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Monthly Archives: April 2023

Ethics Complaints Justice Thomas Referred To Top Judicial Panel

HuffPo: “Complaints about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have been referred to a federal panel that oversees the nation’s financial disclosure laws, a top judicial official said Tuesday. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) last week called on the body overseeing the federal judiciary to refer Thomas for investigation amid a series… Continue Reading

The Promise and Perils of Tech Whistleblowing

Bloch-Wehba, Hannah, The Promise and Perils of Tech Whistleblowing (March 3, 2023). Northwestern University Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4377064 “Whistleblowers and leakers wield significant influence in technology law and policy. On topics ranging from cybersecurity to free speech, tech whistleblowers spur congressional hearings, motivate the introduction of legislation, and animate critical press coverage… Continue Reading

Over 1,000 Companies Have Curtailed Operations in Russia—But Some Remain

Yale School of Management: “Since the invasion of Ukraine began, we have been tracking the responses of well over 1,200 companies, and counting. Over 1,000 companies have publicly announced they are voluntarily curtailing operations in Russia to some degree beyond the bare minimum legally required by international sanctions — but some companies have continued to operate… Continue Reading

Of Course This Is How the Intelligence Leak Happened

The Atlantic: “National-security leaks. Insurrections. Bank runs. Group chats are now the most powerful force on the internet…Group chats aren’t just good for triggering geopolitical crises—they’re also an effective means to start a bank run, as the world learned last month. The investor panic that led to the swift collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in… Continue Reading

Tackling Technostress

RIPS Law Librarian / Laura Scott: “I chuckled when I recently happened upon the term “technostress” during some otherwise depressing research on librarians and burnout. Like “cyberspace” or “computer-assisted legal research,” technostress struck me as something I would need a flux capacitor and some legwarmers to experience fully. After all, technology is now an essential… Continue Reading

How is Congress handling the TikTok conundrum?

Brookings: “The potential security implications of China’s corporate control of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance have scaled up in recent years as U.S.-China relations have soured and China has expanded its domestic social, political, and economic controls. But Congress’ potential answer — the RESTRICT Act — has its flaws. Cam Kerry examines TikTok’s challenges, other ways… Continue Reading

ChatGPT Gets Its ‘Wolfram Superpowers

Stephen Wolfram (March 2023), “ChatGPT Gets Its ‘Wolfram Superpowers’: Early in January I wrote about the possibility of connecting ChatGPT to Wolfram|Alpha. And today—just two and a half months later—I’m excited to announce that it’s happened! Thanks to some heroic software engineering by our team and by OpenAI, ChatGPT can now call on Wolfram|Alpha—and Wolfram… Continue Reading

After leak, Pentagon purges some users’ access to classified programs, launches security review

Breaking Defense: “As the Department of Justice continues investigating the breadth of the Discord leak, the Pentagon has launched a review of its security policies and procedures and is paring back just who has access to highly classified information, a Pentagon spokeswoman announced today. Late last week, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National… Continue Reading

POGO Calls for DOJ to Investigate Clarence Thomas, Seek Civil Penalties

“On behalf of the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), we write to urge the Department of Justice to investigate the recently reported decades-long failure of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to disclose his receipt of gifts potentially worth millions of dollars. Unless the investigation reveals that the facts differ radically from what has been reported,… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 15, 2023

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 15, 2023 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading