Category «United States Law»

January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1930 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1925!

This annual Domain Day review is by Jennifer Jenkins and James Boyle from the Center for the Study of the Public Domain. On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. The literary highlights range from William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying to Agatha Christie’s The Murder at the Vicarage and the first four Nancy Drew novels. From cartoons and comic strips, the characters Betty Boop, Pluto (originally named Rover), and Blondie and Dagwood made their first appearances. Films from the year featured Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, the Marx Brothers, and John Wayne in his first leading role. Among the public domain compositions are I Got Rhythm, Georgia on My Mind, and Dream a Little Dream of Me. We are also celebrating paintings from Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee. In this article you will read lists of some of the most notable books, characters, comics, and cartoons, films, songs, sound recordings, and art entering the public domain. After each of them, the authors have provided an analysis of their significance.

Subjects: Copyright, Education, Librarian Resources, Libraries & Librarians

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 13, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Your Boss Has More Ways Than Ever to Monitor What You’re Doing at Work; How to break free from smart TV ads and tracking; Every Legal Team Needs to See This LLM Leak; U.S. Plans to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists’ Social Media History; and A New Anonymous Phone Carrier Lets You Sign Up With Nothing but a Zip Code.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, KM, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Privacy, Social Media, Spyware

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 7, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Six highlights from this week: Admins and defenders gird themselves against maximum-severity server vulnerability; WhatsApp closes loophole that let researchers collect data on 3.5B accounts; Real or AI? The 7 Telltale Signs Every Fake Image Still Can’t Hide; Does a VPN really slow down your internet? I measured it; Google Starts Sharing All Your Text Messages With Your Employer; and Yep, Cloudflare died again. Here’s what happened.

Subjects: Computer Security, Cybercrime, Economy

The Trump Administration’s Continued War Against Science, Research and Public Health – Part 5

The fifth in a series by Sabrina I. Pacifici focuses once again on government resources, data and datasets that been taken offline, censored or otherwise altered to block access. As these data are no longer updated, the value and relevance to researchers decreases rapidly. These data operationalize critical work performed by federal government agencies and in concert with academic institutions and research institutions. The scope of this censorship has wiped out taxpayer funded research across across all subject matters, which until this administration, was openly posted on e-government sites for further exploration and enhancement by both the public and private sectors.

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Resources, Healthcare, KM, Legal Research

AI In Finance and Banking – November 30, 2025

This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government documents, NGO/IGO papers, conferences, industry white papers and reports, academic papers and speeches, and central bank actions on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Six highlights from this post: AI agents for cash management in payment systems; The state of AI in 2025: Agents, innovation, and transformation; Human-AI Collaboration with ChatGPT: A Systematic Review of Implications for Finance, Law, and Healthcare; AI in Finance and Information Overload; Artificial Intelligence, Competition, and Welfare; and Despite AI adoption surge, finance leaders’ data governance confidence drops.

Subjects: AI in Banking and Finance, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 29, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Is Your Android TV Streaming Box Part of a Botnet?; FCC Corrects Course, Outlines Improved Cybersecurity Measures; Social data puts user passwords at risk in unexpected ways; Homeland Security Is Reportedly Probing Bitcoin Mining Giant Bitmain for National Security Reasons; and Senator urges CBP to quit using tech to track and detain ‘suspicious’ drivers.

Subjects: Copyright, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Education, Email Security, Privacy, Social Media, Travel, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 15, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Don’t Get Tricked by Fake Amazon Reviews This Black Friday; Meta makes billions from scam ads on Facebook, Instagram: Report; Digital IDs: The Future of Identity Documents; New Google Lawsuit May End Massive Text Phishing Operations; and Google Drive Will Use AI To Turn Lengthy PDFs Into Short Audio Summaries.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Technology Trends, United States Law

All government shutdowns disrupt science − in 2025, the consequences extend far beyond a lapse in funding

The government shutdown will continue until Congress can pass a bill reopening it. Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images U.S. science always suffers during government shutdowns. Funding lapses send government scientists home without pay. Federal agencies suspend new grant opportunities, place expert review panels on hold, and stop collecting and analyzing critical public datasets that tell …

Subjects: Economy, Education, Government Resources, Health, Healthcare

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 8, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Google says Search AI Mode will know everything about you; Google flags new wave of online scams fueled by AI fakes and holiday hustles; Washington Post says it is among victims of cyber breach tied to Oracle software; and Enterprises are not prepared for a world of malicious AI agents.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, Email, Email Security, Privacy, Search Engines, Technology Trends