Sanctions for E-Discovery Violations: By the Numbers

This Article reviews our comprehensive survey of written opinions from cases in federal courts prior to January 1, 2010, involving motions for sanctions relating to the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) We analyzed each case for various factors, including date, court, type of case, sanctioning authority, sanctioned party, sanctioned misconduct, sanction type, sanctions to counsel, if any, and the protections provided from sanctions by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) The survey identified 401 sanction cases and 230 sanction awards and showed that sanction motions and awards have increased over time, particularly in the last five years Sanctions against counsel are rare but are also increasing Sanction motions have been filed in all types of cases and in courts across the country Failure to produce ESI is the most common basis for sanctions Courts have used a variety of different rules, statutes, and powers to sanction parties for e-disco very violations, including Rule 37 and the inherent power of the court, and courts impose many different sanction types on e-discovery violators, including the severe sanctions of dismissal, default Judgment, adverse jury instructions, and sizeable monetary awards Rule 37(e) has not provided broad protection from such sanction

Sanctions for E-Discovery Violations: By the Numbers

This Article reviews our comprehensive survey of written opinions from cases in federal courts prior to January 1, 2010, involving motions for sanctions relating to the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI) We analyzed each case for various factors, including date, court, type of case, sanctioning authority, sanctioned party, sanctioned misconduct, sanction type, sanctions to counsel, if any, and the protections provided from sanctions by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) The survey identified 401 sanction cases and 230 sanction awards and showed that sanction motions and awards have increased over time, particularly in the last five years Sanctions against counsel are rare but are also increasing Sanction motions have been filed in all types of cases and in courts across the country Failure to produce ESI is the most common basis for sanctions Courts have used a variety of different rules, statutes, and powers to sanction parties for e-disco very violations, including Rule 37 and the inherent power of the court, and courts impose many different sanction types on e-discovery violators, including the severe sanctions of dismissal, default Judgment, adverse jury instructions, and sizeable monetary awards Rule 37(e) has not provided broad protection from such sanction

Amateur-to-amateur: The rise of a new creative culture

This 2006 article argues: It is commonly said that copyright matters because it encourages the production of socially beneficial, culturally significant expressive content. Excessive focus on copyright law and policy, however, can obscure other information practices that also produce beneficial and useful expression. The functions that make up the creative cycle -- creation, selection, production, dissemination, promotion, sale, and use of expressive content-- have historically been carried out and controlled by centralized commercial actors. However, all of those functions are undergoing revolutionary decentralization and disintermediation. Different aspects of information technology, notably the digitization of information, widespread computer ownership, the rise of the Internet, and the development of social networking software, threaten both the viability and the desirability of centralized control over the steps in the creative cycle. Those functions are being performed increasingly by individuals and disorganized, distributed groups. This raises questions about copyright as the main regulatory force in creative information practices. Copyright law assumes a central control structure that applies less well to the creative content cycle with each passing year. Copyright law should be adjusted to recognize and embrace a distributed, decentralized creative cycle and the expanded marketplace of ideas it promises

Amateur-to-Amateur

Copyright, it is commonly said, matters in society because it encourages the production of socially beneficial, culturally significant expressive content. Our focus on copyright\u27s recent history, however, blinds us to the social information practices that have always existed. In this Article, we examine these social information practices, and query copyright\u27s role within them. We posit a functional model of what is necessary for creative content to move from creator to user. These are the functions dealing with the creation, selection, production, dissemination, promotion, sale, and use of expressive content. We demonstrate how centralized commercial control of information content has been the driving force behind copyright\u27s expansion. All of the functions that copyright industries once controlled, however, are undergoing revolutionary decentralization and disintermediation. Different aspects of information technology, notably the digitization of information, widespread computer ownership, the rise of the Internet, and the development of social software, threaten the viability and desirability of centralized control over every one of the content functions. These functions are increasingly being performed by individuals and disaggregated groups. This raises an issue for copyright as the main regulatory force in information practices: copyright assumes a central control requirement that no longer applies for the development of expressive content. We examine the normative implications of this shift for our information policy in this new post-copyright era. Most notably, we conclude that copyright law needs to be adjusted in order to recognize the opportunity and desirability of decentralized content, and the expanded marketplace of ideas it promises

Spacecraft design project: High latitude communications satellite

The spacecraft design project was part of AE-4871, Advanced Spacecraft Design. The project was intended to provide experience in the design of all major components of a satellite. Each member of the class was given primary responsibility for a subsystem or design support function. Support was requested from the Naval Research Laboratory to augment the Naval Postgraduate School faculty. Analysis and design of each subsystem was done to the extent possible within the constraints of an eleven week quarter and the design facilities (hardware and software) available. The project team chose to evaluate the design of a high latitude communications satellite as representative of the design issues and tradeoffs necessary for a wide range of satellites. The High-Latitude Communications Satellite (HILACS) will provide a continuous UHF communications link between stations located north of the region covered by geosynchronous communications satellites, i.e., the area above approximately 60 N latitude. HILACS will also provide a communications link to stations below 60 N via a relay Net Control Station (NCS), which is located with access to both the HILACS and geosynchronous communications satellites. The communications payload will operate only for that portion of the orbit necessary to provide specified coverage

An Event-Aware Model for Metadata Interoperability

We describe the ABC modeling work of the Harmony Project. The ABC model provides a foundation for understanding interoperability of individual metadata modules - as described in the Warwick Framework - and for developing mechanisms to translate among them. Of particular interest in this model is an event, which facilitates understanding of the lifecycle of resources and the association of metadata descriptions with points in this lifecycle

Going Deeper: Biomolecular Tools for Acoustic and Magnetic Imaging and Control of Cellular Function

Most cellular phenomena of interest to mammalian biology occur within the context of living tissues and organisms. However, today’s most advanced tools for observing and manipulating cellular function, based on fluorescent or light-controlled proteins, work best in cultured cells, transparent model species, or small, surgically accessed anatomical regions. Their reach into deep tissues and larger animals is limited by photon scattering. To overcome this limitation, we must design biochemical tools that interface with more penetrant forms of energy. For example, sound waves and magnetic fields easily permeate most biological tissues, allowing the formation of images and delivery of energy for actuation. These capabilities are widely used in clinical techniques such as diagnostic ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, focused ultrasound ablation, and magnetic particle hyperthermia. Each of these modalities offers spatial and temporal precision that could be used to study a multitude of cellular processes in vivo. However, connecting these techniques to cellular functions such as gene expression, proliferation, migration, and signaling requires the development of new biochemical tools that can interact with sound waves and magnetic fields as optogenetic tools interact with photons. Here, we discuss the exciting challenges this poses for biomolecular engineering and provide examples of recent advances pointing the way to greater depth in in vivo cell biology

The Contrasting Character of Early and Late Transition Metal Fluorides as Hydrogen Bond Acceptors

The association constants and enthalpies for the binding of hydrogen bond donors to group 10 transition metal complexes featuring a single fluoride ligand (trans-[Ni(F)(2-C5NF4)(PR3)2], R = Et 1a, Cy 1b, trans-[Pd(F)(4-C5NF4)(PCy3)2] 2, trans-[Pt(F){2-C5NF2H(CF3)}(PCy3)2] 3 and of group 4 difluorides (Cp2MF2, M = Ti 4a, Zr 5a, Hf 6a; Cp2MF2, M = Ti 4b, Zr 5b, Hf 6b) are reported. These measurements allow placement of these fluoride ligands on the scales of organic H-bond acceptor strength. The H-bond acceptor capability β (Hunter scale) for the group 10 metal fluorides is far greater (1a 12.1, 1b 9.7, 2 11.6, 3 11.0) than that for group 4 metal fluorides (4a 5.8, 5a 4.7, 6a 4.7, 4b 6.9, 5b 5.6, 6b 5.4), demonstrating that the group 10 fluorides are comparable to the strongest organic H-bond acceptors, such as Me3NO, whereas group 4 fluorides fall in the same range as N-bases aniline through pyridine. Additionally, the measurement of the binding enthalpy of 4-fluorophenol to 1a in carbon tetrachloride (?23.5 ± 0.3 kJ mol-1) interlocks our study with Laurence's scale of H-bond basicity of organic molecules. The much greater polarity of group 10 metal fluorides than that of the group 4 metal fluorides is consistent with the importance of p?-d? bonding in the latter. The polarity of the group 10 metal fluorides indicates their potential as building blocks for hydrogen-bonded assemblies. The synthesis of trans-[Ni(F){2-C5NF3(NH2)}(PEt3)2], which exhibits an extended chain structure assembled by hydrogen bonds between the amine and metal-fluoride groups, confirms this hypothesis

Blockchains, Orphan Works, and the Public Domain

This Article outlines a blockchain based system to solve the orphan works problem. Orphan works are works still ostensibly protected by copyright for which an author cannot be found. Orphan works represent a significant problem for the efficient dissemination of knowledge, since users cannot license the works, and as a result may choose not to use them. Our proposal uses a blockchain to register attempts to find the authors of orphan works, and otherwise to facilitate use of those works. There are three elements to our proposal. First, we propose a number of mechanisms, included automated systems, to perform a diligent search for a rights holder. Second, we propose a blockchain register where every search for a work’s owner can be recorded. Third, we propose a legal mechanism that delivers works into orphanhood, and affords a right to use those works after a search for a rights holder is deemed diligent. These changes would provide any user of an orphan work with an assurance that they were acting legally as long as they had consulted the register and/or performed a diligent search for the work’s owner. The Article demonstrates a range of complementary legal and technological architectures that, in various formations, can be deployed to address the orphan works problem. We show that these technological systems are useful for enhancement of the public domain more generally, through the existence of a growing registry of gray status works and clarified conditions for their use. The selection and design of any particular implementation is a choice for policy makers and technologists. Rather than specify how that choice should look, the goal here is to demonstrate the utility of the technology and to clarify and promote its role in reforming this vexed area of law