Law Commons^™

Front Matter, North Carolina Journal Of Law & Technology

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Juries In U.S. Patent Cases: A Comparative Portrait Of The Boundaries Of Democracy, M. Neil Browne, Nancy K. Kubasek, Alex Q. Jacobs

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

“It is clear that juries will necessarily differ in ‘competence,’ but it is at best incongruous to suggest that a society that sends its citizens routinely into space could never produce a jury competent to determine a case some judge might consider too ‘complex’ for people with ‘common experience’ to decide.”

Subject Matter Eligibility And Functional Claiming In Software Patents, Michael Xun Liu

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

Subject matter eligibility and functional claiming are considered separate doctrines in patent law. Conceptually, subject matter eligibility relates to the types of ideas that can be patented, whereas limits on functional claiming constrain how patentees can claim their inventions. In practice, however, patents that recite functional claims are also more likely to be invalidated for failing to recite patentable subject matter. This trend is especially prevalent in the software field, where courts often hold the function or end result of a computer program represents an unpatentable abstract idea.

Critics argue this judicial approach to software patents improperly conflates “what is …

From Arcades To Online: Updating Copyright To Accommodate Viodeo Game Streaming, Nicholas Robinson

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Carpenter V. United States: A New Era For Protecting Data Generated On Personal Technology, Or A Mere Caveat?, Aaron L. Dalton

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

In deciding Carpenter, a majority of United States Supreme Court Justices recognized that, at a fundamental level, historical cell-site location information (CSLI) differs from other categories of business records in terms of deserving Fourth Amendment protection. However, the majority’s opinion is unclear about the precise source of this distinction, and about how, or whether, to protect other data generated from personal technology in the future. Although the majority opinion purports to be limited to CSLI, this narrow scope is not in the best interest of consumers. At best, Carpenter presents the opportunity to establish a predictable and comprehensive system for …

Bioethics Beyond The Biosphere: Using Human Subject Medical Research To Chart Out Regulation And Liability For Health Risks In Outer Space, Ashle M. Page

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

Humans may be living in outer space sooner than we think. Because of the elevated potential for detrimental effects to human health in space, ethical standards must be established prior to the widespread formation of human space settlements. This article offers a framework for analyzing the bioethics of humans in space by analogizing the uncertainty in establishing a precautionary and liability framework for health risks in space by using models for medical experimentation on Earth.

An exploration of conventional bioethics principles, international guidelines for medical research, and regulations in the United States will parallel a precautionary framework for ensuring protections …

La Crypto Nostra: How Organized Crime Thrives In The Era Of Cryptocurrency, Chelsea Pieroni

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

The advent of Bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency has left a permanent mark on the world as we know it, regardless of what percentage of the populace will ever touch or comprehend cryptocurrency in its lifetime. Thanks to the advent of blockchain technology, cryptocurrency has given rise to expedited international exchanges, increased protection of consumer identity, and secured methods for logging transactions. But cryptocurrency’s nebulous nature makes it inherently vulnerable to a slew of hacks, cyberattacks, and run-of-the-mill theft. Moreover, its indeterminate qualities make cryptocurrency incredibly difficult for federal law to wrangle. But, perhaps most chillingly, the rise of …

Parametric Payouts And Evironmental Conservation: How A Tech-Based Insurance Policy Could Pave The Way For Economically Viable Conservation Efforts, Hannah M. Petersen

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

This year, the state government of Quintana Roo, Mexico, the Nature Conservancy, and the reinsurance company, Swiss Re, created the first parametric insurance policy to be taken out on a natural resource; the Mesoamerican Reef. This innovative policy creates a technology-based approach to establishing economically viable environmental conservation by assigning a quantitative value to a vulnerable resource that protects the $10 billion tourism industry in the Caribbean. It also creates an entirely new and unregulated subsector of the insurance field. Although this type of policy sets the stage for innovative environmental conservation efforts, parameters and payout mechanisms might not align …

Tracking Predators: Microchip Implants, A Constitutional Alternative To Gps Tracking For North Carolina?, Alex Rutgers

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

The North Carolina Court of Appeals’ recent decision in State v. Grady held that the State of North Carolina failed to prove the reasonableness of continuing Satellite Based Monitoring (SBM) for the lifetime of a sex offender. It is the State’s burden to prove the necessity, and looking at the totality of the circumstances, the court found two factors significant in determining that lifetime SBM is unreasonable: the physical intrusion of the SBM device, and the continuous GPS monitoring. In light of the court’s holding that SBM affected a Fourth Amendment search (which was unreasonable even for a convicted sex …

When One Word Changes Everything: How The Unitary Concept Dismantles The Basis Of Terry Frisks, Aaron D. Davison

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Munchee Inc.: A Turning Point For The Cryptocurrency Industry, Matthew J. Higgins

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bank Sales And Bake Sales: Section 75-1.1 And The Hajmm Legacy, Robert T. Lucas Iv

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contents, North Carolina Law Review

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remedial Chevron, F. Andrew Hessick

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Preferred Preferences In Employment Discrimination Law, Emily Gold Waldman

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Proposed Rules To Determine The Legal Use Of Autonomous And Semi-Autonomous Platforms In Domestic U.S. Law Enforcement, Michael Sinclair

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

We need some rules. “Or there will be . . . trouble.”

Patent Trolls, Nuisance Suits, And The Federal Trade Commission, Matthew Spitzer

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC’s”) Patent Assertion Entity Activity Report (“The Report”) includes a path-breaking collection of data. The Report was compiled with the object of changing policy, both in Congress and before the courts. Because of the FTC’s ability to force businesses and individuals to provide information, a power that no ordinary researcher possesses, the FTC has amassed a data set that can potentially be of great value. For example, the Report’s description of litigation Patent Assertion Entities’ (“PAEs”) and portfolio PAEs’ structure and behavior is, although not entirely new, very instructive. Unfortunately, the FTC made analytical errors that …

Cybersecurity Of Autonomous Systems In The Transportation Sector: An Examination Of Regulatory And Private Law Approaches With Recommendations For Needed Reforms, Jeanne C. Suchodolski

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

The past twenty-five years gave rise to increasing levels of automation within the transportation sector. From initial subsystems, like vessel satellite tracking and automobile chassis control, automation continues apace. The future promises fully autonomous devices such as unmanned aerial systems (“UAS”) and self-driving cars (“UAV”). These autonomous and automatic systems and devices (“AASD”) provide safety, efficiency, and productivity benefits. Yet AASD operate under continual threat of cyber-attack. ¶ Compromised AASD can produce dire consequences in the transportation sector. The possible consequences extend far beyond financial harms to severe bodily injury or even death. Given both the prevalence of cyber threats …

Brief To The National Labor Relations Board By Amicus Curiae Professor Jeffrey M. Hirsch, Jeffrey M. Hirsch

Faculty Publications

In Purple Communications, Inc., 361 N.L.R.B. 1050 (2014), the NLRB set forth a new analysis covering employees’ use of employer-provided email. Under this analysis, which is based on the Supreme Court’s seminal decision in Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB, 324 U.S. 793 (1945), the Board presumes that employees who have access to their employer’s email as part of their work duties can use that email for Section 7 purposes during nonwork time. Purple Communications, 361 N.L.R.B. at 1063. The employer can rebut this presumption by showing that special business circumstances justify additional restrictions on employees’ email use. …

Contents, North Carolina Law Review

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Far From A "Dead Letter": The Contract Clause And North Carolina Association Of Educators V. State, Tommy Tobin

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defining North Carolina's Public Records And Open Meetings Fee-Shifting Provisions In The Larger National Context, Elliot Engstrom

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Searching For The Right Approach: Regulating Short-Term Rentals In North Carolina, Thomas S. Walker

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Defense Of The Defense: An Analysis Of The North Carolina Attorney General's Legal Ability To Refuse To Defend State Laws, Wesleigh C. Vick

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Searching Everywhere For A Section 24(1)(A) Standard: City Of Asheville, Town Of Boone, And The Unclear Future Of Local-State Relations In North Carolina, Jeffrey D. Miles

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

North Carolina's Nonprofit Property Tax Exemption Conundrum, Thomas A. Kelley, Christopher B. Mclaughlin

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tweets To A Young 1l, Rachel I. Gurvich

Faculty Publications

A series of eleven tweets ruminating about the author's law school experience received a positive and enthusiastic response from many lawyers, law professors, and law students, and ultimately caught the eye of one of the Green Bag’s editors. This short piece unpacks and contextualizes those tweets. The original tweets appear below, numbered as they first appeared on Twitter.

Towards A Series Of Academic Norms For #Lawprof Twitter, Carissa B. Hessick

Faculty Publications

Tentative thoughts on what professional norms ought to apply to law professors who engage in a now popular form of public discourse: Twitter. Specifically, it is suggested that law professors should assume that, each time they tweet about a legal issue, they are making an implicit claim to expertise about that issue. It is also suggested that when law professors participate on Twitter, they should do so in a fashion that models the sort of reasoned debate taught to law students.

What Should We Do After Work? Automation And Employment Law, Cynthia L. Estlund

AI-DR Collection

Will advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning put vast swaths of the labor force out of work or into fierce competition for the jobs that remain? Or, as in the past, will new jobs absorb workers displaced by automation? These hotly debated questions have profound implications for the fortress of rights and benefits that the law of work has constructed on the foundation of the employment relationship. This Article charts a path for reforming the law of work in the face of both justified anxiety and uncertainty about the future impact of automation on jobs.

Automation is driven …

Contents, North Carolina Law Review

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.