CRS Report – 2024 Presidential Nominating Process: Frequently Asked Questions. July 9, 2024: The presidential nominating process is one of the most complex aspects of American politics. This report provides brief answers to selected frequently asked questions about that process in 2024. In some cases, the topics addressed herein are developing rapidly and are subject… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legal Research
Pharmacy Benefit Managers – Middlemen Inflating Drug Costs, Squeezing Main Street Pharmacies
StatNews: FTC report finds PBMs profit at the expense of patients and independent pharmacies Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The Powerful Middlemen Inflating Drug Costs and Squeezing Main Street Pharmacies Interim Staff Report July 2024 U.S. Federal Trade Commission Office of Policy Planning. Continue Reading
TikTok Content Farms Use AI Voiceovers to Mass-Produce Political Misinformation
“In September 2023, NewsGuard identified what appeared to be the first of its kind: a network of 17 TikTok accounts using AI text-to-speech software to create videos advancing conspiracy theories about celebrities, amassing hundreds of millions of views. Now, the phenomenon appears to be growing and shifting its focus to politics. NewsGuard has identified 41… Continue Reading
Everyone Has A Price And Corporations Know Yours
The Lever – “Digital surveillance and customer isolation are locking us into a consumer hell of personalized prices. Six years ago, I was at a conference at the University of Chicago, the intellectual heart of corporate-friendly capitalism, when my eyes found the cover of the Chicago Booth Review, the business school’s flagship publication. “Are You… Continue Reading
Even Disinformation Experts Don’t Know How to Stop It
The New York Times – “Researchers have learned plenty about misinformation and how it spreads. But they’re still struggling to figure out how to stop it…Holding the line against misinformation and disinformation is demoralizing and sometimes dangerous work, requiring an unusual degree of optimism and doggedness. Increasingly, however, even the most committed warriors are feeling… Continue Reading
Is AI the Bitter End or the Lucrative Future of Book Publishing?
Esquire – As the law fights to catch up to Big Tech, the future of books hangs in the balance. Are writers doomed by “the biggest rip-off in creative history” or could AI offer new ways of making a living? “I get hung up on the word scraping,” author R.O. Kwon says. “It sounds quite… Continue Reading
Private-Sector AI Indicators Dataset
DataIsPlural: “The Private-Sector AI Indicators dataset, from Georgetown University’s Emerging Technology Observatory, provides “a diverse range of indicators of AI-related activity for hundreds of companies worldwide, from startups to multinationals.” For each of the 670+ companies included, the dataset counts the number of AI-related research articles published by its employees (disaggregated by topic), AI-related patents… Continue Reading
NewsGuard Launches Monthly AI News Misinformation Monitor
Creating Benchmark for Comparing the Trustworthiness of Leading Generative AI Models – “NewsGuard today launched a monthly AI News Misinformation Monitor – see the July 2024 issue here, setting a new standard for measuring the accuracy and trustworthiness of the AI industry by tracking how each leading generative AI model is responding to prompts related… Continue Reading
Results of Review of Use of Dark Patterns Affecting Subscription Services, Privacy
“The Federal Trade Commission and two international consumer protection networks announced the results of a review of selected websites and apps that showed a large percentage of the websites and mobile apps examined may use dark patterns, digital design techniques that may manipulate consumers into buying products or services or giving up their privacy. These… Continue Reading
The Free Library by Farlex
34,746,903 articles and books – “Since 2003, The Free Library has offered free, full-text versions of classic literary works from hundreds of celebrated authors, whose biographies, images, and famous quotations can also be found on the site. Recently, The Free Library has been expanded to include a massive collection of periodicals from hundreds of leading… Continue Reading
Requesting Your Support For BeSpacific
Dear Readers, Colleagues, Friends – I have not reached out for quite a while, but perhaps you are indoors during the heat wave and will take a moment to read and respond. Thank you to the readers who currently support BeSpacific on a regular basis. I am hopeful that more readers will join them and… Continue Reading
Re-Regulating UPL in an Age of AI
Walters, Ed, Re-Regulating UPL in an Age of AI (May 25, 2024). 8 Georgetown Law Technology Review 316 (2024), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4822750 “States regulate the Unauthorized Practice of Law as a way to protect consumers from fraudulent, negligent, or incompetent legal services. Although states have not agreed on what specifically constitutes the “practice of… Continue Reading
