The European Union has not shied away from addressing issues with Big Tech. Regulatory efforts undertaken in Europe have influenced other countries around the world, and EU courts have played a leading role in clarifying the extent and scope of regulations. Now, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled “that individual…
Read MoreWhen the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed into law in 1990, very few people could have anticipated how the internet would ultimately transform society and business. The landmark civil rights legislation, which was amended in 2008, is divided into five sections, each handling a different area. These sections “[guarantee] equal opportunity…
Read MoreThe era of minimal oversight for the biggest technology companies appears to be ending. The Justice Department and FTC will split oversight of Google and Amazon, and the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to a long-simmering antitrust suit against Apple. Taken together, it is becoming clear that lawmakers are poised to take…
Read MoreBig Tech is part of everyday people’s lives in ways that were once the province of fantasy. Companies like Google and Amazon are ubiquitous around the world, and the products and services they offer are relied on by millions. Unfailingly ambitious (and extraordinarily profitable), it would appear that things have never better…
Read MoreNew class-action lawsuits have been filed against major US cellphone carriers AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint in US District Court in Maryland. Each suit alleges violation of Section 222 of the US Communications Act in mostly identical terms via (in the words of the AT&T suit) the real-time “collection of geolocation data…
Read MoreArtificial Intelligence technology is transforming previously unfathomable ideas into concrete realities on a daily basis. One flagship application is facial recognition technology, which has been embraced by law enforcement for identifying suspects – a development that has its detractors but remains touted for its crime prevention potential. For all its potential, however,…
Read MoreThe ‘wild west’ days of the internet may be over, but the current infrastructure is by no means devoid of controversy. Net neutrality, copyright issues, privacy concerns, and others remain hot-button issues. Less publicized, but still of major concern, is the issue of cybersquatting. In this post, we’ll take a closer look…
Read MoreThe battle over net neutrality has been marked by breakneck momentum shifts, plenty of legal action, but little in the way of permanence. Now, the most notable of several lawsuits challenging the 2017 FCC repeal is having its day in court, which could put an end to the uncertainty surrounding the issue.…
Read MoreThe rise of mobile technology means we are rarely disconnected from a vast ecosystem of services and content. With more people online sharing more than ever, personal data has become currency, and entire business models are predicated on harvesting and deriving insight from that information. But technology companies have lost the benefit…
Read MoreBig Tech took some unprecedented hits in 2018. For the first time in memory, previously unassailable companies found themselves squarely in government and public crosshairs alike, answering for a series of (often data-centric) misdeeds. But even as questions loom and skepticism increases, these issues – and the ensuing public backlash – remain…
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