Christopher Sprigman, professor of law at the University of Virginia discusses his upcoming book the Knockoff Economy: How Imitation sparks Innovation co authored with Kal Raustiala. The book is an accessible look at how industries that do not have heavily enforced copyright law, such as the fashion and culinary industries, are still thriving and innovative. Sprigman explains how copyright was not able to be litigated heavily in these cases and what the results could teach us about what other industries that do have extensive copyright enforcement, such as the music and movie industries, could look like without it.
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Eli Dourado, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, discusses malware and possible ways to deal with it. Dourado notes several shortcomings of a government response including the fact that the people who create malware come from many different countries some of which would not be compliant with the US or other countries seeking to punish a malware author. Introducing indirect liability for ISPs whose users spread malware, as some suggest, is not necessary, according to Dourado. Service providers have already developed informal institutions on the Internet to deal with the problem. These real informal systems are more efficient than a hypothetical liability regime, Dourado argues.
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John Palfrey of the Berkmann Center at Harvard Law School, discusses his new book written with Urs Gasser, Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems. Interoperability is a term used to describe the standardization and integration of technology. Palfrey discusses how the term can describe many relationships in the world and that it doesn’t have to be limited to technical systems. He also describes potential pitfalls of too much interoperability. Palfrey finds that greater levels of interoperability can lead to greater competition, collaboration, and the development of standards. It can also lead to giving less protection to privacy and security. The trick is to get to the right level of interoperability. If systems become too complex, then nobody can understand them and they can become unstable. Palfrey describes the current financial crises could be an example of this. Palfrey also describes the difficulty in finding the proper role of government in encouraging or discouraging interoperability.
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On the podcast this week, Michael Burstein, assistant professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, discusses his paper entitled, Exchanging Information Without Intellectual Property. Burstein begins by discussing theories behind IP law and why it exists. According to Burstein, IP law incentivizes creation of intellectual works because it protects the creator’s investment by preventing others from copying the work and obtaining a benefit without any effort. He then goes on to discuss the critiques of these theories, the costs that are involved in protecting intellectual works, and the effect IP law has on innovation. Burstein then discusses practical examples in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry where actors structure the flow of information in a way that is reciprocal but only requires a small role from IP law. According to Burstein, norms protect intellectual works. He believes these norms allow disclosure of intellectual works in stages and facilitate a trusting relationship between two firms. Burstein ends the discussion by addressing policy conclusions surrounding IP law and what role it should play in information exchange.
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On the podcast this week, Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, and Ryan Radia, associate director of technology studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, discuss Congress’s recent interest in cybersecurity. Harper and Radia begin by discussing why Congress wants to legislate cybersecurity and the potential threats that have Congress frightened. Harper and Radia then discuss the types of bills before Congress, which include aspects of information sharing that would promote cybersecurity intelligence but may have privacy implications, and mandates for a security infrastructure. The discussion then turns to the role of government in cybersecurity and whether the protection of online information and assets should be left to markets. The discussion ends with Harper and Radia predicting the future of the proposed bills.
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On the podcast this week, Jennifer Shkabatur, Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet Society at Harvard University, discusses her new paper, “Transparency With(out) Accountability: The Effects of the Internet on the Administrative State. Shkabatur begins by discussing the focus of her paper, a critical look at open government initiatives. Shkabatur believes promises of transparency in government fall short and do not promote accountability. She then discusses innovations in accountability facilitated by the Internet, which she divides into three categories: mandatory transparency, discretionary transparency, and involuntary transparency. Shkabatur then sets forth types of reforms that she believes would improve government transparency. According to Shkabatur, context and details on agency processes are necessary along with details about how an agency performs various tasks.
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On the podcast this week, Naomi Cahn, John Theodore Fey Research Professor of Law at George Washington University, discusses her new paper entitled, “Postmortem Life Online.” Cahn first discusses what could happen to online accounts like Facebook once a person dies. According to Cahn, technology is outpacing the law in this area and it isn’t very clear what can happen to an online presence once the account holder passes away. She discusses the various problems family members face when trying to access a deceased loved one’s account, and also the problems online companies face in trying to balance the deceased’s privacy rights with the need to settle an estate. Cahn claims that terms of service often dictate what will happen to an online account after death, but these terms may not be in line with account holder wishes. She then suggests some steps to take in making sure online accounts are taken care of after death, including taking inventory of all online accounts and determining who should have access to those accounts after death.
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On the podcast this week, Spencer Weber Waller, Professor and Director at the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, discusses his new paper entitled, Antitrust and Social Networking. The discussion centers on the likelihood of Facebook being charged by the government as having a monopoly over the social networking market. Waller first explains antitrust law, which, among other things, prohibits monopolization to protect competition. Waller then discusses the difficulty of defining the market for social networks. He claims that Facebook is dominant in the market, but he also says there are multiple markets for Facebook’s participation, like consumer use and advertising. Waller goes on to explain how a court would analyze an antitrust violation. According to Waller, there is a two-step process involved where courts ask whether there is market power, and whether a company is doing anything with that power to interfere with competition. Waller ends the discussion by analyzing the likelihood of Facebook ever being charged with antitrust violations. Waller also briefly gives his thoughts on the recent antitrust suit filed by the DOJ against Apple.
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On the podcast this week, Adam Lashinsky, author and editor-at-large for Fortune, discusses his new book, Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired–and Secretive–Company Really Works. Lashinsky begins by discussing Apple’s obsession with secrecy to the point that employees do not discuss what they are working on with other employees. According to Lashinsky, secrecy is tied to focus and achievement, so Apple employees obtain a depth and expertise on one area, rather than being exposed to different areas of the company. He then discusses how secrecy impacts employee morale and how employees view accomplishment and achievement as a tradeoff for happiness and morale. Lashinsky then explains how other corporations can emulate Apple’s secretive style and reap the benefits.
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On the podcast this week, Christina Mulligan, Visiting Fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, discusses Her new paper, co-authored with Tim Lee, entitled, Scaling the Patent System. Mulligan begins by describing the policy behind patents: to give temporary exclusive rights to inventors so they can benefit monetarily for their inventions. She then explains the thesis of the paper, which argues that the patent system is failing because it is too large to scale. Mulligan claims that some industries are ignoring patents when they develop new products because it is nearly impossible to discover whether a new product will infringe on an existing patent. She then highlights industries where patents are effective, like the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. According to Mulligan, these industries rarely infringe on patents because existing patents are “indexable,” meaning they are easy to look up. The discussion concludes with Mulligan offering solutions for the current problem, which includes restricting the subject matter of patents to indexable matters.
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The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.