SSRN Home Search and Download Papers Browse Abstract and Paper Submission Subscribe to Networks View Briefcase Top Papers Top Authors Top Institutions

 

Abstract

 


 


Download | Share | Email | Add to Briefcase | Buy Hard Copy

Federal Search Commission? Access, Fairness and Accountability in the Law of Search

Frank A. Pasquale III
Seton Hall University - School of Law; Yale Law School

Oren Bracha
University of Texas at Austin - School of Law



Cornell Law Review, September 2008
U of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 123
Seton Hall Public Law Research Paper No. 1002453

Abstract:     
Should search engines be subject to the types of regulation now applied to personal data collectors, cable networks, or phone books? In this article, we make the case for some regulation of the ability of search engines to manipulate and structure their results. We demonstrate that the First Amendment, properly understood, does not prohibit such regulation. Nor will such interventions inevitably lead to the disclosure of important trade secrets.

After setting forth normative foundations for evaluating search engine manipulation, we explain how neither market discipline nor technological advance is likely to stop it. Though savvy users and personalized search may constrain abusive companies to some extent, they have little chance of checking untoward behavior by the oligopolists who now dominate the search market. Against the trend of courts that would declare search results unregulable speech, this article makes a case for an ongoing conversation on search engine regulation.

Keywords: Google, search engine, privacy, defamation, internet, public utility

JEL Classifications: A10, Z10, H23, D43, D62, D83, K20, K21, K23, 034

Accepted Paper Series

Date posted: July 26, 2007 ; Last revised: February 05, 2009

Suggested Citation

Pasquale, Frank A. and Bracha, Oren, Federal Search Commission? Access, Fairness and Accountability in the Law of Search. Cornell Law Review, September 2008; U of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 123; Seton Hall Public Law Research Paper No. 1002453. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1002453


Export to: Export Citation What's this?

Contact Information

Frank A. Pasquale III (Contact Author)
Seton Hall University - School of Law ( email )
One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102-5210
United States
Yale Law School ( email )
New Haven, CT 06520
United States
HOME PAGE: http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/FPasquale.htm
Oren Bracha
University of Texas at Austin - School of Law ( email )
727 East Dean Keeton Street
Austin, TX 78705
United States
Feedback to SSRN (Beta)


Paper statistics
Abstract Views: 3,362
Downloads: 480
Download Rank: 15,048

© 2009 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use  Privacy Policy
This page was served by apollo2 in 0.125 seconds.