Law Commons^™

3d Printing And Healthcare: Will Laws, Lawyers, And Companies Stand In The Way Of Patient Care?, Evan R. Youngstrom

Evan R. Youngstrom

Today, our society is on a precipice of significant advancement in healthcare because 3D printing will usher in the next generation of medicine. The next generation will be driven by customization, which will allow doctors to replace limbs and individualize drugs. However, the next generation will be without large pharmaceutical companies and their justifications for strong intellectual property rights. However, the current patent system (which is underpinned by a social tradeoff made from property incentives) is not flexible enough to cope with 3D printing’s rapid development. Very soon, the social tradeoff will no longer benefit society, so it must be …

New Kids On The Blockchain: How Bitcoin's Technology Could Reinvent The Stock Market, Larissa Lee

Larissa Lee

Bitcoin is the first and most successful digital currency in the world. It is polarized in the news almost daily, with either glowing reviews of the many benefits of an alternative and international currency, or doomsday predictions of anarchy, deflation, and another tulip bubble.This Article focuses on the truly innovative aspect of Bitcoin—and that which has gone mostly unnoticed since its inception—the technological platform used to transfer Bitcoin from one party to another. This technology is called the Blockchain. The Blockchain eschews a bank or other middleman and allows parties to transfer funds directly to one another, using a peer-to-peer …

Bridging The Gap Between Intent And Status: A New Framework For Modern Parentage, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

The last few decades have witnessed dramatic changes in the conceptualization and methodologies of determining legal parentage in the U.S. and other countries in the western world. Through various sociological shifts, growing social openness and bio-medical innovations, the traditional definitions of family and parenthood have been dramatically transformed. This transformation has led to an acute and urgent need for legal and social frameworks to regulate the process of determining legal parentage. Moreover, instead of progressing in a piecemeal, ad-hoc manner, the framework for determining legal parentage should be comprehensive. Only a comprehensive solution will address the differing needs of today’s …

From Baby M To Baby M(Anji): Regulating International Surrogacy Agreements, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

In 1985, when Kim Cotton became Britain’s first commercial surrogate mother, Europe was exposed to the issue of surrogacy for the first time on a large scale. Three years later, in 1988, the famous case of Baby M drew the attention of the American public to surrogacy as well. These two cases implicated fundamental ethical and legal issues regarding domestic surrogacy and triggered a fierce debate about motherhood, child-bearing, and the relationship between procreation, science and commerce. These two cases exemplified the debate regarding domestic surrogacy - a debate that has now been raging for decades. Contrary to the well-known …

Just Cause Discipline For Social Networking In The New Gilded Age: Will The Law Look The Other Way?, William A. Herbert, Alicia Mcnally

William A. Herbert

Can Dna Be Speech?, Jorge R. Roig

Jorge R Roig

Internet Governance Is Our Shared Responsibility, Vinton Cerf, Patrick Ryan, Max Senges

Patrick T. Ryan

This essay looks at the the different roles that institutions play in the Internet governance ecosystem. We propose a model for thinking of Internet governance within the context of the layered model of the Internet. We use the example of the negotiations in Dubai in 2102 at the World Conference on International Telecommunications to show why it is important for different institutions within the governance system to focus on their areas of expertise (e.g., the ITU, ICANN, and IGF). Several areas of conflict are reviewed, such as the desire to promote more broadband infrastructure (a topic that is in the …

Admissibility Of Scientific Evidence Under Daubert: The Fatal Flaws Of ‘Falsifiability’ And ‘Falsification’, Barbara P. Billauer Esq

barbara p billauer esq

Abstract: The Daubert mantra demands that judges, acting as gatekeepers, prevent para, pseudo or ‘bad’ science from infiltrating the courtroom. To do so, the Judges must first determine what “science” is? And then, what ‘good science’ is? It is submitted that Daubert is seriously polluted with the notions of Karl Popper who sets ‘falsifiability’ and ‘falsification’ as the demarcation line for that determination. This inapt philosophy has intractably infected case law, leading to bad decisions immortalized as stare decisis. Among other problems, is the intolerance of Popper’s system for multiple causation, a key component of toxic- torts. Thus, the primary …

Gandhi’S Prophecy: Corporate Violence And A Mindful Law For Bhopal, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

AbstractOver thirty years have passed since the Bhopal chemical disaster began,and in that time scholars of corporate social responsibility (CSR) havediscussed and debated several frameworks for improving corporate responseto social and environmental problems. However, CSR discourse rarelydelves into the fundamental architecture of legal thought that oftenbuttresses corporate dominance in the global economy. Moreover, CSRdiscourse does little to challenge the ontological and epistemologicalassumptions that form the foundation for modern economics and the role ofcorporations in the world.I explore methods of transforming CSR by employing the thought ofMohandas Gandhi. I pay particular attention to Gandhi’s critique ofindustrialization and principle of swadeshi (self-sufficiency) …

One Centimeter Over My Back Yard: Where Does Federal Preemption Of State Drone Regulation Start? (With Albert J. Plawinski", Henry H. Perritt Jr.

Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

Some Key Things Entrepreneurs Need To Know About The Law And Lawyers, Lawrence J. Trautman, Anthony Luppino, Malika S. Simmons

Lawrence J. Trautman Sr.

New business formation is a powerful economic engine that creates jobs. Diverse legal issues are encountered as a start-up entity approaches formation, initial capitalization and fundraising, arrangements with employees and independent contractors, and relationships with other third parties. The endeavors of a typical start-up in the United States will likely implicate many of the following areas of law: intellectual property; business organizations; tax laws; employment and labor laws; securities regulation; contracts and licensing agreements; commercial sales; debtor-creditor relations; real estate law; health and safety laws/codes; permits and licenses; environmental protection; industry specific regulatory laws and approval processes; tort/personal injury, products …

Future Strategies For Improving Consent In Electronic Contracting, Ran Bi

Ran Bi

China's economy has been running deep into an exciting phrase called “Internet +”. In North America, most businesses have online presence and conduct numerous transactions online. Unprecedentedly, electronic contracts have been governing more Individuals and corporations’ legal relationships in a growing proportion of businesses and everyday life.

E-contracts, usually with no physical architecture, are easy to “sign”—people just click one or two icons on a computer / smartphone screen after “reading” (scroll down) the contents. However, e-contracts are standard form contracts which are provided by vendors . Users are easy to become victims of exploitative terms, because their consent has …

Users' Patronage: The Return Of The Gift In The "Crowd Society", Giancarlo F. Frosio

Giancarlo Francesco Frosio

In this work, I discuss the tension between gift and market economy throughout the history of creativity. For millennia, the production of creative artifacts has lain at the intersection between gift and market economy. From the time of Pindar and Simonides – and until the Romanticism will commence a process leading to the complete commodification of creative artifacts – market exchange models run parallel to gift exchange. From Roman amicitia to the medieval and Renaissance belief that “scientia donum dei est, unde vendi non potest,” creativity has been repeatedly construed as a gift. Again, at the time of the British …

Congressional Cybersecurity Oversight: Who’S Who And How It Works, Lawrence J. Trautman

Lawrence J. Trautman Sr.

Cybersecurity remains perhaps the greatest challenge to the economic and physical well being of governments, individuals, and business worldwide. During recent months the United States has witnessed many disruptive and expensive cyber breaches. No single U.S. governmental agency or congressional committee maintains primary responsibility for the numerous issues related to cybersecurity. Good oversight stands at the core of good government. Oversight is Congress’s way of making sure that the administration is carrying out federal law in the way Congress intended. So many aspects of cybersecurity have the potential for use by: terrorists; by foreign entities as a tool to conduct …

Future Strategies For Improving Consent In Electronic Contracting, Ran Bi

Ran Bi

China's economy has been running deep into an exciting phrase called “Internet +”. In North America, most businesses have online presence and conduct numerous transactions online. Unprecedentedly, electronic contracts have been governing more Individuals and corporations’ legal relationships in a growing proportion of businesses and everyday life.

E-contracts, usually with no physical architecture, are easy to “sign”—people just click one or two icons on a computer / smartphone screen after “reading” (scroll down) the contents. However, e-contracts are standard form contracts which are provided by vendors1. Users2 are easy to become victims of exploitative terms, because their consent has been …

Infringement As Unfair Competition: A Blueprint For Global Governance?, Sean Pager, Eric Priest

Sean Pager

INFRINGEMENT AS UNFAIR COMPETITION: A BLUEPRINT FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE?

Sean A. Pager Michigan State University College of Law

Eric Priest University of Oregon School of Law

ABSTRACT

This Article examines a new approach to address persistent regulatory failures in global supply chains. In a series of recent cases, unfair competition actions have been brought in U.S. court against foreign manufacturers who infringe software overseas under the theory that the cost savings from infringement confers an unfair advantage in U.S. markets. While this theory has been advanced in the intellectual property context, the same approach could work to target abuses in …

E-Commerce, Cyber, And Electronic Payment System Risks: Lessons From Paypal, Lawrence J. Trautman

Lawrence J. Trautman Sr.

By now, almost without exception, every business has an internet presence, and is likely engaged in e-commerce. What are the major risks perceived by those engaged in e-commerce and electronic payment systems? What potential risks, if they become reality, may cause substantial increases in operating costs or threaten the very survival of the enterprise? This article utilizes the relevant annual report disclosures from eBay (parent of PayPal), along with other eBay and PayPal documents, as a potentially powerful teaching device. Most of the descriptive language to follow is excerpted directly from eBay’s regulatory filings. My additions include weaving these materials …

The Shaky Ground Of The Right To Be Delisted, Miquel Peguera

Miquel Peguera

It has long been discussed whether individuals should have a “right to be forgotten” online to suppress old information that could seriously interfere with their privacy and data protection rights. In the landmark case of Google Spain v AEPD, the Court of Justice of the European Union addressed the particular question of whether, under EU Data Protection Law, individuals have a right to have links delisted from the list of search results, in searches made on the basis of their name. It found that they do have this right – which can be best described as a “right to be …

Visualizing Dna Proof, Nicholas L. Georgakopoulos

Nicholas L Georgakopoulos

DNA proof inherently involves the use of probability theory, which is often counterintuitive. Visual depictions of probability theory, however, can clarify the analysis and make it tractable. A DNA hit from a large database is a notoriously difficult probabi­li­ty theory issue, yet the visuals should enable courts and juries to handle it. The Puckett facts are an example of a general approach: A search in a large DNA database produces a hit for a cold crime from 1972 San Francisco. Probability theory allows us to process the probabilities that someone else in the database, someone not in the database, or …

The Privacy Dilemma In Digital Arrestee Mug Shots Under The Foia 7(C) And State And Local Policy Recommendations, Ahad Syed

Ahad Syed

This Article examines the purpose and interpretation by courts of Freedom of Information Act’s 7(C) Exemption. Specifically, the Article sets out to unravel the current federal circuit court split over Exemption 7(C) by examining its application to the digital privacy dilemma as applied to arrestee photographs, commonly known as “mug shots.” Automated data-scraping programs continuously scour the internet, reaping, replicating, and reposting photographs of arrestees who may or may not have had charges dismissed in order to shame them into paying website owners for removal. While other commentators have argued for state law penalizing pay-to-remove mug shot websites only, this …

Finding The Adequate Legal Framework For The Deployment Of Ocean Renewable Energy Through Area-Based Management, Xiao Recio-Blanco

Xiao Recio-Blanco

The world runs on electricity, but its global distribution is uneven and incomplete. The lack of access to electricity denies some people the most basic benefits, from healthcare and sanitation to security and economic development.

To increase access to electricity, most developing nations have relied on traditional sources of energy, namely fossil fuels, and the extension of a central electrical grid. Scholars and specialized International Organizations suggest that the implementation of renewable energy technologies through small-to-mid scale grid projects could be a reliable alternative. However, renewable energy technologies must overcome three formidable hurdles: low reliability, uneven availability, and the high …

Gender Biases In Cyberspace: A Two-Stage Model For A Feminist Way Forward, Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid, Amy Mittelman

Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid Professor of Law

Increasingly, there has been a focus on creating democratic standards and procedures in order to best facilitate open exchange of information and communication online—a goal that fits neatly within the feminist aim to democratize content creation and community. Collaborative websites, such as blogs, social networks, and, as focused on in this Article, Wikipedia, represent both a Cyberspace community entirely outside the strictures of the traditional (intellectual) proprietary paradigm and one that professes to truly embody the philosophy of a completely open, free, and democratic resource for all. In theory, collaborative websites are the solution that social activists, Intellectual Property opponents …

Using Occam’S Razor To Solve International Attorney-Client Privilege Choice Of Law Issues: An Old Solution To A New Problem, Nathan M. Crystal, Francesca Giannoni-Crystal

Nathan M. Crystal

The practice of law is increasingly becoming “delocalized.” Globalization and the use of technology are two important factors in this fundamental change in practice. Delocalization is affecting almost all areas of practice, including issues involving attorney-client privilege (ACP). To some extent the choice-of-law rules governing ACP are also – like other fields of the law - being “delocalized,” but in our view only partially. This paper discusses six approaches to choice of law issues governing ACP that are being used by the courts. Aside from the traditional lex loci approach (which simply applies the law of the forum to the …

The Evolution Of Internet Service Providers From Partners To Adversaries: Tracking Shifts In Interconnection Goals And Strategies In The Internet’S Fifth Generation, Rob Frieden

Rob Frieden

At the Internet’s inception, carriers providing the bit switching and transmission function largely embraced expanding connections and users as a primary service goal. These ventures refrained from metering traffic and charging for carriage based on the assumption that traffic volumes roughly matched, or that traffic measurement was not worth the bother in light of external funding from government grants. Most Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) bartered network access through a process known as peering in lieu of metering traffic and billing for network use. As governments removed subsidies and commercial carriers invested substantial funds to build larger and faster networks, identifying …

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Questions And A Few Suggestions On How The Fcc Can Lawfully Regulate Internet Access, Rob Frieden

Rob Frieden

This paper will examine the FCC’s March, 2015 Open Internet Order with an eye to assessing whether and how the Commission can successfully defend its decision in an appellate court. On two prior occasions, the FCC failed to convince a reviewing court that proposed regulatory safeguards do not unlawfully impose common carrier duties on private carriers. The Commission now has opted to reclassify broadband Internet access as common carriage, a decision sure to trigger a third court appeal. The FCC Open Internet Order offers several, possibly contradictory, justifications for its decision to apply Title II of the Communications Act, subject …

Toward A New Language Of Legal Drafting, Matthew Roach

Matthew Roach

Lawyers should write in document markup language just like web developers, digital publishers, scientists, and almost everyone else.

Cybercrime: A Saudi And American Perspective, Hussam M. Alkanbashi

Hussam M. Alkanbashi

Cybercrime is one of the greatest threats facing the International community. Defined as criminal activity perpetrated using computers and the internet, cybercrime has developed into a trillion dollar a year industry, affecting millions of people around the world, as well as countless businesses and the governments of every nation. With nearly 431 million victims projected in 2015, cyber related crime is one of if not the most frequent, costly and pervasive crimes worldwide. This article examines and assesses the effectiveness of Saudi and American Cyber Laws in deterring the growing global threats posed by cybercrime. The article studies cyber identity …

Network Neutrality And Consumer Demand For “Better Than Best Efforts” Traffic Management, Rob Frieden

Rob Frieden

This paper assesses whether and how ISPs can offer quality of service enhancements, at premium prices for full motion video, while still complying with the new rules and regulations established by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) in March, 2015. The paper explains that having made the controversial decision to reclassify all forms of Internet access as a telecommunications service, the FCC increases regulatory uncertainty. In particular, the FCC has failed to identify instances where “retail ISPs,” serving residential broadband subscribers, can offer quality of service enhancements that serve real consumer wants without harming competition and the ability of most content …

Welcome To The Machine: Privacy And Workplace Implications Of Predictive Analytics, Robert Sprague

Robert Sprague

Ninth Circuit Nine-Plus -- Settling The Law In Internet Keyword Advertising And Trademark Use, Andrew Leahey

Andrew Leahey

No abstract provided.