The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.
CIS in the news.
Chris Sprigman, professor of law at the University of Virginia, co-author of The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation,and CIS Affiliate Scholar discusses what Apple's latest victory against Samsung means for technological innovation in the future. Read more » about Apple vs. Samsung
Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman, continuing their excellent blogging (soon to be in book form) about markets succeeding in absence of intellectual property, have taken a look at the question of whether or not different brands of marijuana can be covered by trademark. With the increasing legality of medical marijuana, it's not uncommon for different strands to get their own brands. However, as the two note, plant varieties cannot be trademarked, but you can build a brand on top of one. Read more » about Can You Trademark Your Pot?
"These documents are illustrative of why individuals often feel so helpless with information that is shared with others or in public—it is very difficult for us to police the use of our information ‘downstream,’" wrote Woodrow Hartzog, a law professor at Samford University, in an e-mail sent to Ars. Read more » about License plates scanned at border, data shared with car insurance group
Robots are unquestioningly getting more sophisticated by the year, and as a result, are becoming an indelible part of our daily lives. But as we start to increase our interactions and dependance on robots, an important question needs to be asked: What would happen if a robot actually committed a crime, or even hurt someone — either deliberately or by mistake? Read more » about Who should pay when your robot breaks the law?
For the past two months, a fight has been raging in the blogosphere about whether Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer can take credit for spurring the government investigation that led to Google paying a $22.5 million for privacy violations.
Analyst Bryant Walker Smith of Stanford Law School opines that Google vehicles have to cover 750,000 miles in order to gain the necessary trust with governmental authorities, as well as drivers of cars and the public. Read more » about Google: Selbstlenkende Autos legen 300.000 Meilen unfallfrei zurück
Good thing robotic cars have nerves of steel: they’re officially on the receiving end of a political attack ad that makes the technology look like a frightening menace to Florida’s elderly voters. Read more » about Political ad drives fear of driverless cars
From dynamic contact tracking to analytics in your inbox, these add-ons and services provide enhanced capabilities for both casual and power Gmail users. Read more » about 10 Gmail tools to supercharge your inbox
Google has been hit with the biggest fine in the history of the Federal Trade Commission: $22.5 million. It has to do with cookies, bits of computer code placed on your browser when you visit a website. Read more » about Google Gets Slammed with the Biggest FTC Fine Ever
This technology is still at its very early stages and 300,000 miles is not all that big of a sample. According to a "cursory" analysis by Bryant Walker Smith of Stanford Law School, "Google's cars would need to drive themselves (by themselves) more than 725,000 representative miles without incident for us to say with 99 percent confidence that they crash less frequently than conventional cars. Read more » about Google's Self-Driving Cars: 300,000 Miles Logged, Not a Single Accident Under Computer Control
Rumors of the $22.5 million settlement first cropped up in June, but the issue dates back to February. At that point, a Stanford University graduate student, Jonathan Mayer, released a report that accused Google and three other ad networks of side-stepping the privacy settings on Apple's Safari browser to track usage on iPhones and Macs without permission. Read more » about FTC Hits Google With $22.5 Million Fine Over Safari Tracking
The FTC said that Google informed Safari users that since the browser blocks third-party cookies, they did not need to opt out of online tracking. Yet Google in fact placed a temporary cookie on computers, tablets and mobile devices, a privacy breach first reported by Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer. Read more » about Google Hit with Record $22.5-Million fine for Safari Tracking