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Daily Archives: May 19, 2019

Civil Liability for Cyberbullying

Perry, Ronen, Civil Liability for Cyberbullying (April 12, 2019). UC Irvine Law Review, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3371020 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3371020

“Cyberbullying has become a notorious epidemic, culminating in widely publicized suicides. Whether a new and distinct problem or an old one in a new guise, the technological setting has undoubtedly generated new challenges and, at the same time, new opportunities for legal response. Regrettably, while delegation of power to educational institutions and criminalization of cyber-misconduct are relatively common, at least in public discourse, the potential impact of civil liability has been downplayed. This Article puts the underexplored regulatory tool under the spotlight. It provides systematic legal and economic analyses of civil liability for cyberbullying, based on a trichotomy of potential defendants—primary wrongdoers, real-life supervisors (parents, schools), and virtual supervisors (mostly online platform operators).

Ultimately, the Article lays the foundations for an efficiency-oriented model which integrates technological features to reduce supervisors’ information costs. In order to incentivize parents to reasonably use advanced surveillance applications, the proposed model imposes liability when failure to employ such tools results in juvenile cyber-wrongdoing, in addition to standard liability for not taking reasonable precautions upon learning about the risk. The model also imposes liability on schools for cyberbullying through school devices if they failed to: (1) enforce reliable identification of users, (2) employ advanced surveillance tools, or (3) take reasonable measures to prevent harm upon notification of possible misconduct. Finally, the model holds a virtual supervisor liable if the victim has insufficient information to identify the wrongdoer, the victim gave notice of the complaint, and the virtual supervisor did not properly respond.”

New on LLRX – Online Research Browsers 2019

Via LLRX – Online Research Browsers 2019 – Marcus Zillman’s guide highlights multifaceted browser alternatives to mainstream search tools that researchers may regularly use by default. There are many reliable yet underutilized applications that facilitate access to and discovery of subject matter specific documents and sources. Free applications included here also offer collaboration tools, resources… Continue Reading

OPM-GSA merger plan detailed in legislative proposal – vests power over personnel service in presidential appointee

FCW.com: “The White House is proposing legislation for a dramatic overhaul of human resources inside the government and wants $50 million to execute the plan. The administration is looking to move the Office of Personnel Management’s functions and resources to a service inside the General Service Administration, alongside real estate management and acquisition. A new… Continue Reading

Rand Report – News in a Digital Age

News in a Digital Age – Comparing the Presentation of News Information over Time and Across Media Platform – “The media ecosystem in the United States has experienced rapid techno-logical changes over the past 30 years that have affected the way news is produced, consumed, and disseminated. This internally funded report seeks to assess empirically… Continue Reading

Why the Guardian is changing the language it uses about the environment

From now, house style guide recommends terms such as ‘climate crisis’ and ‘global heating’ – “We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise, while also communicating clearly with readers on this very important issue,” said the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner. “The phrase ‘climate change’, for example, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists… Continue Reading

Face It, You’re Being Watched

“San Francisco is the first American city to ban facial recognition software used by police and other agencies. Bloomberg QuickTake  [YouTube] explains why the technology’s advance is so alarming to regulators, the public, and even the people developing it.” See also: Government Is Using Most Vulnerable People to Test Facial Recognition Software; GAO Report –… Continue Reading

What happened to the MSPB?

U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board Congressional Budget Justification FY 2020: “Over the last year, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB or Board) has worked to improve the effectiveness and long-term impact of its missions function in response to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) memorandum M-17-22, “Comprehensive Plan for Reforming the Federal Government… Continue Reading

Google uses Gmail to track a history of things you buy and it’s hard to delete

CNBC – “Google tracks a lot of what you buy, even if you purchased it elsewhere, like in a store or from Amazon. Last week, CEO Sundar Pichai wrote a New York Times op-ed that said “privacy cannot be a luxury good.” But behind the scenes, Google is still collecting a lot of personal information… Continue Reading

This economics journal only publishes results that are no big deal

Vox – Most new publications, upon their launch, seek to promote their content as novel, surprising, exciting. A new journal that began publishing this week does … the opposite of that. “Start with the name: Series of Unsurprising Results in Economics (SURE). The journal publishes papers with findings that are, well, really boring — so… Continue Reading