Cyberlaw Central

Links for Week of July 31, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

This week, a US citizen was stopped by customs upon his return to the United States. The agents demanded access to his phone. He provided them a password. That password triggered a wipe of the device. He’s now being charged with destruction of property that the US was trying to seize.

Professor Goldman had an interesting post about the cookie banner for Harbor Freight that included an acceptance of the overall terms and conditions of the website, including an agreement to arbitration. This applied even if the user didn’t accept any cookies.

Finally, a bizarre cyberstalking case involving now-former eBay executives concluded this week.

Destruction of Property Charge

Alba v. Harbor Freight

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2026/07/when-you-reject-cookies-you-might-be-agreeing-to-arbitration-alba-v-harbor-freight.htm

eBay Cyberstalking Case Concludes

Links for Week of July 24, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 20:04:05 +0000

This week, Anthropic’s settlement of the Bartz case was approved. The $1.5 billion translates to about $3,000 per author. The EU hit Google with $1 billion in fines. Finally, a cautionary tale of identity theft when your email is hacked.

Anthropic’s Settlement of Bartz Case Approved

EU Fines Google $1 Billion

Cautionary Identity Theft Tale

https://tech.yahoo.com/cybersecurity/articles/how-a-stranger-used-one-text-message-to-steal-my-entire-digital-life-140003797.html

Links for Week of July 17, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

This week, the Justice Department announced an indictment against Russian hackers involved in $62 Million of cybercrime. In the EU, Parliament revived a controversial law allowing big tech to search for CSAM. Finally, Professor Goldman had a nice post about how eBay defeated a contributory copyright infringement claim.

Russian Hackers Indicted

EU Parliament Revives CSAM Law

EBay Defeats Contributory Copyright Infringement Claim

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2026/07/ebay-defeats-contributory-copyright-claim-lee-v-sbs.htm

Links for Week of July 10, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 16:54:08 +0000

This week, news outlets involved in the lawsuit against OpenAI brought a motion for sanctions. They allege that OpenAI has chosen to obstruct rather than comply with their discovery requests. I liked an analysis of fair use rulings in AI cases. Hat tip to beSpacific for the link. Finally, I really liked Professor Guadamuz’s musings on the implications of a recent paper on AI consciousness and the effect it might have on copyright. He’s been doing a lot of deep thinking lately instead of writing the paper he’s supposed to be writing…

OpenAI Litigation Update

AI Fair Use Rulings Analysis

AI and Copyright

https://www.technollama.co.uk/androids-do-dream-of-electric-sheep-so-where-next-for-copyright

Links for Week of July 3, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

This week, Happy 250th to the USA! Among the Supreme Court’s rulings this week, they did limit the use of geofence warrants for cell phone data. Also, more significantly, they overturned the 91-year old Humphrey’s Executor decision and allowed the President to fire FTC commissioners at will. Finally, the US is allowing Anthropic to deliver its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models after weeks of negotiation.

Also, an interview I recorded at the CBA’s AI 2035 Symposium was published this week – https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/chicago-bar/2026/06/key-takeaways-from-the-ai-2035-symposium/

Chatrie v. United States – Geofence Warrants

Trump v. Slaughter – FTC Commissioner Firing At Will

Anthropic’s AI Models Released Globally

Links for Week of June 26, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

This week, Bruce Schneier had a nice post about a German court holding Google liable for its AI summaries. Via BeSpacific, 404 Media has a nice post about the Tokenpocalypse. These companies are being hit with huge bills for their token usage, of which some can be attributed to users merely converting PDFs to presentation slides. Finally, there now is an AI Copyright Litigation Tracker.

Liability for AI Summaries

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/06/ai-and-liability.html

The Tokenpocalypse

Copyright AI Litigation Tracker

https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/ai-status-copyright-cases-tracker/

Links for Week of June 19, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

It’s Juneteenth! This week, Bernie Sanders introduced a plan to give Americans more control over the AI industry. Last week I mentioned the Fable 5 model, which Anthropic had to pull from access in response to the administration. Finally, the FISA spying law ended, but it will continue to be effective through March 2027.

Bernie Sanders Plan for AI Industry Control

Fable 5 ban

FISA Title VII Expires

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/controversial-fisa-spying-law-expires-tonight-the-spying-will-continue/

Links for Week of June 12, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 17:15:24 +0000

This week, Anthropic’s Claude introduced Fable 5, its new publicly-available version of Mythos, along with some privacy implications. The company has walked back some of those privacy concerns, though. Domain Name Wire finished its reviews of 15 automated domain name valuation tools. Finally, I liked Professor Guadamuz’s essay on the copyright implications of super intelligence.

Anthropic Introduces Fable 5 Along With Privacy Concerns

Domain Name Wire’s Evaluation of Automated Domain Name Valuation Tools

https://domainnamewire.com/2026/06/05/and-the-best-automated-domain-name-appraisal-tool-is/

Copyright Implications of Super Intelligence

https://www.technollama.co.uk/copyright-implications-of-super-intelligence

Links for Week of June 5, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:05:33 +0000

This week, I had fun moderating a roundtable on AI and its impact on the legal profession, culture, and society at Legal Geek North America. Lots of great input from the attendees. The Supreme Court ruled on a case involving FCC enforcement, which was interesting in that it confirmed that courts are needed for that to occur. The 7th Circuit ruled in a case involving service on foreign defendants in Schedule A cases. Finally, a hat tip to GeekPress for linking to an interesting article on the Costco Theory of the Internet.

FCC v. AT&T Ruling

Email Service in Schedule A Cases

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2026/05/seventh-circuit-limits-email-service-to-chinese-sad-scheme-defendants-kangol-v-hangzhou-silk.htm

Costco Theory of the Internet

Links for Week of May 29, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:19:11 +0000

This week, Pope Leo issued his encyclical on AI adoption, which raises interesting points to consider. Like, how much of a Lord of The Rings fan is the Pope, as he quotes Gandalf in it. Also this week, the Illinois legislature passed SB0315, the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act. We understand that Governor Pritzker intends to sign it. Finally, on the scary side, security researcher Bruce Schneier linked to an article on a study using Wi-fi signals to identify specific persons present.

If any of you readers will be at LegalGeek North America next week, say hi! I’ll be moderating a roundtable on AI adoption and its wider implications.

Pope’s AI Encyclical

Illinois SB0315 – The Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act

Wi-Fi Signals Used to Identify Specific Persons Present

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/05/identifying-people-using-wi-fi-routers.html