Dakota Lipscombe & Jeffrey M. Hirsch A new white-collar labor phenomenon is emerging in Silicon Valley. On the first Monday of 2021, around 230 Google employees publicly formed a union. This new “minority union,” the Alphabet Workers Union, is the product of years of tension between employees, many of whom are software engineers, and Google, …
Thanks in large part to the strenuous efforts ($200 million of efforts) of Uber, Lyft, InstaCart, and DoorDash, California passed Proposition 22 last November. This proposition allowed “app-based transportation and delivery drivers” to be defined as independent contractors. It also allowed for the “adopt[ion] [of] labor and wage policies specific to app-based drivers and companies.” …
On January 28, 2021, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published a report detailing how two employees “made false representations” and “concealed material information” concerning a contract with an artificial intelligence company. The contract was brought to the OIG’s attention by a pair of high-level VA officials who …
If you’ve ever found yourself scouring the internet for an authorized place to watch your favorite movie, show, or sports team, you’ve probably encountered some hardships. Whether that difficulty is due to a lack of subscription to a stream provider or a blackout in your area, this can leave you with a disappointing feeling as …
On December 9, 2020, the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020 was introduced to the Australian Parliament. The bill seeks to compensate Australian media companies for the use of their news content on major digital platforms, like Google and Facebook. Additionally, it intends to redress alleged bargaining power …
After the Capitol was stormed on January 6th by supporters of President Trump, social media platforms took action against the 45th president, blaming him for the incident. Trump was indefinitely banned from Facebook, at least until his term ended, suspended from twitter indefinitely, and his campaign store, hosted by Shopify, was taken down, just to …
A Federal District Court in Texas handed Google and its subsidiary, YouTube, a victory in a patent infringement case over video streaming related technology invented as long ago as the 1980s. The plaintiff, Personalized Media Communications (PMC), alleged that YouTube sold and continued to sell products and services that infringe on their patents, which were …
After the extraordinary events unfolded on the Capitol Hill on January 6, many tech companies sprang into actions. Among them was Amazon Web Services taking Parler offline with less than thirty hours of notice,effective midnight January 10. In Amazon’s notice to Parler, Amazon said the reason for its action was “[b]ecause Parler cannot comply with …
The week of November 2, 2020 was notable for reasons beyond the electoral college map plastered on every news network. The healthcare industry was battling another large wave of COVID-19 infections, navigating unprecedented cybersecurity attacks, and anxiously awaiting word from Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT …
On December 11, 2020 the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 vaccine, which was created by Pfizer-BioNTech. Additionally, a second COVID-19 vaccine, created by Moderna, is expected to be granted an EUA before the end of 2020. The creation of the vaccine is a scientific miracle, not only because of …
