Blog
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...
Deep-Fake, Real Pain: The Implications of Computer Morphing on Child Pornography
The proliferation of “deep-fake” internet videos—in which a person in an existing video is replaced with the likeness of another—has called into question our most basic method for perceiving the world: using our own eyes. While the definition of deep-fake transforms...
Patent Trolls Show Immunity to Antitrust: Patent Trolls Unscathed by Antitrust Claims from Tech-Sector Companies
Patent trolls have become a prominent force to be reckoned with for tech-sector companies in the United States, and tech-sector companies’ recent failure in using antitrust law to combat patent trolls indicates a continuation of that prominence. Patent trolls have...
Apple vs. Facebook: The Demand of Growing Data Ethics
In January, WhatsApp announced the release of a new privacy policy that allows the messenger service to share user data with its parent company Facebook. The policy has been met with public outcry and resulted in many users flocking to rival companies such as...
Limitations on AI in the Legal Market
In the last 50 years, society has achieved a level of sophistication sufficient to set the stage for an explosion in AI development. As AI continues to evolve, it will become cheaper and more user friendly. Cheaper and easier to use AI will provide an incentive for...
Waive or enforce? The Debate over Intellectual Property Issues in Covid-19 Vaccines
In December of 2020, the long-awaited coronavirus vaccines began to slowly roll out across the world. The vaccines give people some hope of taming the virus, but the logistical hurdles of the vaccines seem worrisome. The daunting task of manufacturing, delivering, and...
Intellectual Property Considerations for Protecting Autonomous Vehicle Technology
Autonomous vehicle technology has progressed significantly in the past decade, and a growing number of automotive and electronics organizations are working to create these self-driving vehicles. While the race to autonomy is heating up, so is the race to own IP rights...
Law Enforcement’s Newest Witness, Alexa
On July 12, 2019, Adam Reechard Crespo and his girlfriend, Silvia Galva, got into an argument at Crespo’s home in Hallandale Beach, Florida. What happened next remains unclear, but it ended with Galva stabbed through the chest. Crespo said he pulled the blade...
Zooming in on Children’s Online Privacy
An era of remote learning raises questions about children’s data privacy. As COVID-19 spread through the United States this spring, school districts across the country scrambled to find a way to teach students remotely. Many turned to Zoom, the videoconferencing...
Anti-Discrimination Laws and Algorithmic Discrimination
Machine algorithms can discriminate. More accurately, machine algorithms can produce discriminatory outcomes. It seems counterintuitive to think that dispassionately objective machines can make biased choices, but it is important to remember that machines are not...
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.