Category: Law | Page 7 | Mind Matters

Business risk control concept, Businessman protect wooden block fall to planning and strategy in risk to business Alternative and prevent. Investment Insurance Business.

^{Type
post

News
Date
June 16, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Anthony Fauci, Big Tech censorship, censorship, Josh Hawley, Mark Zuckerberg, Ron DeSantis, Section 230, The Tyranny of Big Tech (book)}

The Push to Break Up Big Tech Monopolies

_{Facebook is "acting as an arm of the state," says Florida's governor} _{News
June 16, 2021

5

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appeared on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures, hosted by Maria Bartiromo, over the weekend. The two discussed Big Tech’s alarming censorship power and Florida’s efforts to combat that power. Recent government emails obtained through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits suggest that Dr. Anthony Fauci and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg coordinated what should and should not be dispersed through social media platforms regarding COVID-19 and its origins. “Do you believe Fauci colluded with Mark Zuckerberg? Does this expose Facebook to legal action?” Bartiromo asked DeSantis. DeSantis answered by calling Facebook “an arm of the state”: Here’s an example of working with Fauci where Facebook, you can argue, is essentially acting as an arm of the state, because they’re Read More ›

^{Type
post

News
Date
June 12, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Ethics, Law

Tagged
Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), Memory, Science fiction}

Could You Be Reconstructed From Your Memories? – Sci-fi Saturday

_{If you were, would destroying the digitized “you” be murder?} _{News
June 12, 2021

14

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Ethics, Law}

“The Final Moments of Karl Brant” at DUST by Neil Ellice and Matthew Wilson (June 10, 2021 at DUST, 15:46 min) “Set in the near future where experimental technology allows two detectives to bring a murder victim back to life in a digital state in order to question him about his final moments.” Review: This is an “oldie” from 2013, recently uploaded to DUST. Entrepreneur Karl Brant and academic neuroscientist Bennett Ferryman were partners in a promising new high tech venture in which Brant suddenly perishes, leaving Ferryman now the sole owner — and under interrogation down at the local cop shop: “Am I a suspect?” “Not if you give us a good reason why you shouldn’t be.” Not too Read More ›

^{Type
post

News
Date
June 10, 2021

Categorized
Law

Tagged
Intellectual Property, National Science Foundation (NSF), patent law, Paul Werbos}

How Patent Law Has Changed for the Worse

_{Scientific achievement is almost impossible for the little guy anymore} _{News
June 10, 2021

5

Law}

During their conversation about the National Science Foundation, Drs. Robert J. Marks and Paul Werbos took a moment to discuss patent law. Their short rabbit trail ends with a grim analysis of patent law today: it’s now “almost impossible for the little guy” to secure a patent – and expensive. Patent law was considered so important to the nation’s founders that they enshrined it in the Constitution, granting Congress the authority to protect the rights of inventors to their inventions (see: Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8). “Granting exclusive rights to the inventor is intended to encourage the investment of time and resources into the development of new and useful discoveries,” explains Cornell’s Legal Information Institute. In 2011, then-President Barack Read More ›

^{Type
post

News
Date
June 9, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Amazon, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Facebook, Florida, Florida and Big Tech, Free speech, Google, Mark Zuckerberg, NetChoice, Parler, Ron DeSantis, Section 230, Senate Bill 7072, Twitter}

Censoring the Censors? Florida’s Anti-Censorship Law

_{What exactly does the law do, and why is Big Tech sponsoring a lawsuit to halt it?} _{News
June 9, 2021

6

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Originally published by Dr. Karl Stephan at Engineering Ethics On May 24, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill designed to stop social media firms from censoring free speech. At least that’s what the governor’s website claims it does. Two big-tech industry groups, Netchoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), sued the state of Florida in early June over the legislation, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1. What exactly does the law do, and why are organizations such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google sponsoring a lawsuit to halt it? People of certain political persuasions need not look far for motivations to pass such a law. Following the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 of this year, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Caitlin Cory
Date
June 8, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Big Tech, Big Tech censorship, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Facebook, First Amendment, Florida, Florida and Big Tech, Free speech, Google, John Snyder, NetChoice, Ron DeSantis, Section 230, Senate Bill 7072, Twitter}

Big Tech Sues Florida Over New Censorship Law

_{Facebook, Twitter, and Google are fighting back against a Florida law that seeks to reign them in} _{Caitlin Cory
June 8, 2021

4

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Technology trade companies representing Facebook, Twitter, and Google are suing Florida over its new law regulating the editorial and censorship powers of large social media platforms. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7072 into law on May 24, the first of its kind in the nation to curb the powers of online companies to remove and censor content and users. NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) – technology trade groups that have been vocal about their opposition to the law – filed the lawsuit against Florida the following Thursday in Tallahassee federal court. DeSantis and other supporters of the new law argue that its purpose is to safeguard the First Amendment rights of ordinary Florida citizens Read More ›

^{Type
post

Richard W. Stevens
Date
June 7, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Law

Tagged
criminal justice, Cybercrime, drones, IEEE, Ryan Abbott, Steven Cherry, The Reasonable Robot (book), Voter fraud allegations (in U.S.)}

Can a Robot be Arrested and Prosecuted?

_{An Uber driver is held liable if he runs over someone. But what if a driverless taxi ran over someone?} _{Richard W. Stevens
June 7, 2021

8

Artificial Intelligence, Law}

The title, “Can a Robot Be Arrested? Hold a Patent? Pay Income Taxes?”, is bound to attract clicks and attention. Posted on the IEEE Spectrum site, a podcast transcript by that name reports Steven Cherry’s interview of Ryan Abbott about artificial intelligence and the law. Abbott, a physician, lawyer, and professor, wrote the aptly titled book, The Reasonable Robot: Artificial Intelligence and the Law, published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. To the point: Can a robot be arrested? Technically, an arrest occurs when a person is forcibly but lawfully detained. Of course, one can forcibly detain a robot – we’ve seen that done in many science fiction movies. Abbott was talking specifically about how criminal law should apply to actions taken by artificial intelligence (AI) Read More ›

3d rendered medically accurate illustration of a grey alien holding the earth

^{Type
post

News
Date
May 29, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Environment, Law

Tagged
Science fiction}

When the Human Race Is Down to Its Final Offer … Sci-fi Saturday

_{The downbeat human lawyer and the alien corporate lawyer in Final Offer achieve artful comedy by the too-little used technique of witty dialogue, NOT gags} _{News
May 29, 2021

13

Arts & Culture, Environment, Law}

“Final Offer” at DUST by Mark Slutsky (July 19, 2018, 11:23 min) “A down-on-his-luck lawyer awakes in a doorless room to find he’s been selected to negotiate on behalf of the human race.” Review: Henry, a lawyer accustomed to late night barhopping, wakes up in a strange boardroom: “Henry, you have been selected to represent your species in what is almost surely the biggest trade agreement in the history of your planet.” “My planet?” Well, it’s science fiction. The corporate lawyer (Anna Hopkins) announces that her client — an alien the very sight of which causes our hero (Aaron Abrams) to retch — wishes to “acquire” Earth’s oceans. Or appropriate them if a few minutes of negotiations don’t work for Read More ›

This is the State Capitol building. It has a large concrete stairway leading up to it with large columns holding up the facade.

^{Type
post

Caitlin Cory
Date
May 26, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Facebook, Florida, John Snyder, Ron DeSantis, Senate Bill 7072, social media, Twitter}

Florida Governor Signs Bill Reining in Big Tech

_{The bill Governor DeSantis signed is the first in the nation to ban social media companies from deplatforming political candidates} _{Caitlin Cory
May 26, 2021

6

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

In the current national battle between Big Tech and Big Government, a new Florida law will punish social media companies for discriminating against political viewpoints and deplatforming political candidates. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 7072 into law on Monday. The legislation protects Florida citizens and political candidates from inequitable viewpoint censorship. “Now more than ever, social media has really become the twenty-first century public square,” John Snyder, a Representative in the Florida House, told Mind Matters News. “It’s evolved from what used to be just a platform where people could post thoughts and pictures to now this is a tool that people rely on to communicate with their family, to talk with their friends, to air their grievances, and really to Read More ›

^{Type
post

Heather Zeiger
Date
May 23, 2021

Categorized
Law, Religion, Technocracy

Tagged
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Featured, Freedom of religion}

Why the Chinese Communist Party Feels It Must Destroy Religion

_{Persecution of religious groups is not based on what they actually teach but on whether their separate existence could pose a threat to the Communist Party} _{Heather Zeiger
May 23, 2021

9

Law, Religion, Technocracy}

The U.S. Department of State’s just-released 2020 Annual Report on the state of religious freedom around the world devotes 136 pages to China. That’s because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses an extensive network of surveillance cameras coupled with facial recognition software — as well as cell phone tracking, internet and message monitoring, and biometric profiling — to persecute adherents of non-state-sanctioned organizations. Advances in collecting and storage of massive amounts of data to be sifted by algorithms have made this possible. In 2020, according to the report, the CCP used the COVID-19 pandemic to suppress religion through monitoring house church locations, shutting down online services, and creating bureaucratic barriers to opening buildings for worship. Through this “stability maintenance program,” Read More ›

^{Type
post

Eric Holloway
Date
May 19, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Law, Philosophy of Mind}

Can a New AI Debating Program Win All the Debates?

_{While billed as an autonomous debating system, Project Debater features very little autonomy} _{Eric Holloway
May 19, 2021

5

Artificial Intelligence, Law, Philosophy of Mind}

From ancient days, reason has been considered the hallmark of what sets humans apart from animals. Aristotle defined humans as the rational animal and this definition has stuck through the history of Western philosophy. Human reason is best demonstrated in debate. Thus, if we can create programs that argue a point effectively, then computers will have conquered an important frontier of what it means to be intelligent. Recently, we learned at Nature that one research team claims to have developed such a program: A fully autonomous computer system has been developed that can take part in live debates with people. The findings hint at a future in which artificial intelligence can help humans to formulate and make sense of complex Read More ›

Frozen British traditional post office mailbox

^{Type
post

News
Date
May 10, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Ethics, Law, Work

Tagged
Automation failure, Automation planning, Featured, Karl D. Stephan}

Who Will Your Boss Believe? You or That Glitzy New Computer?

_{In the largest miscarriage of justice in decades, the British Post Office chose to believe the computer, resulting in bankruptcies, jail, and suicide. At last the truth emerged…} _{News
May 10, 2021

6

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Ethics, Law, Work}

Texas State professor of electrical engineering Karl Stephan (pictured) has the story, reprinted with permission from his blog Engineering Ethics. Dr. Stephan is the author of Ethical and Otherwise: Engineering in the Headlines, a collection of his writings on ethics and technology: Suppose you enjoy a secure government job at which you work diligently, and you have advanced to the managerial position of a sub-postmaster in Post Office Ltd, the quasi-public organisation that provides postal services in most of the UK. Then your organisation installs a new computerised system called Horizon that promises to eliminate a lot of paperwork accounting and make things easier for everybody. But soon after it is installed, you find that your accounts are not matching up with Read More ›

Face recognition and personal identification technologies in street surveillance cameras, law enforcement control.

^{Type
post

Caitlin Cory
Date
April 28, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Law, Surveillance

Tagged
ACLU, Canada, China, Facebook, Facial Recognition, facial recognition technology, Google, Instagram, Law enforcement, New York Times, Rudy Giuliani, Surveillance, Twitter, YouTube}

Canada Orders Facial Recognition App to Cease and Desist

_{Your face is likely already stored in this app's database} _{Caitlin Cory
April 28, 2021

10

Artificial Intelligence, Law, Surveillance}

In February, Canada released the findings of a year-long investigation into the US-based facial recognition app, Clearview AI. The investigation declared Clearview’s actions illegal within Canada and ordered the company to cease operations within the country and to remove all Canadian citizens from its database. “What Clearview does is mass surveillance, and it is illegal,” said Canadian Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien. So what is Clearview AI? And why has it raised the ire of our neighbors to the North? Clearview AI, Inc. Clearview AI is a facial recognition company marketed primarily to law enforcement agencies. It boasts a database of over 3 billion facial images “scraped” from public sources online such as news articles and social media sites. In other Read More ›

Motorsport racing track and car slammed brakes sign

^{Type
post

Richard W. Stevens
Date
April 28, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Law

Tagged
Autonomous Vehicles, driverless cars, Elon Musk, NHTSA, self-driving cars, Tesla}

Artificial Intelligence Slams on the Brakes

_{The problem of autonomous cars suddenly slamming the brakes is becoming well known and it has no known fix} _{Richard W. Stevens
April 28, 2021

9

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Law}

Having just donated your well-worn 1994 Toyota Camry to charity, you’re driving a brand new 2020 Honda sedan on a major street, enjoying air-conditioned comfort on a sunny day, with the satellite radio service narrowcasting tunes from the soundtrack of your life. Then, WHAM! In a half second, the car slows from 45 to 20 — and you never touched the brake pedal. You never saw it coming but your neck is still reminding you painfully of your whiplash injury. A close family member experienced this exact scenario just a month ago. She never touched the brake pedal. What happened? The dealership’s sales representative had not explained each and every feature of this postmodern car and certainly didn’t warn about Read More ›

Young male employee in industrial espionage concept

^{Type
post

Heather Zeiger
Date
April 9, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Creativity, Global Technology, Law

Tagged
Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), China (competitiveness in AI), Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Huawei (industrial espionage), Industrial espionage, Meng Wanzhou}

Why Do Huawei’s “Inventions” Look Oddly Familiar?

_{One former Motorola employee was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago with more than 1,000 documents, on her way to Beijing on a one-way ticket} _{Heather Zeiger
April 9, 2021

7

Business and Finance, Creativity, Global Technology, Law}

Earlier we looked at how Huawei stole intellectual property from Canada’s once world-class Nortel, which most likely led to the company’s demise. But Nortel wasn’t the only company that Huawei targeted.

Texas Senate Passes Bill Prohibiting Big Tech Censorship

_{The bill seeks to reign in Big Tech power and protect the principle of free speech for Texas citizens} _{Caitlin Cory
April 8, 2021

5

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Last week, the Texas Senate passed a measure that would prohibit large social media companies like Facebook and Twitter from censoring political and religious viewpoints of Texas citizens. The bill now awaits a vote in the Texas House. Senate Bill 12 was introduced in March by State Senator Bryan Hughes. Titled “Relating to the censorship of users’ expressions by an interactive computer service,” the bill would not only prohibit censorship, but would require social media companies to disclose their moderation policies, publish reports about any blocked content, and create a legal route for people to appeal any censoring or deplatforming decisions. Social media companies currently enjoy legal protections against lawsuit under Section 230 of the U.S. Code, which on the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Caitlin Cory
Date
April 6, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Amazon, apple, censorship, Facebook, Google, John West, Ken Buck, Parler, Twitter}

Parler vs. Amazon: Amazon Strikes Back!

_{Amazon is trying to avoid a state lawsuit through a hardball legal maneuver} _{Caitlin Cory
April 6, 2021

6

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Parler, an alternative social networking site, has been in a fierce legal battle with AWS/Amazon since it was removed from Amazon’s platforms on January 10.

How China’s “Hostage Diplomacy” Traps Unsuspecting Visitors

_{Canada’s “Two Michaels” await their fate in prison in China, hostages to the growing tensions in a high-tech war} _{Heather Zeiger
April 2, 2021

6

Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Law, Programming}

Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor (pictured) and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were arrested in China in 2018 on charges of espionage and sharing state secrets, and held in prison since then. Spavor’s trial was on March 19, 2021, in Dandong near China’s border with North Korea. Kovrig’s trial was on March 22 in Beijing. As of this writing, no verdict has been announced. Their trials coincided with the U.S-China Summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18 and 19, 2020, which involved a tense back-and-forth between the two countries. Court proceedings were closed-door and Spavor’s and Kovrig’s lawyers were not allowed to be present. That, according to Canada’s deputy chief of mission in China, violates the Canada-China consular agreement. Prime Minister Read More ›

a man using digital tablet with building hologram and internet media icons. Smart city, 5g, internet and networking technology concept

^{Type
post

Caitlin Cory
Date
March 18, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Censorship, Data Privacy, Law

Tagged
Blockchain, censorship, Featured, Government Policy, Privacy, Smart Cities}

Nevada Announces New Cities in State To Be Run By Big Tech

_{The zones promise technological freedom, but what are the dangers to handing so much political power to big corporations?} _{Caitlin Cory
March 18, 2021

5

Business and Finance, Censorship, Data Privacy, Law}

Nevada is courting technological business by offering them the opportunity to develop cities independent of government regulation. In his State of the State address on January 19th, Nevada Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak announced proposed legislation to create “Innovation Zones” in order “to jumpstart the state’s economy by attracting technology firms.” The long-term vision for these Innovation Zones is a county independent of local government, run solely by a technological corporation for the purpose of pursuing advanced technology without the red tape of bureaucracy. The proposed legislation draft calls “traditional forms of local government” “inadequate” in their ability “to provide the flexibility and resources conducive to making the State a leader in attracting and retaining new forms and types of businesses…” Read More ›

Hand holding smartphone with media icons and symbol

^{Type
post

News
Date
March 5, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics, Law

Tagged
Android, Apple (company), Big Tech, Google, iPhone, Monopoly (in business), Steve Jobs}

Arizona Fights Back Against Big Tech App Store Monopoly

_{North Dakota’s anti-monopoly legislation was defeated but Arizona’s passed} _{News
March 5, 2021

3

Business and Finance, Economics, Law}

Big tech, flexing political muscles, is starting to get pushback at the state level. Political analyst Matt Stoller tells us a tale of two states: A loser and a winner: Two weeks ago, Apple and Google managed to defeat a major bill in North Dakota to force competition in app stores. This week, the Arizona House of Representatives defied the tech giants and passed the very same bill… Matt Stoller, “Apple Threatens North Dakota, Suffers Crushing Loss in Arizona: “A Lot of It is Just Fear”” at Substack Even sovereign states like Australia have felt the heat from pushing back against the likes of Facebook. Facebook blocked access to the Australian government’s Facebook pages during the forest fire season, due Read More ›

^{Type
post

News
Date
March 3, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Business and Finance, Censorship, Law

Tagged
Abigail Shrier, Amazon (company), Anti-trust laws, Cancel culture, Irreversible Damage (book), John West, Monopoly, Seattle viewpoint discrimination law, Theodore Roosevelt}

Does Amazon’s Near-Monopoly Justify Its Use of Censorship?

_{Caitlin Basset looks at the little-known Seattle law that might make Amazon’s censorship much more costly} _{News
March 3, 2021

5

Arts & Culture, Business and Finance, Censorship, Law}

Recently, Caitlin Basset told Stream readers about the Seattle law that could give Amazon — currently big on censorship — pause for thought: Last week Amazon spiked a [2018] book critical of transgender policy. The book — When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movement, by Ryan T. Anderson. Amazon removed it without warning or explanation. “I hope you’ve already bought your copy,” Anderson wrote on Twitter, “cause Amazon just removed my book.” Amazon has breached free speech principles before. In the past two years, they banned products, films and ad campaigns for ideas it deems “objectionable.” Caitlin Bassett, “Could an Obscure Seattle Law Be Big Tech’s Undoing?” at Stream (February 28, 2021) Under an apparent new rule, Amazon Read More ›