Law professor Eugene Volokh wrote a paper describing why he believes that search engines have a constitutional right to speak to their users without government intervention. Although the 27 page paper was commissioned by Google, Professor Volokh (UCLA Law School) made the following conclusions about the leading search engines:…

Continue Reading Are Search Engine Results Protected Speech Under the First Amendment?

Even if employers provide cell devices/tablets to employees, many employees now insist on using their own iPhones, Droids, Blackberries, and tablets. However many privacy and data ownership legal issues are unresolved. At InnoTech on May 17, 2012 I had the honor to serve on a panel entitled “BYOD –…

Continue Reading BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Policies Affect Everyone

edX is a new Internet distance learning site that promises to transform education to “enhance campus-based teaching and learning, and build a global community of online learners.” The joint partnership announcement promised that edX will:

…offer online learning to millions of people around the world. EdX will offer Harvard and…

Continue Reading Distance Learning on the Internet – Harvard & MIT Change all the Rules

Myspace agreed to 20 years of US government oversight of privacy, just like Facebook did in 2011 and Google did in 2010. On May 8, 2012 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a statement about its settlement with Myspace dislosing the following mispresentations which were violations of federal privacy…

Continue Reading Myspace Confesses Failure to Abide by Privacy Laws

Google was fined $25,000 for not cooperating with an investigation regarding Google’s collection of unencrypted wifi data when taking Street View pictures from 2006-10, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported that Google did not violate any US laws. The FCC’s Report included this conclusion regarding alleged violations of Section…

Continue Reading Google Did Not Violate US Law When Collecting Wifi Data

Google finally won a cloud war against Microsoft after years of battle and the US Department of Interior (DOI) will now deploy Google Apps for 90,000 employees instead of Microsoft Office 365. On January 3, 2011 US District Judge Susan Braden issued a temporary injunction enjoining the DOI from awarding…

Continue Reading Cloud Wars – Google Beats Microsoft in Federal Bid War

Freedom of speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution does not protect anonymous libel and slander posted on the Internet. ABC News reported that on April 20, 2012 a jury in Fort Worth, Texas gave a verdict in favor for Mark and Rhonda Lesher whose 2009 lawsuit was filed…

Continue Reading Cybersmear – Jury Verdict of $13.78 Million for Anonymous Postings

Many noted Judges rely on Wikipedia as authority including defining “Blazing Saddles” and “happy hour,” but the US Supreme Court has not yet accepted Wikipedia as authority. The New York Times reported in 2007 that Judge Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit…

Continue Reading Wikipedia Considered Reliable Authority by Many Judges