Technology

Federal Law Bans Texas Prison Plan to Jam Cell Phones, State AG Says

Seeking to block inmates from using smuggled cell phones, Texas prison officials were planning a test later this week of a a technique to jam cell phone transmissions without affecting legitimate prison and emergency communications. “But the demonstration was summarily canceled Monday after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott told them…

Dec 16, 2008 6:49 PM CST

Parents Sue School for Use of Increasingly Popular ID Scan Technology

A Texas couple has filed suit against their local school district in what is believed to be the first legal challenge of an increasingly popular background check system that screens school visitors against a privately maintained sex offender registry. The parents aren’t on any sex offender registries, but they object…

Dec 2, 2008 10:37 PM CST

Big Brother’s View Expands in UK

George Orwell was right, at least as far as residents in metropolitan areas of the United Kingdom are concerned: Big Brother is watching. Surveillance cameras are seeking not only to spot terrorists but to see whether dog-walkers are properly picking up after their pets, reports Bloomberg. A London Times article…

Oct 10, 2008 6:26 PM CDT

Judge Sides With MIT Students, Lifts Gag Order in Transit Case

A federal anti-hacking law wasn’t intended to prohibit the disclosure of public information about computer security flaws and hence doesn’t prohibit three MIT students from discussing with fellow academics how they learned to circumvent the Boston transit fare system, as part of a class project. That’s what a federal judge…

Aug 19, 2008 8:31 PM CDT

Music Is Here To Stay, But Change Is Needed, Insiders Say

In what may be an ABA Annual Meeting first, presenters at the Section of Science & Technology Law’s session on the future of music and technology digitally recorded, remixed, replayed and then uploaded their version of the Rolling Stones’ “Last Time” before a rapt audience of music aficionados, recording industry…

Aug 7, 2008 8:26 PM CDT

The Good, the Bad, and the Tiny

ABA projects focus on legal issues relating to the increasing use of nanotechnology

Jul 1, 2008 7:01 AM CDT

Tech Companies Seek to Head Off Patent Trolls With IP-Buying Group

Several high-tech companies have joined a group that seeks to deny sustenance to patent trolls. The group plans to buy rights to intellectual property, beating patent trolls to the marketplace, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). The so-called trolls buy patent rights and then sue companies for infringement. The…

Jun 30, 2008 12:18 PM CDT

Opening Up to Open Source

Corporation counsel must be ready to deal with “free” software and its licensing

Jun 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Did China Copy U.S. Commerce Secretary’s Laptop Computer?

A U.S. investigation is under way to determine whether China secretly copied a top American official’s government laptop computer during a trip late last year, subsequently using the information in attempts to hack into Commerce Department computers. “Surreptitious copying is believed to have occurred when a laptop was left unattended…

May 30, 2008 12:34 AM CDT

Blind Lawyer to Sue AmEx Over Unreadable Credit Card Statements?

A blind lawyer in the U.K. is threatening to sue American Express Co. if the credit card issuer doesn’t take action to make its online credit card statements more user-friendly to those with vision problems. Previously, Richard Godfrey-McKay, a 53-year-old solicitor in Perth, could review his Internet statements with the…

May 28, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

WiFi-Sensitive Individuals Claim ADA Violation

The city attorney in Santa Fe, N.M., is investigating claims that wireless Internet signals are a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act because they can cause an allergic reaction. Arthur Firstenberg says he is highly sensitive to wireless signals and he experiences chest pain from WiFi, KOB-TV reports. His…

May 27, 2008 11:58 AM CDT

Possible FCC Cell Phone Deal Chops Cancellation Fees, Axes Lawsuits

Cell phone service providers reportedly are negotiating with the Federal Communications Commission to reduce future cancellation fees for unhappy customers in exchange for the federal regulatory agency’s agreement to eliminate state authority to oversee the penalties. Although full details aren’t provided, it appears that the move would eliminate ongoing multimillion-dollar…

May 21, 2008 6:22 PM CDT

Breath Tests Axed in 49 Ariz. DUI Cases; Could Be Statewide Issue

A municipal judge in Tucson, Ariz., has excluded breath tests as evidence in 49 driving under the influence cases because the company that made the machine that conducted the alcohol-content examinations didn’t disclose the source code that controls its inner workings to the defense. The same issue could also potentially…

May 20, 2008 6:14 PM CDT

Brain Research Raises Questions on Treatment of Young Defendants

Science on brain development is intensifying the debate over whether minors should be tried as adults for serious crimes. Recent research shows the brain’s prefrontal cortex governing reasoning develops more slowly than the limbic system governing emotions, the Washington Post reports. The two parts of the brain don’t begin working…

May 6, 2008 11:46 AM CDT

3 Thelen Practice Leaders Join Proskauer

Heads of three practice groups at Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner are moving to Proskauer Rose, along with two associates. The three, who will be partners in their new 750-lawyer firm’s technology practice group in New York, are: Jeffrey Neuburger, who chaired Thelen’s technology, media and communications department; Robert…

Apr 25, 2008 6:34 PM CDT