Newsletter Archives

• The year that was — scoring 2023

  Posted on December 18, 2023 at 02:45 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.51 • 2023-12-18

  Our next issue will be published on Tuesday, December 26, 2023. Happy Holidays!

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  It didn’t take a crystal ball.

  If, on January 1, 2023, I had made predictions about what would happen in the coming year, I would not have received high marks for boldness. In a way, that’s reassuring — there were no paradigm-shifting catastrophes that struck technology consumers.

  I would have predicted the following.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.51.0, 2023-12-18).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Legal Brief AI, blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Legal, Meta, Microsoft Services Agreement, Newsletters, Predictions, Section 230, Windows 11

• Tmas Greetings!

  Posted on December 4, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  It is a mystery why a company would voluntarily replace one of the most recognizable product names in the world with a name that has multiple pre-existing uses and connotations.

  It isn’t the first time that a famous brand changed its logo. Standard Oil of New Jersey replaced ESSO with EXXON in 1972. But it’s a rare event, so it is interesting when the owner of a famous brand announces such a major change in brand identity.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.49.0, 2023-12-04).

  Legal Brief Branding, Legal, Newsletters, Trademarks, Twitter

• Over to you, Congress

  Posted on November 13, 2023 at 02:44 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 was a calculated political decision on the part of Congress.

  The idea was to grant immunity to the then-fledgling Internet industry in order to enlist its help in fighting the specific problem of obscenity on the Internet. I wrote about this in Legal Brief over two years ago.

  It’s time for an update.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.46.0, 2023-11-13).

  Legal Brief Communications Decency Act, Newsletters, Section 230

• Tax simplification

  Posted on October 16, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  The Inflation Reduction Act gave the U.S. Treasury Department billions of dollars to create a world-class customer experience for taxpayers.

  Let’s put aside the question “Do we want a world-class customer experience, or do we deserve something better — maybe an Amazon-class customer experience?” Because I’m not really sure how customer-friendly the typical world tax system is. I mean, half the world’s population is in India and China.

  Maybe they’re great — I just don’t know.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.42.0, 2023-10-16).

  Legal Brief Government, Newsletters, Privacy, Security, Taxation

• Second city — the AI view from Washington

  Posted on September 18, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Multiple players are deciding their opening moves in reacting to the sudden entry of this technology into the public consciousness.

  Not surprisingly, their approaches differ because their interests differ.

  In my previous installment (2023-08-28), we saw how Microsoft is grappling with how to protect its interests — offensive and defensive — in a highly volatile and unpredictable future. In the short time since that article published, it appears that Microsoft may already be fine-tuning its approach.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.38.0, 2023-09-18).

  Legal Brief AI, Generative AI, Government, Microsoft, Microsoft Service Agreement, Newsletters, Policy

• A t-AI-l of two cities

  Posted on August 28, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.35 • 2023-08-28

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Generative artificial intelligence is the latest of the “we’ve never seen anything like this before — something must be done” technologies.

  Earlier examples are biotechnology, the personal computer, the video recorder, the record player, and probably fire — none of which caused the world to end.

  Multiple players are deciding their opening moves in reacting to the sudden entry of this technology into the public consciousness. Not surprisingly, their approaches differ because their interests differ. That certainly applies to the Microsoft Services Agreement.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.35.0, 2023-08-28).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Legal Brief AI, Copyrights, Generative AI, Microsoft, Microsoft Privacy Policy, Microsoft Service Agreement, Newsletters

• A dozen problems with privacy

  Posted on July 31, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  The right to privacy appears to be on a roll.

  Here are a few examples from just the last few months involving Meta, Twitter, Amazon, and Ring.

  Meta was fined $1.3 billion for violating European Union privacy rules (it stored data in that notorious data piracy haven — the United States). Meta is appealing the fine.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.31.0, 2023-07-31).

  Legal Brief Newsletters, Privacy, Rights

• The right to be sued

  Posted on May 8, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.19 • 2023-05-08

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Law students are sometimes puzzled by the section of the Corporations Statute saying that corporations have the right to be sued.

  Why, they wonder, would anyone want to be sued? Wouldn’t it be better to have the right not to be sued?

  The answer is subtle.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.19.0, 2023-05-08).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Legal Brief AI, Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, Corporate Law, Newsletters

• Your call is very important — to you

  Posted on April 10, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  You may have had the experience. You sign up for a service simply by clicking on a link, then wait on hold endlessly to solve a problem or cancel the service.

  It may be small comfort, but you are not alone. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recognized the pervasiveness of the phenomenon and has proposed a new rule to deal with it.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.15.0, 2023-04-10).

  Legal Brief Federal Trade Commission, Marketing, negative option marketing, Newsletters

• You are rich!

  Posted on February 13, 2023 at 02:45 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.07 • 2023-02-13

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  You may not realize that you have a valuable asset, one that companies are willing to pay big bucks for.

  Unfortunately (for you), to date those companies have paid the big bucks to someone else: $76 billion to Google in the last quarter of 2022, $31 billion to Amazon for advertising alone last year. Those companies (and others) are selling access to your personal information. There is nothing illegal about that — you willingly (although perhaps not purposely) provided them the information.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.07.0, 2023-02-13).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Legal Brief Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, Legal, Newsletters, Trademark

• Note to Congress: Please try to keep up

  Posted on January 9, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  That’s a big ask.

  In a previous column, I explained why law always lags technology.

  To summarize, case law is by definition reactive. Courts don’t go out and look for cases; they wait for someone to be upset enough to bring one to them. Legislatures can be proactive, but they can’t act until they realize there’s a problem to be acted upon. So it is not surprising that new issues will arise, and we will need to be patient while solutions are agreed upon.

  But …

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.02.0, 2023-01-09).

  Legal Brief Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, Fair Use, Legal, Newsletters, Patents

• The Council of Truth and Wide Diversity

  Posted on November 14, 2022 at 02:42 CST by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Elon Musk now owns Twitter and has announced that it will return to being a platform for free speech.

  With exceptions, of course.

  While the Twitterverse was all atwitter about the acquisition, Musk explained what he meant.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.46.0, 2022-11-14).

  Legal Brief Elon Musk, Free Speech, Misinformation, Newsletters, Twitter
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