Singularity Law

This year seems to have been one of the busiest, if not the busiest yet, in the field of cyber law. Much of this activity did not result in any concrete outcomes (yet), so many of the issues that we were hoping to get resolved in 2011 will be around again next year.

There are so many “hot button” issues, it is hard to decide which ones to mention. So I’ll just mention the three that I find extremely interesting:

1. Network neutrality. The FCC issued regulations to prevent telcos and other ISPs from engaging in what supporters would call unfair and anticompetitive activities. On November 10, 2011, those regulations came up for a vote in the Senate. Republicans were attempting to overrule the regulations, but the Democrats were able to defeat the bill. Of course, that is only a temporary victory, since the regulations are also being challenged by Verizon in court, and if the Republicans take over the White House in the next election those regulations are likely to be thrown out.

2. Online sales tax. For many years, Amazon, and other online retailers have been able to avoid collecting sales taxes for their online sales. However, political pressure is mounting for Congress to change the law to compel these vendors to collect sales taxes. Much of this pressure is coming from states that are suffering with sagging tax revenues. If such a law passes, of course, there are bound to be constitutional challenges, eventually winding up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

3. Privacy and GPS devices. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments on whether the police can install a GPS device on a suspect’s car and “follow” him around by monitoring the device. Surprisingly, at least to me, the Supremes seemed receptive to the argument that such activities violated the Fourth Amendment. Next year’s decision will be interesting reading, particular if the Court upholds a right of privacy in these circumstances.

Let me know what your hot button issues for 2012.