Science and Technology Law Commons^™

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UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned From The Gemini.Com Ipo, Lawrence J. Trautman

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

On August 15, 2025, Gemini Space Station, Inc. filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) contemplating the offering of up to 16,666,667 shares of Common Stock. After receiving comments from the Commission and the additional filing of amendments to the prospectus, the offering of about 15.2 million shares was priced before market opening on September 12, 2025, at $28 per share. Gemini’s “shares opened at $37.01 . . . at which it raised $425 million,” valuing the Company at $4.4 billion. Gemini’s disclosure documents provide an excellent description of the many new …

“It Wasn’T Me”: The Right Of Publicity In The Age Of Generative Ai, Erin Mcguinness

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Liability Standards In Autonomous Robotic Surgery, Hee Jung Cho

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

When Ownership Meets Licensing–New Normative Expectations And The Need For Nft Categorization: All Your Projects “Are” Belong To Us, Charles Belle

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

The current treatment of all NFTs in legal scholarship as identical digital assets fundamentally misunderstands their varied applications and the new normative expectations they create. The Moonbirds controversy of 2022, where a creator’s unilateral license change affected nearly 20,000 token holders, exemplifies the crisis: token holders believed they owned digital assets that could be controlled and commercialized, but existing copyright frameworks treat NFTs merely as licenses subject to creator discretion. Picture for Profile (PFP) Projects—community-based NFT collections involving thousands of tokens often with governance and commercial rights—combine concepts of possession, community governance, and commercialization in ways that challenge traditional intellectual …

From Prompt To Clone: Copyright Challenges In Ai Model Distillation, Claudia Philipp

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

This paper examines the legality of model distillation in the context of large language models (LLMs), where smaller “student” models are trained by mimicking the outputs of larger, proprietary “teacher” models. As artificial intelligence continues to advance rapidly, the legal framework surrounding patent, and contract law is being tested. Specifically, the paper explores whether current U.S. copyright law offers sufficient protection for frontier LLM developers and whether practices like unauthorized distillation amount to infringement. By analyzing model architecture, training data, behavioral mimicry, and reverse engineering under prevailing legal doctrines—including fair use, terms of use enforcement, and recent litigation—the paper finds …

Codifying Command: Integrating Ai Into Corporate Boards, Kennedy Kelley

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Corporate law in the United States requires that boards of directors be composed of human individuals, prohibiting artificial intelligence (AI) from serving in a directorial role. Statutes such as Delaware General Corporation Law §141(b) mandate that directors be natural persons, while fiduciary duty doctrines, liability structures, and regulatory frameworks presuppose human oversight and accountability. This paper argues that such legal constraints are increasingly outdated and should be reformed to permit AI to serve as a board member, alongside natural persons, with full decisionmaking authority. As AI systems become more capable of complex, datadriven reasoning, corporations should not be barred from …

Private Money: Stablecoins, Bitcoin, And The Genius Act, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Cryptocurrency has been legalized in the United States. The 2025 GENIUS Act provides a sensible regulatory framework for cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange while avoiding predicted monetary chaos. The Act correctly distinguishes between volatile fiat cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which are unsuitable as payment mechanisms, and stablecoins backed by traditional currencies and reserves.

Historical analysis spanning American monetary systems from the “free banking era” before 1860 through modern digital payments demonstrates that private money has long coexisted with government currency but requires appropriate regulation to prevent bank runs, fraud, and monetary instability. The GENIUS Act addresses key cryptocurrency risks—technological failures, …

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UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

In Search Of The Best Policies For Translational Geroscience, Tom W. Bell, Kalon Boston

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Though it once seemed like an inevitable fact of life, geroscience can now credibly promise to slow and even reverse aging. New geroscience treatments offer the prospect of large increases in human welfare and will attract huge demand. How can governments best support research, development, and commercialization of the field? The answer will depend on many factors, including public policies, supply-side resources, and market size. This paper focuses on the first factor, seeking the best public policies for translating geroscience from bench to bedside. It begins with a review of current geroscience policy, identifying the rules and institutions that help …

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UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Derivative Data: Rethinking Market Definitions In The Age Of Generative Ai, Andrew Dang

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Antitrust law fails to keep pace with the data-driven realities of the dig- ital economy, and foundation models further exacerbate the issue. Founda- tion models such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are trained on broad datasets across different domains. While traditional antitrust frameworks fo- cus on narrow market definitions and readily observable effects, these frameworks fail to capture the anti-competitive potential of derivative data— data that is derived by a business through its operations and exerts cross- market influence—thereby fueling new forms of dominance.

Moreover, the dynamics of foundation model training data create a “Tragedy of the Data Commons,” where …

Weaponizing Ai, Stephen T. Black

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Surveying Cyber Espionage: A Growing Threat To Businesses, The Economy, And Our Privacy, Kaitlyn Ford

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Americans are quick to celebrate the release of new technology each year; and, while advancing technology is exciting, it also creates challenges for American businesses, the U.S. Economy, and Americans’ right to privacy. As more businesses rely on vulnerable technology, cyber espionage raises critical issues such as the exposure of trade secrets, privacy breaches, loss of revenue, and more. This Article first explores the history of cyber espionage, describing major cyberattacks on American businesses and their consequences. It then explains why the legal framework regulating cybercrimes is inadequate due to the increased sophistication of modern cyber spies and their ability …

Impossibility Of Artificial Inventors, Matt Blaszczyk

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Recently, the United Kingdom Supreme Court decided that only natural persons can be considered inventors. A year before, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a similar decision. In fact, so have many of the courts all over the world. This Article analyzes these decisions, argues that the courts got it right, and finds that artificial inventorship is at odds with patent law doctrine, theory, and philosophy. This Article challenges the intellectual property (IP) post-humanists, exposing the analytical and normative perils of their argumentation, and recommends against getting rid of the nominally central place of humans …

Facial Recognition Technology In The Market: What Consumers Need To Know To Protect Their Rights, Liubov Kirzhakova

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Facial recognition technology (FRT) has rapidly expanded in consumer products over the last decade, offering convenience, but raising significant privacy concerns. This article examines the implications of FRT on consumer privacy, emphasizing the unique risks associated with biometric data. Unlike other personal data, biometrics are biologically unique and irreplaceable, making unauthorized access and misuse particularly harmful. Despite the growing consumer awareness and concern about data privacy, current legal protections are fragmented and insufficient. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of how FRT is integrated into products and services and highlights the privacy risks associated with each. It reviews existing federal …

Re(De)Fining Patent Eligibility, Lauren Hong

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

The patent system is at the heart of America’s innovation scene, serving as the lifeline for America’s status as an industrial titan as it seeks to inspire inventors worldwide to innovate and discover. The confines of patent-eligible subject matter were set out by Congress through the power vested by the Constitution, and these boundaries have been re(de)fined as the Supreme Court has carved out exceptions to these standards including: laws of nature, abstract ideas, and natural phenomena being excluded from patentability. In response to criticisms of legal uncertainty surrounding patent-eligibility under the current regime, two senators have introduced The Patent …

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UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Masthead

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Amazon’S Algorithmic Rents: The Economics Of Information On Amazon, Ilan Strauss, Tim O’Reilly, Mariana Mazzucato

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Amazon’s maturing e-commerce platform has seen its business strategy evolve from growth at any cost to a “quest for profit”, underpinned by its burgeoning $37.7bn advertising business. Through advertising, Amazon compels its captive third-party merchant ecosystem to pay for one of its most valuable assets – customer attention. Advertising leverages Amazon’s unique position as a discovery platform. Discovery is governed by Amazon’s algorithms — the nerve centre of its conduct and a critical guide to market structure. Algorithms are the principal market institution coordinating exchange online, yet often escape market investigations.

Prevailing doctrine assumes that platform rent extraction, via algorithmic …

Standards In Assessing Notice Of Reasonable Security Measures In Trade Secret Law, Tazeen Hussain

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Opt Out Or Pipe Down, You Traded Your Data Away: Balancing Computer Crime Prevention, Third-Party Data, And Individual Privacy Rights, Ken Sterling

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

This article explores the complex issue of governments’ access to thirdparty user data without search warrants in the detection, prevention, and prosecution of computer crimes. Topics under analysis include balancing data privacy and public safety, the application of the Fourth Amendment, and seminal court cases such as Riley, Carpenter, and Smith v. Maryland. Cybercrime poses a significant threat to society, businesses, individuals, and governments. While privacy advocates argue for warrant-based access to user data, individuals readily “opt in” and share their data with companies, raising the question of why stricter standards should apply to government use. This article proposes that …

The Tragedy Of The Ai Anticommons, Shelby Ponton

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Should AI companies be allowed to “train” their models on the copy- righted works of others without consent or compensation? Legally, can they? These questions are being litigated in courts across the United States right now. When a resource, such as AI, is engulfed in effective rights of exclusion from a vast array of battling rightsholders, that resource is susceptible to un- derutilization. This phenomenon is referred to as a tragedy of the anticom- mons. This Article highlights how AI is subject to an anticommons weak- ness. If the millions of intellectual property holders, whose intellectual property these AI models …

Today’S Pirates: Biopiracy, Biotech, And The International Frameworks That Are Not Up To The Challenge., Katy Rotzin

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

This paper analyzes biopiracy and its effects on Indigenous populations through case studies on specific incidences of biopiracy, and an analysis of modern day agro-neocolonialism, seed piracy, and advances in biotech that are changing modern patent landscapes. This paper suggests that current international frameworks are failing to defend against widespread biopiracy due to ineffective cross-cultural application of relevant treaties and differing domestic approaches to intellectual property frameworks. This paper examines the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, The Convention on Biological Diversity, The Bonn Guidelines, and The Nagoya Protocol. This …

Masthead

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Autonomy And Free Thought In Brain- Computer Interactions: Review Of Legal Precedent For Precautionary Regulation Of Consumer Products, Sadia Khan, Daniel Cole, Hamid Ekbia

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

The expanding use of neurotechnologies in consumer products increases the risks to human rights such as autonomy and free thought. While potentially beneficial in clinical applications, technologies such as brain implants and EEG-enabled wearable devices pose serious concerns about mental and psychological manipulation of human beings. In the US in particular, law and policy are lagging behind technical developments, thereby increasing the risks of abuse and misuse from commercial neurotechnologies. This article focuses on commercial neurotechnologies, which are distinct from medical neurotechnologies for clinical diagnoses, and seeks to guard against human rights risks to users by overcoming that regulatory gap. …

Towards Responsible Quantum Technology: Safeguarding, Engaging And Advancing Quantum R&D, Mauritz Kop, Mateo Aboy, Eline De Jong, Urs Gasser, Timo Minssen, I. Glenn Cohen, Mark Brongersma, Teresa Quintel, Luciano Floridi, Raymond Laflamme

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

The expected societal impact of quantum technologies (QT) urges us to proceed and innovate responsibly. This article proposes a conceptual framework for Responsible QT that seeks to integrate considerations about ethical, legal, social, and policy implications (ELSPI) into quantum R&D, while responding to the Responsible Research and Innovation dimensions of anticipation, inclusion, reflection and responsiveness. After examining what makes QT unique, we argue that quantum innovation should be guided by a methodological framework for Responsible QT, aimed at jointly safeguarding against risks by proactively addressing them, engaging stakeholders in the innovation process, and continue advancing QT (‘SEA’). We further suggest …

One Nation, Under Dobbs: How Dobbs V. Jackson Women’S Health Impacts Data Privacy For All, Mikayla Domingo

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

The Supreme Court has gone against the fundamental principle of Stare Decisis in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, holding that the constitution confers no right to an abortion. The aftermath of Dobbs shines a spotlight on how reproductive and feminine health data are exploited to target women. From geolocation monitoring to abortion clinics, to women’s search history and private messages being used in her prosecution, the dystopian prospect of surveillance capitalism is now reality for women in the United States. The immediate impact of Dobbs illuminates the need for greater and clearer data privacy protections have never been more …

Ai Ethical Compliance Is Undecidable, Lorin Brennan

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

One response to concerns about AI systems has been to espouse “ethical AI,” that is, to elucidate ethical norms and then impose a legal requirement that AI systems comport with these norms. But will it work? More precisely, does there exist an effective procedure by which an AI system developer, or regulator, can determine in advance whether an AI system, once put into operation, will consistently generate output that conforms to a desired ethical norm? This paper argues “no.” The Halting Problem shows that there is no algorithm that can reliably do so for all AI systems running any allowed …

Litigation Takes The Stage: Using Litigation To Solve Performances In Privacy Law, Stephanie Don

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Technology’s constant and continuous development is many steps ahead of United States’ privacy laws. This Note asserts that current domestic privacy law is years behind what technology is capable of and is merely performative. That is, privacy law claims to protect us but simply does not. Ari Ezra Waldman’s book, Industry Unbound, exemplifies how consumers and privacy professionals alike are under the false impression that the privacy profession protects consumer data. To attempt to catch up with technology’s fast-paced development—specifically in the social media space—and to create truly protective privacy law, this Note proposes that litigation be used to advance …