Robots in American Law
Abstract: This article closely examines a half century of case law involving robots—just in time for the technology itself to enter the mainstream. Most of the…
Publication
Iraq & Syria: Prospects for Accountability
On February 10, 2016, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission convened a Congressional briefing devoted to the topic of advancing accountability for the commissi…
Who Sets the Rules of the Privacy and Security Game?
Last week’s big cybersecurity news was that the FBI obtained a court order to force Apple to develop new software that would bypass several iPhone security feat…
“More Than a Domestic Mechanism”: Options for Hybrid Justice in Sri Lanka
For nearly three decades, the government of Sri Lanka fought with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but after years of resistance, the new government…
The Blockchain Gang
itcoin is passé. But if the buzz is to be believed, the “block chain” technology behind bitcoin is going to revolutionize your toaster, thebanking system, and e…
Scalia’s privacy impact will be felt for years to come
One would think privacy was a concept that Justice Antonin Scalia disliked. After all, how could a textualist, who firmly believed in lawyers’ obligation to fol…
The NSA is massively reorganizing itself. That’s going to hurt its credibility
The National Security Agency has been having a tough time the last couple of years, as it takes the blame for widespread surveillance. It has just announced a m…
Surveillance Is Still About Power
Since the Snowden revelations in 2013, surveillance has gone from a somewhat arcane term of art used mainly by scholars, spies, and tinfoil hat types, to a hous…
J.K. Rowling got in trouble for how she talks about Africa. Here’s why she may have been right.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is embroiled in a controversy. Pottermore, her official website for all things Harry Potter, made a big announcement over the w…
Siege Warfare and the Starvation of Civilians as a Weapon of War and War Crime
“Let me be clear: The use of starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime.” These are the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, uttered in connection with…
Mapping the Law That Applies to War Crimes in Syria
War crimes have been a consistent feature of the Syrian conflict since its inception. Indeed, a map of the war crimes committed in Syria reads like a survey cou…
If U.S. privacy negotiations with Europe fail, it’s a recipe for chaos
The European Union and the United States are about to give us some idea of how their negotiations over the Safe Harbor dispute are going. The European Court of…