Tuesday, February 26, 2013, by Kenneth Jennings The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims that their now exists a “constitution free zone,” wrapping the contours of the United States. Within this zone, the ACLU suggests, well-established constitutional guarantees of free speech, and protections against unreasonable search and seizure no longer apply. The basis of this …
Saturday, February 23, 2013, by Samantha Surles The 9/11 Commission pushed the idea of a nationwide interoperable public safety network after several communication failures between first responders during the attacks. A decade later, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act created the First Responders Network Authority (FirstNet). FirstNet is tasked with planning, building, …
Thursday, February 21, 2013, by Drew Hargrove EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Program (“RFS”) regulates the amount of renewable fuel contained in transportation fuel sold in the United States. The Clean Air Act (“Act”) requires EPA to set renewable fuel standards (“applicable volumes”) each year for specific classes of renewable fuels for the following calendar year. …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013, by Katherine Street The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought to reduce the generation of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) in 2010 by publishing “national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for existing stationary reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE).” The main targets of the new regulations were RICE units that were operated …
Wednesday, February 20, 2012, by Carla M. Gray A debate over the uses of genetically modified seed come to the forefront again as the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in Bowman v. Monsanto this week. In the case, Bowman contends that he purchased the genetically modified seed, and therefore has the right to plant …
Saturday, February 16, 2013 by Lev Gabrilovich California’s cap-and-trade program has recently passed its first real test with flying colors. Through this program, California is able to reduce pollution by setting a maximum cap on emissions in the state. Then, the state, through the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”), sets up permits for emissions allowances, …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 by Michael Frongello In June 2011, the Supreme Court struck down, on First Amendment grounds, a California law that banned the sale of violent video games to children. This scrutiny of video games has reemerged in the wake of the recent school shootings, including the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School …
Sunday, February 10, 2013 by Cara Richards Since the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 was blocked from coming to a vote last year, Senator Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, sent a questionnaire to all of the CEO’s of the Fortune 500, looking to gauge opinions and responses toward cyber security law. …
Saturday, February 9, 2013 by Agnieszka Zmuda On Tuesday, February 5, Fish and Richardson, on behalf of Rembrandt Social Media LP, sued Facebook and AddThis for patent infringement. The complaint identifies the two patents in question as U.S. Patent No. 6,415,316 and No. 6,289,362. Both of these were issued over 10 years ago to a …
Thursday, February 7, 2013 by Tasneem Dharamsi Early Friday evening, Twitter announced on its blog that the company had “detected unusual access patterns” that indicated that “unauthorized . . . attempts” were made to access as many as 250,000 Twitter accounts. Basically, nearly a quarter of a million Twitter accounts were hacked into. In what …