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Protecting vested interests in the face of new technology: the case of the Charles River Bridge
In the case of Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, 36 U.S. 420 (1837), Justice Roger Taney – most known for his opinion in Dred Scott – decided against the owners and investors in the original bridge over the Charles River in Massachusetts. That bridge had been built by a company granted a charter in 1785 for the […]
February 2012 / 3 min.
Privacy and the silo/filter/echo problem
The push for “privacy” that demands an ability to allow us to restrict who sees what-enabled, for example, by new tools in Facebook and Google+-also creates and reinforces silos (filter bubbles, echo chambers) that prevent our exposure to different ideas. But this move highlights potential conflicts between a number of rights: freedom of association and freedom of speech and the press (both from the First Amendment) and rights to privacy (from the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments). What is this conflict? Is it real? How can we (begin) to resolve it?
December 2011 / 5 min.
On “The Role of Technology in Human Affairs”
In The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, Yochai Benkler discusses his vision of the role of technology in historical change. He rejects an overly deterministic vision of technology (which he connects with Lewis Mumford and Marshall McLuhan), but also rejects a view of technology as immaterial to a society’s direction.
November 2011 / 2 min.
Freedom of speech in the “Second Gilded Age”
In “Digital Speech and Democratic Culture: A Theory of Freedom of Expression for the Information Society,” Jack Balkin (of the blog Balkinization) writes about what he sees as the appropriation of free speech ideals by media corporations in an effort to maximize their capital investments.
November 2011 / 3 min.
Robert Horwitz on the deregulation of American telecommunications
Robert Horwitz’s The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The Deregulation of American Telecommunications, published in 1989, explores in depth the issue of telecommunications regulation at a time when telecommunications was once again in transition.
October 2011 / 5 min.
Facebook and Twitter and Google Plus… oh my!
So now we’ve got three-well, more like four-big players in the social networking space: Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and LinkedIn. Add to that a few other common options-the backyard fence, email, telephone, and carrier pigeon-and the choices of where to share the details on your latest (technology) crush appear insurmountably complex.
July 2011 / 5 min.
The tech transfer process: buffering science from commercialism
Technology transfer offices at universities are key players in the process of putting technology to work. They facilitate the sometimes difficult translation of academic discoveries into private, saleable technology. The offices also serve as a buffer between the demands of private enterprise and the Mertonian ideals of the academic “ivory tower,” and the technology transfer process reflects this.
May 2011 / 3 min.
“Open transfer” agreements: mediating industry and universities
Madey v. Duke exposed one conflict when industry and universities work in overlapping areas. The 2002 federal court decision highlighted a problem at the intersection of university and industry goals.
May 2011 / 3 min.
The intersection of universities and industry: tech transfer
According to Dr. Domonic Montisano of the UCSD’s technology transfer office, their goal is to get university research out to the public through the avenue of commercialization.
May 2011 / 3 min.
Cloud concerns and data safety in the legal profession
So the fact that Dropbox allows legal access to your data is not the end of the world for use of the cloud, even for lawyers. But for truly secure offsite storage, likely more secure than even old-fashioned paper storage, consider solutions that provide end-to-end encryption.
May 2011 / 3 min.