Blog Posts
#Lawyer: The Ethics of LawTok
Jan. 10, 2023—By Alissa Selover TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps, racking up over 1.5 billion monthly active users in the third quarter of 2022.[1] In fact, some lawyers and law students have found themselves experiencing heightened success on the platform. The hashtag, #LawTok, which consists primarily of lawyer and law student posts,...
Fixing MMA: The Ongoing Insider Betting Scandal
Jan. 9, 2023—By Brad Rossiter In the weeks following a preliminary bout between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke, the FBI has begun investigating suspicious betting activity surrounding the fight, numerous suspensions have been levied by the UFC and state athletic commissions, and UFC President, Dana White, has acknowledged that “[f]ight fixing is now a ‘huge concern’ for the...
In Meta Trouble: the FTC’s Fight Against Big Tech
Jan. 8, 2023—By Lucy McAfee Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta), formerly known as Facebook, has faced several legal challenges, including a recent $37.5 million settlement for tracking users’ locations without permission and a $650 million settlement for illegal use of facial recognition data.[1] Now, Meta faces a lawsuit regarding its desire to acquire Within Unlimited, a virtual reality...
Chasing the Duty of Competency in Legal Technology
Jan. 6, 2023—By Catherine Garner In some way or another, technology has impacted or even altered virtually every aspect of the practice of law.[1] Especially during the pandemic, lawyers can practice anywhere in the world with available internet or Wi-Fi connection.[2] Email and text messages have largely replaced letter writing and phone calls and computer research via...
Keeping Up With the SEC: the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Hard-Fought Battle Against Celebrity Cryptocurrency Endorsements
Nov. 15, 2022—By Bianca Wieck As social media has skyrocketed, so too has the tension between celebrity endorsements and SEC rules surrounding cryptocurrency. On October 3, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to settle with Kim Kardashian for violating Section 17b of the Securities Act of 1933.[1] Kardashian had posted on social media information regarding...
A.I. Think, Therefore I Am: Ownership and Copyrights over A.I.-Generated Artworks
Nov. 15, 2022—By Sallie Hatfield Earlier this year, a digital artwork created through an Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) program won first place in a digital art competition in Pueblo, CO. The artist explained that he created it by submitting terms to a computer program called Midjourney. While he did not misrepresent his methods, even signing the piece “Jason...
Football’s Most Wanted: The (Many) Cases Against Washington Commanders Owner Dan Snyder
Nov. 13, 2022—By Nic Vandeventer On November 10, the Office of Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (“OAG”) announced that it had an initiated a civil suit against Dan Snyder, the Washington Commanders, the NFL, and Commissioner Roger Goodell.[1]The suit alleges that Snyder, Goodell, the team, and the NFL colluded to mislead D.C. consumers regarding an ongoing...
Labeling Looted Art: New York’s Legislative Step Towards Ethical Curation
Nov. 8, 2022—By Charlotte Yates A recent New York state law requires museums to clearly label art that was looted by Nazis in 1933-1945.[1] The law takes effect during a time of increased public scrutiny towards museum art acquisition and the equities implicated by museums’ curation practices.[2] “Provenance,” or “the ownership history of an artwork, from when...
Data Privacy in the Femtech Industry
Nov. 8, 2022—By Mary Maas Every day, millions of women provide period-tracking apps such as Clue and Flo with intimate information about their bodies. In return, the apps offer algorithmic predictions that help users track, monitor, and improve their health. But is the convenience of these predictions worth the loss of privacy? Smartphone apps like Clue and...
Our Fourth Amendment Privacy Is Not For Sale
Sep. 7, 2022—By Kyle C. Bailey *Note: the original publication date was July 2020. Introduction There is a spy in your pocket. The mobile applications on your smartphone continuously track your exact location, and the information is not kept secret.[1] Instead, the apps send your location to numerous companies, up to 14,000 times a day.[2] The companies...