Internet Law Commons^™

Blockchain Land Transfers: Technology, Promises, And Perils, Vincent Ooi, Kian Peng Soh, Jerrold Soh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The blockchain’s apparent immutability has attracted significant interest on whether it may be relied on for registering and transferring land. Proponents of blockchain-based land systems point toward data security, automated transacting, and improved accessibility as key benefits; critics raise concerns over structural vulnerabilities, such as majority attacks, and inconsistencies with existing legal frameworks. The literature, however, tends to conceptualise blockchain as one monolithic data structure invariably built on the same mechanisms powering Bitcoin. This paper seeks to situate the debate on a closer understanding of the range of blockchain implementations possible. To this end, we provide a detailed technological survey …

Judged By The (Digital) Company You Keep: Maintaining Judicial Ethics In An Age Of Likes, Shares, And Follows, John Browning

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Just like lawyers, judicial use of social media can present ethical pitfalls. And while most scholarly attention has focused on either active social media conduct by judges (such as posting or tweeting) or on social media “friendships” between judges and others, this Article analyses the ethical dimensions of seemingly benign judicial conduct on social media platforms, such as following a third party or “liking,” sharing, or retweeting the online posts of others. Using real-world examples, this Article analyses how even such ostensibly benign conduct can create the appearance of impropriety and undermine public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of …

The Internet Immunity Escape Hatch, Gregory M. Dickinson

BYU Law Review

Internet immunity doctrine is broken, and Congress is helpless. Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, online entities are absolutely immune from lawsuits related to content authored by third parties. The law has been essential to the internet’s development over the last twenty years, but it has not kept pace with the times and is now deeply flawed. Democrats demand accountability for online misinformation. Republicans decry politically motivated censorship. And all have come together to criticize Section 230’s protection of bad-actor websites. The law’s defects have put it at the center of public debate, with more than …

Intellectual Property In E-Commerce Retail Arbitrage: An Analysis Of The Legality Of Using Intellectual Property In Drop-Shipping, Kara J. Bloomer

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Submission Of The Citizen Lab (Munk School Of Global Affairs, University Of Toronto) To The United Nations Working Group On Enforced Or Involuntary Disappearances, Siena Anstis, Ronald J. Deibert, Émilie Laflèche, Jonathon W. Penney

Commissioned Reports, Studies and Public Policy Documents

No abstract provided.

All Bets Are On! . . . Line: The Varied Regulatory Framework Of An Interconnected Online Sports Betting System, Meg Graham

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The United States And Its Obligations Under The Optional Protocol To The Convention On The Rights Of The Child On The Sale Of Children, Child Prostitution And Child Pornography To Combat Child Exploitation In The Digital World, Audrey Cunningham

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Tiktok The Musical: Copyright Issues Raised By The "Ratatouille" Musical, Paige V. Gagliardi

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

TikTok the Musical: Copyright Issues Raised by the “Ratatouille” Musical, explores the growing trend in derivative works and the failures of current copyright law to address it. This article asserts that while derivative works are excellent creative outlets, a safe haven in a tumultuous world, allowing appropriation of copyrights via the fair use doctrine conflicts with the foundations of copyright law. This article argues that IP giants such as the Walt Disney Company have sent a dangerous message to the general public by allowing the TikTok trend of the #ratatouillemusical to become an actual musical: that unlicensed derivative works …

Spotlight Report #6: Proffering Machine-Readable Personal Privacy Research Agreements: Pilot Project Findings For Ieee P7012 Wg, Noreen Y. Whysel, Lisa Levasseur

Publications and Research

What if people had the ability to assert their own legally binding permissions for data collection, use, sharing, and retention by the technologies they use? The IEEE P7012 has been working on an interoperability specification for machine-readable personal privacy terms to support this ability since 2018. The premise behind the work of IEEE P7012 is that people need technology that works on their behalf—i.e. software agents that assert the individual’s permissions and preferences in a machine-readable format.

Thanks to a grant from the IEEE Technical Activities Board Committee on Standards (TAB CoS), we were able to explore the attitudes of …

The Relational Robot: A Normative Lens For Ai Legal Neutrality — Commentary On Ryan Abbott, The Reasonable Robot, Carys Craig

Articles & Book Chapters

Artificial Intelligence (AI), we are told, is poised to disrupt almost every facet of our lives and society. From industrial labor markets to daily commutes, and from policing tactics to personal assistants, AI brings with it the usual promise and perils of change. How that change will unfold, however, and whether it will ultimately bestow upon us more benefits than harms, remains to be determined. A significant factor in setting the course for AI’s inevitable integration into society will be the legal framework within which it is developed and operationalized. Who will AI displace? What will it replace? What improvements …

Regulating Personal Data Usage In Covid-19 Control Conditions, Mark Findlay, Nydia Remolina

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Concern has been widely expressed about the potential for COVID-19 control technologies and resultant data sharing negatively impacting on civil rights, invading personal privacy, undermining citizen dignity through expansive data matching and ultimately providing opportunities for data use well beyond the brief of virus mitigation. This chapter offers suggestions regarding effective and inclusive regulatory responses when faced with extended surveillance, tracking/tracing, public/private provider data sharing and any breakdown in personal data firewalls, or otherwise conventional aggregated data deviations and distortion. In doing so, the chapter explores personal data usage in the context of COVID-19 as a regulatory enterprise. It addresses …

Can Social Media Corporations Be Held Liable Under International Law For Human Rights Atrocities?, Juliana Palmieri

Pace International Law Review

This article examines the relevant international law associated with genocide and hate speech and examines whether there are any legal grounds to hold a corporation liable for how people chose to use its product or service in relation to human rights violations. The analysis begins with a brief overview of international criminal and human rights law, relevant treaties, jurisdictional issues, and the legal theories of corporate criminal liability and complicity. Because current international law provides no clear answer, this article proposes that international courts use a balancing test which evaluates a non-exclusive list of ten main factors.

Metasoftware: Building Blocks For Legal Technology, Houman Shadab

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

This Article develops a novel concept in information technology called “metasoftware.” It then applies the concept of metasoftware to developing legal technology.

Metasoftware enables users to create the software of their choosing and stands in sharp contrast to traditional, functional. Functional software is the default type of software that is currently produced and includes word processing, email, social networking, enterprise resource management, online marketplaces, and video game software. Metasoftware, by contrast, is not functional. Metasoftware presents the user with a blank slate upon which to build functional software.

I argue that software is metasoftware to that extent that (1) it …

"I'M Concerned About This Post": Combatting Fake News On Social Media, Jake Latimer

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

The public concern over the spread of “fake news” on social media has increased over the last decade. Large social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter have attempted to address fake news by flagging it as misleading. Even former President Trump has seemingly exhibited a sense of paranoia over its spread. While the term “fake news” is often used as a political weapon to discredit unfavorable information and opinions, fake news refers to factually false or grossly misleading content likely designed to sway or entrench one’s opinion on a particular topic. The pervasiveness of this type of fake news on …

State Crypto Regulation: Competing Priorities Shaping Different Outcomes, John T. Bender

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

“Cryptomania” is approaching fever pitch. Public officials, practitioners, and investors alike are becoming convinced that what began as a thought experiment has given rise to a full-fledged movement that is here to stay. This movement could potentially transform the modern financial system as we know it.

Today, crypto assets and related platforms are increasingly being adopted to store, secure, and transmit massive amounts of monetary value worldwide. Enforcement agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission have ventured into the fray by employing existing legal regimes to regulate in this new frontier. At the …

Tiktok, Cfius, And The Splinternet, Jake T. Seiler

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

This note will discuss the role that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or “the Committee”) has played in foreign relations and how it contributes to the balkanization of the internet today. The Committee is an interagency body that reviews foreign investments for potential national security threats. Recently, CFIUS has been in the spotlight for its role in the sale of TikTok, a cellphone app owned by a popular Chinese corporation, ByteDance. While much of CFIUS’ review in the past has been focused on Chinese-owned corporations, there is much debate about whether or not countries should …

How To Regulate Online Platforms: Why Common Carrier Doctrine Is Inappropriate To Regulate Social Networks And Alternate Approaches To Protect Rights, Edward W. Mclaughlin

Fordham Law Review Online

Concerns about the “concentrated control of so much speech in the hands of a few private parties” and their ability to suppress some user speech have led to calls to regulate online platforms like common carriers or public accommodations. Advocates of that regulation theorize that social media platforms host today’s public forum and are open to all comers and so should have a responsibility to be content neutral and allow all voices to be heard. Traditionally, the argument that private players, as opposed to only government actors, can violate individuals’ free speech rights was a progressive cause, but recently conservative …

Small Business Cybersecurity: A Loophole To Consumer Data, Matthew R. Espinosa

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Small businesses and small minority owned businesses are vital to our nation’s economy; therefore legislation, regulation, and policy has been created in order to assist them in overcoming their economic stability issues and ensure they continue to serve the communities that rely on them. However, there is not a focus on regulating nor assisting small businesses to ensure their cybersecurity standards are up to par despite them increasingly becoming a victim of cyberattacks that yield high consequences. The external oversight and assistance is necessary for small businesses due to their lack of knowledge in implementing effective cybersecurity policies, the fiscal …

The Fate Of Comment 8: Analyzing A Lawyer's Ethical Obligation Of Technological Competence, Lisa Z. Rosenof

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Regulation Of Foreign Platforms, Ganesh Sitaraman

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In August 2020, the Trump Administration issued twin executive orders banning tech platforms TikTok and WeChat from the United States. These were not the first actions taken by the Trump Administration against Chinese tech platforms. But more than any other, the ban on TikTok sparked immediate outrage, confusion, and criticism.

This Article offers a new framework for thinking about national security restrictions on foreign tech platforms. A growing body of scholarship draws on principles from regulated industries, infrastructure industries, and public utilities to show how the regulation of tech platforms is not only viable but also has significant precedent and …

Moderating From Nowhere, Gilad Abiri

BYU Law Review

We are living in the midst of a battle over online hate speech regulation, and the stakes could not be higher. Hate speech not only harms its intended victims, be they individuals or groups, but it also polarizes and divides society in ways that undermine the health of democratic regimes. While there is widespread agreement that the current situation of online discourse is untenable, scholars and policymakers are deeply divided on the best way to improve it.

Until recently, American free speech norms have dominated the content moderation policies of digital media platforms. First Amendment norms are extremely resistant to …

Cybersecurity Spillovers, Mark Verstraete, Tal Zarsky

BYU Law Review

This Article identifies and analyzes a previously unrecognized source of positive externalities within cybersecurity, which we term "cybersecurity spillovers". Most commentators have focused on negative externalities and market failures, leading to a pervasive pessimism about the possibility of adequate cybersecurity protections. In response, this Article demonstrates that unique dynamics from the world of cloud computing – most notably, indivisibility – may force cloud service firms to generate spillovers. These spillovers are additional security protections provided to common cloud users: clients who may not have been willing or able to acquire these security services otherwise. Furthermore, this additional source of security …

Data Privacy Regulations In The United States, China, And The European Union, Charlsey A. Kelly

Honors College Theses

This paper compares and discusses the different data privacy regulations found in the United States, China, and the European Union. It is no secret that big tech companies like Facebook and Google continuously collect data on their users. The big question is what protections and rights one has as a consumer. The answer to this question differs when you are in different parts of the world. Currently the United States does not have a federal data privacy law, China recently adopted a new data privacy law called the Personal Information Protection Law, and the European Union has a data privacy …

An "Opensea" Of Infringement: The Intellectual Property Implications Of Nfts, Madison Yoder

The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The "Worst Law In Technology": How The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act Allows Big Businesses To Collect And Sell Your Personal Information, Alicia Nakhjavan

Brooklyn Law Review

For years, big businesses have been collecting and selling users’ personal information without permission. In attempts at preventing this practice, users have brought civil actions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), alleging a loss of personal privacy. As currently enacted, “personal privacy” is not included in the statutory definition of loss. Further, courts have been reluctant to interpret the CFAA broadly to cover loss of personal privacy claims. This note proposes that an amendment to the CFAA is necessary to close this gap in the statute’s coverage and better protect users’ right to privacy.

Ayla Llc V. Alya Skin Pty. Ltd., 2021 Wl 38233624 (9th Cir. Aug. 27, 2021), Liya Levin

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Andy Warhol Foundation V. Goldsmith, Alyssa Weitkamp

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Google V. Oracle: The Recent Supreme Court Decision, How It Highlights The Inadequacies Of Shoehorning New Technology Into Intellectual Property Law, And Possible Solutions, Claire Price

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Updating The Section 230 Safe Harbor Provision In A New Age Of Social Media Platforms, Arnold Owusu

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Strategies To Deter Child Pornography In The Absence Of A Mandatory Encryption Back Door: Tipster Programs, A Licensed Researcher System, Compelled Password Production, & Private Surveillance, Anthony Volini, Farzana Ahmed

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.