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By Andreia M. Tamashiro,* LL.M. 2025 *The author thanks Mr. Gary Greenstein, Partner at Wilson Sonsini, for his guidance on this post. When Taylor Swift announced she was re-recording her first six albums, she wasnt just revisiting past hitsshe was reclaiming ownership of her music. Her battle over album masters highlights a huge issue in the music industry: who truly owns the songs artists create?
By Ilke Okan LL.M., 2025 Automated decision-making technologies ( ADMTs ) are systems that analyze personal data to predict or decide outcomes about individuals, often without human input. These tools can determine whether someone is approved for a loan, lands a job interview, or is flagged for extra screeningall with limited transparency. As artificial intelligence (AI) and ADMTs become increasingly embedded in daily lifefrom hiring and credit scoring to healthcare and educationregulators are u
By Barbara Rasin, J.D. Candidate, 2027 The recent boom in generative AI technology has been hampered by accusations that AI training sets violate intellectual property laws. Various rightsholders, including the New York Times and Universal Music Group , have sued the companies behind these algorithms for training on their protected IP without a license.
By Gaurav Lalsinghani, J.D. Candidate, 2025 In February 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) broke new ground by bringing its first-ever standalone Section 5 unfairness claims for unreasonable data retention and misleading breach notifications. The agencys enforcement action against Blackbauda cloud software provider serving nonprofits, healthcare organizations, and educational institutionsmarked a significant expansion of the Commissions approach to data security enforcement.
By Sauntharya Manikandan, J.D. Candidate, 2026 Overview On January 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act also known as the TikTok Sale-or-Ban Law. This law grants the federal government the authority to shut down TikTok unless ByteDance, its China-based parent company, completes a qualified divestiture essentially severing all control over TikTok’s U.S. operations and having the application cut ties w
By Sauntharya Manikandan, J.D. Candidate, 2026 Overview On January 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act also known as the TikTok Sale-or-Ban Law. This law grants the federal government the authority to shut down TikTok unless ByteDance, its China-based parent company, completes a qualified divestiture essentially severing all control over TikTok’s U.S. operations and having the application cut ties w
By Gaurav Lalsinghani, J.D. Candidate, 2025 No one wants to be left holding the bag after a break-in, but for chief information security officers (CISOs), the risk of liability is ever-present. Tasked with overseeing a firms cybersecurity posture, CISOs stand on the front lines of a corporations digital defense. They are responsible for overseeing an organizations data protection measures, risk management strategies, overall security infrastructure, among other critical responsibilities.
By Sauntharya Manikandan, J.D. Candidate, 2026 Overview On May 17, 2024, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) took a step towards addressing the intersection of technology and employment with its proposed modifications to employment regulations concerning automated decision systems. This initiative is indicative of lawmakers racing to catch up with the far-reaching implications of AI in our lives.
By Grace Murphy, J.D. Candidate, 2026 Genome sequencing, the process of determining the DNA sequence of an organism, was first introduced in the 1970s. By 2003, the Human Genome Project had generated the first human genome sequence. Since then, genome sequencing has become more accessible and affordable. This has allowed direct-to-consumer DNA testing to become a reality through companies like 23andMe.
By Liam Roche, LLM 2025 Introduction On the 29th of August 2024, residents of California gained the ability to add their Drivers licenses to Googles Wallet platform for use on mobile devices as an alternative to presenting a physical document. A few weeks later, Apple followed suit , and enabled the capability on its wallet application platform. With this, California joins 13 other states and territories in allowing people to digitize their drivers licenses, passports and other forms of document
By Andreia M. Tamashiro, LLM 2025 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a NonCompete Rule designated to promote competition and employees rights. This rule poses a significant challenge for companies, especially startups, which may need to allocate more resources to protect their intellectual property. If the rule becomes effective, there may be a surge in trade secret litigation and patent filing and increased scrutiny when hiring to avoid litigation risks.
By Brayan Ortiz Ramos, J.D. Candidate, 2027 In 2026, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which succeeded the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2020, will undergo a joint review to assess its effectiveness, consider a 16-year extension, and evaluate potential adjustments to better align with current economic and technological trends.
By Barbara Rasin, J.D. Candidate, 2027 In Anderson v. TikTok , decided in in late summer 2024, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that TikTok’s “For You Page” algorithm was sufficiently creative to bar its protection under §230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). This is a significant step towards limiting the protection that Internet platforms receive under §230, which has generally expanded along with our reliance on these platforms.
Podcast Transcript: [Udit] 0:13 The European Union’s digital market Act, or the DMA was published in the official journal of the EU on October 12 2022, and entered into force on November 1 2022. The legislation aims to radically transform how big tech companies operate by implementing regulations that limit the market power of big technology platforms, foster competition, and provide additional privacy measures to customers.
The BTLJ Podcast team sits down with ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Matt Cagle to discuss the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) by police departments and other law enforcement entities. This interview was recorded on November 9, 2022. Podcast Transcript: [Tiffaney] 0:12 You’re listening to the Berkeley Technology Law Journal Podcast. I’m Tiffaney Boyd.
By Shreya Kapoor, LL.M. 2023 The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (hereinafter referred to as ‘HIPAA’) was enacted on August 2, 1996 with the aim of protecting sensitive patient health information from non-consensual disclosure. In more recent years, the technologization of healthcare has increased convenience for providers and patients but also added urgency to the need to ensure the security of sensitive medical information.
The BTLJ Podcast team sits down with Berkeley Law Professor Tejas Narechania to discuss his forthcoming article, “Convergence and a Case for Broadband Regulation.” In the interview, Professor Narechania identifies the consequences of the outdated regulatory scheme for broadband services that exists in the United States. He also proposes a system involving broadband rate regulation as a solution to the problem.
SPEAKERS Professor Chris Hoofnagle, Eric Ahern, Isabel Jones Podcast Transcript: [Eric] 00:12 Welcome to the BTLJ podcast. I’m your host, Eric Ahern. [Isabel] 00:17 And I’m your host, Isabel Jones. In today’s episode, we’ll be diving into the fascinating world of one of the most advanced machine learning tools out there: ChatGPT.
By Shabrina Defi Khansa, LL.M. 2023 Taylor Swift’s fans, affectionately called Swifties, closed out 2022 with an antitrust complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Ticketmaster, the online ticketing giant. In late November, after waiting in endless e-queues for tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, Swifties were hit with sky-high prices or completely sold-out shows.
By Aaron Kamath, LL.M. 2024* On March 21, 2024, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Apple, which could have significant ramifications on the smartphone ecosystem. The complaint highlights that Apple responded to competitive threats by refusing to offer consumers lower smartphone prices or app developers better monetization.
By Dhanya S. Krishnan, LL.M. 2024, and Ankur Singhal, LL.M. 2024 Online platforms employ mechanisms designed to manipulate and bait users, leveraging unscrupulous tactics that exploit users’ cognitive biases and impact their autonomy. These mechanisms, called dark patterns, are deceptive user interface designs that trick users into making unintended decisions.
By Devangini Rai LL.M. 2024 In an industry ruled by trends, the nature of quiet luxury brands radically challenges how we view usage of trademarks in fashion. The term “quiet luxury,” which rose to prominence in the fashion industry in 2023, refers to the trend of logo-less branding. Some examples of quiet luxury brands include Loro Piana, The Row, Tom Ford, Max Mara, and Zegna.
By David Bernstein, J.D. Candidate, 2026 On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) into law. Bipartisan lawmakers championed the legislation in response to the growing number of cyber intrusions against critical infrastructure. In particular, the May 2021 ransomware attack against the Colonial Pipeline was a “watershed moment” that laid bare how cyber incidents can have rippling impacts on the American economy and peop
By Chris Conley “Artificial intelligence” (AI) is everywhere these days, from Waymo’s ongoing pilots of self-driving cars to OpenAI’s publicly-available ChatGPT chatbot. The currently dominant form, machine learning (ML), relies on models derived from vast sets of data, potentially including personal information about millions of unknowing individuals.
By Lauren Barland LL.M. 2023 In today’s digital age, personal information can be bought, traded, and sold by anyone with an internet connection. From our health and dietary habits to our sexual and romantic preferences, companies are collecting sensitive data on a massive scale, posing significant threats to privacy. In her new book, The Fight for Privacy , Danielle Keats Citron argues that failure to adequately protect digital privacy could have a chilling effect on the public’s ability to exer
BTLJ is proud to announce the winners of the 2023 Writing Competition. Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to all participants for your submissions! First Place Winner: James Ng Brooklyn Law School Back in the Driver’s Seat: The United States Should Enact a Unified Automated Vehicle Law and Regulation Second Place Winner: Nate Kim Georgetown Law School National ID for Public Purpose Best Berkeley Law Submission: Kurt Fredrickson “Otherwise Available to the Public”: Using § 102 to
By Raphael Dionis, LL.M. 2022 On January 18, 2022, Microsoft sent shockwaves through the video game industry by announcing its acquisition of video game developer Activision for $68.7 billion. By Microsoft’s own account, this acquisition will turn Microsoft into the third largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. Activision develops video games for all major video game consoles, including Microsoft’s Xbox, whose main competitors are Nintendo’s Switch and Sony’s PlayStation.
By Caio Nunes, LL.M. 2022 What does “unfair competition” mean from an American legal standpoint? The answer should be simple, but it most definitely is not. The first usage of this term in Anglo-Saxon common law referred to “attempts by one merchant to palm off inferior goods as those of another more reputable merchant by making deceptive use of the other merchant’s trademark.
By Vasundhara Majithia, LL.M. 2022 On January 18, 2022, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Congresswomen Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act of 2022 (BSAA) to Congress. The bill seeks to prohibit targeted advertising based on users’ personal information, such as their contact details or unique identifiers.
BTLJ is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Writing Competition. Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to all participants for your submissions! 1st Prize: $1,000 Daniel Levin Fordham Law School Are You Out of Your Mind?: Neurotechnologies and the Making of Disembodied Agency 2nd Prize: $500 Vincent Dumas University of Wisconsin Law School Enigma Machines: Deep Learning Algorithms as Information Content Providers Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act Aldo J.
[Sonali Khanna] 0:12 You’re listening to the Berkeley Technology Law Journal Podcast. I’m Sonali Khanna. The metaverse is the convergence of two ideas that have existed for many years: virtual reality and a digital alternate life. For decades, technologists have dreamed of an era when our virtual lives would play as important a role as our physical realities through increasing interaction with our friends and colleagues in a virtual space.
[Nikki Seichepine] 0:13 You’re listening to the Berkeley Technology Law Journal Podcast. I’m Nikki Seichepine. In today’s episode we will be discussing the use of risk-assessment to inform criminal sentencing and how it’s used in ICE detention centers. Risk-assessments are used to help quantify the likelihood of an individual’s noncompliance with the law.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Quantum Computing August 22, 2022 [Seth] 0:14 You’re listening to the Berkeley Technology Law Journal Podcast. I’m Seth Bertolucci. [Isabel] 0:19 And I’m Isabel Jones. On today’s episode, we sit down with a quantum physicist and an attorney specializing in technology law and human design to discuss the science behind quantum computing and this technology’s legal and ethical implications on the law, economics, and society.
Podcast Transcript: [Udit] 0:13 The European Union’s digital market Act, or the DMA was published in the official journal of the EU on October 12 2022, and entered into force on November 1 2022. The legislation aims to radically transform how big tech companies operate by implementing regulations that limit the market power of big technology platforms, foster competition, and provide additional privacy measures to customers.
By Shreya Kapoor, LL.M. 2023 The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (hereinafter referred to as ‘HIPAA’) was enacted on August 2, 1996 with the aim of protecting sensitive patient health information from non-consensual disclosure. In more recent years, the technologization of healthcare has increased convenience for providers and patients but also added urgency to the need to ensure the security of sensitive medical information.
By Shabrina Defi Khansa, LL.M. 2023 Taylor Swift’s fans, affectionately called Swifties, closed out 2022 with an antitrust complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Ticketmaster, the online ticketing giant. In late November, after waiting in endless e-queues for tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, Swifties were hit with sky-high prices or completely sold-out shows.
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