Legal Issues – Page 3

AI, Artificial Intelligence, Legal Issues, Science & Technology News

The Big Apple is getting tough on biased AI

February 27, 2019

New York City has a new law on the books demanding “algorithmic accountability,” and AI researchers want to help make it work.

Background: At the end of 2017, the city’s council passed the country’s first bill to ban algorithmic discrimination in city government. It calls for a task force to study how city agencies use algorithms and create a report on how to make algorithms more easily understandable to the public.

Rubber, meet road: But how to actually implement the bill was left up for grabs. Enter AI Now, a research institution at NYU focused on the social impact of AI. The group recommends focusing on things like making sure agencies understand the technology better, and providing a chance for outside groups to look at algorithms.

Why it matters: The federal government has fallen way behind in setting up rules or guidance for AI. What happens in New York could lead the way for the rest of the US.

Via Technology Review

Farming, Food, Great New Product, Legal Issues

You call that meat? Not so fast, cattle ranchers say

February 15, 2019

Sales of plant-based meat substitutes, like this burger made by Impossible Foods, increased 22 percent to $1.5 billion last year.

SAN FRANCISCO — The cattle ranchers and farm bureaus of America are not going to give up their hold on the word meat without a fight.

In recent weeks, beef and farming industry groups have persuaded legislators in more than a dozen states to introduce laws that would make it illegal to use the word meat to describe burgers and sausages that are created from plant-based ingredients or are grown in labs. Just this week, new meat-labeling bills were introduced in Arizona and Arkansas.

These meat alternatives may look and taste and even bleed like meat, but cattle ranchers want to make sure that the new competition can’t use the meat label.

Continue reading… “You call that meat? Not so fast, cattle ranchers say”

government, Legal Issues, security

World leaders at Davos call for global rules on tech

February 2, 2019

DAVOS, Switzerland — Leaders of Japan, South Africa, China and Germany issued a series of calls on Wednesday for global oversight of the tech sector, in a clear signal of growing international interest in seizing greater regulatory supervision of an industry led by the United States.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan said his country would use its chairmanship of the Group of 20 nations this year to push forward a new international system for the oversight of how data is used. Data governance will be the theme when the group’s presidents and prime ministers gather in June in Osaka for their annual summit meeting.

The emphasis will be on expanding World Trade Organization rules to encompass trade in data as well as goods and services, he said. “I would like Osaka G20 to be long remembered as the summit that started worldwide data governance,” Mr. Abe said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Continue reading… “World leaders at Davos call for global rules on tech”

facebook, Google, government, Legal Issues, Science & Technology News

The dawn of a new Big Tech regulatory era?

January 6, 2019

At the ShellyPalmer Innovation Series Breakfast at CES 2018, I had a Socratic discussion about the influence of the big technology platforms and other emerging technologies on our lives and the need for responsible innovation with David Sapin, US Risk & Regulatory Leader, PwC. We also talked about the growing “techlash” buzz for more industry regulation and, while we agreed that there was a need for formal approach around some aspects of the industry, we felt that the best approach at the time might be an industry self-regulatory approach to responsible innovation (see A Case for Responsible Innovation).

Continue reading… “The dawn of a new Big Tech regulatory era?”

Blockchain, China, Intellectual Property, Legal Issues

Chinese internet court uses blockchain to protect online writers intellectual property

December 16, 2018

An Internet Court in Hangzhou, Eastern China, has turned to blockchain to fight piracy at the expense of online writers, English-language media outlet China.org.cn reports Dec. 8.

China has reportedly “set up three Internet courts in Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou.” Internet Courts are courts expressly intended to manage internet-related cases and allow plaintiffs to file their complaints online.

The official website of Hangzhou Internet Court reads that it “behave[s] as an ‘incubator’ for Internet space governance, a ‘test field’ for Internet judicial rules, a ‘leader’ for diversified Internet disputes, and a ‘first mover’ for the transformation of Internet trials.”

Continue reading… “Chinese internet court uses blockchain to protect online writers intellectual property”

Employment, Human Behavior, Legal Issues

How Millennials are reshaping the practice of law

December 4, 2018

Smart, hard-working but forward-thinking Millennials are changing the culture of law.

Headlines are filled with the impact Millennials are having on the status quo. Said to be changing the way of the workplace, they are typically characterized as less “pushy” than previous generations while holding stronger convictions.

Millennials are now set to define a new generation of business leadership, moving through their 30s and assuming senior positions. The legal industry – known for its aversion to change and tendency to cling to tradition (after all, lawyers were among the first to move from Word Perfect to Word) — is not exempt from this leadership transformation. This should be unsurprising where Millennials practicing aw now outnumber Baby Boomers and Gen Xers – accounting for 43 percent of attorneys. A recent survey by Cushman & Wakefield found that, by 2025, more than 50 percent of practicing attorneys in the U.S. will be Millennials. Boomers and Gen Xers are retiring and with them is going the traditional, strictly hierarchical law firm structure.

Continue reading… “How Millennials are reshaping the practice of law”

Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Latest Trend, Legal Issues, Machine Learning, Science & Technology News

This AI outperformed 20 corporate lawyers at legal work

December 1, 2018

Technology is revolutionizing the work we do and how we do it. Increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots are taking over menial and repetitive tasks, leaving humans to concentrate on work that requires critical thinking.

But as machines become better at imitating human intelligence, they’re beginning to do more and more thinking for us.

Continue reading… “This AI outperformed 20 corporate lawyers at legal work”

Brain, Latest Trend, Legal Issues, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Can tiny doses of magic mushrooms unlock creativity?

November 3, 2018

Preliminary study suggests that ‘microdoses’ of psychedelics may enhance a person’s creative problem solving abilities

The use of minute doses of magic mushrooms and truffles containing psychedelic substances could induce a state of unconstrained thought that may produce more new, creative ideas. ‘Microdosing’ in this way may allow people to experience the creative benefits of psychedelic drugs without the risk of the so-called ‘bad trips’ that often come with high doses of such substances.

The use of minute doses of magic mushrooms and truffles containing psychedelic substances could induce a state of unconstrained thought that may produce more new, creative ideas. “Microdosing” in this way may allow people to experience the creative benefits of psychedelic drugs without the risk of the so-called “bad trips” that often come with high doses of such substances. This is according to a new study in the Springer-branded journal Psychopharmacology which is the official journal of the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society (EBPS). The research was led by Luisa Prochazkova of Leiden University in The Netherlands and is the first study of its kind to experimentally investigate the cognitive-enhancing effects of microdosing on a person’s brain function within a natural setting.

Continue reading… “Can tiny doses of magic mushrooms unlock creativity?”

Analysis, Business, government, Legal Issues

55% of America’s billion dollar startups have an immigrant founder

November 2, 2018

Uber logo seen on a car door in Kiev, Ukraine. Garrett Camp, an immigrant from Canada, is one of Uber’s founders. (Photo by Pavlo Conchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

What would America lose if we blocked refugees and family-sponsored and employment-based immigrants from coming to the United States? For starters, we would likely lose more than half of the billion-dollar startup companies in America.

A new study from the National Foundation for American Policy finds that 55%, or 50 of 91, of the country’s $1 billion startup companies had at least one immigrant founder. I conducted the research by interviewing and gathering information on the 91 U.S. startup companies valued at over $1 billion (as of October 1, 2018) that are not publicly traded on the stock market and are tracked by Dow Jones VentureSource and The Wall Street Journal.

Continue reading… “55% of America’s billion dollar startups have an immigrant founder”

Botnet, Business, communication, Internet, Legal Issues

A California law now means chatbots have to disclose they’re not human

November 2, 2018

There’s nothing loljk about Microsoft’s teenage chatbot, Zo.

California governor Jerry Brown signed regulations into law last Friday (Sept. 30) that should make it easier for Californians to know whether they’re speaking to a human or a bot.

The new law goes into effect on July 1, 2019—Botageddon, as we’re going to call it—and could have far-reaching consequences for how automated systems communicate with people online. It will require companies to disclose whether they are using a bot to communicate with the public on the internet (something like “Hi, I’m a bot.”) A representative for California state senator Robert Hertzberg, who authored SB-1001, says the law specifically targets deceptive commercial and political bots, not those meant to help you, for example, pay a bill on a company’s website. Still, companies that have built their businesses around automated messaging and chatbots will in coming months need to figure out whether their approaches are compliant with the new law.

The bill also specifically defines online content as publicly-facing, which raises questions about whether bot-sent emails fall under the new law. Overall, Landers expects there will be a “lot of litigation” before the law is actually implemented.

Continue reading… “A California law now means chatbots have to disclose they’re not human”

Aviation, Law Enforcement, Legal Issues, Legalized marijuana

You can bring your weed to the LA airport now

October 3, 2018

LAX is totally cool with passengers packing it in their carry-ons—but if it’s illegal where you land, that’s on you.

It looks like travelers in Los Angeles won’t have to cram their weed inside balled-up socks or stash it in their ibuprofen bottles next time they fly—because LAX is totally chill about bringing pot into the airport now, ABC 13 reports.

This week, Los Angeles International Airport posted a new marijuana policy on its website, announcing that LAX and the LAPD will now let people stroll onto their flights carrying cannabis, as long as it’s under the legal limit.

Continue reading… “You can bring your weed to the LA airport now”

Economy, Human Behavior, Latest Trend, Legal Issues

How Puerto Rico became the newest tax haven for the super rich

September 22, 2018

A year after the tragedy of Hurricane Maria, the 51st state has become the favorite playground for extremely wealthy Americans looking to keep their money from the taxman. The only catch? They have to cut all ties to the mainland (wink, wink).

Continue reading… “How Puerto Rico became the newest tax haven for the super rich”