Companies use a variety of causes of actions to protect their websites from competitors or others wanting to “scrape” data from their site using automated tools. Over the years, legal doctrines such as copyright infringement, misappropriation, unjust enrichment, breach of contract, and trespass to chattels have all been asserted, though…
Internet & Social Media Law Blog
Patents, AI and the Challenge of Valuation
Be you a founder, would-be investor or acquirer, correctly valuing the intellectual property of a company is rarely a simple task, but it can be even more challenging when that IP involves artificial intelligence or machine learning. See what our colleague Josh Tucker has to say about the challenges and…
Trolls and Consequences: A Racially Motivated Doxing and Social Media Assault Is Ruled a Compensable Offense
We’ve previously written about doxing and how it can be used by both vigilante social activists and malicious cyber bullies. Recently, in a first-of-its-kind ruling, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia concluded that white supremacists using social media to target and harass American University’s first female African-American…
A Pocketful of Quarters: Agencies and Lawmakers Grapple with Digital Asset Regulations
Pretty much from the introduction of Satoshi’s cleverly constructed currency, industry players and observers alike have waited to see how exactly the increasing population of digital assets would be categorized and regulated. Slotting “disruptive” technologies into existing regulatory regimes is hardly a swift process, but there has been some recent…
Lawmakers (and Artists) Fight Those Facial Recognition Frown Lines
Ewa Nowak’s jewelry: “Incognito” by design A sponsored post popped up on my Instagram last week that captured my obsession with statement jewelry and my periodic check on developments in facial recognition technology: “Artist Designs Metal Jewelry to Block Facial Recognition Software from Tracking You”. Statement jewelry? Check. An indication…
News of Note for the Internet-Minded (8/30/19) – Minecraft AI, GPS Tracking Transparency and Sweat Checks
What becomes of old (popular) Twitch channels, is Walmart getting into the virtual currency game, could 5G mean safer self-driving vehicles, and more … Based on Twitch’s terms of service, what can the company do with Ninja’s old Twitch channel? (Bhernardo Viana, Dot Esports) Facebook creates an AI assistant for…
The 5G-Enhanced Potential of Augmented Reality Comes with Interesting Legal Issues
In case you don’t know, William Gibson is the prescient science fiction author who effectively coined the terms “the matrix” and “cyberspace” as we currently use them, way back in the early 1980s. He also predicted augmented reality applications. In his 2007 novel, Spook Country, a character has taken to…
Rulemaking Effort Looks at “Emerging” and “Foundational” Technologies
Since January, Bureau of Industry (BIS) officials have been formulating an analytical framework for establishing controls on emerging technologies (which include biotechnology, artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, quantum information and sensing technology, additive manufacturing, and robotics). Recently on the Global Trade & Sanctions Law blog, colleagues Nancy A. Fischer, Stephan…
CCPA, GDPR and the Future of Cross-Device Tracking
Efforts to regulate cross-device tracking have increased since we last addressed the topic in 2017, following the release of the FTC’s Staff Report. Significant developments include the implementation and enforcement of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and the fast-approaching implementation deadline for the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).…
The “Commander-in-Tweet” Returns: When a Social Media Account Creates a Public Forum, Critics Get to Stay
Two years ago, we wrote about a possible First Amendment challenge involving Donald Trump’s practice of blocking certain Twitter users from his @realDonaldTrump account. While it was unclear at the time of our post whether the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University—an organization that uses strategic litigation to preserve…