CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—It seemed like a sure thing. Working on weekends in a cramped fraternity room, four friends at MIT built a computer program that would give websites a new way to make money without online ads.
Not so fast.
New Jersey’s attorney general alleged the software had been used to hijack computers. Progress halted while authorities investigated. After more than a year, the inquiry ended and none of the students was charged with a crime. But by then, this past May, another company had already picked up on a similar idea.
The case reminded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that, on a campus where students are encouraged to tinker and to turn their ideas into businesses, students had largely been left to navigate legal obstacles alone. Now, following a trend at colleges nationwide, MIT is partnering with Boston University’s law school to open a free legal clinic for campus entrepreneurs.
“There is this increasing interest among our students to engage in innovation and entrepreneurial activities,” said Cynthia Barnhart, the chancellor of MIT and an engineering professor at the school of 11,000. “MIT students needed exactly these kinds of services.”
Run by BU law students, the clinic helps get protection for their intellectual property, work with investors, and avoid legal pitfalls.
Next year, MIT is opening a second law clinic on Internet law, also in response to Tidbit, the project that was investigated by New Jersey. MIT drew scrutiny when it steered the students elsewhere for legal help, and a nonprofit ultimately represented them.
