Newsletter Archives

• 23 and you

  Posted on April 14, 2025 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  The pending bankruptcy of 23andMe raises important questions — questions that are relevant not only to those who have trusted that company with personal information, but more generally to anyone who trusts any company with personal information.

  This particular bankruptcy highlights the importance of reviewing user agreements as well as some shortcomings of current federal law. Fortunately, users who act promptly will be able to mitigate the potential risk.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.15.0, 2025-04-14).

  Legal Brief 23 and Me, Bankruptcy, Newsletters, Privacy, Terms of Service

• Things you can do in 2025 that you couldn’t do in 2024

  Posted on March 24, 2025 at 02:44 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Rejoice! The new year brings a new batch of things that were once protected by copyright but are now public domain.

  Let’s review my copyright primer. Under current US law, a copyright comes into existence as soon as an original work of authorship is fixed in a tangible medium. Originality is not a very high bar — the work needs only to be something created by the author rather than copied.

  Tangible media include electronic storage, so websites qualify.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.12.0, 2025-03-24).

  Legal Brief Copyright Expiration, Copyrights, Fair Use, Legal, Newsletters, Public Domain

• PC or Mac — any legal difference?

  Posted on January 27, 2025 at 02:43 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  If you are trying to decide whether to buy a Windows-based PC or a Mac, one of the factors you will certainly consider is a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of their respective license agreements.

  We’ve previously reviewed the Microsoft Terms of Service. Today, we look at the license terms for the Mac.

  Do not be discouraged when you look at the terms of Apple’s 726-page Software License Agreement online. We’ll whittle that down for you. How, you may ask?

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.04.0, 2025-01-27).

  Legal Brief Apple, Legal, Macintosh, Newsletters, Terms of Service

• Looking back, looking forward

  Posted on January 20, 2025 at 02:44 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  The big tech story of 2024 was, by far, artificial intelligence.

  Although it was often portrayed as sui generis (Latin for “we’ve never seen anything like it, and we need to start thinking from scratch …”), the emergence of artificial intelligence into public use and consciousness highlighted (and added urgency to) old issues, more than it created any new ones.

  The questions — who owns personal information, where does the right to privacy begin and end, what are the limits of copyright’s fair use doctrine, to what extent can free speech be controlled in the interest of other rights (such as privacy or the protection of minors) — are not new, nor even recent.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.03.0, 2025-01-20).

  Legal Brief Adult websites, Artificial Intelligence, Chevron Doctrine, Data Privacy Act, Loper, Net neutrality, Newsletters, Privacy, TikTok

• Forces shaping the future — the consumer

  Posted on December 9, 2024 at 02:44 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  In previous columns, we’ve identified three social factors that shape the path of technological development: government rules, litigation, and consumer actions.

  With respect to government, we reviewed how government rules, enforcement actions, and litigation influence how technology develops. Government rules can define what is and is not permissible in broad terms, but they cannot be written with the detail needed to apply definitively to all specific situations.

  Litigation, on the other hand, is directed to specific situations, to technically governs only the behavior of the parties to the litigation. Both operate by their effect on the bottom line — which is, well … the bottom line for company decisions.

  In this column, we’ll look at the role that consumers play. As with the other two factors, consumers influence how companies operate by affecting the bottom line.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.50.0, 2024-12-09).

  Legal Brief Competition, Consumers, Copilot, Newsletters, Subscription model

• Forces shaping the future: The courts at work

  Posted on September 23, 2024 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Three social factors shape the path of future development of technology: government rules, litigation, and consumer actions.

  In last month’s Legal Brief, we reviewed how government rules and enforcement actions are being used to attempt to influence how technology will develop.

  This time, we’ll look at how litigation — both private and governmental — is being used in attempts to influence the path of technological development.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.39.0, 2024-09-23).

  Legal Brief AI, ByteDance, Consumers, Copyright, Facebook, Fair Use, GARM, Google, Legal, Litigation, Meta, Newsletters, NFT, TikTok

• Your government at work

  Posted on August 26, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.35 • 2024-08-26

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  While most of the world was distracted by the question of whether anyone in their right mind would voluntarily swim in the Seine, there were major legal developments affecting the tech world.

  In a two-part series, I’ll first summarize what the US federal government has been up to. In the follow-on column, I’ll cover some notable actions taken by state governments and private individuals.

  First, the feds.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.35.0, 2024-08-26).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Legal Brief AI, Antitrust, ByteDance, Credit cards, Deepfakes, Federal Trade Commission, Generative AI, Google, Newsletters, Targeted Pricing, Terms of Service, TikTok

• In Loper, the Supreme Court has made it harder to empower users

  Posted on July 15, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Mainstream media attention has been focused on the more dramatic Supreme Court decisions of the past few weeks, but another recent decision is potentially of greater importance to the user community.

  From the legal-nerd perspective, that case involved the viability of the Chevron doctrine, a rule that had given federal administrative agencies great deference in deciding how much authority they had.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.29.0, 2024-07-15).

  Legal Brief Administrative Agencies, Chevron Doctrine, Congress, Federalist 37, Legislation, Loper, Newsletters

• Got change for a billion-dollar bill?

  Posted on June 3, 2024 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Large patent-infringement verdicts have been in the news recently.

  On May 10, a jury awarded IPA Technologies $242 million against Microsoft for infringing US Patent 7,069,560 by incorporating the patented technology into its Cortana digital assistant. Nearly a month earlier, a jury awarded Kove IO $525 million against Amazon for using Kove’s patented technology in its AWS products.

  Should you care?

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.23.0, 2024-06-03).

  Legal Brief Newsletters, patent infringement, Patents, Software, User Rights

• Protecting yourself from AI deepfakes

  Posted on May 20, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  It has been apparent for some time that developments in generative artificial intelligence present serious potential for harm.

  A recent example has made the problem concrete.

  On January 17, 2024, the Baltimore Sun broke the news with the headline “Baltimore County Public Schools investigating Pikesville High principal’s alleged ‘highly offensive’ recording.”

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.21.0, 2024-05-20).

  Legal Brief AI, Deepfakes, Generative AI, Legal, Newsletters, Privacy, Revenge, Security

• Making the world safe for online shoppers

  Posted on March 4, 2024 at 02:45 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.10 • 2024-03-04

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Today’s online shopping technology cannot quite match the in-person, brick-and-mortar experience.

  Multiple photos, detailed descriptions, and videos can go a long way toward helping purchasers compare products and pick the one that fits their needs, but current technology can’t really replace the ability to try on clothes, shake a product for loose parts, or check the bytes on a flash drive to make sure they match your color scheme.

  Online shoppers have had two tools that help close the gap: the availability of free returns and online reviews by other purchasers.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.10.0, 2024-03-04).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Legal Brief Federal Trade Commission, Free Returns, FTC-2023-0047, Newsletters, Online Reviews, Online shopping

• The hidden cost of WFH

  Posted on January 22, 2024 at 02:43 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Working from home — or anywhere other than the employer’s official office space — certainly has advantages, especially if the employer provides things that make the job easy, such as a laptop, an Internet connection, and software.

  Remote work, however, is not without its downsides. For example, you should check your homeowner’s insurance policy to be sure that your work from home doesn’t adversely affect coverage.

  A less obvious potential downside is employer-provided or employer-mandated software.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.04.0, 2024-01-22).

  Legal Brief Agency, Liability, Licensing, Newsletters, Terms of Service, Working from home
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