Copyright 2001 The Chronicle Publishing Co.  
The San Francisco Chronicle
JANUARY 13, 2001, SATURDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. D1

LENGTH: 455 words

HEADLINE: Rights Advocate Starts Stanford Tech Law Center

SOURCE: Chronicle Staff Writer

BYLINE: Carrie Kirby

BODY:
One of the premier advocates for civil liberties on the Internet has started a center on technology litigation at Stanford Law School.

Lawrence Lessig, who once headed a similar center at Harvard Law School, will direct the new Center for Internet and Society. The center is starting a law clinic this semester in which six students will take on Internet law cases ranging from freedom of online speech to Native Americans' rights to bandwidth.

"The general focus of the center is to think about the relationship between the architecture of cyberspace, civil liberties and innovation," Lessig said.

For instance, the center may research the issue of open access to cable lines that carry broadband Internet content. The issue is controversial because corporations that own cable lines have sought to prevent rival companies from sending Internet content through them. Lessig believes that the Internet pipeline should be, like telephone lines, available to all. The center does not issue a degree or certificate. Some law students who participate in the clinic may go on to practice Internet law exclusively, while others will move into other areas, Lessig said.

Lessig entered the national spotlight when he advised U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson on the Microsoft antitrust trial. The professor also was critical of the recording and film industries' efforts to limit Internet distribution of copyrighted works. His recent book, "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace," discusses the need for safeguarding liberty and privacy on the Internet.

Stanford Law School is one of a small but growing group of institutions nationwide to focus on the legal issues raised by new technology. Harvard has the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the University of California at Berkeley has the 5-year-old Center for Law and Technology. The University of Washington started its Center for Law, Commerce and Technology in 1999.

UC Berkeley's center is starting a student clinic this semester, in which 10 to 12 students will take on public-interest Internet cases, said Pamela Samuelson, one of the center's directors.

"I think it's wonderful to have Larry Lessig here," said Samuelson, adding the two centers might cooperate on some issues.

Jennifer S. Granick, the Stanford center's clinical director, is a San Francisco criminal defense lawyer who has defended people accused of hacking crimes and other computer-related offenses.

Granick was excited about the opportunity to devote herself to Internet issues full time. "It's a really important thing to do, because there's no rich powerful lobbying group for public interest Internet law," she said.E-mail Carrie Kirby at ckirby@sfchronicle.com.

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2001