Science and Technology Law Commons^™

Le Secret Des Livres De Commerce, Le Contrat De Know-How, Et L’Avenir De La Protection Des Découvertes Scientifiques En Droit Libanais, Michel Soumrani

Proche-Orient, Études juridiques

No abstract provided.

Le Secret Et La Vie Privée, Jacques-Michel Grossen

Proche-Orient, Études juridiques

No abstract provided.

Deepfakes As Tools For Domestic Violence: Toward A Comprehensive Federal Response To Nonconsensual Deepfake Intimate Imagery, Laura Reitze

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

The rise of deepfake technology poses a novel and uniquely insidious manner of perpetrating domestic violence. Nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII) abuse and “sextortion” are nothing new. But the increasing accessibility of deepfake technology makes it easier for abusers to carry out these forms of violence, sometimes simply with access to publicly available images of a person. As the technology rapidly evolves, the law has struggled to keep up.

This Note explores how existing law inadequately addresses emerging deepfake technology as it relates to domestic violence. Noting the origins of deepfakes in NCII, it begins with an exploration of the connection …

Nonhuman Speakers And The Constitution, Helen Norton

Fordham Law Review

Long-standing free speech law sometimes does—and sometimes does not—turn on speakers’ human character. This Essay explores how these doctrinal threads might shape the constitutional doctrine applied to generative artificial intelligence’s (AI) speech outputs if we assume that a human speaker cannot be identified as the creator of those words and images—and that those words and images are nevertheless considered “speech” for First Amendment purposes.

For example, First Amendment doctrine sometimes requires proof of a speaker’s culpable mental state before that speaker can be held liable for what would otherwise be unprotected speech. These requirements seek to prevent the chilling of …

Digital Gaze And Constitutional Democracy At 250, Catherine Powell

Fordham Law Review

The panopticon of digital surveillance undermines identity formation and realization of our authentic selves. This Essay offers a new insight by conceptualizing alienation from genuine selfhood as a form of “double consciousness.” W.E.B. Du Bois formulated the notion of double consciousness—the dual awareness inherent in negotiating between a self-defined identity and an externally imposed one. Just as Du Bois speaks of “double consciousness” for African Americans, the ever-present digital gaze to which we are now all subject—regardless of our race—creates a similar duality. I call this duality “online double consciousness,” which is compounded for people of color and other historically …

Clickwrap Accountability, Alicia Solow-Niederman

Fordham Law Review

Picture a public‑facing generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot on a government website that can answer questions about benefits eligibility. Systems like these expose a sociotechnical-legal divide: They route around the standard due process framework because there has been no formal government determination, yet they induce reliance from users, above and beyond past rounds of automated legal guidance. Moreover, if there is an error, current doctrine on government errors and equitable estoppel makes relief unlikely.

This Essay focuses on government deployment of public‑facing generative AI chatbots and critically assesses the front‑end power dynamics that determine who is filtered out of government …

Algorithmic Models And The Freedom Of Speech, Alexander Tsesis

Fordham Law Review

Intentionality and reason are intrinsic features of the human mind that large language models (LLMs) entirely lack. Although LLMs generate natural-language sentences through algorithmic processes, autonomously produced machine speech lacks the consciousness of human speakers. This intrinsic distinction between natural persons and artificial machines is consequential to whether LLM-generated outputs are covered by the First Amendment. Scholars who equate the constitutional value of human speech with algorithmic outputs tend to emphasize the informational value of those outputs to audiences while giving insufficient attention to the absence of machine consciousness. The conscious underpinnings of thought and their relation to constitutional protections …

Frictionless Fans, Fragmented Law: A Hybrid Approach To Regulating Stadium Biometrics, Janaye K.S. Dowers

University of Miami Law Review

The future of stadium entry may require no ticket at all, just a face. Across the United States, stadiums are increasingly replacing traditional tickets, credentials, and payment methods with biometric identification systems designed to move thousands of fans through gates and concessions with unprecedented speed. However, the law governing these systems remains far less seamless. In the absence of comprehensive federal biometric legislation, stadium operators, technology vendors, and attendees must navigate a fragmented patchwork of state and local laws that provides inconsistent protections and leaves fundamental questions of accountability unresolved.

Using stadiums as a case study for the expanding private-sector …

L'Informatique Juridique Appliquée À La Responsabilité Du Fait Des Choses, Roula Masri

Proche-Orient, Études juridiques

No abstract provided.

The End Of Unmeasured Exploitation: How A.S.M., C.A.S., And S.I.A. Challenge Digital Attention Capitalism, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Digital attention capitalism generates value through the capture and monetization of human attention, yet it has historically lacked standardized mechanisms for measuring attention-related harm. This paper argues that the Attention Safeguard Models (A.S.M.), Cognitive Attentional Standards (C.A.S.), and Sociological Impact Assessment (S.I.A.) collectively challenge this system by introducing an integrated framework for classifying, measuring, and evaluating digital attention harm and its societal consequences. C.A.S. provides standardized measurement of digital attention harm, A.S.M. identifies and classifies patterns of attentional disruption and manipulation, and S.I.A. evaluates broader impacts on institutions, communities, civic engagement, education, social cohesion, and inequality. Together, these systems transform …

Digital Media And Its Effect On Domestic And International Copyright, Jasmine Martin

Latin American & Caribbean Law Review

This article explores the history of modern copyright law and identifies the pitfalls of a legal framework built around physical media, such as the doctrines of first sale and fair use. As markets have shifted to digital distribution, these doctrines have been weakened or displaced by licensing regimes that redefine ownership as limited access. The article argues that this transition has systematically eroded consumer rights, allowing copyright holders to impose restrictions through contracts and technological controls that bypass traditional protections.

Lessons From The Fall Of The Roman Empire: The Patent Law Edition, Emma Masters

Latin American & Caribbean Law Review

This article examines the crises threatening the U.S. Patent System through the historical lens of the fall of the Roman Empire, arguing that a loss of predictability and the hollowing out of property rights threaten to dismantle American innovation. Drawing parallels between the Roman Empire’s economic decay and modern legal trends, this piece explores how costly litigation—often surpassing millions of dollars—and the rise of “efficient infringement” among other troubling phenomena, act as a “tax” on innovation that disproportionately stifles small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The U.S Patent System’s original purpose of incentivizing innovation is being compromised by patent thickets, a …

Algorithmic Law In Contemporary Brazil: From Cyber-Libertarianism To Constitutional Rights, Pedro Rubim Borges Fortes

Latin American & Caribbean Law Review

This article provides a reflection of Brazilian algorithmic law, exploring how law regulates algorithms by defining prohibitions, permissions, standards, and rights in contemporary Brazil. Importantly, the concept of “algorithmic law” implies a normative idea, that is, that law should regulate algorithms, defining prohibitions, permissions, standards, and rights. This study examines the ideological transformation of law and technology, as Brazilian society moved from a libertarian approach to a perspective of establishing protective legislation, regulation, and constitutional rights to technology users. It explains the ‘Civil Rights Framework for the Internet.’ the ‘General Data Protection Law,’ the legislative project of an Artificial Intelligence …

The End Of Shopping, Mark Bartholomew, Samuel I. Becher

William & Mary Law Review

Self-acting “shopping agents” are no longer science fiction. Deployed by major platforms like Google, Amazon, and Walmart, AI systems are evolving from passive advisors to autonomous decision makers capable of opening accounts, canceling subscriptions, and finalizing purchases without human oversight. Though AI shopping agents have the potential to improve consumer satisfaction and marketplace competition, shopping agents come with attendant risks. By foregrounding shopping’s overlooked economic, psychological, and cultural stakes, we reframe the rise of AI shopping agents as a critical challenge for the law and society, rather than a mere evolution in retail convenience. Drawing on sociology, marketing, and behavioral …

Modern Tribulations Of Modern Trials: Ai-Generated Content Of Deceased Victims At Sentencing And Family Law’S Cure From Ho’Oponopono & Restorative Justice, Ethan Michael Knoll

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

From Scrolls To Algorithms: A Critical Analysis Of Generative Ai, Digital Preservation, And Ranganathan’S Normative Philosophy, Madhu K S

Book Chapters

The paper discusses the developments in human information access across three historical paradigms including physical scarcity, digital abundance, and synthetic algorithmic mediation with Generative AI. History is discussed with the philosophical aspects of Floridi’s Philosophy of Information, Christine Borgman’s Digital Scholarship Framework, and S R Ranganathan’s Normative Library Science. This conceptual paper explores the transition from finding documents to creating answers with AI it has changed human thinking and reliability on information. This transition has changed how people believe and trust the source of information. This paper looks at the material ethics regarding how commercial large language models (LLM) are …

Between Blockchain And Black Markets: South Africa's Legal Readiness For Crypto-Driven Cyberfraud, Sagwadi Mabunda, Yassin Chande

Communications of the IIMA

This paper examines whether the proliferation of cryptocurrency-facilitated fraud warrants a reclassification of the terrestrial crime of fraud into the distinct statutory offence of cyberfraud under South African law. Engaging with established fraud typologies — exit scams, Initial Coin Offering (ICO) scams, Ponzi schemes, pump-and-dump schemes, and market manipulation — the article tests their definitional fit against both the common law of fraud and section 8 of the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020. Through a hypothetical composite scenario combining multiple fraud typologies, the article demonstrates that whilst cryptocurrency significantly amplifies the reach and complexity of fraudulent schemes, it functions primarily …

Agents, Inc., Kevin Werbach

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Police Surveillance And The Perils Of Techno-Solutionism, Prithika Balakrishnan

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Article charts domestic law enforcement’s use of video surveillance, beginning in the backlash to the Civil Rights movement in the late 1960s, continuing through the War on Terror and, more recently, in the context of the post-George Floyd public critiques of policing. The undergirding philosophy of policing’s embrace of surveillance technology is techno-solutionism, the view that all complex social situations can be simplified to measurable data primed for quick-fix, unbiased, algorithmic answers. While technology may have initially been adopted by police to respond to specific problems, it has changed the problems themselves, altered the array of potential solutions, and …

Police Surveillance And The Perils Of Techno-Solutionism, Prithika Balakrishnan

Faculty Scholarship

This Article charts domestic law enforcement’s use of video surveillance, beginning in the backlash to the Civil Rights movement in the late 1960s, continuing through the War on Terror and, more recently, in the context of the post-George Floyd public critiques of policing. The undergirding philosophy of policing’s embrace of surveillance technology is techno-solutionism, the view that all complex social situations can be simplified to measurable data primed for quick-fix, unbiased, algorithmic answers. While technology may have initially been adopted by police to respond to specific problems, it has changed the problems themselves, altered the array of potential solutions, and …

Think Twice Before You Sign! An Experiment On A Cautionary Function Of Contractual Formalities, Monika Leszczynska

Faculty Scholarship

Contractual formalities, such as handwritten signatures, have long been viewed as serving a cautionary function that protects individuals from entering ill-considered agreements. With the rise of digital contracting, it is uncertain whether online forms of assent can play the same role. In an incentivized laboratory experiment, four modes of contract confirmation were compared: clicking “OK,” typing one’s name, entering a PIN code (analogous to a qualified e-signature), and handwritten signing. The study examined how these methods affect choices between smaller–sooner and larger–later rewards. Results show that participants were more impulsive when confirming by clicking “OK” or typing their name than …

Ai Slop, Jessica Silbey, Woodrow Hartzog

Faculty Scholarship

The term “AI slop” has become popular to describe the output of generative AI systems seen as voluminous, low quality, or the result of little effort. When AI-generated music and videos flood platforms, they are called slop. Peer-reviewed journals and legal tribunals are drowning in low-quality and low-reliability AI slop submissions.  Employees are seen to be producing mountains of slop in their reports and communications with each other. The term has inertia and heft, and the phenomenon has significant consequences. Most of them are not good.

But the boundaries of “AI slop” and its usefulness in policy discussions are not …

Scientific Uncertainty As Political Aggression: A Manifesto For Those Who Value Science And Want To Save It From State And Corporate Control, Stephen Demeo

Publications and Research

A manifesto is an opportunity to publicly express strongly held beliefs about a topic that is personally important to an author. It is analytical as it is creative. “Scientific Uncertainty as Political Aggression” is a manifesto that intersects science and politics. It urges those interested in science to examine two different but related topics: scientific uncertainty in measurement—what it is, how it is determined, why it’s important— and the magnification of uncertainty through legal and linguistic tactics used by right-wing politicians and politically supported corporations.

For some time now, the Republican Establishment has cast excessive doubt on scientific findings through …

Ai Privilege And The Legal Services Crisis, Andrea Roth, Rebecca Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

Recently, San Francisco public defenders were so overburdened that they risked jail for contempt rather than take on more cases. Wyoming and New Mexico public defenders have done the same, while other states have been sued for underfunded, ineffective public defender systems. Meanwhile, some people accused of low-level crimes have no lawyer whatsoever, making critical decisions about pleading guilty or trial strategies on their own, and being subject to pretrial detention, significant fines, and collateral consequences like deportation and sex offender registration. Even outside the criminal system, low-income people face evictions, family separations, deportations, and more with inadequate legal assistance. …

Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Getting Money Out Of Politics By Putting Money Into Politics: A Few Modest Proposals To Reform Seattle’S Democracy Voucher Program, Decker O’Donnell

Seattle University Law Review

Seattle’s Democracy Voucher Program offers an unconventional response to the growing influence of money in American elections: rather than restricting political spending, it seeks to amplify the participation of ordinary voters by providing publicly funded vouchers that residents may assign to participating candidates. This Article examines the program’s development, operation, and constitutional foundation within the modern campaign-finance framework established by Buckley v. Valeo and subsequent Supreme Court decisions. It argues that democracy vouchers provide a constitutionally viable means of broadening participation in campaign financing while mitigating the influence of wealthy donors. The Article identifies two weaknesses in the current system: …

Legal Malpractice In Washington: Use Of The Rules Of Professional Conduct, Angelo Tadrous

Seattle University Law Review

Legal malpractice claims are difficult to prove. They are difficult to prove because many jurisdictions require that a plaintiff prove that, but for the lawyer’s misconduct, the client would have fared better. Thus, in a malpractice suit, a plaintiff must try a case within a case. Despite this difficulty, many jurisdictions prohibit the use of the Rules of Professional Conduct when litigating a malpractice case. Washington State is one of these jurisdictions. The Washington Supreme Court held in Hizey v. Carpenter that the Rules of Professional Conduct may not be referred to during trial. This Note argues that this prohibition …

Converting Buildings Is Hard: Why Seattle’S Municipal Government Should Streamline Commercial-To-Residential Conversions, Tyler M. King

Seattle University Law Review

The conversion of commercial buildings into housing is a promising solution to the growing housing crisis in many urban areas. However, despite its potential benefits, the process of repurposing commercial spaces is often stymied by complex zoning codes, high conversion costs, and bureaucratic hurdles. This Article argues that the local and state governments in Seattle should adopt more streamlined policies and offer greater incentives to developers to facilitate these conversions. By reforming zoning regulations and providing targeted financial support, municipalities can reduce the barriers to conversion and unlock the potential of underutilized commercial properties. This article examines the legal and …

Who Decides The Dead? Interpreting Washington’S Disposition Of Remains Statute, Wyatt Young

Seattle University Law Review

Washington’s disposition-of-remains statute, RCW 68.50.160, is designed to honor a decedent’s expressed wishes regarding the control and disposition of their body after death. Yet recent litigation reveals a critical gap between the statute’s intent-centered design and its practical enforceability. In Larotonda v. Blackburn, a trial court acknowledged that irreparable harm would occur if a decedent’s burial wishes were ignored but nonetheless denied relief on the grounds that the individual designated to carry out those wishes lacked standing. The result was a legal paradox: a statute that recognizes decedent autonomy in theory but withholds any meaningful mechanism for its enforcement …