Thursday, April 30, 2015
This story about a U.K. court ordering Popcorn Time blocked has been knocking around in my brain for a couple of days now. When stuff knocks around in my head for days, chances are it will end up in written form, right here. So here we go.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
“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: Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? 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?
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
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.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
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.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
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.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
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.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
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.
Friday, March 20, 2015
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.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
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.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
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.
Friday, February 27, 2015
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.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Snapchat selfie gets teen arrested on murder chargeJill Daly, reporting at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: On Thursday, a woman told police her son had a copy of a Snapchat photo sent from the accused. Jeannette Sgt. Donald Johnston saw the photo, depicting the wounded victim in the chair as found by his mother. It also depicted a young man taking a “selfie” with the victim in the background. The photo had the name “MAXWELL” across the top and the young man was identified by Sgt.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Gay marriage begins in AlabamaJustices Thomas and Scalia were none too pleased that their colleagues refused to continue a stay on same-sex marriages in Alabama pending the Court’s resolution of the issue later this year: Yet rather than treat like applicants alike, the Court looks the other way as yet another Federal District Judge casts aside state laws without making any effort to preserve the status quo pending the Court’s resolution of a constitutional question it left open in United States v.
Friday, February 6, 2015
How the DMCA criminalized DIY farm equipment repairKyle Wiens, writing at Wired: Manufacturers have every legal right to put a password or an encryption over the tECU. Owners, on the other hand, don’t have the legal right to break the digital lock over their own equipment. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act—a 1998 copyright law designed to prevent digital piracy—classifies breaking a technological protection measure over a device’s programming as a breach of copyright.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Innocent until convinced otherwiseSusan Perry, reporting at MinnPost.com on a study led by psychologist Julia Shaw of the University of Bedminstershire and published in the journal Psychological Science: The results were stunning (so stunning that the researchers stopped the study after interviewing 60 rather than the 70 students they had originally thought they would need to test their hypothesis): Of the 30 students who were falsely told they had committed a crime as a teenager, 21 (70 percent) came to believe it, including 11 of the 20 who were told that the crime was an assault.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
The Guardian explains ‘three-parent’ babiesIan Sample has a clear, concise explainer over at The Guardian about the procedure, passed by British MPs today, that would allow replacement of faulty maternal DNA with third-party female mitochondria. One of the primary legal issues raised by the vote is substantially similar in the U.K. and the U.S.: Mitochondrial transfer passes on genetic changes from one generation to another. That raises ethical concerns because any unexpected problems caused by the procedure could affect people who are not yet born, and so cannot give their consent to have the treatment.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
The science of smarter teamsThis is a fascinating article about what characteristics distinguish smarter teams from less effective teams. I’m a big fan of thinking about the bigger picture of emerging research like this. Think about how it applies, and how to apply it to improve, newsrooms, law firm practice groups, corporate boards and project and product teams.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Aol dials up the stupid with 150 editorial layoffsBrianna Royce, Editor in Chief of Massively, the MMORPG arm of popular gaming blog Joystiq, which is also going away, talking about Aol Corporate’s most recent stupidity: I would like to be able to tell you truthfully that this is an equitable and just decision that makes some sort of logical sense, but the reality is that our overlords’ decisions have always been unfathomable.
Friday, January 30, 2015
EFF Wins Battle Over Secret Legal Opinions on Government SpyingThe EFF said in a press release yesterday: The U.S. Department of Justice today filed a motion to dismiss its appeal of a ruling over legal opinions about Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the controversial provision of law relied on by the NSA to collect the call records of millions of Americans. As a result of the dismissal, the Justice Department will be forced to release a previously undisclosed opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) concerning access by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to census data under Section 215.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Federal judge strikes down gay-marriage ban in AlabamaI’ll just leave this right here…