Mark Harris reports at The Guardian:

That $500,000 project is now underway at Nasa’s Ames Research Center in the heart of Silicon Valley. Nasa is planning the first tests of an air traffic control system for drones there this summer, with Verizon scheduled to introduce a concept for using cell coverage for data, navigation, surveillance and tracking of drones by 2017. The phone company hopes to finalise its technology by 2019.

This is fascinating to me because the documents obtained by The Guardian describe the purpose of the partnership as to “jointly explore if cell towers and communications could possibly support Unmannned Aerial Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) for communications and surveillance of UAS at low altitudes” (emphasis added).

NASA typically focuses on altitudes so high they’re, well, in space, so why are they involved with developing low-altitutde drone tracking technology?

I want to note that I’m not necessarily opposed to someone in the government being able to keep track of all the drones that will inevitably be zipping around. I’m just not sure why NASA is involved, and I wonder whether their choice of Verizon as a partner serves as a tacit confirmation of that cellular network’s claims of coverage supremacy over its competitors.

There will be some related surveillance stories in tomorrow’s Modern Law newsletter, so sign up to get an email with five links I haven’t blogged about yet.

Image © Nevit Dilmen

Microsoft has acquired Wunderlist

Amir Mizroch of The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft bought Wunderlist’s parent company 6Wunderkinder for between $100 and $200 million. Microsoft is on a roll, having recently acquired Sunrise calendar and purchased email app Acompli and rebranded it as Outlook for mobile. All three apps are well-regarded, particularly Outlook which was lauded by Vlad Savov at The Verge for its email, contacts, calendar and documents integration. [^1]

Wunderlist is my task manager of choice, so I’ll be keeping an eye on this story. If you haven’t tried it yet I highly recommend having a look.

[1]: Lawyers, however, should think twice before using Outlook for work because it runs everything through Microsoft’s servers to provide its more powerful features. Read more about the concerns at WindowsITPro.

Crisis shelter workers want Google Maps to hide the locations of their shelters

Selena Larson reports at The Daily Dot:

Crisis shelters provide a safe haven for victims and their families; they are a refuge away from abusers. By publicly listing shelter locations online, Google is endangering victims of domestic abuse, says Jeremy Janice, a facilities coordinator at a Louisiana crisis center.

It’s yet another example of my white American cis-male privilege that it never even occurred to me that this is problematic. I hope Google comes up with a solution that helps keep people safe. I’m not sure how effective Change.org petitions really are, but you can sign the one relevant to this issue here.

The image is a blurred Google Maps image depicting domestic violence shelters in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

Microsoft’s won’t rule out complying with potential UK encryption limits

Danny Yadron at The Wall Street Journal quoted Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith:

“It’s a big market, and it’s a country we believe has a fundamental rule of law in place,” Smith said at an event in Palo Alto, Calif., hosted by the Chertoff Group. “We still don’t like it, but you could imagine one argument that says, ‘OK, we’re going to do it.’ ”

That’s an interesting stance, especially from the parent company of Skype, who recently got in trouble with a Belgian court for refusing to allow a wiretap.

Image courtesy Microsoft

Appeals court keeps immigration policy on hold

Lyle Denniston writes at SCOTUSBlog:

Under the policy, some 4.3 million individuals who entered the country illegally and remained without permission would be given a status of “lawful presence” in this country — well short of citizenship, and with no guarantee that they could stay even for the three-year delay period specified — and would qualify for both some federal benefits, like work permits, and some state benefits, like drivers’ licenses.

I spoke with immigration attorneys recently about the avalanche of work this policy is expected to generate if it ever goes into effect. There are many people whose future depends largely on the outcome of the ongoing dispute about the legality of the program.

Image by Gulbenk at Wikipedia

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The Amazon Noncompete Clause

Here it is, in all its overbroad glory:

During employment and for 18 months after the Separation Date, Employee will not, directly or indirectly, whether on Employee’s own behalf or on behalf of any other entity (for example, as an employee, agent, partner, or consultant), engage in or support the development, manufacture, marketing, or sale of any product or service that competes or is intended to compete with any product or service sold, offered, or otherwise provided by Amazon (or intended to be sold, offered, or otherwise provided by Amazon in the future) that Employee worked on or supported, or about which Employee obtained or received Confidential Information.

Whew. All that legalese is translatable into American English as:

You can't work in another warehosue that, you know, contains stuff people buy, with money, that is, um, anywhere, pretty much in the world.

The linked report by The Verge resulted in a much-needed revision to the policy, but it’s a powerful reminder that behind all the random stuff we order online are people who are sometimes commoditized and mistreated by their employers.

Image credit: “Amazon.com Customer Service Center (Huntington, West Virginia) 003” by Leonard J. DeFrancisci. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Apple under federal anti-competition scrutiny, again

Micah Singleton writes for The Verge:

Sources also indicated that Apple offered to pay YouTube’s music licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its songs on YouTube. Apple is seemingly trying to clear a path before its streaming service launches, which is expected to debut at WWDC in June. If Apple convinces the labels to stop licensing freemium services from Spotify and YouTube, it could take out a significant portion of business from its two largest music competitors.

I dislike hyperbole, but the fact that Apple would even engage in behavior that is capable of misperception as anti-competitive is shocking.

Image credit: “Apple Headquarters in Cupertino” by Joe Ravi. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

“Super-cuts” from same-sex marriage arguments

SCOTUSBlog contributor Tejinder Singh posted 36 minutes of audio highlights from yesterday’s oral argument in Obergefell v. Hodges. The case is one of several on the Court’s docket this term focused on two specific constitutional questions:

1. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?
2. Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?

I’ve embedded the super-cut below but if you’re really interested in getting a first-hand sense of how the Justices feel you can find audio of the full oral argument (more than two hours, split into two files) at Oyez. I’ll have more to say about the arguments after I’ve had the chance to listen to them in their entirety.

[embed]sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-conten…[/embed]

Public domain photograph of the Roberts Court via Wikipedia

Re-engaging driver with questions after saying he’s free to leave is a second stop

This is worth knowing if you’re a Pennsylvania resident or you find yourself frequently driving through the state. However, do yourself a favor and don’t throw it in the face of an officer whose behavior implies he or she doesn’t know about this precedent. If you’re innocent, keeping it to yourself will expedite the stop. If you’re guilty, comply with the officer and bring up this case to your public defender or private defense attorney.

NJ lawyers need a social media policy for employees

Jennifer Marino Thibodaux of Gibbons writes:

The subject attorneys were retained to defend a town and its police sergeant in a personal injury action. One attorney directed his paralegal to conduct Internet research about the plaintiff. The paralegal accessed the public portions of the plaintiff’s Facebook page, and sent the plaintiff a “friend” request without disclosing her association with the attorneys. The plaintiff accepted the friend request, and the paralegal obtained information the attorneys could use to impeach the plaintiff’s personal injury claims.

The paralegal’s use of Facebook here, as you can tell from the headline, did not turn out well for the attorney-employer. This story is a simple, quick warning to New Jersey attorneys: implement a social media policy reflective of the Rules of Professional Conduct so your employees know (and you can show later that your employees knew or should have known) that it’s inappropriate to contact the opposing party on social media without identifying yourself and your employment.

Another blow to deceptively marketed “unlimited” data plans

Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica:

The FCC's new rules ban throttling except in cases of "reasonable network management." AT&T could argue that the throttling is necessary to keep its network running smoothly, but FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has objected to throttling of plans that are supposed to be unlimited and forced Verizon Wireless to back down from a throttling plan last year.

I have no problem with good-faith network management, but if a plan is subject to throttling, it can’t be marketed and sold as “unlimited.” The FTC is sending the right signal here in choosing to pursue this case, and Judge Edward Chen of the US District Court in Northern California has demonstrated that he understands the issue.

The network that can provide real unlimited data at usable speeds with no fine print has an opportunity to significantly increase its user base, but I haven’t found one yet. Let me know if you have.

Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous

Tim Cook, in an op-ed at the Washington Post:

Our message, to people around the country and around the world, is this: Apple is open. Open to everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. Regardless of what the law might allow in Indiana or Arkansas, we will never tolerate discrimination.

I admire the visible positions Cook is taking on more and more issues these days.

Employee Manuals Need Spring Cleaning Thanks to the NLRB

Jason Shinn, writing at Michigan Employment Law Advisor:

But this is where employers really need to be concerned: The distinction between what is permissible and what is not is somewhat anemic to begin with, and if your company’s policies are too broad or poorly worded, then whatever distinction existed may be obliterated.

The full report is available in PDF format. The National Labor Relations Act is a federal law, and Section 7 applies whether or not employees are unionized. That means, as Shinn advises in the article, that every company with employees of any kind should perform a revision of their HR policies and procedures.

Tesla will enable automated freeway driving this summer

Chris Taylor reporting at Mashable:

So to recap: Tesla cars will start self-driving this summer, on freeways at least. (It seems likely that once we've gotten used to that notion, autopilot for the full ride will be unlocked.) Google could have done the same thing for us a few years back, if the company were not driven by perfectionism and relentless iteration.

This is interesting. Tesla, to me, has made Google look a little old school, in a bad way. What’s more disruptive? Waiting until you’ve perfected automobile automation everywhere, or enable what you’re confident you’ve done well?

Of course, a base Model S goes for $63,570 after the federal tax credit. So I won’t be automated-ly driving around any freeways for at least a decade (student loan reform, anyone?). But the fact that Tesla can enable automated driving with nothing more than a software update speaks volumes to where the industry is headed.

The Night His Girlfriend Dissociated and Forgot Who He Was

An anonymous author writes at Vice.com:

'This is perfectly normal,' I thought, as she scrolled through her phone looking for George's name. 'I'm just a guy, standing here, getting my girlfriend's ex to vouch for my existence.'

Her first attempt went through to voicemail. Quietly and tearfully, all she could say was “help me” a dozen or so times. I wondered if he was at work. It could have been hours before he was able to check his phone. In our last stroke of good fortune for the night, he called back a few seconds later. I can’t remember exactly what was said or how long they talked for; it might have been a minute, it might have been five. She mentioned that there was a man here she didn’t know who was claiming to be her boyfriend, and in a sort of exaggerated stage whisper I said, “George! It’s me!”

She listened for a little while longer and then passed the phone to me. “He wants to talk to you.” I spoke to George for a couple of minutes. I’ve never been so relieved to hear the voice of a girlfriend’s ex. He calmly talked me through the next steps – to get her into her flat, sit her down and pull up something she’d seen before on Netflix. Familiarity was key, he told me. I thanked him and returned the phone. They talked for a few more seconds, then she hung up.

“George says I can trust you.”

It’s a terrifying and well-written account you should take the time to read in its entirety.

Petraeus reaches plea deal with Justice Department

Kevin Johnson and Tom Vanden Brook, reporting for USA Today:

The explosive details in the agreement show that Petraeus lied to investigators, divulged a massive amount of sensitive data to Paula Broadwell and worried about how she handled them in an interview she taped with him.

Those who want former NSA analyst Edward Snowden’s head on a plate for disseminating classified information based on his ideals, with which you may or may not agree, and then admitting it, must be really angry at former CIA director General David Petraeus for disseminating classified information to his mistress and then lying about it to FBI agents.

Right?

Goodbye Leonard Nimoy

Krishnadev Calamur, reporting at NPR:

Actor Leonard Nimoy, best known for his role as Mr. Spock, the logical half-Vulcan, half-human in the original Star Trek series and several movies, has died at his home in Los Angeles, his granddaughter, Madeleine, told NPR. Nimoy was 83.

It’s a sad day for geeks everywhere, a very sad day indeed.

Snapchat selfie gets teen arrested on murder charge

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Innocent until convinced otherwise

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