Notes from Law Technology News Online Update November 17, 2008.
Cell Phones
“If you use a handheld device while driving in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, or Washington (state or D.C.), you are breaking the law. Utah and New Hampshire have some mention of handheld cell phone use – but mostly as a means of enacting distracted driver laws. Some jurisdictions have bans in certain cities (including Phoenix and Detroit).”
The ABA Section of Science and Technology Law has just published the first edition of SCITECH e-Merging News, an electronic newsletter to be published quarterly. See theTable of Contents for the first issue follow:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Practice Edge
” Let’s face it, during the reign of Bill Gates, Microsoft hasn’t exactly been Xerox Parc when it comes to inventing and creating new technologies. For the most part, Microsoft has been content to buy or copy new technologies and focus on incremental improvements to its products. But that doesn’t mean that Bill Gates and Microsoft weren’t innovative. In the areas of business strategies and cutthroat competition, Microsoft has used a combination of unique and very effective innovations to make itself the dominant tech company of the PC era.”
Jonathan L. Zittrain has written an interesting, informative and innovative book titles The Future of the Internet: And How to Stop It. . I use the word “innovative” because the web version, which is available in full text at http://yupnet.org/zittrain/ incorporates added features to engage the reader.
To quote from his introduction:
“…The Internet’s current trajectory is one of lost opportunity. Its salvation lies in the hands of its millions of users. Drawing on generative technologies like Wikipedia that have so far survived their own successes, this book shows how to develop new technologies and social structures that allow users to work creatively and collaboratively, participate in solutions, and become true ‘netizens.’ “
From the Section of Science and Technology Law:
Science for Lawyers Eric York Drogin, Editor http://www.abanet.org/abastore/productpage/5450051
Science for Lawyers clearly explains and discusses 13 applied scientific disciplines in jargon-free language that is specifically geared toward lawyers. The book explores the definitions (what is science), the practice (what scientists do) and the professional roles (what ethical guidelines influence scientists) of 13 professional disciplines such as:
Writing in the April/May 2008 issue of State Tech: Technology Insights for Leaders in State and Local Government, Michele Hope concludes by writing: “Only time and a few real-world installations will tell.” Here are some excerpts from Michele’s article:
FROM THE INTRODUCTION:
“The first commercial holographic storage products are slated for release in mid-2008. With first-generation products boasting write-once, read many (WORM) characteristics, a lifespan of 50-pls years, initial disk capacities of 300 gigabytes per disk and a 20 magabyte-per-second data rate, proponents are aiming this technology at the long term archival needs of government entities, highly regulated health-care and medical organizations, and professional media and film industries
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds
By Benjamin Tyson Duranske
The following is an edited version of an article by Peter Galli, published on eWeek.com:.
December 19, 2007
By Peter Galli
Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms
By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 17, 2007; Page A01
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