Posted on July 2nd, 2009 by Derek Bambauer
My friend and colleague Miriam Baer, an expert on corporate compliance and criminal law, thinks that it is – and that we should be more skeptical of compliance (a favorite buzzword post-Enron and post-meltdown). The clash between transparency and compliance is a troubling one that I hadn’t thought about before; Miriam’s paper is an important [...]
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Filed under: Blogging, Cognitive Decisionmaking, Corporate Law, Intermediaries, Law School, Scholarship
Posted on December 2nd, 2008 by Derek Bambauer
Wired has an article on the trade in virtual world items – armor, swords, ninja monkeys, etc. – that takes place using real-world currency. (It tracks the rise and fall of former child actor Brock Pierce and his startup, Internet Gaming Entertainment. You can also find a how-to outlining the virtual gold trade.) The article [...]
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Filed under: Cognitive Decisionmaking, Computer crime, Digital Media, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Media, Scholarship, Software, Virtual Worlds
Posted on May 15th, 2008 by Derek Bambauer
What does it mean if you invite John McCain to speak at your school’s commencement?
For one thing, it means your dean is smart enough to want news coverage with lots of shots of your school’s logo. But does it mean your institution agrees with any / all of McCain’s positions?
I was pondering this question after [...]
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Filed under: Cognitive Decisionmaking, Court Decisions, Law School, Media
Posted on March 19th, 2007 by Derek Bambauer
Living in Detroit, one hears a great deal about the American automobile industry (indeed, the local news covers little else, with the exception of Michigan firing Tommy Amaker as basketball coach). Car pundits, perhaps in the pay of rental fleets, panned Ford’s decision to discontinue the Taurus sedan / station wagon (as did new CEO [...]
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Filed under: Cognitive Decisionmaking, Trademarks
Posted on January 30th, 2007 by Derek Bambauer
George Will writes about genetic testing in Newsweek – his concern is that the recommendation by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that all pregnant women be tested for Down syndrome will lead women to abort babies with the syndrome. According to Will, “diagnosing Down syndrome can have only the purpose of enabling—and, in [...]
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Filed under: Cognitive Decisionmaking, Health Law, Privacy
Posted on December 1st, 2006 by William McGeveran
Do yourself a favor right now and go read Ethan Zuckerman’s lengthy, thoughtful review of Cass Sunstein’s recent book, Infotopia. Among many virtues, Ethan’s post connects Sunstein’s ideas to other developments in cyberspace. A taste of Ethan’s comments:
Whether or not I agree with all of Sunstein’s conclusions, his quest for systems that aggregate [...]
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Filed under: Berkman, Blogging, Cognitive Decisionmaking, Digital Media, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Law School, Peer Production, Scholarship
Posted on October 17th, 2006 by Derek Bambauer
The Supreme Court has heard arguments in Carey v. Musladin, a case which deals with what information can enter the tightly controlled atmosphere of a courtroom during a trial. Mathew Musladin was convicted of killing his former wife’s fiance. During the trial, members of the victim’s family sat in the audience and wore [...]
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Filed under: Cognitive Decisionmaking, Court Decisions
Posted on August 8th, 2006 by Derek Bambauer
The Arizona Voter Reward Act, if passed by Arizonans via their November ballot, would establish a million-dollar windfall to be bestowed upon one fortunate random voter. The Act is the progeny of Mark Osterloh, who hopes to encourage civic virtue and improve participation in elections.
Reaction has been almost uniformly negative, and often rather prissy [...]
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Filed under: Cognitive Decisionmaking, Voting
Posted on June 20th, 2006 by Derek Bambauer
The New York Times publishes an article on how people make medical decisions: apparently, we’re more willing to subject others (including our children) to a vaccine with a low but real risk that protects against a more dangerous type of flu. The author of the underlying study suggests a “sense of responsibility” forces people [...]
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Filed under: Cognitive Decisionmaking, Health Law, Intermediaries
Posted on May 3rd, 2006 by William McGeveran
I spent the last several days in my new hometown(s), the Twin Cities, buying a house. Like most everything else, the internet has improved this process enormously. In the past, my wife and I would have needed to devote one or more lengthy and intense trips to visiting houses and educating ourselves about neighborhoods and [...]
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Filed under: Cognitive Decisionmaking, Digital Media, Internet & Society, Minnesota, Virtual Worlds