Writings

What will decades as a professor of law and policy analyst get you? Publications. Lots. Including a couple of books--Your Next Government? and Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good--and papers on special jurisdictions and consent theory, copyright, free speech, prediction markets and gambling, telecommunications, other technology issues, and sundry legal topics. Nobody else has written more about the Third Amendment (the one about quartering troops). Indeed, scarcely anyone else has even noticed it.

Books

Your Next Government? From the Nation State to Stateless Nations (Cambridge University Press, 2018) Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good (Mercatus Center, 2014)

Consent Theory and Special Jurisdictions

Ulex: Open Source Law for Non-Territorial Governance, 1 J. of Special Jurisdictions 1 (2020) Special International Zones in Practice and Theory, 21 Chapman L. Rev. 273 (2018) Quietly creating freedom: Private communities and special economic zonesLearn Liberty, April 3, 2017 Special Economic Zones in the United States: From Colonial Charters, to Foreign-Trade Zones, Toward USSEZs, 64 Buffalo L. Rev. 959 (2016) (also available on BePress) What Can Corporations Teach Governments About Democratic Equality? 31 Social Philosophy & Policy 230 (2015) The Constitution as if Consent Mattered, 16 Chapman L. Rev. 269 (2013) Startup Cities with Tom W. Bell, Reason.tv, Los Angeles, CA, July 23, 2013 [PPT] Principles of Contracts for Governing Services, 21 Griffith L. Rev. 472 (2012) (invited) Seasteading, Contracts for Governing Services, and the Consensual Constitution, 2011 Students for Liberty Southern California Regional Conference, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, November 12, 2011[PPTX] White Flag, Black Flag, and In Between Libertopia, Humphrey's Half Moon Inn & Suites, San Diego, CA, Oct. 22, 2011 [PPT] Libertarian-But Non-Originalist!-Constitutionalism, 2010 Students for Liberty Southern California Regional Conference, October 23, 2010, Malibu, California Written Notes PowerPoint Presentation Graduated Consent in Contract and Tort Law: Toward a Theory of Justification, 61 Case Western L. Rev. 17 (2010) [PDF] The Scale of Consent, Chapman University School of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper Series, Paper No. 09-01 (January 2009) [PDF format] (offering a draft part of the later paper, Graduated Consent Theory, cited above) Polycentric Law in a New Century, Cato Policy Report, at 1, 10-11 (November/December 1998), reprinted in full and in PDF format at, Polycentric Law in a New Century, Policy, Autumn 1999, at 34, and offering a slightly revised and footnote-free version of, Polycentric Law in the New Millennium, which won first place in the Mont Pelerin Society's 1998 Friedrich A. Hayek Fellowship Competition. The Jurisprudence of Polycentric Law, (August 1992) (unpublished manuscript prepared for two consecutive classes taught by Prof. Richard A. Posner at the University of Chicago School of Law) (127 KB) Polycentric Law, 7 Humane Studies Rev. 1-2, 4-10 (1991/92)

Copyright

Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good (Mercatus Center, 2014) Copyrights, Privacy, and the Blockchain, 42 O.N.U. Law Rev. 439 (2016) Copyright Porn Trolls, Wasting Taxi Medallions, and the Propriety of 'Property,' 18 Chapman Law Rev. 799 (2015) (invited) (This paper won the Federalist Society's 2014 "Intellectual Property and Free Enterprise" competition and was subject of a panel discussion at a Federalist Society colloquium in November 2014.) Five Reforms for Copyright, in Copyright Unbalanced: From Incentive to Excess 109 (Jerry Brito, ed., Mercatus Center 2012) Pirates in the Family Room: How Performances from Abroad, to U.S. Consumers, Might Evade Copyright Law, 18 Southwestern J. Int'l L. 253 (2011) (invited) Outgrowing Copyright: The Effect of Market Size on Copyright Policy, (draft v. 2008.03.07) [PDF format] The Future of Copyright, Cato Unbound, June, 2008 (online debate comprising an initial essay by each participant and subsequent written exchanges) The Specter of Copyism v. Blockheaded Authors: How User-Generated Content Affects Copyright Policy, 10 Vanderbilt J. Ent. & Tech. L. 841 (2008) (invited) (draft v. 2008.01.30) [PDF format] Copyright as Intellectual Property Privilege, 58 Syracuse L. Rev. 523 (2007) (invited) Codifying Copyright's Misuse Defense, 2007 Utah L. Rev. 573 (2007) (invited) [PDF format] Prediction Markets for Promoting the Progress of Science and the Useful Arts, 14 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 37 (2006) [PDF format] Misunderestimating Dastar: How the Supreme Court Unwittingly Revolutionized Copyright Preemption, 65 Maryland L. Rev. 206 (2006) Life, Liberty, and Intellectual Property, 2006 U. Ill. J.L. Tech. & Pol'y 92 (transcript of debate with Prof. Adam Mossoff) Authors' Welfare: Copyright as a Statutory Mechanism for Redistributing Rights, 69 Brooklyn L. Rev. 229 (2006) Abstract Paper [PDF format] Indelicate Imbalancing in Copyright and Patent Law, in Copy Fights: The Future of Intellectual Property in the Information Age at 1 (Adam Thierer & Wayne Crews, eds 2002) Published Paper (1.3 MB) [PDF format] reprinted as Copy Fighting, Tech Central Station, August 5, 2002, at ¤ Intellectual Property The Great Debate on Intellectual Property, Cato Policy Report, January/February 2002, at 8 (excerpts from remarks made at Fifth Annual Technology & Society Conference: The Future of Intellectual Property in the Information Age, Cato Institute & Forbes ASAP, Washington, DC, November 14, 2001) [PDF format] Escape from Copyright: Market Success vs. Statutory Failure in the Protection of Expressive Works, 69 U. Cin. L. Rev. 741 (2001) Abstract Copyright Term Chart Full Text [PDF] Fair Use vs. Fared Use: The Impact of Automated Rights Management on Copyright's Fair Use Doctrine, 76 N. Carolina L. Rev. 557 (1998) Abstract Full text (250 KB) Intellectual Property and the New Economy, A Presentation in the Mercatus Center's New Economy Breakfast Series, Washington, DC, January 12, 2001 [PPT format] Cracking the Copyright Lock: A Debate about Implementing the WIPO Treaty, Introductory Comments at a Cato Institute Policy Forum, Washington, DC, May 14, 1998

Free Speech

Treason, Technology, and Freedom of Expression, 37 Ariz. St. L. J. 999 (2005) [PDF format] Free Speech, Strict Scrutiny, and Self-Help: How Technology Upgrades Constitutional Jurisprudence, 87 U. Minn. L. Rev. 743 (2003) Abstract Full Text [PDF format] One-Click Treason, Tech Central Station, July 24, 2003, at ¤ Terrorism Internet Privacy and Self-Regulation: Lessons from the Porn Wars (Cato Institute, Policy Briefing # 65, 2001) For an exchange triggered by the paper, see CDT defends regulatory approach to privacy; Cato author replies, Politech, August 14, 2001. For an earlier version of the paper, see Pornography, Privacy, and Digital Self-Help, 19 John Marshall J. Comp. & Info. L. 133 (2000). Abstract Draft (MS Word, 112 KB)

Prediction Markets and Gambling

Government Prediction Markets: Why, Who, and How, 116 Penn. St. L. Rev. 403 (2011) Commentary on Predicting Crime, 52 Ariz. L. Rev. 65 (2010) [PDF format] Private Prediction Markets and the Law, 3 J. Prediction Markets 89 (2009) [PDF format] Joint Comment on CFTC Concept Release on the Appropriate Regulatory Treatment of Event Contracts, July 6, 2008 (response to request for comments co-signed by 19 academics, professional traders, and laypeople) [PDF format] Private Prediction Markets' Legality Under U.S. Law, Conference on Corporate Applications of Prediction/Information Markets, University of Kansas Business School and Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, MO (November 1, 2007) (presentation) [PPT format] Prediction Markets for Promoting the Progress of Science and the Useful Arts, 14 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 37 (2006) [PDF format] Gambling for the Good, Trading for the Future: The Legality of Markets in Science Claims, 5 Chapman L. Rev. 159 (2002) [PDF format] Online-Gambling Foes Lose a Hand, Cato Commentary, July 22, 2000; republished in Orange County Register, July 30, 2000, at Commentary 2, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Oct. 24, 2000, at 6, and Lottery Insights, November 2000, at 26. Gambler's Web,Reason, October, 1999, at 25 That article prompted a sharp exchange between Senator Kyl and me, which ran as letters to the editor in a subsequent issue of Reason. The article was republished in slightly edited form in CyberEthics at 140-43 (Terry Halbert & Elaine Ingulli, eds. 2001). Internet Gambling: Popular, Inexorable, and (Eventually) Legal (Cato Institute, Policy Analysis # 336, 1999) The Urge To Regulate The Internet Strikes Again, Bridge News Service, March 24, 1999 Interview of Prof. Tom W. Bell, Casino Wire, March, 1999 Internet Gambling: Prohibition v. Legalization, Testimony Before the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, Chicago, IL, May 21, 1998 Prepared Testimony, in PDF or HTML format Transcript of Actual Testimony (including disclosure of my own little gambling conspiracy) Transcript of Q & A Session (including, "COMMISSIONER DOBSON: For what it's worth, of all the people who have testified before us, I think I disagree most strongly with you, sir. MR. BELL: Thank you.") Internet Gambling: Impossible to Stop, Wrong to Outlaw, Regulation, Vol. 21, No. 1, 1998, at 16 [PDF format; scroll down to p. 16] Internet Gambling Ban Faces Losing Odds The Times Union (Albany, NY), January 6, 1998, at A7

Telecommunications

The Impact of Blogging on the Practice of Law: Hit the Snooze Button, 11 Nexus 75 (2006) [PDF format] The Common Law in Cyberspace, 97 Mich. L. Rev. 1746 (1999) (reviewing Peter Huber, Law and Disorder in Cyberspace (1997)) Abstract Text as published [PDF format] (7 MB) Outline and text with internal links [HTML format] (113 KB) Regulators' Revenge (Tom W. Bell & Solveig Singleton, eds., 1998) Tom W. Bell & Solveig Singleton, Introduction. Order a copy of the book here.

Other Law and Technology Issues

Copyright, The First Amendment, and Unoriginal Speech, Keynote presentation at "Censorship At Every Turn," a Liberty Tree Program and Cal. State, Fullerton Comm Week Special Event, Friday, April 30, 2010, Fullerton, California Op-Ed: White-Hat Terrorism, Tech Central Station, November 7, 2003, at ¤ Terrorism Op-Ed: Bomb Iraq! with Ballots, Tech Central Station, October 4, 2002, at ¤ Iraq [alternate source] Virtual Trade Dress: A Very Real Problem, 56 Maryland L. Rev. 382 (1997) (winner of the 1998 Ladas Memorial Award) Abstract Full text (200 KB) Software makes doing your taxes TOO easy, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 14, 2002, at E4; also ran as Cracking the Tax Code, Daily Commentary, April 15, 2002 (Cato Institute) All's Not Fair in Internet Tax Wars, L.A. Daily Journal, February 1, 2001, at 6 New Federal Law Enables E-Commerce, Orange County Lawyer, December, 2000, at 25 Book Review: Online Law: The SPA's Legal Guide to Doing Business on the Internet (Thomas J. Smedinghoff ed., 1996), 3 Rich. J. L. & Tech. 1 (1997) Book Review: Henry H. Perritt, Law and the Information Superhighway (1996), 28 J. Maritime Law & Commerce 185 (1997) Usenet Death Penalty Coalition PICS a Fight with Spam,Telecom. & Elect. Media News, Fall 1997, at 1, 4 Pork-Barrel Invades the Internet,This Just In, December 22, 1997. Digital Oral Culture, 4.06 Wired 121 (1996) Forward to the Past! The Rise of a Digital-Oral Culture Anonymous Speech, 3.10 Wired 80 (1995) Opinion: The Internet: Heavily Regulated by No One in Particular Critique: The Problem with 'Cyber-' (and Some Fixes)

The Third Amendment

Unconstitutional Quartering, Governmental Immunity, and Van Halen's Brown M&M Test, 82 Tenn. Law Rev. 497 (2015) (invited) "Property" in the Constitution: The View from the Third Amendment, 20 William & Mary Bill of Rights J. 1243 (2012) (invited) The Third Amendment, in The Constitution and Its Amendments (Roger K. Newman ed., 1998) The Third Amendment: Forgotten But Not Gone, 2 Wm. & Mary Bill of Rights J. 117 (1993) (175 KB)

Various Other Legal Issues

I've spoken at many events held by the Institute for Humane Studies. The Origins and Nature of Law, IHS Liberty & Society Seminar, Chapman University, July 13, 2013 [PPT] Writing, Reading, and Respecting a Constitution, IHS Liberty & Society Seminar, Chapman University, July 15, 2013 [PPT] Copyrights, Property, and Freedom, IHS Liberty & Society Seminar, Chapman University, June 20, 2012 [PPT] Living Lives that Respect Liberty, IHS Liberty & Society Seminar, Chapman University, July 18, 2013 [PPT] Choosing a Specialization, in Law School and Beyond 21 (John Moser ed., 1999) [PDF format] Comment, Limits on the Privity and Assignment of Legal Malpractice Claims, 59 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1533 (1992) (100 KB)

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