Science and Technology Law Commons^™

Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo V. Texas, Sawyer J. Connelly

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo and Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes. The Court’s decision settles a conflict around bingo stemming from a long series of conflicts between Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and Texas gaming officials dating back to the 1980s. The court held the Texas Restoration Act bans only gaming on tribal lands that is also banned in Texas. This decision upholds previous caselaw that states cannot bar tribes from gaming that is not categorically banned in the state.

Environmental Defense Center V. Bureau Of Ocean Energy Management, Eliot M. Thompson

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s grants of summary judgment and injunctive relief against BOEM for violating the ESA and CZMA. The Ninth Circuit found BOEM violated NEPA, CZMA, and the APA by failing to adequately consider the environmental impacts of well stimulation treatments. The Ninth Circuit also reversed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment against the Environmental Defense Center for their NEPA claims.

Metlakatla Indian Community V. Dunleavy, Elizabeth L. Orvis

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court of Alaska’s judgment that dismissed the Metlakatla Indian Community’s suit against Alaska’s limited entry program. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit addressed whether and to what extent the 1891 Act preserved an implied off-reservation fishing right for members of the Metlakatla Indian Community. The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the Metlakatla Indian Community but remanded to the district court to determine the boundaries of the traditional off-reservation fishing grounds. Motions for rehearing and rehearing en banc were denied.

Placing A Bid: A Comparison Of The Traditional Marketplace (Stocks) And Non-Traditional Markets (Nfts), Nieh, Haley

Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal

Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) are exploding in the marketplace and are not losing momentum anytime soon. Artists, athletes, celebrities, and even brands and luxury houses are rolling out NFTs. With this excitement, a great deal of profit is being generated; the market cap of NFTs is expected to grow from $3 billion in 2022 to $13.6 billion in 2027 (a compound annual growth rate of 35 percent).1

Blockchain technologies are an empowering platform for democratization of financial instruments and transactions. Cryptocurrency has received some regulation from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but clarity and regulation of NFTs have …

Don’T Cite Funk, Oskar Liivak

Catholic University Law Review

For patent eligibility the Supreme Court continues to rely on its 1947 opinion in Funk Brothers Seed v. Kalo Inoculant. It is one of the most cited cases for patent eligibility and the Supreme Court relies heavily upon it. It forms one of the foundations of the current eligibility test in Mayo v. Prometheus. This article argues that this reliance is in error. Funk is just not appropriate for modern patent eligibility. Interestingly this view is not new. Ever since its appearance in Flook, the Supreme Court’s use of Funk has been dogged by criticism that faults the Court for …

Rebuilding Grid Governance, Joel B. Eisen, Heather E. Payne

BYU Law Review

As climate change sharpens the focus on our electricity systems, there is widespread agreement that the institutions that govern our electric grid must change to realize a clean energy future in the timescale necessary. Scholars are actively debating how grid governance needs to change, but in this Article we demonstrate that current proposals are insufficient because they do not contemplate “rebuilding.” This Article defines “rebuilding” as ending entities tasked with grid governance and creating new ones to take their place. We propose what no one else has: an overarching framework for rebuilding any grid governance institutions.

This Article discusses when …

Toward An Enhanced Level Of Corporate Governance: Tech Committees As A Game Changer For The Board Of Directors, Maria Lillà Montagnani, Maria Lucia Passador

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

Although tech committees are increasingly being included in the functioning of the board of directors, a gap exists in the current literature on board committees, as it tends to focus on traditional board committees, such as nominating, auditing or remuneration ones. Therefore, this article performs an empirical analysis of tech committees adopted by North American and European listed companies in 2019 in terms of their composition, characteristics and functions. The aim of the study is to understand what “technology” really stands for in the “tech committees” label within the board, or – to phrase it differently – to ascertain what …

Vertical Farming: A Bottom-Up Approach, Michael Martinez

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

The twenty-first century will require innovative solutions to address the effects of climate change. Vertical farming is one solution that could help conserve a significant amount of freshwater and reduce the agricultural industry’ s overuse of pesticides and intensive tilling practices, which contributes to soil erosion and pesticide runoff. There has been significant investment in vertical farming in every region of the United States; however, the cost to produce foods with vertical farming remains more costly than traditional farming, which is in large part due to the substantial amount of electricity needed to power all the technology required to grow …

A New Right Is The Wrong Tactic: Bring Legal Actions Against States For Internet Shutdowns Instead Of Working Towards A Human Right To The Internet (Part 1), Jay Conrad

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

A New Right is the Wrong Tactic: Bring Legal Actions Against States for Internet Shutdowns Instead of Working Towards a Human Right to the Internet (Part 1) is the first of a two-part series dealing with an increasingly prevalent threat to human rights: State-sanctioned Internet shutdowns. Part 1 details the current tactics and impacts of Internet shutdowns and which human rights are most likely to be violated by or during a shutdown. Part 2 will address the deficiencies of advocating for Internet access to be a recognized human right as a means of combatting shutdowns. Despite the popularity of this …

Indo-Pacific Conflicts Will Be Reimagined In Outer Space Exploration, Michael Incorvaia

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

This article will focus on the effects of international treaties and how they can be utilized to govern the future of outer space exploration. The discussion will include evaluating how modern changes in technology have created a need for updated outer space-specific treaties to ensure that outer space does not become a contentious zone between countries. This article will begin by exploring the developments in outer space that have created a new space race. Then, it will discuss the Indo-Pacific conflict and why the current multilateral treaty strategy that is used in the region will not be effective in outer …

Texas’ War On Social Media: Censorship Or False Flag, Leni Morales

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Pooling Patents For Pandemic Progress: Mrna Vaccines And The Broader Context Of Modernatx Inc V. Pfizer Inc., Francis Brefo

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Aclu V. Clearview Ai, Inc.,, Isra Ahmed

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Thaler V. Vidal, 43 F.4th 1207 (Fed. Cir. 2022), Matthew Messina

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

On The Danger Of Not Understanding Technology, Fredric I. Lederer

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Necessity, Proportionality, And Executive Order 14086, Alex Joel

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

The Intersection Of Nfts And Structured Finance, Christopher K. Odinet, Andrea Tosato

Faculty Scholarship

Blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) continue to invade financial markets. Whether through partnerships between financial institutions and tech firms or through in-house initiatives at some of the nation’s largest banks, blockchain-based products, services, and transactional structures are a major point of interest. In a recent work by Professor Steven Schwarcz, the growing NFT market is analyzed using the traditional tools of structured finance. Creating a new conceptual model called non-cash-flow monetizations, Professor Schwarcz reveals the risks to investors and markets, if the tokenization of non-traditional and largely illiquid assets proliferates. Having identified the potential harms, he offers …

Ripple Effect: The Sec's Major Questions Doctrine Problem, Matt Donovan

Fordham Law Review

Crypto assets and blockchain technology have the potential to create unprecedented equitable access to financial institutions. Despite this potential, there is a robust debate regarding federal agencies’ jurisdiction over the novel asset class. Without clear statutory guidelines, federal agencies have been forced to resolve this debate through the rulemaking process. However, agency rules regarding jurisdiction over crypto assets could be scrutinized by a reviewing court under the major questions doctrine. Once highly deferential to agency rules, the U.S. Supreme Court in recent terms has repeatedly struck down agency rules when an agency claims an unheralded power to regulate an issue …

Patents' New Salience, Janet Freilich

Faculty Scholarship

The vast majority of patents do not matter. They are almost never enforced or licensed and, in consequence, are almost always ignored. This is a well-accepted feature of the patent system and has a tremendous impact on patent policy. In particular, while there are many aspects of patent law that are potentially troubling-including grants of unmerited patents, high transaction costs in obtaining necessary patent licenses, and patents' potential to block innovation and hinder economic growth-these problems may be insignificant in practice because patents are under-enforced and routinely infringed without consequence.

This Article argues that technological developments are greatly increasing the …

The Perks Of Being Human, Max Stul Oppenheimer

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

The power of artificial intelligence has recently entered the public consciousness, prompting debates over numerous legal issues raised by use of the tool. Among the questions that need to be resolved is whether to grant intellectual property rights to copyrightable works or patentable inventions created by a machine, where there is no human intervention sufficient to grant those rights to the human. Both the U. S. Copyright Office and the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office have taken the position that in cases where there is no human author or inventor, there is no right to copyright or patent protection. …