Singularity Law

On September 15, 2011, the FTC announced that it is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, which govern the collection and use of personal information from children under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The law was enacted in 1998 and the Rule was originally promulgated in 2000 – in the early days of the Internet. Read more

Nowadays it seems like every time you turn around, something is invading your privacy. Google and others are watching you as you surf the Web. Apple iPhones are storing information on the locations you visit while carrying your phone. And now word comes that even driving your car may endanger your privacy.

What many people do not realize is that many newer cars (particularly those manufactured by GM and Ford) contain an “event data recorder” (a so-called “black box”) that is similar to those on airplanes. These devices generally are triggered by electronically-sensed problems in the engine (often called faults), a sudden change in wheel speed or airbag deployment, and store a variety of data, such as which seat belts were being worn at the time of the event and the vehicle’s speed, direction and location. The information contained in the black box can be invaluable in determining the cause of an accident. Read more

During the first few years after the emergence of the commercial Internet in 1993 (or so), the U.S. government took a hands-off approach to regulation of the ‘net. The Clinton Administration, in particular, realized that over-regulation of the Internet in its infancy could have a serious, negative impact on its growth. The thought at that time was to allow the Internet to grow organically, go in whichever direction developers, investors and the public wanted it to grow, and regulate with a light hand – and often with no hand at all. Read more

As a long-time fan of Apple products (starting with the Apple II in the late 1970s up to today’s latest Mac Pro and iPhone), I was wary of getting an iPad, since I didn’t like the idea of Apple being able to dictate what software I could and could not use on my computer. While an “app store” might make sense for a cell phone, since software has to be written carefully to run properly on the small screen, small processor device, I felt uneasy about giving one company control of how I used a device that I had bought and paid for and on which I should be able to run any software that I chose.

However, after pressure from my friends and family (all of whom are devoted iPad users), I purchased an iPad for myself last Christmas. While I don’t use it as much as my kids do, or as some of my students do, I have warmed up to the device and have become a regular purchaser from the iPad app store. I use it mainly to do email and read ebooks. That is why I was very distressed to read about an emerging battle between Apple and the e-reader companies (Sony, Amazon and Google) over the nature of the e-reader apps they will be allowed to distribute through the app store in the future. See, e.g., Yukari Iwatani Kane and Stu Woo, “Apple Rejects Sony E-Book App,” Wall. St. j. (Feb. 2 2011). Read more

In 1995 I read a book written by Nicholas Negroponte – the Founding Director of the MIT Media Lab. Called, Being Digital, the book made some predictions that were both incredibly exciting and seemingly improbable. This was a time when the Internet was just coming into its own – having been a closed, government-funded network for most of its existence. It was a time when HD TV specifications were still being debated, cable companies had the only “high-speed” transmission lines, and telephone modems provided user with the breathtakingly slow transmission speed of 7200 baud.

But Negroponte saw those technological impediments as transitory speed bumps in the transformation of the computer to the center of our world. At the time it seemed unlikely, but over the last 15 years the Internet, smart phones, the iPad, myriad software apps, and high-speed phone lines have proven Negroponte right on so many of his predictions. Read more

Increasingly, courts and commentators are expressing frustration over the immunity that websites have for defamatory statements made by anonymous third parties. The victim cannot sue the website owner due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and often cannot identify the third party that defamed them. To add insult to injury, a court recently held that Section 230 prohibits a court from ordering the website to take down the defamatory statement even after the poster has been found guilty of defamation: Read more

For a number of years, I have taught a law school course titled “Drafting and Negotiating Technology Contracts.” It is one of many skilled-based courses being offered by law schools today to help their students “hit the ground running” as they enter the practice of law. Over the last decade, law firms have increasing insisted that law students know more than legal theory if they are going to be hired as young associates. Law firms no longer have the luxury of training neophyte lawyers in every aspect of law, but expect law schools to not only teach them “the law,” but also to teach them how law is practiced today. That is why my course, even though very narrowly focused, is oversubscribed every year. Read more

When I was growing up, my dad always told me that “just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.” Just because you can climb that tall tree, doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can ride your bike on that busy street, doesn’t mean you should. It was good advice that I have passed onto my kids.

It’s advice that also applies in the technology field. Just because we can develop certain technologies, doesn’t mean we should do so. Think of chemical weapons. World leaders have decided that such weapons should not be produced or deployed, even though we have the ability to do so.

It also should be applied in the tech law field. Particularly where we are dealing with technology that can invade people’s privacy. Read more

I was intrigued by a recent study of the views of entering college freshman done by Beloit College. Many of the items related to technology, such as:

• With cell phones to tell them the time, there is no need for a wristwatch.
• Email is just too slow….
• They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.
• Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.
• Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive.
• The first computer they probably touched was an Apple II; it is now in a museum.
• They first met Michelangelo when he was just a computer virus.

We all know that technology is evolving at breakneck speed. But it’s always interesting to see just what impact these changes are having on our next generation of workers, inventors and policy makers. It’s amazing how developments in technology have fundamentally affected their worldview. Read more