Law Commons^™

Regulating Data Breaches: A Data Superfund Statute, Kyle Mckibbin

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Collecting and processing large amounts of personal data has become a fundamental feature of the modern economy. Personal data, combined with good data analytics, are valuable to businesses as they can provide highly detailed information about individual preferences and behaviors. This data collection can also be valuable to the consumer as it generates innovative products and digital platforms. The era of big data promises great rewards, but it is not without its costs. Data breaches, or the release of personal data into unwanted hands, are pervasive and increasingly massive in scale. Despite the personal privacy harm caused by data breaches, …

Regulating Social Media In The Global South, Zahra Takhshid

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In recent years, the disinformation crisis has made regulating social media platforms a necessity. The consequences of disinformation campaigns are not only limited to election interferences or political debates, but have also included fatal consequences. In response, scholars have generally focused on regulating social media companies in the United States without paying much attention to these companies’ global impact, particularly in the Global South. Lost in the quest to fight disinformation is addressing the social media companies’ neglect of consumer rights in the Global South.

Countries in the Global North, such as the United States, have the power to regulate …

Corporate Cybersecurity: The International Threat To Private Networks And How Regulations Can Mitigate It, Eric J. Hyla

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Cyberattacks are occurring at an accelerating pace. Foreign nations are increasingly utilizing hacking as a tool for economic gain, acts of aggression, or international political expression. At risk are US consumers'personal data, private firms' bottom line, and the economies'integrity. In response, federal and state lawmakers have issued a series of disparate, uncoordinated policies seeking to strengthen cybersecurity practices. However, recent events indicate that these policies are less than ideal. This Note suggests that a unified response to cybersecurity is required and calls for the establishment of a single, central federal agency with authority over all cybersecurity regulations. Such an agency …

Nudging Robots: Innovative Solutions To Regulate Artificial Intelligence, Michael Guihot, Anne F. Matthew, Nicolas P. Suzor

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

There is a pervading sense of unease that artificially intelligent machines will soon radically alter our lives in ways that are still unknown. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology are developing at an extremely rapid rate as computational power continues to grow exponentially. Even if existential concerns about AI do not materialize, there are enough concrete examples of problems associated with current applications of AI to warrant concern about the level of control that exists over developments in this field. Some form of regulation is likely necessary to protect society from harm. However, advances in regulatory capacity have not kept …

Trends In Global Nanotechnology Regulation: The Public-Private Interplay, Reut Snir

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Over the last decade, concerns regarding potential exposure to nano materials gave rise to substantial new regulation intended to ensure safe development of nanotechnology applications. This Article examines the resultant regulatory system through empirical analysis of trends and patterns in global development of nanotechnology regulatory initiatives. It argues that rather than a government-driven process, it was private actors who set the regulatory wheels in motion. This Article shows that under conditions of scientific uncertainty, governments lacking technical and scientific knowledge to support risk-based regulation often leave a regulatory void. Consequently, businesses apply self-risk-management strategies to fill the gap, leading the …

Wine Wars: How We Have Painted Ourselves Into A Regulatory Corner, Rachel M. Perkins

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

A private citizen can violate the Constitution in two ways. The first is by enslaving another person, an atrocious act that should be proscribed by the highest law in the land. The second is by transporting alcohol across a state line in violation of the laws of that state. The two actions are hardly of the same magnitude.

The history of alcohol regulation has been a litany of failed attempts--on both the state and federal levels. Each new layer of legislation created additional problems. Most are familiar with the infamy of Prohibition, the federal ban on the manufacture or sale …

The "Spiritual Temperature" Of Contemporary Popular Music, Tracy Reilly

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The purpose of this Article is to contribute to the volume of legal scholarship that focuses on popular music lyrics and their effects on children. This interdisciplinary cross-section of law and culture has been analyzed by legal scholars, philosophers, and psychologists throughout history. This Article specifically focuses on the recent public uproar over the increasingly violent and lewd content of death-metal and gangsta-rap music and its alleged negative influence on children. Many legal scholars have written about how legal and political efforts throughout history to regulate contemporary genres of popular music in the name of the protection of children's morals …

A First Amendment For Second Life: What Virtual Worlds Mean For The Law Of Video Games, Marc J. Blitz

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, video games have finally taken their place alongside movies, comic books, and drawings as a form of protected First Amendment speech. Since the Seventh Circuit's 2001 decision in American Amusement Machine Association v. Kendrick, court after court has struck down ordinances and statutes aimed at restricting violent video games--on the grounds that such violate game designers' and players' First Amendment speech rights. This series of rulings marks a stark change from courts' previous stance on video games, which consigned them to the same realm of unprotected non-speech conduct as games like tennis, …

Pornography, Coercion, And Copyright Law 2.0, Ann Bartow

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The lack of regulation of the production of pornography in the United States leaves pornography performers exposed to substantial risks. Producers of pornography typically respond to attempts to regulate pornography as infringements upon free speech. At the same time, large corporations involved in the production and sale of pornography rely on copyright law's complex regulatory framework to protect their pornographic content from copying and unauthorized distribution. Web 2.0 also facilitates the production and distribution of pornography by individuals. These user-generators produce their own pornography, often looking to monetize their productions themselves via advertising revenues and subscription models. Much like their …

Calling All Angles: Perspectives On Regulating Internet Telephony, Melissa Winberg

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In 1996, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act, substantially revising the Communications Act of 1934 to reflect technological advances, including the Internet, and Congress's deregulatory goals. Currently, however, new technologies are challenging the viability of the statutory definitions and regulatory schemes of the statute. Internet telephony, commonly called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is both a replacement for traditional telephone service and a new web-based technology. Given the current competitive political climate and the magnitude of the interests involved, Congress is unlikely to succeed in altering the telecommunications regime. Thus, the Federal Communications Commission, which has the authority to regulate interstate …

A Need For Heightened Scrutiny: Aligning The Ncaa Transfer Rule With Its Rationales, Jonathan Jenkins

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This note will explore the traditional rationales offered by the NCAA in implementing the Transfer Rule and suggests that these rationales are not served by the current Rule. Part I frames the environment in which the Transfer Rule exists by tracing the history of the NCAA. Part II explores the traditional rationales offered for justifying the Transfer Rule. In McHale v. Cornell University, the NCAA suggested that the purposes of the Transfer Rule are "(1) to prevent transfers solely for athletic reasons, (2) to avoid exploitation of student-athletes, and (3) to allow transfer students time to adjust to their new …

Is The Ada Short-Sighted? An Analysis Of Sightline Regulations In Movie Theaters, Michael D. Driver

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In Part I, the history of disability law in the United States will be discussed, following the decision of Brown v. Board of Education until the passage of the ADA. The purpose and contents of the ADA will, in pertinent part, then be discussed, as will the language of the Act that caused the circuits to split and the language of the Act as it now stands. The contents of the circuit court cases from the First, Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits will be analyzed, separating the circuits into majority (First, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits) and minority (Fifth Circuit) positions. …

The Needle And The Damage Done: The Pervasive Presence Of Obsolete Mass Media Audience Models In First Amendment Doctrine, Mehmet Konar-Steenberg

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Do audiences need the government's protection from mass media? Or are they capable of choosing media and protecting themselves? For decades, judicial opinion on this issue developed in the form of judicial notice, speculation, and assumption. Yet during that time, a rich social science discipline was emerging that could have helped to address these issues based on empirical research about mass media effects and audiences. Given the renewed importance of this issue, it is time to bridge the gap between the law of mass media content regulation and the social science research into mass media consumption.

To that end, this …

Regulation Through Intimidation: Congressional Hearings And Political Pressure On America's Entertainment Media, Kenneth A. Paulson

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This paper explores how Congress has shaped and limited the content of films, comic books, popular music, and television over the past century. Specifically, this report focuses on the path to "self-regulation" and industry-wide codes for these four media, and how government used pressure and influence to spur the adoption of standards.