Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Institution
- Publication
- File Type
Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Law
Pornography As Pollution, John C. Nagle
Pornography As Pollution, John C. Nagle
John Copeland Nagle
Pornography is often compared to pollution. But little effort has been made to consider what it means to describe pornography as a pollution problem, even as many legal scholars have concluded that the law has failed to control internet pornography. Opponents of pornography maintain passionate convictions about how sexually-explicit materials harm both those who are exposed to them and the broader cultural environment. Viewers of pornography may generally hold less fervent beliefs, but champions of free speech and of a free internet object to anti-pornography regulations with strong convictions of their own. The challenge is how to address the widespread …
A Conceptual Framework For The Regulation Of Cryptocurrencies, Omri Y. Marian
A Conceptual Framework For The Regulation Of Cryptocurrencies, Omri Y. Marian
Omri Y Marian
This Essay proposes a conceptual framework for the regulation of transactions involving cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies offer tremendous opportunities for innovation and development but are also uniquely suited to facilitate illicit behavior. The regulatory framework suggested herein is intended to support (or at least not impair) cryptocurrencies’ innovative potential. At the same time, it aims to disrupt cryptocurrencies’ criminal utility. To achieve these purposes, this Essay proposes a regulatory framework that imposes costs on the characteristics of cryptocurrencies that make them especially useful for criminal behavior (in particular, anonymity) but does not impose costs on characteristics that are at the core of …
Bridgefunding Is Crowdfunding For Startups Across The Private Equity Gap, Seth C. Oranburg
Bridgefunding Is Crowdfunding For Startups Across The Private Equity Gap, Seth C. Oranburg
Seth C Oranburg
Title III of the JOBS Act of 2012, which attempts to encourage entrepreneurship by allowing startups and small business to sell stock to the general public over the Internet through “crowdfunding,” is completely backwards. Its ceiling should be a floor—the $1 million limit should be inverted. By capping startups at raising $1 million from crowdfunding, the JOBS Act does not address the private equity gap, a fundamental problem in startup markets, and exposes unsophisticated investors to risk and fraud. This Article presents a regulatory framework premised on “bridgefunding,” an approach that this article develops to protect new investors by encouraging …
The Internet Of Things And Wearable Technology: Addressing Privacy And Security Concerns Without Derailing Innovation, Adam D. Thierer
The Internet Of Things And Wearable Technology: Addressing Privacy And Security Concerns Without Derailing Innovation, Adam D. Thierer
Adam Thierer
This paper highlights some of the opportunities presented by the rise of the so-called “Internet of Things” and wearable technology in particular, and encourages policymakers to allow these technologies to develop in a relatively unabated fashion. As with other new and highly disruptive digital technologies, however, the Internet of Things and wearable tech will challenge existing social, economic, and legal norms. In particular, these technologies raise a variety of privacy and safety concerns. Other technical barriers exist that could hold back IoT and wearable tech — including disputes over technical standards, system interoperability, and access to adequate spectrum to facilitate …
Regulating Mass Surveillance As Privacy Pollution: Learning From Environmental Impact Statements, A. Michael Froomkin
Regulating Mass Surveillance As Privacy Pollution: Learning From Environmental Impact Statements, A. Michael Froomkin
A. Michael Froomkin
US law has remarkably little to say about mass surveillance in public, a failure which has allowed the surveillance to grow at an alarming rate – a rate that is only set to increase. This article proposes ‘Privacy Impact Notices’ (PINs) — modeled on Environmental Impact Statements — as an initial solution to this problem. Data collection in public (and in the home via public spaces) resembles an externality imposed on the person whose privacy is reduced involuntarily; it can also be seen as a market failure caused by an information asymmetry. Current doctrinal legal tools available to respond to …
Ivf And The Law: How Legal And Regulatory Neglect Compromised A Medical Breakthrough, Steve Calandrillo
Ivf And The Law: How Legal And Regulatory Neglect Compromised A Medical Breakthrough, Steve Calandrillo
Steve P. Calandrillo
The rise of assisted reproductive technology like in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a method of human reproduction represents a remarkable medical achievement. It has allowed millions of infertile and same-sex couples to have children who were previously only the subject of their unrequited dreams. Live births and success rates have increased dramatically in the past decade, so much so that many fertility clinics “guarantee” a baby to clients who sign up. But with success comes inevitable downsides. Everyone knows that the price tag is steep, but given the demand, that obstacle seems to deter relatively few determined individuals. More insidious …
The Eye Of The Beholder: Participation And Impact In Telecommunications (De)Regulation, Dorit Reiss
The Eye Of The Beholder: Participation And Impact In Telecommunications (De)Regulation, Dorit Reiss
Dorit R. Reiss
The California Public Utilities Commission addressed both pricing deregulation and universal service in telecommunications during the last decade. Both decisions had a similar cast of characters, and similarly elaborate processes. In relation to price deregulation, the utilities positions were accepted on every issue addressed; in relation to universal service, consumer organizations’ positions were accepted in about 60% of the issues. This article tells the story of how those decisions were made, and examines the reasons for the difference in impact. The article examines and reject an explanation of capture; accepts in part a focus on the influence of the commissioner …
Internet Nondiscrimination Principles: Commercial Ethics For Carriers And Search Engines, Frank Pasquale
Internet Nondiscrimination Principles: Commercial Ethics For Carriers And Search Engines, Frank Pasquale
Frank A. Pasquale
Unaccountable power at any layer of online life can stifle innovation elsewhere. Dominant search engines rightly worry that carriers will use their control of the physical layer of internet infrastructure to pick winners among content and application providers. Though they advocate net neutrality, they have been much less quick to recognize the threat to openness and fair play their own practices may pose. Just as dominant search engines fear an unfairly tiered online world, they should be required to provide access to their archives and indices in a nondiscriminatory manner. If dominant search engines want carriers to disclose their traffic …
Human Rights, Regulation, And National Security, Katina Michael, Simon Bronitt
Human Rights, Regulation, And National Security, Katina Michael, Simon Bronitt
Professor Katina Michael
Law disciplines technology, though it does so in a partial and incomplete way as reflected in the old adage that technology outstrips the capacity of law to regulate it. The rise of new technologies poses a significant threat to human rights – the pervasive use of CCTV (and now mobile CCTV), telecommunications interception, and low-cost audio-visual recording and tracking devices (some of these discreetly wearable), extend the power of the state and corporations significantly to intrude into the lives of citizens.
Cloud Computing Providers And Data Security Law: Building Trust With United States Companies, Jared A. Harshbarger Esq.
Cloud Computing Providers And Data Security Law: Building Trust With United States Companies, Jared A. Harshbarger Esq.
Jared A. Harshbarger
Cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS) models are revolutionizing the information technology industry. As these services become more prevalent, data security and privacy concerns will also rise among consumers and the companies who consider using them. Cloud computing providers must establish a sufficient level of trust with their potential customers in order to ease initial fears - and ensure certain compliance obligations will be met - at least to the extent that any such inquiring customer will feel comfortable enough to ultimately take the irreversible step of releasing their sensitive data and personal information into the cloud.
An Innovation-Centric Approach Of Telecommunications Infrastructure Regulation, Konstantinos Stylianou
An Innovation-Centric Approach Of Telecommunications Infrastructure Regulation, Konstantinos Stylianou
Konstantinos Stylianou
This paper considers the mechanics and role of innovation in telecommunications networks, and explains how regulation can be designed to maximize innovation. To better focus on the relationship between innovation and regulation an effort is made to distinguish innovation from competition, although the two concepts are closely related, and several reasons are presented on why the fast changing, networked and technical nature of telecommunications offers a very favorable environment for innovation to thrive, as well as why innovation benefits from a large number of actors. Moreover, the paper further explains that even small players are useful in the innovation process …