Internet Archive Blogs: “After spending years researching the history of U.S. copyright law, Jessica Litman says she wants to make it easy for others to find her work. The law professor’s book, Digital Copyright, first published in 2001 by Prometheus Books, is available free online (read now). After it went out of print in 2015,… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
Financial Disclosure and the Supreme Court
CRS Legal Sidebar: April 14, 2023: ” The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EIGA) established financial disclosure reporting requirements for many high-level government officials and employees, including the Chief Justice of the United States and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Justices must file publicly available financial disclosure statements that report… Continue Reading
Clarence Thomas Defends Undisclosed “Family Trips” With GOP Megadonor. Here Are the Facts.
Follow up to ProPublica April 5, 2023 report – Clarence Thomas and the Billlionare – “In response to [the] ProPublica report, Thomas explained why he did not disclose lavish travel provided by billionaire Harlan Crow. But legal experts maintain the justice was required to make these disclosures….“Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought… Continue Reading
Measuring trends in Artificial Intelligence
“The AI Index is an independent initiative at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), led by the AI Index Steering Committee, an interdisciplinary group of experts from across academia and industry. The annual report tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data relating to artificial intelligence, enabling decision-makers to take meaningful action to advance AI… Continue Reading
Reforming federal procurement and acquisitions policies
Brookings: “The federal government purchases around $665 billion in goods and services each year from outside contractors, which is 10% of its $6.5 trillion budget. This includes items such as building and construction, office furniture and supplies, industrial products, professional services, information technology, defense equipment, security systems, transportation, logistical support, travel, meals, and lodging, among… Continue Reading
The Four Quadrants of American Politics
The Atlantic: “Control of the House of Representatives could teeter precariously for years as each party consolidates its dominance over mirror-image demographic strongholds. That’s the clearest conclusion of a new analysis of the demographic and economic characteristics of all 435 congressional districts, conducted by the Equity Research Institute at the University of Southern California in… Continue Reading
Visualizing Political Bias in Bicameral Legislatures
The Economist – See the visualization here: “Left-of-centre Americans often bemoan their country’s Senate, in which each state gets two seats regardless of population. This has always given the least populous states extra sway in the upper chamber of Congress. But in recent years, smaller states have become more Republican, and Democrats have called for… Continue Reading
TSA confirms plans to mandate mug shots for domestic air travel
Papers Please: “In an on-stage interview [March 14, 2023] at South By Southwest by a reporter for the Dallas Morning News, the head of the US Transportation Security Administration made explicit that the TSA plans to make collection of biometric data mandatory for airline travel: According to a report in [March 15, 2023] of the… Continue Reading
How AI could write our laws
MIT Technology News: “Nearly 90% of the multibillion-dollar federal lobbying apparatus in the United States serves corporate interests. In some cases, the objective of that money is obvious. Google pours millions into lobbying on bills related to antitrust regulation. Big energy companies expect action whenever there is a move to end drilling leases for federal… Continue Reading
Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States
New England Journal of Medicine: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released updated official mortality data that showed 45,222 firearm-related deaths in the United States in 2020 — a new peak. Although previous analyses have shown increases in firearm-related mortality in recent years (2015 to 2019), as compared with the relatively stable… Continue Reading
The privacy loophole in your doorbell
Politico: “…As networked home surveillance cameras become more popular, Larkin’s case, which has not previously been reported, illustrates a growing collision between the law and people’s own expectation of privacy for the devices they own — a loophole that concerns privacy advocates and Democratic lawmakers, but which the legal system hasn’t fully grappled with. Questions… Continue Reading
LC Lunch and Learn – Recent Developments in US Foreign Relations Law and Research Strategies
In Custodia Legis: “Join Us on 3/23 for a Lunch and Learn Webinar: “Recent Developments in US Foreign Relations Law and Research Strategies” On Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 12 p.m. EDT, legal reference specialist Louis Myers and Librarian-in-Residence Olivia Kane-Cruz will present our next Lunch and Learn Webinar, “Recent Developments in U.S. Foreign Relations… Continue Reading
