Articles Posted in Information Technology

Special Note: From this week forward we will be including Opinion Summaries to the following additional topics, Copyright Law, Intellectual Property, Internet Law, and Medical Malpractice. These additions are based on recommendations from some of our readers.

During this past week (week ending September 22,2023) we have received listings of 23 Government and Administrative Law Summaries,  46 Constitutional Law summaries, 42 Criminal Law Summaries, Copyright Law 1 case, Intellectual Property 4 cases, Internet Law 1 case. and Medical Malpractice 2 cases  We plan is to continue posting opinion summaries, under corresponding areas of law, weekly whenever possible in order to keep blog readers updated.  To gain access to these case summaries, click on the corresponding links below:

Opinion Summaries Posted for Week Ending September 15, 2023:

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce various types of content, including text, imagery, audio and information that is artificially manufactured. The recent interest in generative AI has been driven by the simplicity of new user interfaces for creating high-quality content, including text, graphics and videos in a matter of seconds.                        

Generative AI has the potential to be used in various ways to help regulate criminal behavior, although it’s important to note that these applications can be controversial and raise ethical concerns. Here are some ways in which generative AI could potentially contribute to regulating criminal behavior:

  1. Predictive Policing: Generative AI algorithms could analyze large sets of historical crime data to identify patterns and predict potential criminal hotspots. This could help law enforcement agencies allocate resources more effectively and proactively deter criminal behavior.

Cyber risk is one of the great concerns sitting at the top of any government, as hacker attacks and other security breaches have the potential to jeopardize the global economy and other aspects of everyday life.  Wide reporting indicates the proliferation of cyber attacks worldwide at a substantial and increasing rate, thereby unleashing severe damage to companies, governments and individuals worldwide. This proliferation of widespread attacks is creating an increasingly urgent need for greater cybersecurity for those in all sectors utilizing online networks.  Users include governments, corporations, various other organizations  and individuals who stand to benefit from the greater convenience, efficiencies, and sometimes cost benefits made available through online use.

Cyber criminals and others in the business of victimizing online users also benefit.  While some may be primarily interested in creating mischief, which can itself prove harmful, professional cybercriminals are usually looking for much more. Usually, the basis of their primary motives comes down to either money or power. For purposes of classification, their motives are typically  grouped into one or more of the following three categories:

  1. Denial of Service. The motive for this type of attack is usually revenge. Some attackers may launch DDoS attacks as retaliation against a person, organization, or business that they perceive has wronged them. Some attackers may similarly target a competing business or organization to disrupt their services and gain an advantage in the market.

Being a retired law librarian of a certain age, I am now often asked to reflect upon my 50 years serving in various capacities as a law librarian. I have noticed that most questions asked can be grouped into discrete categories. For example, people want to know what lessons I have learned along the way as a law librarian, what I found most rewarding being a law librarian, what changes in law librarianship I have observed since I started approximately 50 years ago, and who have been my mentors or people who have greatly influenced me along the way. In this posting, I offer responses to these questions based on my current views.

What are some of the lessons you have learned as a professional in your field and in life?

I have come to appreciate the importance of understanding that change as it relates to all aspects of work and life is constant. And in order to be truly successful and to avoid stagnation, we must learn to become highly adaptable and flexible. Of utmost importance is the need to maintain enduring and useful connections with others.

David Badertscher

Network Neutrality (Net neutrality) is a principle that expresses the concept that all Internet traffic must be treated equally regardless of possible economic and other incentives to do otherwise. The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) strongly supports Net neutrality and is a member of Save the Internet Coalition and the Open Internet, both working to bring together individuals, non-profit organizations, businesses, and bloggers who strongly support this priciple.

As part of its leadership role in raising and clarifying issues related to Network Neutrality, AALL prepared a Newwork Neutrality Issue Brief, published in December 2008. Since that time there has been sufficient debate, discussion, rule changes (both actual and proposed), and litigation surrounding this issue to make it necessary for AALL to update its 2008 Network Neutrality Issue Brief, resulting the 2011 AALL Network Neturalty Issue Brief linked to below.

Source: The Internet Society Newsletter Volume 10 Number 1 January 2011.

On 28 January, Lynn St.Amour President and CEO, and the Internet Society Board of Trustees issued a statement on the Egypt’s Internet shutdown:

“We are following the current events in Egypt with concern as it appears that all incoming and outgoing Internet traffic has been disrupted. The Internet Society believes that the Internet is a global medium that fundamentally supports opportunity, empowerment, knowledge, growth, and freedom and that these values should never be taken away from individuals.

November 12. 2010 is the twentieth anniversary of a research proposal that is remaking our world. As Ben Zimmer tells it in his November 14 On Language column, WWW: The 20th Anniversary of a Research Proposal That Remande the Language in the New York Times, Tim Berners-Lee, a British software programmer working at CERN outside Geneva, was attempting to “sketch out a global system for sharing information over the Internet. After submitting a document in 1989 on the topic which generated little interest, Berners-Lee tried again in 1990, collaborating with a Belgian engineer Robert Cailliau. It was this paper, WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a Hyper Text Project, submitted on November 12, 2010, that is the true basis of the World Wide Web as we know of it today. There are a number of articles, papers, and media events commemorating this seminal event, but for a quick read that is also informative, Mr. Zimmer’s colum in the Sunday November 14, 2010 New York Times comes highly recommended.

David Badertscher

On social media bad news spreads quickly.

When off-duty Baltimore Police Detective Brian Stevenson was killed Saturday night after being struck in the head by a piece of concrete, word spread quickly through police circles and spilled onto Facebook, where the officer’s young daughter learned of his death before relatives could break it to her in person.

See complete article by Justin Fenton in the October 20, Baltimore Sun.

Leading Executives in the Legal Research Industry Join Bloomberg Law

Lou Andreozzi and Larry D. Thompson to Lead Expansion of Bloomberg’s Web-Based Legal Platform

New York, October 18, 2010 – Bloomberg today announced that Lou Andreozzi has joined the Company as chairman of Bloomberg Law and Larry D. Thompson, PhD, has joined as chief operating officer. Andreozzi and Thompson will play key leadership roles in the growth of Bloomberg Law, the innovative real-time legal research system from the world leader in data and information services.

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