Cyberlaw Central

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

Links for Week of May 22, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 22 May 2026 17:42:17 +0000

This week, the Musk v. Altman trial came to an end, with the jury deciding that the claims were barred by the Statute of Limitations. There was more fallout from ICE confirming that it uses Paragon Graphite zero-click spyware. Finally, I liked Professor Guadamuz’s post on AI slop.

Musk v. Altman Trial Concludes

ICE is Using Paragon Graphite Zero-Click Spyware

Why AI Slop Is Taking Over The World

https://www.technollama.co.uk/why-ai-slop-is-taking-over-the-world

Links for Week of May 15, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 15 May 2026 18:35:34 +0000

This week, I was glad to participate in the Chicago Bar Association’s AI Symposium, presenting on AI and Intellectual Property Issues. For more on the symposium, see https://learn.chicagobar.org/products/ai-2035-the-legal-profession-and-the-law. I liked Nate Anderson’s article explaining how two hackers forgot to stop the Teams meeting recording and ended up documenting their own crimes. There were more days of testimony in the Musk v. Altman trial worthy of discussion. Finally, the FCC’s foreign router ban is now allowing updates to existing models, but only until 2029.

Criminals Document Own Crimes in Teams Recording

Musk v. Altman Trial Continues

FCC Foreign Router Ban

Links for Week of May 8, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 08 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

This week, the Musk v. Altman trial continues to lead the news. I liked Professor Sarah Fackrell’s guest blog post about Schedule A judge shopping occurring here in the Northern District of Illinois. Finally, the 8th Circuit struck down the Biden-era FCC’s Anti-Discrimination Rule. This will now limit the FCC’s ability to act unless there is proven evidence of conscious bias, which is very difficult to prove.

Musk v. Altman Trial Updates

Schedule A Judge Shopping

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2026/05/judge-shopping-schedule-a-guest-blog-post.htm

8th Circuit Strikes Down FCC Anti-Discrimination Rule

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/court-strikes-down-fcc-anti-discrimination-rule-opposed-by-internet-providers/

Links for Week of May 1, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 01 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Happy Law Day! I’d link to the Jonathan Coulton song, but it’s NSFW. If you know, you know. The big news this week is the start of the trial in the case filed by Elon Musk over the direction taken by OpenAI. I liked a post by Evan Brown on embedded video and whether it was fair use. Finally, some minor clarity from the FCC on their confusing order banning certain routers – it does apply to portable hotspots, but not phones.

Musk v. Altman

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/musk-and-altman-face-off-in-trial-that-will-determine-openais-future/

Fair Use and Embedded Video

https://internetcases.com/2026/04/27/embedding-video-may-not-be-copyright-fair-use/

FCC Router Ban

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/fcc-says-ban-on-foreign-made-routers-includes-portable-wi-fi-hotspots/

Links for Week of April 24, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 19:59:36 +0000

This week, I really liked Nilay Patel’s essay at The Verge on what he calls “Software brain.” It’s about the AI backlash. I especially like his comparison to “Lawyer brain.” I also liked Professor Guadamuz’s post about the Pelham II copyright decision in the EU and how it will affect AI outputs. Finally, the fairness hearing regarding the settlement in the Bartz v. Anthropic case has been moved to May 14th, with some sealed objections now unsealed. It promises to be an interesting hearing!

Software Brain

https://www.theverge.com/podcast/917029/software-brain-ai-backlash-databases-automation

Pelham II EU Copyright case – AI Outputs

https://www.technollama.co.uk/pastiche-or-cliche-what-pelham-ii-might-mean-for-ai-outputs

Bartz v. Anthropic – Fairness Hearing Moved

https://www.authorsalliance.org/2026/04/14/bartz-v-anthropic-settlement-update-new-date-and-time-for-the-fairness-hearing-you-can-join-online-and-unsealed-objections/

Links for Week of April 17, 2026

Kevin A. Thompson — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:56:15 +0000

This week, I liked an article by Ashley Belanger about a parent facing a support nightmare on Discord. The child had lied about their age before the account was hacked, so there was no way for the parent to try to help. The National Law Review posted a nice summary of the key takeaways from the 2026 IAPP Global Privacy Summit. Finally, I liked Professor Ochoa’s guest post on the Cox v. Sony case.

Support Nightmare on Discord

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/dad-stuck-in-support-nightmare-after-teen-lied-about-age-on-discord/

2026 IAPP Global Privacy Summit

https://natlawreview.com/article/key-takeaways-2026-iapp-global-privacy-summit

Cox v. Sony

https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2026/04/u-s-supreme-court-narrows-secondary-liability-in-copyright-law-cox-v-sony-guest-blog-post.htm

Links for Week of April 10, 2026

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

This week, LinkedIn is at the center of a major privacy controversy involving secret browser surveillance. I liked an article by Glyn Moody about agentic AI and its impact on copyright, specifically regarding computer code. Also, Amnesty International weighed in on the EU’s “Digital Omnibus,” arguing it would gut GDPR protections to feed Big Tech’s AI ambitions.

LinkedIn Browser Surveillance

Agentic AI and Copyright of Computer Code

https://www.techdirt.com/2026/04/03/can-agentic-ai-coding-tools-finally-end-copyright-for-software-while-re-inventing-open-source/

Amnesty International’s Critique of EU’s Digital Omnibus

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/04/eu-simplification-laws/

Links for Week of April 3, 2026

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

This week, Meta filed a statement in one of the torrenting cases for AI training data, claiming that the recent Cox decision will help it avoid liability. There’s some controversy over the official White House app, as it has significant privacy concerns. The author is apparently also a UFO conspiracy theorist. Finally, Anthropic’s Claude had its code leaked through what was apparently human error.

My appearance on the Sci Fi Book Pod discussing Robert Heinlein’s 1966 classic, “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress” is now online. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlKNz3eXFBU.

To learn more about my Sci Fi and Fantasy Book Club, see https://bookclubs.com/clubs/5958204/join/a48ac1.

Meta Torrenting Case Update

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/meta-hopes-scotus-piracy-ruling-will-help-it-beat-lawsuit-over-torrenting-ai-data/

Controversial White House App

Anthropic’s Claude Code Leak