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Applying Robert Merton’s “The Normative Structure of Science” to the law
Robert Merton, in “The Normative Structure of Science” (from The Sociology of Science: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations), posits four sets of “institutional imperatives” that together “comprise the ethos of modern science”: universalism, communism, disinterestedness, and organized skepticism. How well do these four sets of imperatives describe the “ethos of modern law”?
December 2009 / 4 min.
My top free tools for law firms and other small businesses
Carolyn Elefant recently provided her list of free tools for starting a law firm. In this same spirit, I would like to present my list of top tools, all of which I’ve used at various times myself.
December 2009 / 4 min.
Google executives on trial for criminal liability in Italy
I’m generally in favor of holding companies liable for their actions – after all, if we treat corporations as “persons” under the law, then they should have responsibilities as well as protections and benefits. But I’m not sure about holding executives criminally liable – perhaps in the case of knowing pollution or conspiracy to cover up product dangers – but not, I think, for actions they are not directly responsible for, as in this case from Italy.
December 2009 / 1 min.
A dispute over the rights to e-book editions
That publishers and authors (or their estates) should be arguing over rights to production electronic editions is no surprise. This sort of dispute is a standard part of contract law, and comes up anytime a new market not anticipated in a contract opens up. Can traditional publishers fend off this move through litigation and forceful contract negotiations? Or will we see increasing alternatives to traditional publishers in the e-book realm?
December 2009 / 3 min.
Trademarks and the Apple App Store
Apple’s “app store” continues to generate controversy through its rejections. I must agree with the following analysis that use of icons-especially as provided through an API expressly for that purpose should not violate trademark law (or copyright for that matter).
November 2009 / 2 min.
The new Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is… problematic
The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama’s administration refused to disclose due to “national security” concerns, has leaked. It’s bad
November 2009 / 2 min.
How does fair-use law work?
This is an excellent write-up about how fair use works, along with its complexities (and areas where it is more straightforward, generally where courts have already ruled on a very similar use previously).
October 2009 / 1 min.
Microsoft update leaves Firefox users unexpectedly vulnerable
An add-on that Microsoft silently slipped into Mozilla’s Firefox last February leaves that browser open to attack, Microsoft’s security engineers acknowledged earlier this week.
October 2009 / 1 min.
Uniform bar exam drawing closer to reality
It could mark one of the biggest changes for lawyers joining the profession since the first U.S. bar exam was given in Delaware in 1763 – a single bar exam aimed at standardizing attorney credentials nationwide.
October 2009 / 1 min.
Modern media centers: the hard 20% is socio-legal
Cory Doctorow points out that the first 80% of creating a media center is easy: a decent computer (I used an old Pentium III and an old PowerBook, but you can use newer tech if you’re not a poor student), video out (S-Video to an old-school TV, VGA or HDMI to a new HDTV), big hard drives, maybe network sharing (I used an Airport Extreme I inherited) so you can access media from multiple rooms. But what about content – “the other 20 percent”?
October 2009 / 2 min.