Computer Law Commons^™

The Generation Of Maladies: The U.S. Tech Giants, David Vladeck

Loyola Consumer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Green Dividends: A Case Study In Green Dividends And The Conditions For Private Ordering Solutions, Anne M. Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

This Essay introduces a novel private ordering solution to facilitate corporate investments in pro-social and environmental initiatives: Green dividends. Green dividends are an optional increase in shareholder dividends that are returned to the company to be reinvested in environmental initiatives or kept by a shareholder.

Green dividends pose an alternative to the current gridlocked debate that corporations can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, and shouldn’t even try to act in pro-social or environmental ways. Turning the common refrains on their head converts each narrative into an element for a successful private ordering solution: authority, accountability, shareholder buy-in, and government- backed enforcement. With Green …

Does Climate Disclosure Work To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions? Emerging Evidence Suggests Cautious Optimism, Cynthia A. Williams

Seattle University Law Review

Significant regulatory resources have been spent developing global, voluntary climate and sustainability disclosure standards, such as the TCFD, TNRD, and ISSB’s Sustainability and Climate Disclosure standards, or domestically required disclosures, such as in the EU and in the U.S. Thus, it is important to evaluate whether this disclosure, particularly voluntary, qualitative disclosure, will have the power to shift the allocation of capital, will have a significant effect on the management of climate risk within firms, and ultimately will reduce climate change risk and biodiversity loss.

In this Article, several interrelated questions will be discussed. First, what does the empirical evidence …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Data Privacy In K-12 Education: Protecting Students In The 21st Century, Kate Hughes

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

Connectivity has come to define a new generation, with kids today comprising a large sector of the online community. With most of their days spent at school, it is no surprise that the 21st-century classroom has become a playground in the digital sense, with districts growing increasingly reliant on “EdTech” platforms that promise high-impact solutions to an industry entrusted with laying the foundations of the next generation. As the “big data” movement continues to progress, the education sector will continue to reinvent itself alongside the chance to discover new efficiencies and create new opportunities for timely feedback, individualized instruction, and …

From Cigarettes To Cereal: Analyzing The Rise, Peak, And Fall Of Ultra-Processed Foods And The Legal Battle Against Industry Food Deception, Charlotte F. Baird

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

This Comment explores the legal, regulatory, and public health dimensions of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in the United States and abroad, revealing the urgent need for comprehensive reform. It traces the historical evolution of UPFs, exposing how Big Tobacco strategically pivoted into the food industry after facing public backlash and regulatory crackdowns with cigarettes and tobacco products. Using the same research tactics, behavioral manipulation, and aggressive marketing practices once employed to sell cigarettes, Big Tobacco companies repurposed their corporate expertise to engineer food designed for potential addiction, overconsumption, and profit, while often targeting children and marginalized communities. This Comment critically examines …

Incremental Innovation, George Horvath

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

Transformative innovations—the ones that use new technologies to disrupt the world—command our attention. But most new products are the result of a more mundane process of incremental iterative innovation, evolving through a long series of small modifications of existing technologies. Although both kinds of innovation can result in improved safety and utility, both can also create new dangers. We tend to be more aware of this in trans- formative innovations (as current worries over artificial intelligence show); by contrast, dangers created by incremental iterative innovation often go unrecognized, because the process itself is easy to overlook. Policymakers and regulators need …

Shutting Down The Supply Chain Pipeline Of Counterfeit Goods Running From Alibaba To Amazon, Daniel C. Chow

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

An immense supply chain pipeline constantly funnels millions of counterfeit goods from Alibaba’s e-commerce sites in China to third party sellers who sell these goods on Amazon to U.S. consumers. Amazon has acknowledged that it has a problem with counterfeits on its e-commerce sites, but its current responses to counterfeiting are primarily performative and intended to pacify disgruntled brand owners and frustrated consumers. Amazon’s responses will likely have little or no effect on counterfeits on its websites. This Article sets forth a direct and straightforward method for shutting down or seriously disrupting this pipeline based on using China’s existing laws. …

Systemic Risk And The Social Contract, Kevin Frazier

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

The stability of the constitutional order turns, in part, on a stable economy and reliable advances in technology. Political order cannot withstand economic collapse or a massive technological failure. Such crises chip away at the collective will to adhere to the social contract because they indicate the government may not have the capacity to uphold its end of the bargain—protecting individual liberty from broad threats. “Unprecedented” economic downturns, however, have a precedent of emerging from the very deliberate decision of some actors to pursue extremely risky behavior in their self-interest at the expense of the public. Societal disruption from over-dependence …

Retail Innovation Through Ai: Benefits And Liabilities, W. Michael Schuster, Simon E. Corrigan

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

This article investigates the transformative capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) within the retail industry. We highlight significant opportunities for product customization, innovation, and enhanced supply chain efficiency, while also examining complex legal challenges associated with AI-generated content. In particular, concerns in the copyright realm are highlighted— including documented biases against AI-produced works. Recognizing these issues, retailers should adopt proactive legal strategies, ensure transparency, and consider hybrid human-AI collaborative approaches. Strategically addressing these issues will help maximize consumer and business benefits while mitigating legal exposure.

Robot Regulators, Brian L. Frye

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Visual Legal Rhetoric In The Age Of Generative Ai And Deepfakes: Renaissance Or Dark Ages?, Michael D. Murray

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

The paradoxical development of visual generative AI tools, such as OpenAI’s DALL-E 3, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, simultaneously signals a renaissance and a potential dark age in visual rhetoric and communication. On the one hand, these tools democratize the creation of visual content, empowering attorneys and others to become artists and illustrators of their legal communications without needing to learn how to draw. These AI systems can simplify complex legal concepts, bridge language barriers, and enhance advocacy. But on the other hand, the proliferation of deepfakes presents significant challenges for visual rhetoric. Deepfakes can quickly and easily create realistic but …

Willful Ignorance Or Embracing Ai To Find Prior Art? Uspto Misses The Mark, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

Artificial intelligence (AI) is frequently in the news. Policymakers and business executives must decide whether it is a revolutionary phenomenon, likely to overturn established enterprises and practices, or if it is a mere modest advancement in decades-old natural language capability over-advertised by Silicon Valley seeking the “next big thing” and hyped by reporters eager for the next byline. The patent office and the patent bar are not immune from the turmoil. The USPTO has issued several policies and inquiries related to the impact of AI on various aspects of patent prosecution. Most recent is a Request for Comments on the …

Disenchanting Consent, Ruifeng Song

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

Despite being criticized as a flawed mechanism for data protection, con- sent has witnessed a revival in the recent wave of state privacy statutes. One factor that contributed to the revival may be the widely held belief that con- sent constitutes the “cornerstone” of data privacy laws. This Article conducts a comparative historical survey to examine the validity of this belief. The findings are twofold. First, contrary to what many believe, consent has been playing a limited role in global data privacy laws. Second, consent is an inherently defective mechanism for data protection. Some of its problems have existed since …

Debugging The Trademark Laws Part Ii: Criminal Penalties For Trafficking In Counterfeit Microelectronics, Patricia E. Campbell

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

Counterfeit microelectronics have been a persistent problem in government and industry supply chains for many years. Counterfeit electronic parts (e.g., integrated circuits, transistors, capacitors) pose serious risks to human health and safety, harm the economy, and jeopardize national security. Trafficking in counterfeit goods and services was first criminalized in 1984, and Congress has acted on several occasions to increase the corresponding penalties. Nevertheless, the trade in counterfeit microelectronics continues to evolve to meet market demands, and relatively few criminal cases have been brought for trafficking in counterfeit microelectronics. While several factors may contribute to this apparent lack of enforcement, the …

It Is Our Flaws That Make Us Humane: How Technology Ruined Judicial Craft, Shai Dothan, Gregor Maučec

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

There is ample evidence that people are not completely rational. They suffer from a series of biases that limit their abilities to make the best decisions and to stick to them. Judges are a unique group of people. They go through many years of training that counter some of these biases, but not all of them. In fact, there is a whole field of research dedicated to predicting how judges, with their human flaws, are going to behave. But today, judges can use an increasing number of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with their craft, particularly with research and …

Regulation To Reinforce The Evidentiary-Science Base Of U.S. Medicine In The Age Of "Omics", Michael J. Malinowski

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

United States’ technology transfer law and policy (TTLP) integrates government, academia, and industry—a “triple-threat” research and development (R&D) methodology—and harnesses commercial incentives to stimulate market application of federal government-funded invention. TTLP, which has proven a potent catalyst for remarkably prolific biomedical R&D since Congress enacted its cornerstone legislation in 1980, is transforming U.S. medicine to molecular medicine—to personal genome medicine (PGM)—in real time. A genomics (gene function in the context of an organism’s entire genome, meaning its full set of genetic instructions) complement to the Human Genome Project (HGP) emerged in the 1990s. Genomics has given rise to a portfolio …

The Artificial Intelligence Trolley Problem: Governance In The Post-Chevron World, James M. Cooper, Kashyap Kompella

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

This Essay addresses a growing Constitutional challenge in public governance: the increasing delegation of consequential decisions to algorithmic systems that encode value trade-offs between liberty and security, equity and efficiency, and expression and control, without visibility, legal justification, or institutional oversight. We view this hidden normative choice an example of the “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trolley Problem.” Like the classic moral dilemma, it involves unavoidable sacrifices among competing goods. Unlike its philosophical counterpart, however, algorithmic trade-offs occur silently. They are embedded in data proxies, optimization logic, and model design, and insulated from scrutiny by claims of technical neutrality. This Essay argues …

Top Ten Biotechnology Patent Cases Of 2024: Loper Bright, Federal Circuit Turmoil, Patent Term Adjustment, And Naturally Occurring Nucleic Acids, Kevin E. Noonan, Andrew W. Torrance

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

A pivotal year for biotechnology patent law, 2024 was marked by consequential court rulings and evolving legal frameworks. This article surveys the ten most significant judicial decisions impacting biotech patents, highlighting major themes and trends in policy, litigation, and regulation. Courts at all levels grappled with core patentability requirements in the life sciences, from the Supreme Court’s continued laissez-faire stance on subject-matter eligibility to the Federal Circuit’s stringent enforcement of disclosure sufficiency rules.

Front Matter

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Faking It: A Proposed Solution To Counter Nonconsensual Pornographic Deepfakes, Rena Song

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

2024 Louise A. Halper Award Winner for Best Student Note.

Deepfakes have become popular due to their user-friendly nature and accessibility, allowing anyone to create one by installing deepfake software programs on their phones or laptops. Deepfake software programs allow creators to create hyper-realistic multimedia featuring anyone whose image they can find. Some industries have drawn positive uses from deepfakes; however, deepfakes also create harms that can have detrimental effects on people’s mental health, employment, and reputation. Women and children, including those without a large online presence, have become the target for nonconsensual pornographic deepfakes. Congress has yet to pass …

Artificial Intelligence And Intellectual Property, Part Iii: Ip Protection For Ai-Assisted Inventions And Creative Works, Joshua Landau

American University Business Law Review

Chairman Darrell Issa, Ranking Member Hank Johnson, distinguished members of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet ("Subcommittee") of the Committee on the Judiciary ("Judiciary Committee"), on behalf of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and its members, thank you for this opportunity to share our views on intellectual property (IP) protection for artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted works and inventions.

Confronting The Challenges Of Regulating Artificial Intelligence, Amy B. Cyphert

FIU Law Review

Public opinion polls conclude that the American public is in favor of regulating artificial intelligence (“AI”), and many technology companies publicly claim that they would welcome regulation. And yet the United States has struggled to enact federal comprehensive AI regulations beyond a short-lived Executive Order. Why? Part I of this Article explains why regulating AI is so difficult, focusing on six key reasons: AI is a global issue; AI is not one discrete issue; AI is developing at a speed that is unprecedented; lawmakers largely lack the technical expertise effective AI regulation requires; the stakes of getting the regulation wrong …

Facial Recognition Technology And The First Amendment, Joseph A. Tomain

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The growing ubiquity of facial recognition technology (FRT) is a problem. While much has been written on harmful government use of FRT, little has been written regarding harmful private actor use. This Article helps fill a gap in the literature by providing a detailed analysis of the First Amendment interests at stake when private actors use FRT. Specifically, this Article analyzes whether laws that limit the use of publicly available photographs to create faceprints for inclusion in FRT databases violate the First Amendment rights of private actors.

In May 2025, a multidistrict litigation against Clearview AI, an FRT company, offered …

Chronically Online: Apportioning Liability In Social Media Litigation Based On User Engagement, Rebecca Vangelos

Fordham Law Review

The average American teenager spends nearly five hours on social media every day. This result is by design: social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok deploy persuasive technologies—including infinite scroll, personalized content recommendation feeds, and dark patterns—to capture and retain teen attention. These intentional design features exploit adolescent vulnerabilities to foster social media dependency. Accordingly, a growing body of scientific evidence links the extensive use of social media to the teen mental health crisis in the United States.

Despite these negative effects, social media companies have largely evaded accountability for the harm they have caused to teens. Recent lawsuits …

Front Matter

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Patching The Cfaa So Researchers No Longer Pay, Joshua Baker

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Agents In A Tangled Bank: An Ecosystem Approach To Ai Regulation, Andrew W. Torrance, Bill Tomlinson

FIU Law Review

As autonomous artificial intelligence agents ("Agents") become increasingly prevalent in society, legal frameworks must evolve to govern their behavior effectively. This article argues that autonomous AI agents must be understood as operating within complex ecosystems of other agents, humans, institutions, and actual biological ecosystems-similar to how biological organisms exist within broader ecosystems. Drawing on established research in multi-agent systems and environmental law, we propose that effective governance of AI agents requires moving beyond just regulation on individual agents to include system-level approaches. We examine how existing legal frameworks handle heterogeneous autonomous entities (humans, corporations, and animals) and explore how these …

Regenerating Justice: Chatgpt And The Legal Minefield Of Generative Ai, Katie Szilagyi

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper adopts an automation bias lens to cast doubt on the growing claims that GenAI is a transformational tool for legal industry. In this context, automation bias refers to the well-known psychological phenomenon in which human decision-makers unwittingly defer to automated processes, flowing from overreliance on the accuracy of the automation. Even well-meaning individuals aiming to keep a “human-in-the-loop” of any automated decision can fall prey to this well-documented phenomenon, trusting the technology more than it deserves to be trusted. Champions for current GenAI technologies often do acknowledge limitations within the existing landscape of tools, like GenAI’s tendency to …

Unveiling The Environmental Impact Of Large Language Models On Indigenous Communities: A Call For Action And Liability, Nina-Simone Edwards

Library Scholarship

Large Language Models (LLMs) have rapidly gained popularity for their language generation and comprehension capabilities, promising increased efficiency in various sectors. However, while celebrated for their transformative potential, LLMs exacerbate current climate issues. This Article highlights the detrimental environmental footprint of LLMs, with a focus on their role in escalating climate change and their disproportionate effects on Indigenous communities. These communities, closely tied to their land, bear the brunt of environmental degradation, further aggravated by LLM-induced emissions.

This Article first dissects the interplay between environmental justice and technological innovation, advocating for a reevaluation of the trust relationship between tribal nations …