Blog
Sovereign Digital Currency – A New Economic Foundation for Native American Tribes?
Before European settlers explored America, it is approximated that 18 million indigenous people called North America their home. Decades of war, disease, discrimination, removal, and termination rapidly brought those numbers to only 5.2 million today. Today, there are...
Automating Healthcare: Current Challenges that Must be Addressed
Artificial Intelligence has the potential to improve health care systems worldwide. For example, AI can optimize workflow in hospitals, provide more accurate diagnoses, and bring better medical treatments to patients. However, medical AI also creates challenges that...
Do We Need to Reconceptualize the Threat to Free Speech?
In the era of constitutional ratification, the Founders of the United States faced the task of creating a system of government that would not allow for potential tyranny. At this time, the world had seen widespread persecution and abuses by governments toward its...
Sony and Microsoft: An Arms race for Domination of the Video Game Industry and its Relevant Antitrust Concerns
It’s no secret that both Sony and Microsoft have been rivals in the video game industry for decades. This arms race between the two competitors has resulted in independent gaming studios releasing timed exclusive content on either Playstation or Xbox consoles....
Familial DNA Searches and Criminal Investigations
From 1975-1986 the notorious Golden State Killer committed 12 murders, 45 rapes, and 120 burglaries across 6 California counties. These crimes remained unsolved until 2018 when police arrested Joseph DeAngelo, a 73 year old United States Navy Veteran and police...
Shedding Light on the Data Ecosystem
Introduction The worldwide market for personal data is large and growing, but not widely understood by the average consumer. Consumers are generally unaware of how valuable their data is and there is no comprehensive set of tools to give people an idea of how much of...
§2G1.3(b)(3): Why is Criminal Sentencing Punishing the Use of Technology?
In recent years criminal sentencing has become the subject of criminal justice reform. After decades of politicians from both sides of the political aisle embracing tough on crime agendas, which included high incarceration rates and lengthy prison sentences, Americans...
Artificial Intelligence in Health Law
Introduction Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in many different ways to improve the U.S. healthcare system. Many providers have already started implementing such technology into modern medical practice, and many more are expected to follow suit, as AI in...
Public Private Partnerships in National Cybersecurity
Introduction Our national infrastructure is undergoing a major digital migration. Physical infrastructure assets are merging with the digital world via the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. 4IR technologies have the potential to make our infrastructure...
Privacy Considerations in the Implementation of Dodd Frank’s Section 1033
The Dodd Frank Act was enacted in 2010 in response to the 2008 financial crisis. Among the protections that it sought to create was Section 1033, which provides consumers increased access to – and control of – the personal data held by financial institutions.[1]...
Legal Uncertainties Surrounding the Realm of NFTs
Introduction to NFTs Throughout 2021, non-fungible token (NFT) artwork has sold for record breaking prices and is rapidly increasing in popularity. In the second quarter of 2021, NFT sales surged to $2.5 billion, which is a tremendous increase from the $13.7 million...
What President Biden’s EO on Section 230 signals on policy reform
On May 14, President Biden issued an executive order (EO 14029) on Section 230, the once obscure provision of the Communications Decency Act that is now at the heart of political fights over regulating speech on online platforms, and more broadly, the power of big...
Make Way for Robocalls: Understanding the Implications of Facebook v. Duguid
In 1991, Congress took action against the onslaught of undesired robocalls faced by households and individuals. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) established a variety of safeguards aimed at reducing the amount of uninvited calls consumers receive....
Privacy Concerns for Digital COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Implications for Incorporation of Artificial Intelligence
Contact tracing has been a key measure in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. Many countries, including the United States, have used contact tracing to track and control the spread of the disease. The measure has been touted as a success in the states and...
Intellectual Property Law in the Era of COVID-19
Basic research conducted by scientists at federally funded academic laboratories has been essential to the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines, and the federal government has poured billions of dollars into vaccine companies since the pandemic began to accelerate...
Arthrex, PTAB, and the Unitary Executive
Patent law is often thought of as a statutory area of law, governed primarily by Title 35 of the U.S. Code and the long history of judicial opinions interpreting it. But with the passage of the AIA came the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the rapid expansion...
Will NFTs Solve Existing Legal Problems or Will They Create New Ones?
The recently released Netflix documentary Made You Look, highlights one of the biggest fraud scandals in the high-end art world. The Knoedler Gallery in New York City was found to have sold over 80 million dollars’ worth of forged artwork over a roughly 10-year...
From Third-Party Data to First-Party Data: Is FLoC right for the future?
Third-party cookies are often used by advertisers to track users’ activities across websites to show them relevant ads. While these cookies are beneficial for websites due to the advertising revenue they generate, these cookies are often criticized for the lack of...
Big Data: Transitioning Away From the White Male Norm
As the capacity to generate and use digital information increases, the use of big data has permeated many industries. Its usage in medicine is poised to make major impacts on clinical practice. There are many benefits to the quality and efficiency of healthcare that...
California’s Prop 22: A Cautionary Tale
Even before COVID-19 hit last year, food delivery apps such as Caviar and Postmates had gained popularity as a convenient and relatively quick way to order food without the hassle of long lines or even needing to leave home. After the pandemic led to shelter-in-place...
Political neutrality in content moderation compels private speech
Lots of online life today takes place on social media platforms. These platforms have become a place for communication of all types of ideas. Platforms establish community guidelines and moderate content for a variety of reasons. Congress saw a problem with platforms...
Uncovering the Burial of Transformative Trademark & Copyright Measures in Congress’ 2021 Stimulus Package: Protections to Come for Content Creators
The recently passed stimulus package quietly incorporates consequential changes to American intellectual property laws via the advent of the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“the TMA”), the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (the “CASE...
Trans-Atlantic Data Transfers After Schrems II
In July 2020, the European Court of Justice released Schrems II, an opinion finding the EU/US Privacy Shield insufficient to guarantee compliance with EU data protection laws. The decision marked the second time the ECJ would invalidate a data privacy adequacy...
AI v. Lawyers: Will AI Take My Legal Job?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the global workforce, generating fears that it will put masses of people out of work. Indeed, some job loss is likely as computers, intelligent machines, and robots take over certain tasks done by humans. For example, passenger...
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.