Author archives

Google promised to create a better, faster web for media companies

The Verge: “In 2015, Google hatched a plan to save the mobile web by effectively taking it over. And for a while, the media industry had practically no choice but to play along…Sites were too slow, too hard to use, too filled with ads. As a result, he warned, people were flocking to the better …

Subjects: Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, Internet, Knowledge Management, Search Engines

CREW – Clarence Thomas must resign

“In order to preserve the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas must resign. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington today sent a letter to Thomas calling on him to resign and outlining why his resignation is a necessity. “This is not something we do lightly,” CREW President Noah Bookbinder said. “This is …

Subjects: Courts, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Copyright Safety for Generative AI

Sag, Matthew, Copyright Safety for Generative AI (May 4, 2023). Forthcoming in the Houston Law Review, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4438593 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4438593 “Generative AI based on large language models such as ChatGPT, DALL·E-2, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, JukeBox, and MusicLM can produce text, images, and music that are indistinguishable from human-authored works. The training data for …

Subjects: Copyright, Legal Research

Threat of TikTok ban has creators scrambling to build followings on Instagram, YouTube

CNBC: “With U.S. officials threatening a nationwide TikTok ban, creators and small business owners who rely on the app are growing concerned. “They’ve captured the lightning in the bottle that other platforms just haven’t been able to do yet,” said Chad Spangler, who uses his large TikTok following to promote his art. Creators have been turning …

Subjects: Congress, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Social Media

Government Begins to Ask: When Do We Leave Twitter?

Government Technology: “For years, Twitter has been an indispensable piece of government communications — especially during emergencies, public officials turn often to the app as one of the fastest options for telling people what’s happening. But last week at the annual Government Social Media Conference in Reno, Nev., a government communications professional stood up and …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Social Media

Global policymakers don’t understand AI enough to regulate it.

The Print: “Tech companies must step up now When software is built to prioritise speed over safety, its creators delay dealing with possible negative consequences. On 11 April 2023, China released a comprehensive draft of measures to regulate Generative Artificial Intelligence, which can automatically turn basic user inputs into creative outputs like texts, images or videos. AI has dominated …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

How to Delete Your House’s Pictures From Sites Like Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor

Lifehacker: “Our personal data shows up in so many public online spaces. But while there are ways to review and delete your data from social media profiles or even Google search, one place you may not think to check is your property’s listing on sites like Redfin, Zillow, or Realtor.com. While it’s unlikely someone will …

Subjects: Housing, Internet, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media

Climate-juiced heat waves topple records around the globe

ClimateWire: “A record-breaking heat wave in the western Mediterranean last month would have been nearly impossible without the influence of climate change, new research [Extreme April heat in Spain, Portugal, Morocco & Algeria almost impossible without climate change] finds. And even with the help of global warming, it was an extraordinary event. Statistically speaking, a …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

CA DFPI Announces Results from Review of the Supervision and Closure of Silicon Valley Bank

“The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) today released its Review of DFPI’s Oversight and Regulation of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The report summarizes DFPI’s supervision of SVB and reviews the circumstances that led to the failure of the bank. Findings include: SVB was slow to remediate regulator-identified deficiencies; and regulators did not …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Social Media

How to ask OpenAI for your personal data to be deleted or not used to train its AIs

TechCrunch: “Users of ChatGPT in Europe can now use web forms or other means provided by OpenAI to request deletion of their personal data in order to stop the chatbot processing (and producing) information about them. They can also request an opt-out of having their data used to train its AIs. Why might someone not …

Subjects: AI, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

Appearances by Sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices at Congressional Committee and Subcommittee Hearings (1960-2022)

CRS – Appearances by Sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices at Congressional Committee and Subcommittee Hearings (1960-2022): “This Insight provides historical information and analysis related to appearances by sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices at congressional committee and subcommittee hearings during the period 1960 through 2022 (confirmation hearings are excluded from the analysis). Congressional hearings are used, …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research