It will come as no shock to regular readers here when I remind you all that Nike is a notoriously aggressive actor when it comes to policing its intellectual property, including for trademarks it holds. The reason that reminder is important as a matter of throat-clearing in this case is that one of the worst […]
The problems and unfairness of the copyright system are so manifest that many would like to adopt alternative approaches. But that’s a big step, and one that undoubtedly requires a certain courage. Every example that shows how the move worked for others is important, since it not only demonstrates that alternatives exist, but that they […]
Plenty of people don’t care for all the forms of immunity the government has granted itself. And they don’t care for qualified immunity, which is a thing the Supreme Court cooked up on its own. These multiple forms of immunity have tended to become get-out-of-lawsuit-free cards for government employees, rather than the general encouragement to […]
Maybe the real artificial intelligence was the baseless lawsuits we filed along the way. In March, we wrote about Elon’s patently ridiculous lawsuit filed against OpenAI, claiming a contract violation of a contract that didn’t actually exist. The whole thing was silly. Elon was mad about the ways in which OpenAI had changed since the […]
While “AI” (language learning models) certainly could help journalism, the fail upward brunchlords in charge of most modern media outlets instead see the technology as a way to cut corners, undermine labor, and badly automate low-quality, ultra-low effort, SEO-chasing clickbait. As a result we’ve seen an endless number of scandals where companies use LLMs to […]
Color is everywhere and, with the innovative Nix Mini 2, you can now capture and recreate it anywhere you go. This compact, portable, and highly sophisticated device is designed for those who find color inspiration in everyday life. Now, you can harness the power of technology to bring color into your creative, professional, or personal […]
These lawsuits don’t work. They just don’t. And yet, they’re filed seemingly all the time. When YouTube decides as a private company it would rather you take your stupid shit elsewhere, it’s allowed to do so. Its terms and conditions contain a phrase found pretty much anywhere: “or for any other reason.” That means that […]
Back in May, Microsoft announced that it was bringing a new feature to Windows 11 dubbed “Recall.” According to Microsoft’s explanation of Recall, the “AI” powered technology was supposed to take screenshots of your activity every five seconds, giving you an “explorable timeline of your PC’s past,” that Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant, Copilot, can then help […]
Nearly two years ago, we wrote about a trademark opposition conflict in the UK between macro-distillery Campari and a tiny, one-man beer brewery operation called Dark Sky Brewery. Steve White, the owner/operator for Dark Sky Brewery, filed to trademark the name of his business. On the very last possible day of the objection window, Campari […]
There’s a lot of book banning going on right now in the Land of the Free. It’s mostly localized to certain areas of the country — states and cities overseen by bigots who finally feel they’re allowed to let their freak flag fly (instead of, or on top of the American flag which may or […]
There’s a broad legislative push for rules that would (supposedly) protect kids online. But as we’ve written about at length, while the concern for teen mental health might be genuine, the legislative response is highly problematic and based on a misdiagnosis of the underlying problems. This week, we’re joined by UNC’s Alice Marwick, one of […]
So on Monday you probably saw that Apple announced it was more tightly integrating “AI” into its mobile operating system, both via a suite of AI-powered tools dubbed Apple Intelligence, and tighter AI integration with its Siri voice assistant. It’s not that big of a deal and (hopefully) reflects Apple’s more cautious approach to AI […]
We’ve written a few times about New York’s preposterously bonkers “SAFE for Kids Act” (SAFE standing for “Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation”). It’s an obviously unconstitutional bill that insists, without any real evidence, that basically all social media algorithmic feeds are somehow addictive and problematic. Last week we posted a letter by a NY-based parent to […]
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Retailers have increased their reliance on cameras over the years to cut down on retail theft. In more recent years, they’ve been adding more tech to their surveillance arsenal, including automatic plate readers in their parking lots and facial recognition capabilities to their existing CCTV networks. And yet, the nation is inundated with (mostly anomalous […]
In 2023, Mozilla released a report noting that modern cars had the worst security and privacy standards of any major technology industry the organization tracks. That was followed by a great NYT report by Kashmir Hill earlier this year showing how automakers routinely hoover up oodles of consumer driving and phone info, then sell access to that […]
The idea/expression dichotomy strikes again! There is a misconception among some as to how copyright works, specifically in terms of what is protected under copyright and what is not. This has been distilled down to the afore-mentioned dichotomy, where general ideas do not enjoy the protection of copyright, whereas specific expressions do. So, an anthropomorphic […]
“Odor of marijuana” still remains — even in an era of widespread legalization — a favorite method of justifying warrantless searches. It’s an odor, so it can’t be caught on camera, which are becoming far more prevalent, whether they’re mounted to cop cars, pinned to officers’ chests, or carried by passersby. Any claim an odor […]
There’s a type of marginally frustrating reporting where a reporter searches social media for [insert bad thing], finds some examples of said [bad thing], and writes a story about “This Platform Allows [Bad Thing]” followed by lots of public commentary about how the platforms don’t care/don’t do enough, etc. etc. Let me let you in […]
Very few governments and government agencies value the transparency and accountability that robust open records laws create. It took an act of Congress to even establish a presumptive right of access to government records. And all across the United States, state governments are always trying to find some way to limit access without getting hit […]
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