Blog
In re Ricardo P. and the Privacy Rights of Probationers: An Incomplete Resolution
Should a probationer be forced to submit to warrantless searches of their electronic devices at any time, including being forced to provide all electronic passwords to a probation officer to allow remote and continuous monitoring?
The Role of Underwriters in a World of Unicorns
What do WeWork, Lyft, and Smile Direct Club have in common? They are “tech companies,” their IPOs underperformed or didn’t happen at all, and they all hired JP Morgan as their underwriter.
Don’t Bury your Bitcoin! Estate Planning for Cryptocurrencies
From the transferability of social media or email accounts to maintaining online accounts linked to a client’s virtual assets, estate planning issues regarding digital assets have existed for some time. But, now that blockchain based assets such as cryptocurrencies are more commonplace, there is an increased need to plan for the disposition of these digital assets. Estate planning for cryptocurrencies raises unique concerns and the blockchain technology behind cryptocurrencies might provide potential solutions.
Is Seeing Still Believing? Deepfakes and Their Future in the Law
While video manipulation has been around since before Tom Hanks was shown meeting with President John F. Kennedy 31 years after his assassination in Forrest Gump, there has been a recent proliferation of a more sinister use of editing technology.
Scam Likely! Time for Phone Companies to Rise and Shine the Light on Robocalls
Do you ever receive an incoming call on your cell phone only to see it’s coming from a “Scam Likely”? Robocalls, or automated phone calls usually for scam or spam purposes, have risen to approximately 85 billion calls worldwide in 2018 according to the Hiya Global Robocall Radar Report.
Who Will Drive Innovation in CBD Products?
Cannabidiol (CBD) has the potential to be big business. Since the descheduling of hemp-derived CBD, large corporations have been exploring how they might capitalize on CBD’s hold on the public’s attention.
REMS Helps A Speedy Launch of CAR-T Cell Therapy
I first learned of CAR-T cell therapy in 2015 while working in an immunology lab. It immediately caught my attention as a brilliant, unconventional cancer treatment: it modifies a patient’s own T cells and enlists them to fight cancer. T cells can recognize non-self antigens presented on a cell’s surface, label those cells exogenous, and eliminate them. Scientists have developed CAR-T cell therapy by utilizing these unique characteristics of T cells.
Physical Touch in a Virtual World
Virtual reality is more lifelike than ever before — not only can users see and hear the virtual world, but they can now feel and smell it too. Two major industries embracing this technology are gaming and mental health treatment.
Can Blockchain Technology Change How IP Rights are Granted and Sold?
When the term blockchain is thrown around, most people think about Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies that often populate headlines. While blockchain technology gained popularity and recognition in the area of cryptocurrencies and financial transactions, at its core, the technology has applications far beyond this narrow subset.
Stretched Beyond the Breaking Point: The CFAA and iPhone Batteries
Did Apple hack users’ devices? That is the allegation in a class action lawsuit filed late last year. Specifically, the plaintiffs in In re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litig., 347 F. Supp. 3d 434, 451 (N.D. Cal. 2018) allege that Apple’s battery-slowing iOS updates violated a federal hacking statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). This is the latest effort to stretch a broad, vague, and inconsistently-enforced law to cover new circumstances. This case illustrates the urgent need to write a statute that reflects today’s technological reality.
Something Like Deference: PTAB and 1-Way Issue Preclusion
The patent law system currently has an interesting parallel track open for those seeking to oppose a patent. That parallel track runs through both litigation in the district courts and Inter Partes Review [IPR] at the Patent Trial and Appeals Board [PTAB], a part of the Patent and Trademark Office [PTO]. A little under one year ago, the Supreme Court decided Oil States Energy, in which it stated that IPRs were not unconstitutional.
Recognizing Your Privacy Rights: Facial Recognition Technology and Third Party Doctrine
To understand how facial recognition technology interacts with a seemingly abstract standard of constitutional protection, a quick note about the Fourth Amendment is helpful.
Enhanced CFIUS review represents one of the strongest tools in the U.S. arsenal against China in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.
Practicing SAFETY: A “New” Way for Companies to Manage Cyber-Risk
The socioeconomic ramifications of a single cyber-attack are extensive. These include financial harm, government investigations, regulatory fines, public backlash, negative industry reputation, and even shareholder lawsuits.
COPPA Crackdown: Why Courts are Right to Get Serious About Children’s Privacy
COPPA has been described as an “‘opt-in’ privacy band-aid” that doesn’t begin to reach the level of protection provided by, for example, the European Union’s earliest internet regulations,
Open Source Software and the Many Questions it Brings
From a legal standpoint, open source software creates a lot of questions. Who owns the collective work? Does a developer own his or her edits?
Fortnite Folly
Hyper-robust copyright protection for simple dance moves might not be ideal, but there does seem to be a cognizable harm in extracting an original dance from a community and monetizing it in the way Epic Games has with Fortnite’s emotes.
Let Them Eat Privacy Policies: When do Facebook Users Give Consent?
If you want to use Facebook, you do not have much choice — you must accept their use of your data or else not use the service.
Biologics and the New NAFTA
Although USMCA does not appear to radically upend trade relations between the three countries, its ratification would usher in a variety of noteworthy changes.
Who You Gonna Call? The SEC, CFTC, and Regulatory Jurisdiction Over Digital Assets
The ambiguity surrounding the exact definition of ‘virtual currency’ and which particular digital assets qualify as virtual currencies (and therefore would be classified as commodities) could lead to a potential turf war between the SEC and CFTC.
Huawei: 21st Century Trojan Horse or Misunderstood Technology Giant?
It is possible that American officials are correct in their assessment that America and China are locked in a technological arms race, with Huawei posing a sizeable threat to the security of NATO member-states.
Online and Blind: Recent Ninth Circuit Decision Paves Way for More ADA Litigation
In recent years there has been a surge of cases aimed at forcing companies to make their websites more accessible to the visually impaired.
Should Smart Personal Assistants Ever Report Your Conversations?
While most people have an aversion to the thought of their private conversations being recorded and transmitted, some might also say that they would want Siri to step if it were asked about a school shooting.
Closing the Book on Copyrights Once Again
After a 40-year hiatus, in large part due to the work of the world’s best-known mouse, the United States’ lengthy copyrights will start to terminate again this year.
Posts on the MTLR Blog are editorial opinion pieces written by student-editors of the Michigan Technology Law Review. The opinions expressed in these editorial posts are not espoused or endorsed by the University of Michigan or its Law School. To view scholarly Articles and Notes published by the Michigan Technology Law Review, please visit the MTLR home page.