Law Commons^™

New Rules For A New Era: Regulating Artificial Intelligence In The Legal Field, Hunter Cyran

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to evolve at a rapid pace, many industries have already started integrating new technologies to reduce costs and labor. While this is practical for some industries, the legal industry should be cautious before fully integrating AI. Some legal-service providers are already developing and offering new AI products. But the legal industry must approach these new products with some skepticism. While AI may eventually bring positive changes to the legal industry, AI currently has many flaws. This can create negative unintended consequences for attorneys and judges that are unaware of these flaws. Further, AI is not …

The Reckless Tolerance Of Unsafe Autonomous Vehicle Testing: Uber's Culpability For The Criminal Offense Of Negligent Homicide, Helen Stamp

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

When Elaine Herzberg was struck and killed by an Uber autonomous vehicle on a public road in Arizona in 2018, sole criminal responsibility fell on the Uber employee operating the vehicle. Uber escaped all criminal accountability despite evidence of flawed vehicle technology and Uber’s non-existent safety culture. This lack of accountability is confronting given that legislators and courts in Arizona, and in other States, have consistently supported criminal sanctions for corporations who are culpable for the offense of negligent homicide.

The criminal proceedings against the Uber vehicle operator were settled in July 2023, closing off the court’s ability to consider …

The Future Of The Christchurch Call To Action: How To Build Multistakeholder Initiatives To Address Content Moderation Challenges, Rachel Wolbers

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

This article explores the challenges the New Zealand Government faced after the events in Christchurch on 15 March 2019, where a violent gunman killed 51 people and live-streamed his attack on social media. The video was viewed millions of times in the days following, even as the tech companies took extraordinary efforts to reduce its virality. To find a long-term solution that ended the proliferation of this violent content while protecting human rights, the New Zealand Government decided to take a non-regulatory approach that worked alongside tech companies and civil society. The result was the creation of the Christchurch Call …

Tools Do Not Create: Human Authorship In The Use Of Generative Artificial Intelligence, Michael D. Murray

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

Artistic tools, from brushes to complex algorithms, don’t create art; human artists do. The advent of generative AI tools like Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion has blurred this understanding, causing observers to believe these tools are the authors of the artworks they produce, even so far as to imagine that the artworks are “created” by the AI in the copyright sense of the word. Not so.

The U.S. Copyright Office recently issued guidance on the copyrightability of works produced using generative AI tools. The Office has accepted the narrative that AI tools perform the steps of authorship, conceiving of the …

Corporate Fiduciary Duty In The Age Of Algorithms, Alfred R. Cowger Jr.

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

The Age of Algorithms will soon have a seismic impact on fiduciary law and thus, on the fiduciary duty of directors and officers. On one hand, corporate fiduciaries will have access to Artificial Intelligence-based tools which may make their jobs more efficient, more accurate, and more effective. As a result, fulfilling fiduciary duties will be easier, and the use of these tools may significantly lower the exposure of corporate fiduciaries to claims of breaching fiduciary duties. However, artificial intelligence (AI) may be a double-edged sword because those attractive tools will create new standards corporate fiduciaries must meet to fulfill their …

Video Game Currency: Taming The Wild West Of Video Game Economies, Josh Khorsandi

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

Do you know the value of digital currency? No, not bitcoin, but rather value generated in online gaming. While on the surface, online video gaming may seem like just another form of entertainment, the value these games are creating is intersecting with the real-world marketplace. The exchange of virtual wealth to real-life wealth is a tumultuous problem that has remained unaddressed by law since the inception of video games. This legal ignorance has left the market for videogame currency in a state reminiscent of the wild west; the wealth is guarded only by those who can protect themselves. Those who …

A Meta-Critique Of Frontier Scholarships On The Laws Of Peacetime Espionage: Towards A Systemic Framework For Lex Specialis, Yang Liu

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

No abstract provided.

Dall-E Does Palsgraf, Bryant Walker Smith

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

What happens when we ask a leading artificial intelligence (AI) tool for image generation to illustrate the facts of a leading law school case? This article does just that. I first introduce this tool specifically and machine learning generally. I then summarize the seminal case of Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad. For the main event, I show the images that the tool created based on the facts as the majority and dissent recount them. Finally, I translate this exercise into lessons for how lawyers and the law should think about AI.

Interplanetary Constitutionalism: A Martian Constitution, Mia Bonardi

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

“Mars has been our mirror, our foil, a telltale reflection of what has been deepest in our hearts. We have seen in Mars a utopia. A wilderness. A sanctuary. An oracle. With so few landmarks, guideposts, or constraints, all is possible; without data that could be used to cabin our inquiry or limit our imagination, Mars has been a blank canvas. And tenderly, our human seeking has rushed to fill it.” – Sarah Stewart Johnson, Planetary Scientist

With humans currently in orbit around Earth on the International Space Station and targets to put them back on the Moon in this …

Algorithmic Decision-Making And Discrimination In Developing Countries, Cecil Abungu

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

This article seeks to investigate how developing countries can ensure that algorithmic decision-making does not leave protected groups in their jurisdictions exposed to unlawful discrimination that would be almost impossible to prevent or prove. The article shows that universally, longstanding methods used to prevent and prove discrimination will struggle when confronted with algorithmic decision-making. It then argues that while some of the proposed solutions to this issue are promising, they cannot be successfully implemented in a vast majority of developing countries because these countries lack the necessary institutional foundation. The key features of this institutional foundation include: (i) a wellrooted …

Implementing Data Protection By Design In The Ed Tech Context: What Is The Role Of Technology Providers?, Liane Colonna

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

This article explores the specific roles and responsibilities of technology providers when it comes to implementing Data Protection by Design (“DPbD”) and Data Protection by Default (“DPbDf”). As an example, it looks at the Education Technology (“Ed Tech”) sector and the complexities of the supply chains that exist therein to highlight that, in addition to the Higher Education (“HE”) institutions that procure products and services for advancing teaching and learning, Ed Tech vendors may also have responsibility and liability for the processing of student’s personal data. Ultimately, this paper asks whether there are any legal gaps, ambiguities, or normative conflicts …

Managing The Medical Matrix: A "Dais" For Artificial Intelligence In Health Care (And Beyond), Layla G. Maurer

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

AI offers “huge and wide-reaching potential” in health; the futures of health care and AI are deeply interconnected. Use of AI provides the field with never-before imagined opportunities to streamline and delve more deeply into medical care, including disease identification, diagnosing conditions, and a simpler way to crowdsource and develop treatment plans. Its broad inclusion in the field has created a pressing need for more, and better, regulation. Improved regulation is especially critical because of the possibility that mismanaged AI will allow for incorrect diagnosis of patients or biased predictions and outcomes. In fact, numerous examples of such bias – …

The Law Of Space Cyber Operations: Gripping Mysteries, Entangled Frontiers, And Security Challenges, Roy Balleste

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

The developments of technologies applicable to cyberspace and outer space offer new opportunities. Each nation, institution, and individual must be involved in the security of cyberspace in order to secure outer space activities, while reinforcing the legitimacy of that commercial process. The stories that follow consider the intersection of outer space law and cybersecurity, describing vulnerabilities and the limitations of implementing international norms. The article assesses the cyberthreat landscape while offering recommendations. The article's subsequent sections are organized as follows: Part II, The Cruel Sky, considers a historical mystery to better understand the contradictory world of cyber operations. Along the …

Masthead, Case Western Reserve Journal Of Law, Technology & The Internet

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

No abstract provided.

"Because It Is Wrong": An Essay On The Immorality And Illegality Of The Online Service Contracts Of Google And Facebook, Preston M. Torbert

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

This essay argues that the behavioral-advertising business model under which an internet platform, such as Google or Facebook, provides free services in exchange for the user’s personal data is immoral and illegal. It is immoral because it relies on addiction, surveillance, and manipulation of the user to deplete the user’s autonomy. The contract between the company and the user is immoral. It can also be plausibly argued that the contract is illegal under California law because it is contrary to good morals, is unconscionable, and is against public policy. As society becomes more aware of these moral and legal defects, …

“Ok Google” Play The National Anthem: Arms Control And Eminent Domain To Maintain America’S Technological Advantage, Major Johnathan J. Rudy

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

The country that first controls and dominates emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing will have the power to re-shape the world to their benefit. The US federal government has historically been the source of breakthroughs in technology and science, but Silicon Valley now controls much of the technology development needed for future defense and weapons systems. Driven by profit, the private sector has been more open to dealing new technologies to foreign adversaries while the US national security apparatus has a vested interest in ensuring powerful new technologies remain unattainable to countries that may wish harm to …

The Evolving Linking Law In South Korea: Chuing It Over, Mikyung Kim, Christopher B. Shook

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

South Korean hyperlink copyright law is vague and inconsistent. Given that South Korea has the fastest internet speeds in the world, and that it has the highest internet usage penetration in Asia, sophisticated development of its hyperlink copyright law must occur—with specific attention to criminal aiding and abetting and civil tortfeasor laws. This article seeks to remedy a patchwork quilt of legal precedents as well as Korean statutory norms, and provides a comparative analysis of U.S. and EU law.

Towards Financial Inclusion Through Digital Financial Services: Examining The Impact Of The ‘Notice And Consent’ Privacy Mechanism, Arvin Kristopher Razon

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

No abstract provided.

Masthead

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

No abstract provided.

Virtues And Perils Of Algorithmic Enforcement And Content Regulation In The Eu - A Toolkit For A Balanced Algorithmic Copyright Enforcement, Maria Lillà Mongnani

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

Within the recent European policies and actions on illegal content, a trend towards the algorithmic enforcement of content regulation has emerged. Hard and soft law provisions are more or less explicitly requiring online platforms to resort to technological systems in order to comply with the law. The use of technology to enforce the law is certainly not new, especially in the realm of copyright law. The last step in this process is the employment of algorithmic systems to filter content uploaded by third parties and the use of autonomous decision-making to select the content that can appear online. This controversial …

Constitutions And Blockchains:Competitive Governance Of Fundamental Rule Sets, Eric Alston

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

In the context of private ordering—where rule sets are relatively fluid, centrally controlled, and exist in the shadow of law and regulation—developing generalizable insights about comparatively superior governance mechanisms is difficult. I shed light on this question by characterizing cryptocurrency blockchains as a type of constitutional rule set that both defines and legitimizes the activities supported by the underlying distributed ledger technology. More specifically, I argue that cryptocurrency blockchains have led to new forms of competition in private governance, which include exit costs and citizenship rules as important competitive margins. My analysis not only identifies the choices in constitutional governance …

The American Way - Until Machine Learning Algorithm Beats The Law?, Asress Adimi Gikay

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

Algorithmic consumer credit scoring has caused anxiety among scholars and policy makers. After a significant legislative effort by the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that has provisions tailored to automated decision-making (ADM) was implemented. When the EU Commission and the US Department of Commerce negotiated for US organizations to whom data from EU data controller is transferred to comply with the key principles of EU Data Protection Law under the EU-US Privacy Shield (PS) Framework, the Department of Commerce refused to incorporate the GDPR principles governing ADM in the PS Framework. The EU Commission accepted this refusal …

A Question Of Trust: Facebook Libra As Money In The Economic And Legal Sense, Muharem Kianieff

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

This article examines the use of Facebook’s Libra (now renamed “Diem”) as a substitute for fiat money. It considers Libra’s prospects for success in light of the fact that it purports to substitute trust in a technology for the traditional legal supports that bolster public trust in traditional fiat currencies. The legal doctrines that support fiat currencies do so for the purposes of recognizing the economic functions that money performs and are also meant to support public policies that promote monetary stability, protect consumers and help to enforce anti money laundering statutes. It is argued that Libra will result in …

Quantum Machine Learning: A Patent Review, Brian S. Haney

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

One of the central problems bottlenecking machine learning research is classical computational power limits. Quantum computing provides a solution, offering more processing power for less electric cost. Quantum Machine Learning (QML) is a research field at the intersection of quantum computing and machine learning technologies, driving the cutting edge in technological innovation. While the legal literature on software patents is rapidly scaling, the research focused on QML patents is noticeably nascent. As such, this Article contributes the first empirical patent survey for QML technologies.

Masthead, Volume 10 (2019)

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

No abstract provided.

Killer Apps: Vanishing Messages, Encrypted Communications, And Challenges To Freedom Of Information Laws When Public Officials "Go Dark", Daxton R. Stewart

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

Government officials such as White House staffers and the Missouri governor have been communicating among themselves and leaking to journalists using apps such as Signal and Confide, which allow users to encrypt messages or to make them vanish after they are received. By using these apps, government officials are "going dark" by avoiding detection of their communications in a way that undercuts freedom of information laws. This article explores the challenges presented by government employee use of encrypted and ephemeral messaging apps by examining three policy approaches: (1) banning use of the apps, (2) enhancing existing archiving and record-keeping practices, …

Forget Me, Forget Me Not: Elements Of Erasure To Determine The Sufficiency Of A Gdpr Article 17 Request, Haya Yaish

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

The data subject’s (or the individual to whom the data relates) right to erasure under the new EU’s data protection law is likely to cause tensions with the right to freedom of expression. Using Article 17(1)(d)-(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation as a nexus to trigger and apply the right to privacy in EU law to the right to erasure, this Note presents a balancing test of four factors that can be used to consistently determine whether individual cases that request a right to erasure for published material are entitled to privacy protections. The proposed balancing test “Elements of …

"Sheer Force Of Tweet:" Testing The Limits Of Executive Power On Twitter, Kristina T. Bodnar

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

President Donald Trump’s affinity for Twitter has raised novel issues of constitutional law, tested the norms for presidential etiquette, and opened up a dialogue about whether tweets are considered the actual directives of the President. This note explores four subject areas that the President has tweeted about: judicial legitimacy, executive orders, removal of appointees, and entering into armed conflicts. Then, these topics will be considered in terms of whether presidential speech on social media should be regulated to protect against the risks of posting on the Internet and to ensure the preservation of the principles of democracy embedded in the …

Is The Grass Greener On The Other Side Of The Geofence: The First Amendment And Privacy Implications Of Unauthorized Smartphone Messages, Kearston L. Wesner

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

Geofencing technology enables companies to obtain users’ physical location and deliver customized communications, including political messages. But to accomplish this, some businesses transmit user data to third parties without consent. The privacy tort of intrusion and Federal Trade Commission actions target unfair or deceptive practices, but these avenues are inadequate. Users’ privacy should be safeguarded by creating a federal privacy statute that requires opt-in notification and periodic reminders of data collection, usage, and transmission practices.

Content Moderation In An Age Of Extremes, Rebecca Tushnet

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

No abstract provided.