Digital Commons Network^™

Interpreting The Ambiguities Of Section 230, Alan Rozenshtein

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As evidenced by the confusion expressed by multiple Justices in last Term’s Gonzalez v. Google, there is little consensus as to the scope of Section 230, the law that broadly immunizes internet platforms from liability for third-party content. This is particularly striking given that no statute has had a bigger impact on the internet than Section 230, often called the “Magna Carta of the internet.”

In this essay I argue that Section 230, despite its simple-seeming language, is a deeply ambiguous statute. This ambiguity stems from a repeated series of errors committed by Congress, the lower courts, and the Supreme …

"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility": Improving Your Feedback And Hallmarks Of Effective Feedback, Randall Ryder

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Effective feedback can change a law student’s trajectory in law school and beyond. The feedback-centric nature of experiential learning courses allows law students to both develop their skills and personal lawyering style. However, many experiential instructors are from a different generation, with different expectations and communication styles than today’s law students. This article highlights hallmarks of effective feedback for the modern law school classroom. As the field of law continues to evolve, law schools will need to as well.

This article discusses four key hallmarks: (1) provide feedback in multiple formats,(2) help each student develop their personal style, (3) explain …

Platform Unions, Charlotte Garden

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How should we regulate social media platforms to prevent harmful treatment of users? Regulators, advocates, and scholars have grappled with this problem for years. Many proposed solutions, ranging from improving privacy disclosures, to promoting competition between platforms, to requiring platforms to pay users for their data, are at best incomplete.

This Article begins from the premise that platform problems are collective problems and proposes a collective solution: empowering users to organize platform unions. Much like labor unions give employees a say in in their working conditions even when they lack individual bargaining power, platform unions would facilitate collective bargaining over …

Second, But Not Last: Competition With Positive Spillovers, Francesco Parisi

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This paper extends the traditional rent-seeking model to consider contests in which the effects of the contestants’ efforts are externally unproductive (i.e., redistributive) but internally productive (i.e., with positive spillover effects on other contestants). Our results show that when players act sequentially, the presence of positive spillovers on other contestants may reduce, or even reverse, the first-mover’s advantage. A second-mover advantage is very likely to arise. Notably, in contests with multiple players, the second-mover advantage does not unravel into a last-mover advantage. Players want to be second, but not last. The comparative statics analysis shows how the strength of positive …

Making Law Practice Technology More Simulation-Based, Jacob Sayward

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Law and Technology Legal Technology Law Practice Technology Technology Competency Law Legal Education Legal Profession Technology Technology Education Technology Planning or Policy

The Conservative Case For Esg, Richard Painter

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There is a growing consensus across the political spectrum that corporations should not just make money for shareholders but also advance the public good. Conservatives and liberals often disagree about what the public good is, or what the priorities of corporate governance should be, but both sides are discontent with corporations focusing only on profits.

This Article discusses reasons why political conservatives should support efforts to include environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in corporate governance. Conservatives do not embrace contemporary ESG rhetoric which they associate with liberal social and economic viewpoints, but conservatives nonetheless oppose corporations maximizing profits at …

Las Comisiones De La Verdad Y Los Legados Coloniales: Lecciones Desde Colombia (2018-2022), Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Claire Wright, Bill Rolston

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With its signing of the Havana Peace Agreement in 2016, Colombia sought to end an armed conflict that had lasted more than sixty years and had left nearly nine million victims. The agreement led to the establishment of a transitional justice (TJ) framework, including the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition (CEV). This study identifies how the CEV incorporated the legacies of colonialism into its analytical framework. The research is based on in-depth inter-views with twenty scholars specializing in colonialism and/or TJ, nineteen peacebuilders, informal conversations with CEV members, and a review of various volumes of the …

Institutional Flexibility In Tax Law And Enforcement, Claire Hill, Francesco Parisi, Emanuela Carbonara, Philip A. Curry

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This paper examines how governments can optimally audit to discourage tax avoidance. We assume that an accounting firm designs and promotes strategies for tax avoidance. This firm adapts the quality and diversity of these strategies in response to shifts in government policies. We investigate when it is more effective to approve some methods while cracking down on others, rather than targeting all tax-avoidance activities uniformly. We find that selectively enforcing against specific methods can be optimal. This approach not only reduces the quality but also limits the variety of tax avoidance activities in the market and positively impacts the government’s …

Opportunistic Breach Of Contract, Francesco Parisi, Brian H. Bix, Ariel Porat

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Law and economics scholarship has traditionally analyzed efficient breach cases monolithically. By grouping efficient breach cases together, this literature treats the subjective motives and the distributive effects of the breach as immaterial. The Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment introduced a distinction based on the intent and the effects of the breach, allowing courts to use disgorgement remedies in cases of ‘opportunistic’ breach of contract (i.e., ‘deliberate and profitable’ breaches). In this article, we evaluate this approach, focusing on the effects of disgorgement remedies on allocative and productive efficiency, information-forcing and competitive effects, and restraint of breach-searching incentives. We …

“Criminalizing” Depositions In Arbitration, Mitch Zamoff

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Civil litigation–style deposition practice is preventing commercial arbitration from reaching its full potential as an economical, efficient alternative to a civil lawsuit. Although there is consensus among alternative dispute resolution experts that meaningful limits must be imposed on arbitration discovery to unlock the efficiency benefits of arbitration, depositions continue to feature prominently in commercial arbitrations for at least three reasons. First, civil litigators are addicted to depositions. They reflexively propose overdone deposition practice in arbitrations that replicates their litigation experience. Second, arbitrators may hesitate to disallow deposition discovery out of fear that their awards will be vacated for failure to …

Shareholders All The Way Down: Eu Corporate Sustainability Reforms And The Structure Of Corporate Governance, Matthew Bodie

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The laws and norms of corporate law are changing across the globe. Gone are the days when scholars could confidently predict that shareholder wealth maximization would be the universal metric of corporate success. Instead, corporate leaders, governments, workers, activists, and even shareholders are looking beyond simplistic models of shareholder primacy to a broader understanding of corporate responsibility. This new approach has taken its firmest hold in the European Union, where three directives over the last decade have reshaped reporting requirements and directors’ duties in significant ways, pushing for greater accountability and attention to the needs of stakeholders.

Changes to company …

Raz Y Bulygin Sobre Teoría Del Derecho Y Enunciados Jurídicos, Brian Bix

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El presente texto aborda dos intercambios entre Eugenio Bulygin y Joseph Raz. El primer intercambio apareció en el libro Una discusión sobre la teoría del derecho, en el que Bulygin, al igual que Robert Alexy, comentan el artículo de Raz “¿Puede haber una teoría del derecho?”. El segundo intercambio se produce del ensayo de Bulygin, “Enunciados Jurídicos y Positivismo: Una Respuesta a Joseph Raz” (1981), que fue una respuesta a un artículo de Raz, “The Purity of the Pure Theory”, publicado en 1981. Palabras clave: Teoría del derecho, Enunciados jurídicos, Positivismo, Teoría pura

The present paper addresses two exchanges between …

When An Indicted Candidate Wins The Presidency: What Happens To The Trials If Donald Trump Wins The Election?, Richard Painter, Claire Finkelstein

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For the first time in U.S. history, one of the two leading candidates for President is a convicted felon and is in the middle of multiple criminal trials on other charges in both state and federal courts. This set of unprecedented circumstances raises a series of urgent legal questions of first impression, particularly in the case in which Donald Trump wins the election. Three questions in particular require urgent examination in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, and potentially in the immediate post-election period, depending on the outcome. First, with regard to the federal charges prosecuted by the Department …

Opportunistic Breach Of Contract, Francesco Parisi, Brian H. Bix, Ariel Porat

Articles

Law and economics scholarship has traditionally analyzed efficient breach cases monolithically. By grouping efficient breach cases together, this literature treats the subjective motives and the distributive effects of the breach as immaterial. The Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment introduced a distinction based on the intent and the effects of the breach, allowing courts to use disgorgement remedies in cases of ‘opportunistic’ breach of contract (i.e., ‘deliberate and profitable’ breaches). In this article, we evaluate this approach, focusing on the effects of disgorgement remedies on allocative and productive efficiency, information-forcing and competitive effects, and restraint of breach-searching incentives. We …

Bureaucratic Autonomy And The Policymaking Capacity Of United States Agencies, 1998-2021, Nicholas Bednar

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Despite a renewed interest in the health of the US administrative state, the absence of meaningful time-series measures of bureaucratic capacity hinders the testing of core theories of bureaucratic and executive politics. Using over 190 million personnel records, I estimate 5590 yearly policymaking-capacity scores for 261 unique agencies from 1998 to 2021. These measures provide an invaluable tool as either an independent or dependent variable in studies of administrative policymaking. To illustrate the value of these measures, I test longstanding theories about the relationship between bureaucratic autonomy and capacity. In contrast with emerging survey research, this study demonstrates that agencies …

Metals Derivatives Markets And The Energy Transition, James W. Coleman, Colleen M. Baker

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Despite their escalating importance, thus far, there has been minimal legal scholarship on metals derivatives markets. Given the key role of these markets in the transition to a clean energy future, increased focus on them is imperative.

Hence, it is not surprising that the agendas for the last four meetings of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee each dedicated a significant portion of the meeting to metals derivatives markets and their role in the transition to a clean energy future.

Fundamentally, the United States and the world are moving from their long-term dependence on the …

What Should Caremark Encompass?, Claire A. Hill, Zohreh Zakiani

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Under In re Caremark Int’l Inc. Derivative Litig., decided in 1996, directors are required to oversee corporate compliance and can be liable for breaching their fiduciary duties if their oversight efforts do not suffice. Since it was decided, Caremark has been very influential, notwithstanding its high bar to liability. Notably, its influence far exceeds the actual probability that directors would be found liable under the doctrine. Instead, much of Caremark’s force is “soft,” through extra-legal mechanisms such as norms and pressures from various constituencies. Caremark clearly covers oversight for violations of law or regulation. But what, beyond those two things, …

Introduction: Revolutionizing Neuroimaging Research With Highly Portable Mri: Confronting Ethical And Legal Challenges, Francis X. Shen, Frances Lawrenz, Susan M. Wolf

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No abstract provided.

Ethical, Legal, And Policy Challenges In Field-Based Neuroimaging Research Using Emerging Portable Mri Technologies: Guidance For Investigators And For Oversight, Francis X. Shen, Susan M. Wolf, Francez Lawrenz, Donnella S. Comeau, Kafui Dzirasa, Barbara J. Evans, Damien Fair, Martha J. Farah, S. Duke Han, Judy Illes, Jonathan D. Jackson, Eran Klein, Karen S. Rommelfanger, Matthew S. Rosen, Efraín Torres, Paul Tuite, J. Thomas Vaughan, Michael Garwood

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Researchers are rapidly developing and deploying highly portable MRI technology to conduct field-based research. The new technology will widen access to include new investigators in remote and unconventional settings and will facilitate greater inclusion of rural, economically disadvantaged, and historically underrepresented populations. To address the ethical, legal, and societal issues raised by highly accessible and portable MRI, an interdisciplinary Working Group (WG) engaged in a multi-year structured process of analysis and consensus building, informed by empirical research on the perspectives of experts and the general public. This article presents the WG’s consensus recommendations. These recommendations address technology quality control, design …

Scientists' Perspectives On Ethical Issues In Research With Emerging Portable Neuroimaging Technology: The Need For Guidance On Ethical, Legal, And Societal Implications (Elsi), Frances Daniels, Efrain Torres, Frances Lawrenz, Susan M. Wolf, Francis X. Shen

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Deployment of new, more portable, and less costly neuroimaging technologies such as portable magnetoencephalography, electroencephalography, positron emission tomography, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, high-density diffuse optical tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging is advancing rapidly. Given this trajectory toward increasing use of neuroimaging outside the hospital, we sought to identify ethical, legal, and societal implications (ELSI) of these new technologies by understanding the perspectives of those scientists and engineers developing and implementing portable neuroimaging technologies in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Based on a literature review, we identified and contacted 19 potential interviewees and then conducted 11 semi-structured interviews in English by …

Conducting Research With Highly Portable Mri In Community Settings: A Practical Guide To Navigating Ethical Issues And Elsi Checklist, Francis X. Shen, Susan Wolf, Frances Lawrenz, Donnella S. Comeau, Barbara J. Evans, Damien Fair, Martha J. Farah, Michael Garwood, S. Duke Han, July Illes, Jonathan D. Jackson, Eran Klein, Matthew S. Rosen, Efraín Torres, Paul Tuite, J. Thomas Vaughan

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Highly portable and accessible MRI technology will allow researchers to conduct field-based MRI research in community settings. Previous guidance for researchers working with fixed MRI does not address the novel ethical, legal, and societal issues (ELSI) of portable MRI (pMRI). Our interdisciplinary Working Group (WG) previously identified 15 core ELSI challenges associated with pMRI research and recommended solutions. In this article, we distill those detailed recommendations into a Portable MRI Research ELSI Checklist that offers practical operational guidance for researchers contemplating using this technology.

Microbial And Enzymatic Biodegradation Of Plastic Waste For A Circular Economy, Muhammad Aitzaz Akram, Rangasamy Savitha, Gemma K. Kinsella, Kieran Nolan, Barry J. Ryan, Gary T. Henehan

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Plastics play a crucial role in modern life, but their accumulation poses a serious threat to both the environment and human health. Due to their effects on the terrestrial and aquatic environment, it is essential to develop sustainable approaches to dispose of waste plastics. Traditional methods of plastic disposal, such as burning and landfilling, are problematic since they produce hazardous byproducts. Biodegradation is a potentially effective, eco-friendly approach which uses microbial consortia or isolated enzymes to break down plastic waste. Enzymes interact with plastic surfaces and hydrolyse the large polymer chains into smaller units. These byproducts can then be utilised …

The Role Of Interpersonal Conflict As A Cause Of Work-Related Stress In Construction Managers In Ireland, Patrick J. Bruce, Victor Hrymak, Carol M. Bruce Dr, Joseph Byrne

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Construction is a project-driven industry that places a high premium on product delivery on time, within budget and to required standards. Modern construction projects have become more complex in nature, the complex relational and lengthy process of designing and building makes construction a process in which conflict is virtually ensured (Jaffar et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2023). These characteristics of the industry contribute to workplace stress. Therefore, it is not surprising that research has confirmed a strong presence of workplace stress within the industry, (Lingard and Francis, 2004; Vaux and Dority, 2020). Many construction managers experience excessive levels of …

Comparative Assessment Of Gold Nanoparticle–Antibody Conjugates With Two Differently Shaped Particles For Multimodal Colorimetric Lateral Flow Assay, Vinayak Sharma, Bilal Javed, Furong Tian

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Novel detection strategies that exploit the unique properties of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) hold great potential for the advancement of point-of-care (POC) diagnostics, such as lateral flow and dipstick immunoassay [1,2,3]. Owing to its biocompatibility and convenient surface modifications, gold nanoparticles with enhanced sensitivity reduce the sample-to-answer times to less than 5 min (Figure 1). Methods like covalent conjugation and electrostatic adsorption are explored for antibody immobilization to develop a gold nanoparticle-based biosensor for fast and sensitive localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) for both basic research and clinical diagnostics. The mounting of antibodies on the gold nanoparticle surface requires selective binding …

Generating A Template For An Educational Software Development Methodology For Novice Computing Undergraduates: An Integrative Review, Catherine Higgins, Ciaran O'Leary, Claire Mcavinia, Barry J. Ryan

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Aim/Purpose The teaching of appropriate problem-solving techniques to novice learners in undergraduate software development education is often poorly defined when compared to the delivery of programming techniques. Given the global need for qualified designers of information technology, the purpose of this research is to produce a foundational template for an educational software development methodology grounded in the established literature. This template can be used by third-level educators and researchers to develop robust educational method-ologies to cultivate structured problem solving and software development habits in their students while systematically teaching the intricacies of software crea-tion. Background While software development methodologies are …

Biosynthesis, Classification, Properties, And Applications Of Weissella Bacteriocins, Jahnavi Kumari Singh, Palanisamy Bruntha Devi, G. Bhanuprakash Reddy, Amit K. Jaiswal, Digambar Kavitake, Prathapkumar Halady Shetty

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This review aims to comprehensively chronicle the biosynthesis, classification, properties, and applications of bacteriocins produced by Weissella genus strains, particularly emphasizing their potential benefits in food preservation, human health, and animal productivity. Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) are a class of microorganisms well-known for their beneficial role in food fermentation, probiotics, and human health. A notable property of LAB is that they can synthesize antimicrobial peptides known as bacteriocins that exhibit antimicrobial action against both closely related and other bacteria as well. Bacteriocins produced by Weissella spp. are known to exhibit antimicrobial activity against several pathogenic bacteria including food spoilage species, …

Analysis Of Physicochemical And Phytonutrients Properties Of Bastard Oleaster Fruits And Its Mass Prediction Using Artificial Neural Network Model, Raju Sasikumar, Kambhampati Vivek, Govindasamy Kadirvel, Amit K. Jaiswal

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Bastard oleaster (Elaeagnus latifolia) is highly nutritious, rich in various vitamins (A, C, E) and minerals (P, K, Ca, Mg, Na), yet remains underutilized despite its immense potential. This study focused on the physicochemical and thermal properties of the fruit, and also aimed at accurately predicting its mass. A four-layered back-propagation artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm demonstrated excellent predictive capabilities, achieving the highest R2 values in training (0.9789) and testing (0.9901), with minimal error using the Log/Tan/Tan activation function trained with Trainlm. Additionally, the research assessed antinutritional properties and employed UPLC to identify and quantify phenolic compounds in E. latifolia. …

Exploring Safety Of Machineries And Training: An Overview Of Current Literature Applied To Manufacturing Environments, Maria Elena Del Giudice, Mahnaz Sharafkhani, Mario Di Nardo, Teresa Murino, Maria Chiara Leva

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A machine is described as an assembly that has a drive system installed or is planned to have a drive system installed and that is constituted of linked elements or components, at least one of which moves, that are connected for a particular application (ISO12100). Different types of risks are present in machines, and exposure to them can cause harm or even death. When risk has been adequately reduced, machinery safety considers a machine's ability to complete its intended duty throughout its life cycle. A literature review was carried out using “safety of machinery” as a keyword, which produced an …

Improving The Barrier And Mechanical Properties Of Paper Used For Packing Applications With Renewable Hydrophobic Coatings Derived From Camelina Oil, Muhammad Arshad, Shiv Shankar, Amar K. Mohanty, Jim Todd, Rachel Riddle, Rene Van Acker, Graham W. Taylor, Manjusri Misra

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This study looked at using modified camelina oil to develop sustainable coatings that could replace those derived from petroleum-based materials for use in packaging and other industrial sectors. Solvent-free synthesis of maleic anhydride grafted camelina oil (MCO) was carried out at two different temperatures (200 and 230 °C) to obtain sustainable hydrophobic coating materials for paper substrates. Maleic anhydride grafting of camelina oil was confirmed with attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared and NMR spectroscopic techniques, and up to 16% grafting of maleic anhydride was achieved, as determined by the titration method. MCO, obtained at different reaction temperatures, was coated onto …

Toward Circular Economy: Potentials Of Spent Coffee Grounds In Bioproducts And Chemical Production, Hisham Ahmed, Rasaq S. Abolore, Swarna Jaiswal, Amit K. Jaiswal

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With growing concern over environmental sustainability and dwindling fossil resources, it is crucial to prioritise the development of alternative feedstocks to replace fossil resources. Spent coffee grounds (SCGs) are an environmental burden with an estimated six million tons being generated on a wet basis annually, globally. SCGs are rich in cellulose, lignin, protein, lipids, polyphenols and other bioactive compounds which are important raw materials for use in industries including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Furthermore, the energy sector has the potential to capitalize on the high calorific value of SCGs for biofuel and biogas production, offering a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. …