Science and Technology Law Commons^™

Body Worn Cameras With Facial Recognition Technology: When It Constitutes A Search, Kelly Blount

Criminal Law Practitioner

No abstract provided.

Masthead, Volume 8 Issue 1

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

No abstract provided.

Ready, Print, Fire! Regulating The 3d-Printing Revolution, Joseph J. Pantella Iv

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

"This Article argues that governments ought to proactively consider preemptive legislative or regulatory actions regarding 3D printing. To accomplish this objective this Article looks at the concepts of “permissionless innovation” and the “precautionary principle.” These concepts represent opposing ends of the regulatory spectrum; the former promoting a “wait-and-see” approach while the latter promotes a preemptive or preventative approach to government regulation. After defining these terms the Article will describe the characteristics of technologies that lend themselves either to permissionless innovation or to the precautionary principle. It will provide a few specific areas where policies of each type have been employed, …

Misappropriation Of Genetic Resources In Africa: A Study Of: Pentadiplandra Brazzeana,Impatiens Usambarensis, And Combretum Micranthum, Julie Micalizzi

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

"This paper...address[es] three potential cases of misappropriation concerning traditional knowledge and genetic resources of traditional groups in Africa and will explore how the Western patent system enabled,prevented, and corrected misappropriation in the context of these case studies. In all three studies, the patent system failed in misapplying the requirements of patentability and in granting patents for information that is per se unpatentable. However, the unpatentability of these specific instances of traditional knowledge also precludes the indigenous populations from claiming property rights over the information. Without an exclusionary property right, third parties are still able to commercialize the information. While such …

Self-Driving Cars: On The Road To A New Regulatory Era, Brian A. Browne

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

"Self-driving cars shatter the schism between federal and state safety regulations for automobiles in the United States…. In Part I, this paper will define self-driving cars and their benefits, describe the imminent safety issues they present for regulatory agencies, and introduce the most commonly analyzed legal issues for self-driving cars. Part II will give background information on the United States regulates motor vehicles by first describing the federal government’s traditional role in regulating vehicle safety via NHTSA. Then, Part II will explain the preliminary actions NHTSA and several state governments have taken to preliminarily regulate self-driving cars. Part III will …

The European Union And The Outer Space Treaty: Will The Twain Ever Meet?, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

In spite of the envisaged Brexit and other crises and problems currently threatening the European Union (EU), that half-way house between a group of cooperating states and a single quasi-federal union of states remains an important player in today’s world, also – at least from a bird’s eye view – in terms of outer space. Its member states Germany and France have the largest space budgets of all European states (discounting the Russian Federation as a European state), and the European flagship projects Galileo and Copernicus, with the European Commission on behalf of the Union in the driver’s seat, are …

The Second African National Space Law: The Nigerian Nasrda Act And The Draft Regulations On Licensing And Supervision, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The number of countries with more or less comprehensive national space legislation addressing in particular the authorization and supervision of private space activities continues to grow, and several more countries are currently in the process of adding themselves to that list. One of the more recent and most interesting ones among them is Nigeria, as the second African country after South Africa and—after Brazil—the second leading spacefaring nation from the developing world, to draft, further to a fairly recently established succinct framework law, a set of regulations addressing precisely those issues.

The paper briefly recaps the underlying international obligations, in …

Transfer Of Ownership In Orbit: From Fiction To Problem, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

For many years, the concept of transfer of ownership of a satellite in orbit was not something on the radar screen of anyone seriously involved in space law, if indeed it was not considered a concept of an essentially fictional nature. Space law after all developed, as far as the key UN treaties were concerned, in a period when only States—and only very few States at that—were interested in and possessed the capability of conducting space activities, and they did so for largely military/strategic or scientific purposes. The idea of transferring ownership over satellites or other spacecraft involved in such …

Kiwis In Space: New Zealand’S “Outer Space And High-Altitude Activities Act”, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

The number of countries with more or less comprehensive national space legislation that addresses in particular the authorization and supervision of private space activities continues to grow, and several more countries are currently in the process of adding themselves to that list. One of the more recent ones among them is New Zealand, which has an extensive “Outer Space and High-Altitude Activities Act” that is to enter into force in December 2017.

The paper briefly recaps the general underlying international obligations, in particular as following from Articles VI, VII, and VIII of the Outer Space Treaty, the Liability Convention, and …

You Buy It, You Break It: A Comment On Dispersing The Cloud, Aaron Perzanowski

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gene Editing And The Rise Of Designer Babies, Tara R. Melillo

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Nearly as long as human beings have existed on this earth, many people have sought out the ideal of perfecting their population: infanticide in Sparta during the Hellenistic era; compulsory sterilization in the 1920s in the United States; and the unimaginable atrocities of the Holocaust in the 1940s in Europe. The goal of alleged perfection leaves many hesitant to repeat the mistakes of our past. Today, a new frontier of science has emerged, gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9, reigniting ethical debate as to how far humans should go in manipulating the population. While many proponents herald this technology as a potential …

Policing Predictive Policing, Andrew Ferguson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Predictive policing is sweeping the nation, promising the holy grail of policing – preventing crime before it happens. Police have embraced predictive analytics and data-driven metrics to improve law enforcement tactics, practice, and strategy. Predictive “hot spots” become targets for intensive police surveillance. Targeted “hot people” become suspects. In big cities and small towns, data-based predictions drive police patrol schedules. Risk assessment algorithms target suspicious individuals. Increased data collection fuels a growing feedback loop requiring more robust data crunching systems.All of these predictive innovations share one thing in common: a belief that crime can be understood by identifying and analyzing …

The 'Smart' Fourth Amendment, Andrew Ferguson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

“Smart” devices radiate data, detailing a continuous, intimate, and revealing pattern of daily life. Billions of sensors will soon collect data from smartphones, smart homes, smart cars, medical devices and an evolving assortment of consumer and commercial products. But, what are these data trails to the Fourth Amendment? Does data emanating from devices on or about our bodies, houses, things, and digital effects fall within the Fourth Amendment’s protection of “persons, homes, papers, or effects”? Does interception of this information violate a “reasonable expectation of privacy?”The “Internet of Things” and the growing proliferation of smart devices create new opportunities for …

Carpenter V. United States: Brief Of Scholars Of Criminal Procedure And Privacy As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner, Andrew Ferguson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Amici curiae are forty-two scholars engaged in significant research and/or teaching on criminal procedure and privacy law. This brief addresses issues that are within amici’s particular areas of scholarly expertise. They have a shared interest in clarifying the law of privacy in the digital era, and believe that a review of scholarly literature on the topic is helpful to answering the question in this case. This brief is co-authored by Harry Sandick, Kathrina Szymborski, & Jared Buszin of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.Carpenter v. United States presents an opportunity to reconsider the Fourth Amendment in the digital age. Cell …

Diverse Voices: A How-To Guide For Facilitating Inclusiveness In Tech Policy, Lassana Magassa, Meg Young, Batya Friedman

Tech Policy Lab

The importance of creating inclusive policy cannot be overstated. In response to this challenge, the UW Tech Policy Lab (TPL) developed the Diverse Voices method in 2015. The method uses short, targeted conversations about emerging technology with “experiential experts” from under-represented groups to provide feedback on draft tech policy documents. This process works to increase the likelihood that the language in the finalized tech policy document addresses the perspectives and circumstances of broader groups of people— ideally averting injustice and exclusion.

Driverless Seattle: How Cities Can Plan For Automated Vehicles, Matthew Bellinger, Ryan Calo, Brooks Lindsay, Emily Mcreynolds, Mackenzie Olson, Gaites Swanson, Boyang Sa, Feiyang Sun

Tech Policy Lab

The advent of automated vehicles (AVs)—also known as driverless or self-driving cars—alters many assumptions about automotive travel. Foremost, of course, is the assumption that a vehicle requires a driver: a human occupant who controls the direction and speed of the vehicle, who is responsible for attentively monitoring the vehicle's environment, and who is liable for most accidents involving the vehicle. By changing these and other fundamentals of transportation, AV technologies present opportunities but also challenges for policymakers across a wide range of legal and policy areas. To address these challenges, federal and state governments are already developing regulations and guidelines …

Reshaping Ability Grouping Through Big Data, Yoni H. Carmel, Tammy H. Ben-Shahar

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article examines whether incorporating data mining technologies in education can promote equality. Following many other spheres in life, big data technologies that include creating, collecting, and analyzing vast amounts of data about individuals are increasingly being used in schools. This process has already elicited widespread interest among scholars, parents, and the public at large. However, this attention has largely focused on aspects of student privacy and data protection and has overlooked the profound effects data mining may have on educational equality. This Article analyzes the effects of data mining on education equality by focusing on one educational practice--ability grouping--that …

Legal Education In The Blockchain Revolution, Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The legal profession is one of the most disrupted sectors of the consulting industry today. The rise of Legal Technology, artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, and, most importantly, blockchain technology is changing the practice of law. The sharing economy and platform companies challenge many of the traditional assumptions, doctrines, and concepts of law and governance--requiring litigators, judges, and regulators to adapt. Lawyers need to be equipped with the necessary skill sets to operate effectively in the new world of disruptive innovation in law. A more creative and innovative approach to educating lawyers for the twenty-first century is needed.

Trade Secrets, Safe Harbors, And International Trade, W. Keith Robinson

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed trade agreement that establishes terms for trade and business between the United States and eleven Pacific Rim nations. The United States has withdrawn from the TPP, but interest in the agreement remains because some of its provisions serve as a template for future international trade deals. This article focuses on the TPP provisions concerning trade secrets and Internet Service Provider (ISP) Safe Harbors. While both provisions mirror U.S. law, they do lack certain "safeguards." Commentators have observed that the absence of these safeguards unfairly favor the interests of large corporations and rights holders …

The Privacy, Probability, And Political Pitfalls Of Universal Dna Collection, Meghan J. Ryan

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

Watson and Crick’s discovery of the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in 1953 launched a truth-finding mission not only in science but also in the law. Just thirty years later–after the science had evolved–DNA evidence was being introduced in criminal courts. Today, DNA evidence is heavily relied on in criminal and related cases. It is routinely introduced in murder and rape cases as evidence of guilt; DNA databases have grown as even arrestees have been required to surrender DNA samples; and this evidence has been used to exonerate hundreds of convicted individuals. DNA evidence is generally revered as the “gold …