
It’s difficult to come up with more quantitative measurements to look at how technology has impacted law. One could look at the development of new technologies (via patent applications, perhaps?) and then look to see how soon afterwards the invention began to show up in legal cases. Another interesting idea would be to see if changes in technology–the development of new citation systems, more rapid dissemination of decisions and publications, and later the creation of electronic repositories such as Lexis and Westlaw–had any impact on the way lawyers and judges developed law.

So, the AP has in the past made a big deal about holding on to the rights to every tiny little bit of what they right (essentially denying that fair use even exists). Who better than those snarky peeps at Woot to call them on the implications of such a scheme?

It’s finally possible–although still hardly likely–to skip the traditional publishers altogether, publishing yourself (via Amazon, for example), and get discovered by fans directly.

In “Islam and Science,” an article written for the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, Nasr attempts to give a broad overview of the relationship of Islam to modern science and technology. He makes some key points regarding to criticism of Western science from an Islamic point a view.

Randy Picker has a fascinating post on the Faculty Blog of the University of Chicago’s law school of the copyright status of scans (by Google, for example) of public domain works. Does the effort of digitizing the work qualify as enough original effort to create a new copyright?

Last month, Comcast won its appeal in a federal appeals court in D.C. against the FCC’s attempt to require network neutrality. As predicted by some, the FCC is proceeding with plans to reclassify broadband providers, and thus escape the ruling entirely.

Within the context of the contemporary vaccination debate, neither side has a monopoly on a particular kind of argument.

It’s always good to remember that storing your email on someone else’s server is a potential problem.

A few days ago the D.C. Circuit, in a 3-0 decision, held that the FCC could not require Comcast, or other broadband providers, to follow principles of network neutrality under their current justification.
Yelp was recently sued in federal district court in Los Angeles for “extortion.” The plaintiffs say Yelp salespeople demanded monthly payments in exchange for removing or toning down negative reviews. The plaintiffs say Yelp has violated California’s unfair competition law.