Computer Law Commons^™

Requiem For Cyberspace: The Effect Of The European General Privacy Regulation On The Global Internet, Steven Tapia

Seattle University Law Review

The dream of a perpetual, limitless, non-dimensional space is an idea that has transfixed clergy, philosophers, and poets for ages. Whether it is called “heaven,” “the afterlife,” “nirvana,” or another linguistic stand-in, the dream of a dimension beyond the bounds of time, space, and the laws of nature seems as universal as any concept ever. From its initial development in the 1970s (as a military, academic, and governmental experiment in creating a wholly alternative means of communication capable of surviving catastrophic failures of any parts of the communications conduits) until essentially now, the Internet seemed to be the closest incarnate …

Footprints: Privacy For Enterprises, Processors, And Custodians…Oh My!, Blair Witzel, Carrie Mount

Seattle University Law Review

Americans’ interest in privacy—as evidenced by increasing news coverage, online searches, and new legislation—has grown over the past decade. After the European Union enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), technologists and legal professionals have focused on primary collectors of data—known under various legal regimes as the “controller” or “custodian.” Thanks to advances in computing, many of these data collectors offload the processing of data to third parties providing data-related cloud services like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. In addition to the data they have already collected about the data subjects themselves, these companies now “hold” that data on behalf of …

Non-Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Programs And Products Liability: How New Ai Products Challenge Existing Liability Models And Pose New Financial Burdens, Greg Swanson

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment argues that the unique relationship between manufacturers, consumers, and their reinforcement learning AI systems challenges existing products liability law models. These traditional models inform how to identify and apportion liability between manufacturers and consumers while exposing litigants to low-dollar tort remedies with inherently high-dollar litigation costs.11 Rather than waiting for AI autonomy, the political and legal communities should be proactive and generate a liability model that recognizes how new AI programs have already redefined the relationship between manufacturer, consumer, and product while challenging the legal and financial burden of prospective consumer-plaintiffs and manufacturer-defendants.

Gdpr Compliance—It Takes A Village, Susy Mendoza

Seattle University Law Review

When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in May of 2018, many legal departments were confronted with the gravity of just how they were going to comply with such a wide-reaching law. If you have international customers (both direct to consumer or business to business), it is not hard to convince your general counsel that compliance with the GDPR is a must. You may even be able to get the chief technical officer (CTO) or chief operating officer (COO) onboard just by mentioning the steep fines—two to four percent of worldwide gross revenue. But how does the …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deepfakes: False Pornography Is Here And The Law Cannot Protect You, Douglas Harris

Duke Law & Technology Review

It is now possible for anyone with rudimentary computer skills to create a pornographic deepfake portraying an individual engaging in a sex act that never actually occurred. These realistic videos, called “deepfakes,” use artificial intelligence software to impose a person’s face onto another person’s body. While pornographic deepfakes were first created to produce videos of celebrities, they are now being generated to feature other nonconsenting individuals—like a friend or a classmate. This Article argues that several tort doctrines and recent non-consensual pornography laws are unable to handle published deepfakes of non-celebrities. Instead, a federal criminal statute prohibiting these publications is …

The Human Element: The Under-Theorized And Underutilized Component Vital To Fostering Blockchain Development, Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Scholarly Articles

This Article constitutes a lightly edited transcription of Joshua Fairfield's oral remarks at the April 6, 2018 Cleveland State Law Review Symposium on Blockchain Law and Technology.

The author posits that there is a tendency to think that technology will emerge triumphant in resolving physical problems, including banking and transactional recording; that there is sort of a "tech-bro utopianism," epitomized by Mark Zuckerberg, suggesting that what we need is a technological, not a human, solution. He states that one major problem is that social technologists, psychologists, historians, linguists, and cultural anthropologists are not on the development teams that are building …

Panel Iii: Practicing Blockchain Law, 34 Uic J. Marshall J. Priv. & Tech. L. 52 (2019), Peter Nadimi, Samuel Korver, Zach Smolinski, Lauren Steinhaeuser, Corey Bieber

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The most disruptive technology to emerge in the past decade, blockchain technology has had an immediate impact on the legal industry to address the new issues that blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and distributed ledger technologies present. This panel discusses why it is important for lawyers to take an interest in this area, and more importantly, how lawyers of all experience levels can get involved in the blockchain space. The panel will share diverse experiences and insights from those on the ground who do blockchain legal work.

Panel I: Blockchain And The Law, 34 Uic J. Marshall J. Priv. & Tech. L. 1 (2019), Carla Reyes, Nelson Rosario, Rachel Cannon, Richard Tall

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The most disruptive technology to emerge in the past decade, blockchain technology has had an immediate impact on the legal industry to address the new issues that blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and distributed ledger technologies present. This panel provides an overview of blockchain technology, including current and potential applications, and discusses how blockchain intersects with various sectors of the law. The panelists define this new technology, identify potential legal challenges ahead, and explain how new and seasoned attorneys can engage in this emerging area.

Panel Ii: Blockchain Regulation And Criminal Law, 34 Uic J. Marshall J. Priv. & Tech. L. 31 (2019), Justin Steffen, Michele Korver, Elaine Wyder-Harshman, Michael Baumert, Emily Hayes

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The most disruptive technology to emerge in the past decade, blockchain technology has had an immediate impact on the legal industry to address the new issues that blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and distributed ledger technologies present. This panel discusses current and potential regulatory issues facing blockchain technology, including ICOs and securities regulation, prevention of blockchain use in criminal activities, the uncertain tax landscape, and the unique challenges of regulating a global borderless technology.

Can Accessibility Liberate The "Lost Ark" Of Scholarly Work?: University Library Institutional Repositories Are "Places Of Public Accommodation”, 52 Uic J. Marshall L. Rev. 327 (2019), Raizel Liebler, Gregory Cunningham

UIC Law Review

For any body of knowledge – an ark of power or a corpus of scholarship – to be studied and used by people, it needs to be accessible to those seeking information. Universities, through their libraries, now aim to make more of the scholarship produced available for free to all through institutional repositories. However, the goal of being truly open for an institutional repository is more than the traditional definition of open access. It also means openness in a more general sense. Creating a scholarship-based online space also needs to take into consideration potential barriers for people with disabilities. This …

Annual Report, 2019 (Five Year Report 2013-2019)

Tech Policy Lab

With this report, we celebrate the Tech Policy Lab’s five-year anniversary. We are deeply grateful to the community for helping us mark this milestone. We came together in the fall of 2013 to create a deeply interdisciplinary research collaboration with real-world impacts. We chose to model our new collaboration on a laboratory—a place to experiment with a distinct interdisciplinary model for research, to develop tangible and innovative new resources, and to train the next generation of tech policy experts. With co-equal faculty directors from three distinct disciplines, and students and faculty from many more, we set out to bridge the …

Collaborative Approaches To Blockchain Regulation: The Brooklyn Project Example, Patrick Berarducci

Cleveland State Law Review

Today, I am going to discuss, at a high level, blockchain technology—what it is, what are its unique features that could revolutionize markets and economies, and how it could impact law and regulation. That is a lot to cover—far too much in the time allotted. So I will keep things at a very high level and hopefully pique some interest in everyone to dig deeper on their own.

Smart Contracts In Traditional Contract Law, Or: The Law Of The Vending Machine, Jonathan Rohr

Cleveland State Law Review

Smart contracts are the new norm, yet state legislatures and courts have not developed set rules and answers to legal disputes that these contracts create. Is traditional contract law sufficient? Or should we create an entirely new legislative or common law scheme to deal with these disputes? The common law has proven to be successful in dealing with new technologies and contracts, particularly because of its flexibility. Although a major overhaul may be in the future, there are still solutions that we can find today with the current legal landscape given the state of contract law and its evolution over …

Let’S Get This Show On The Road: Driverless Cars Have Arrived And It’S Time To Advance The Regulatory Framework, Joshua D. Borneman

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

The potential benefits that driverless automobile technology will provide to the U.S. and its roadways are vast. Greatly enhanced safety of American citizens is chief among these benefits. Congressional and administrative support will be required if these benefits are to be completely realized by American society. However, lawmakers are dragging their feet on passing legislation that will allow driverless cars to hit the road in full force. This comment examines the legislative proposals put forth by the House of Representatives and Senate. It argues that the differences between the two versions are inconsequential and urges lawmakers to act in order …

The Itunes Of Downloadable Guns: Firearms As A First Amendment Right, Sandra Sawan Lara

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

As society becomes more technology driven, legal issues continue to arise around the world. From privacy to national security, technology develops at a rate the law simply cannot keep up with. In the United States, one of the biggest legal issues is how the new risks technology brings will interfere with our individual liberties.

Technologies like three-dimensional (“3D”) printing have transformed everything from lifesaving surgeries to gun manufacturing. This technology has led to a whole new way of communicating via computer coding, with the online open source movement leading innovation by allowing for the sharing and editing of files freely. …

Abstraction In Software Patents (And How To Fix It), 18 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 364 (2019), Athul Acharya

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Software has long posed a quandary for patent law. As many have observed, software is an abstract technology—but abstract ideas are supposedly ineligible for patenting. This Article explores just what that means, what it doesn’t mean, and what might fix the problem of abstraction in software patents. This Article offers two related ways to understand the abstract nature of software. First, computer science defines itself as a “science of abstraction,” and that self-definition finds real doctrinal purchase. Second, software code is designed to be what the doctrine calls “functional”—to describe abstract results that can be executed on heterogenous hardware without …

Internet Of Infringing Things: The Effect Of Computer Interface Copyrights On Technology Standards, Charles Duan

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

You connect to the Internet via your Wi-Fi access point. You surf the Web using a browser and send emails through your email server. You probably use some USB peripherals-say a mouse, keyboard, or printer. Maybe you even watch cable or broadcast television.

Under current case law, each of those computer systems and devices may very well be copyright-infringing contraband. This is through no fault of your own-you need not be pirating music or streaming illegal movies to infringe a copyright. The infringement simply exists, hard-wired within each of those devices and many more that you use, a result of …

Merging Sports Gambling And Technology: What’S Really Going To Happen?, Tucker Davison

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Natural Cycles: When An Algorithm Digitally Mandates Your Sexual Health, Jacqueline Tran

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Case For Dhs To Classify The Internet Of Things As Critical Infrastructure In The United States, Jessica G. Martz

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All! The Rise Of Esports And The Evolution Of Its Regulations, Elizabeth Chung

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Agriculture & Blockchain: Identifying Liability And Guaranteeing Quality, Morgan Crider

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Regulations For Smart Mobility: Proceed With Caution, Connor Saenz

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Blockchain Symposium Introduction: Overview And Historical Introduction, Brian Ray

Cleveland State Law Review

Imagine a world where human drivers can access on-demand micro-insurance contracts tailored to cover only the actual time spent driving. How about a secure, decentralized identity system that allows individuals to purchase a vehicle and obtain insurance without sharing unnecessary private information exposing it to cyber criminals? Take that a step further and consider a system of driverless cars that transact with autonomous gas stations and take payments directly from passengers. These are some of the fascinating applications that blockchain technology could enable. But these applications give rise to significant technical, social, and legal questions, all of which we explored …

Conceptualizing The Regulation Of Virtual Currencies And Providers: Friction Points In State And Federal Approaches To Regulating Providers Of Payments Execution And Custody Services And Products In The United States, Sarah J. Hughes

Cleveland State Law Review

This essay evaluates the state of regulation by the United States government and State legislatures of participants in emerging virtual-currency businesses. It points to friction points as both the federal government and the States experiment with their own regulatory authority over virtual-currency businesses and provides a taxonomy of differing approaches to regulating such businesses. The essay takes the position that the States need to act in the near term if they wish to maintain their longstanding role as regulators of non-depository providers of financial products and services—or they risk being preempted by Congress or federal regulatory actions. This essay also …

The Role Of Satellites And Smart Devices: Data Surprises And Security, Privacy, And Regulatory Challenges, Anne T. Mckenna, Amy C. Gaudion, Jenni L. Evans

Faculty Scholarly Works

Strava, a popular social media platform and mobile app like Facebook but specifically designed for athletes, posts a “heatmap” with consensually-obtained details about users’ workouts and geolocation. Strava’s heatmap depicts aggregated data of user location and movement by synthesizing GPS satellite data points and movement data from users’ smart devices together with satellite imagery. In January of 2018, a 20-year-old student tweeted that Strava’s heatmap revealed U.S. forward operating bases. The tweet revealed a significant national security issue and flagged substantial privacy and civil liberty concerns.

Smart devices, software applications, and social media platforms aggregate consumer data from multiple data …

Inside The Black Box Of Search Algorithms, Susan Nevelow Mart, Joe Breda, Ed Walters, Tito Sierra, Khalid Al-Kofahi

Publications

A behind-the-scenes look at the algorithms that rank results in Bloomberg Law, Fastcase, Lexis Advance, and Westlaw.