Increasing global access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments through patent pools Posted on February 06, 2021 As of January 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to more than 2 million deaths worldwide, with greater than 400,000 deaths in the US alone. With the recent approvals of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in the US, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Further, Gilead’s drug remdesivir has received Emergency Use Authorization for the treatment...
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Everalbum, Inc: In first facial recognition misuse settlement, FTC requires destruction of algorithms trained on deceptively obtained photos Posted on January 13, 2021 In the Matter of Everalbum, Inc., File No. 1923172 (FTC Jan. 11, 2021) [Complaint, Proposed Settlement] Everalbum, Inc. has settled Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allegations that it deceived users about its use of facial recognition and improperly retained photos and videos from users who had deactivated their accounts. As described in the FTC’s complaint, the company used photos uploaded to...
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Carson v. Makin: First Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Decision to Restrict State Funding for Religious Schools in Maine Posted on November 18, 2020 Reaffirming precedent, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently held that a Maine Department of Education policy that requires private schools to be nonsectarian to qualify for tuition assistance payments does not violate parents’ constitutional rights to choose where to send their children to school. The Maine Constitution requires the legislature to support and maintain public schools...
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Speech First v. Fenves: A Challenge to University Speech Policies Posted on November 18, 2020 Speech First, Inc. v. Fenves, No. 19-50529 (5th Cir. Oct. 28, 2020). Complaint hosted by speechfirst.org. On October 28, 2020, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in Speech First v. Fenves. The Court held that Speech First, a national free speech advocacy organization, had standing to challenge the University of Texas’s (“UT”) speech codes on behalf of...
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DOJ v. Google: DOJ Alleges Google’s ‘Anticompetitive’ Practices Violate Sherman Act Posted on November 18, 2020 Complaint, U.S. and Plaintiff States v. Google LLC, No. 1:20-cv-03010, (D.D.C. Oct. 20, 2020), complaint hosted by DOJ Office of Public Affairs. Following a sixteen-month investigation into the company’s allegedly anticompetitive practices, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), joined by the Attorneys General of eleven states, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, LLC on October 20 of this year. The...
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Google v. Sonos: Google’s Patent Invalidated Under §101 Posted on November 17, 2020 Google LLC v. Sonos, Inc., No. 20-cv-03845-EMC (N.D. Cal. 2020). In January 2020, Sonos sued Google in the Northern District of California for infringing patents related to its home speaker technology. Five months later, Google countersued, alleging that Sonos infringed five of its own patents. Sonos moved to dismiss the cause of action asserting U.S. Patent No. 8,583,489 (the ‘48...
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Department of Justice Sues Google For Alleged Violations of Antitrust Laws Posted on November 17, 2020 Complaint, United States v. Google LLC, No. 1:20-cv-03010 (D.D.C. October 10, 2020) Last month, in the largest antitrust case against a tech company in over two decades, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a lawsuit against tech giant Google. Eleven states—Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Texas—join the suit. The DOJ brings the action...
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Boardman v. Inslee: In union victory, Ninth Circuit finds government data-access prohibitions do not violate First, Fourteenth Amendment Posted on November 09, 2020 Boardman v. Inslee, No. 19-35113 (9th Cir. Oct. 22, 2020). Complaint, Boardman v. Inslee, No. 3:17-cv-05255 (W.D. WA. Apr. 5, 2017), complaint hosted by freedomfoundation.com (plaintiff). In a win for unions, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s summary judgment upholding the constitutionality of Washington state ballot initiative 1501. The court rejected First...
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Facial Recognition Technology’s Impact on Racial Injustice Posted on November 03, 2020 Beginning late this spring, protests around the United States have led to a renewed reckoning on the injustices faced by the Black community, especially with regard to misconduct by and lack of accountability within law enforcement. The conversation has extended to the realm of technology and, in particular, the use of facial recognition software by police departments. In June 2020...
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Why Racial Bias is Prevalent in Facial Recognition Technology Posted on November 03, 2020 In 2019, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) published a report analyzing the performance, across races, of 189 facial recognition algorithms submitted by 99 developers, including Microsoft, Intel, Idemia, and other major tech and surveillance companies. Many of these algorithms were found to be between 10 and 100 times more likely to misidentify a Black or East Asian...
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