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Could the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield Provide Greater Protection to U.S. Citizens’ Personal Data?

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kenzieo_picBy Mackenzie Olson

The E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield promises greater privacy protection for E.U. citizens’ personal data, but it provides no such assurances to U.S. citizens—even though consumers have become increasingly concerned about how companies use their personal information. However, as companies reconfigure their current privacy protocols to satisfy these new standards, U.S. citizens could realize a windfall.

In Europe, privacy is considered a fundamental right, though it is not in the U.S. Data protection safeguards are included in the E.U.’s charter, but there is no U.S. federal law that establishes a right to privacy. The Safe Harbor data transfer agreement of 2000 between the U.S. and E.U. previously dictated how companies could satisfy the heightened privacy requirements due their E.U. customers’ personal data. However, Safe Harbor is now defunct. In October 2015, the European Court of Justice struck down the agreement because it failed to protect E.U. citizens from U.S. government surveillance. Ever since Edward Snowden’s 2013 document leaks revealed details about the National Security Agency (N.S.A.)’s intelligence operations, Europeans have been concerned about how U.S. intelligence uses their personal data. Though the European Commission and U.S. Department of Commerce are still developing the details of the Privacy Shield and its text, officials state that an agreement should be reached by the second part of February of this year. Continue reading →

The 21st Century Cures Act Will Be Implemented Piecemeal

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fdaBy Jason Liu

As technology and medicine advance, the need to streamline and regulate medicine will increase. One can visit a virtual doctor, connect medical devices to the internet, and access cutting-edge gene therapy precision medicine. However, government agencies work with laws that never considered these innovations. To update these laws, the House passed the 21st Century Cures Act in 2015. The Act currently sits in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Senate (HELP) committee. Congress may also break the bill into smaller pieces of legislation.

Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the leader of the HELP committee, recently stated that the panel will divide the 21st Century Cures Act into smaller pieces of legislation. The Act has stalled in the Senate because Democrats and Republicans disagree on how to fund the bill. Beginning Feb. 9, the committee will vote on at least seven bipartisan bills ranging from expediting therapies for rare diseases to improving electronic health records. Continue reading →

Drone Drain [Update]

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Aeryon_Scout_In_FlightBy Brooks Lindsay

This blog post follows up on an article I wrote for the Washington Journal of Law, Technology and Arts for the Spring 2015 issue. I submitted the article as a comment to the FAA on behalf of the UW College of Engineering. The article, titled “Drone Drain,” suggested the FAA be forward-looking with its draft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAS) rules. This blog post attempts to assess the FAA’s work since then.

Since the end of the comment period, the FAA created registration rules for drones weighing between .55 lbs and 55 lbs. This is an important step in the maturation of drone law because, like with cars, the identification of a drone after an accident is critical for victims to bring tort claims or the government to press charges for a misdemeanor or felony. If people don’t know who crashed a drone, then they can’t hold that registered person legally accountable. Without accountability, UAS pilots might feel emboldened to take risks without fear of legal consequences. Registration rules cut through this cycle and facilitate the maturation of a legal ecosystem for drones. Continue reading →

Microsoft Moves The Cloud to the Ocean Floor

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microsoftBy Carlie Bacon

Some like it hot, but datacenters don’t. When they get too toasty they crash, making waves in the sea of data storage and access.

Microsoft is making waves of a more useful variety.

 The company just launched Project Natick—a research effort that includes underwater data centers. As cloud computing becomes more prevalent, Microsoft aims to improve the ways we manipulate data. The underwater setting provides better cooling, renewable energy, and a more controlled environment than traditional land options. Continue reading →

Video Killed the Radio Star… And the Internet Killed Cable

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Untitled1By Tyler Quillin

This article began with an interest in the disparity between last year’s SEC Network and Pac12 Network revenue yields. However, research led to an even more disruptive evolution in cable television delivery – the end of cable bundling. As the internet continues to reshape the way we consume content, cable-bundling continues to decline.

Most of us still access cable television via the traditional bundling model, which functions through consumer subscriptions for desired channel lineups. Each of the channels provided by the service provider costs a fee to provide. These are called affiliate fees, which are licensing fees agreed upon between each service provider and the respective network. These affiliate fees are a growing influence on the pricing of service provider lineups in an evolving market where the internet provides the direct access to clients these networks never had before. Before the internet, networks needed cable servicer providers to disseminate their products to consumers, but now consumers can go straight to the source for targeted consumption of their desired programming via streaming subscription models. For example, remember the big splashes Hulu and Netflix made in the mid-2000s by providing streamed content? The Networks began offering content for free via Hulu while cable service providers were paying hefty affiliate fees. The cable service providers were unhappy, and Hulu became a subscription-based service. This marked the beginning of the end. Continue reading →