nicholas Parrillo ’04 joins the Yale Pulitzer Prize-winning legal reporter In this latest EPI, 149 countries were ranked on 25 indica- Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of property, environmental law, admin- at Yale Law School in 2005, will Law School faculty in July as a profes- Law School faculty this year as Linda Greenhouse ’78 m s l will return tors tracked across six categories: Environmental Health, Law in December 2007. Professor istrative law, eminent domain, and become a full-time member of the sor of law and philosophy. Shapiro Associate Professor of Law. He will to Yale Law School in January 2009 as Air Pollution, Water Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, Meares is a scholar of criminal law the U.S. Supreme Court, has joined faculty in fall 2008. Kysar comes to was a visiting professor at Yale Law teach in the fields of Administrative the Knight Distinguished Journalist-in- Productive Natural Resources, and Climate Change. policy and criminal procedure whose Yale Law School as Professor of Law. the Law School from Cornell Law School from 2002 to 2003. He comes Law and American Legal History. Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Switzerland scored highest, while the United States placed work is aimed at reducing crime. She Professor Merrill served as Sidley School and the UCLA School of Law. to Yale from the University of A member of the New York bar, Senior Fellow. In that capacity, she will 39th. has been a member of the Yale Law Austin-Robert D. McLean ’70 Visiting His scholarship focuses mainly on Michigan’s Law School and philoso- Parrillo received his J.D. in 2004 from lecture, do research, offer advice on the “The ability to benchmark performance provides an School faculty since January 2007. Professor of Law at Yale Law School in environmental law and products lia- phy department, where he held a Yale Law School, followed by a clerkship new Law and Media Program, and par- important spur to lagging performers and valuable guid- Prior to joining Yale Law School, she the fall of 2007. Prior to that, he was bility. At YLS, he will teach a section of joint appointment. Prior to Michigan, with Judge Stephen F. Williams of the ticipate in various Law School activities, ance on where to look for best practices,” said Professor taught at the University of Chicago the Charles Keller Beekman Professor Torts in addition to courses on The Shapiro taught for nine years at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. including the Supreme Court Clinic. Daniel C. Esty ’86, director of the Yale Center for School of Law for twelve years. At the of Law at Columbia University. Merrill Law of Climate Change and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law He received his M.A. in American For the past three decades, Environmental Law & Policy. “Every country has something time of her appointment, Dean Koh will teach Legislation and Property at Constitutions and the Environment. and has also taught at Trinity College Studies from Yale University in 2001 Greenhouse has covered the U.S. to learn from the 2008 EPI.” noted that “Tracey Meares has estab- YLS this year. “In a few short years, Professor in Dublin, the Central European and expects to receive his Ph.D. from Supreme Court for The New York Times lished herself as one of the most Dean Koh said, “Tom Merrill is a Doug Kysar has emerged as the most University in Budapest, and Columbia Yale in 2009 for his dissertation on The and has received numerous awards for http://epi.yale.edu insightful commentators on race, scholar-lawyer of unusual breadth exciting new voice in domestic and University. His areas of specialty Rise of Non-Profit Government in journalism, including the Pulitzer in crime, and the law.” and influence. He is that rare legal international environmental law,” include jurisprudence, criminal law, America. 1998. Her biography of Justice Harry academic who leads four fields: prop- said Dean Koh. “Unlike those who pre- constitutional law and theory, and Said Dean Koh, “We are delighted to Blackmun, Becoming Justice Blackmun, erty and natural resources law, maturely proclaim the death of envi- family law. He will teach Criminal Law welcome back Nick Parrillo, an extraor- was published in 2005 and named a administrative law, environmental ronmentalism, Professor Kysar would and Administration at Yale this year. dinarily promising young legal histo- New York Times Book Review Notable law, and Supreme Court practice. In build from the bottom up, invoking Dean Koh said, “Yale Law School rian, who will join Bruce Ackerman, Bob Book. bringing Tom to Yale, we welcome principles of precaution and sustain- has had a distinguished tradition in Gordon, Owen Fiss, John Langbein, Dean Koh said, “We are thrilled to one of the very few legal scholars able development to promote a more legal philosophy and jurisprudence, Robert Post, Reva Siegel, Jim Whitman, welcome Linda Greenhouse back home who can both argue and win a broadly participatory process of envi- dating back to Wesley Newcomb and many others of our faculty who to Yale Law School, whose spirit of Supreme Court case and write a lead- ronmental lawmaking.” Hohfeld, the Realists, and Ronald comprise the deepest collection of legal humanity and excellence she embodies.