Moving Beyond “Reasonable”: Clarifying the FTC’s Use of Its Unfairness Authority in Data Security Enforcement Actions

Data security breaches, which compromise private consumer information, seem to be an ever-increasing threat. To stem this tide, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has relied upon its authority to enforce the prohibition against unfair business practices under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“section 5”) to hold companies accountable when they fail to employ data security measures that could prevent breaches. Specifically, the FTC brings enforcement actions when it finds that companies have failed to implement “reasonable” data security measures. However, companies and scholars argue that the FTC has not provided adequate notice of which data security practices it considers “reasonable” for the purposes of section 5. This Note explains and critically analyzes several existing proposals that seek to bring clarity to the FTC’s application of its unfairness authority in the data security context and ultimately proposes a novel solution which encourages the FTC explicitly to outline its minimum data security requirements through nonlegislative rulemaking. This Note contends that the FTC should incorporate a principle of proportionality in any rule to ensure that companies know which data security measures they should implement based on the relative sensitivity of the consumer data that they retain. Additionally, this Note suggests that the FTC should incorporate a safe harbor provision so that compliant companies know that, by following the FTC’s guidelines, they will be immune from section 5 enforcement actions

Automatic, nondestructive test monitors in-process weld quality

Instrument automatically and nondestructively monitors the quality of welds produced in microresistance welding. It measures the infrared energy generated in the weld as the weld is made and compares this energy with maximum and minimum limits of infrared energy values previously correlated with acceptable weld-strength tolerances

An Exploratory Exercise in Taguchi Analysis of Design Parameters: Application to a Shuttle-to-space Station Automated Approach Control System

The chief goals of the summer project have been twofold - first, for my host group and myself to learn as much of the working details of Taguchi analysis as possible in the time allotted, and, secondly, to apply the methodology to a design problem with the intention of establishing a preliminary set of near-optimal (in the sense of producing a desired response) design parameter values from among a large number of candidate factor combinations. The selected problem is concerned with determining design factor settings for an automated approach program which is to have the capability of guiding the Shuttle into the docking port of the Space Station under controlled conditions so as to meet and/or optimize certain target criteria. The candidate design parameters under study were glide path (i.e., approach) angle, path intercept and approach gains, and minimum impulse bit mode (a parameter which defines how Shuttle jets shall be fired). Several performance criteria were of concern: terminal relative velocity at the instant the two spacecraft are mated; docking offset; number of Shuttle jet firings in certain specified directions (of interest due to possible plume impingement on the Station's solar arrays), and total RCS (a measure of the energy expended in performing the approach/docking maneuver). In the material discussed here, we have focused on single performance criteria - total RCS. An analysis of the possibility of employing a multiobjective function composed of a weighted sum of the various individual criteria has been undertaken, but is, at this writing, incomplete. Results from the Taguchi statistical analysis indicate that only three of the original four posited factors are significant in affecting RCS response. A comparison of model simulation output (via Monte Carlo) with predictions based on estimated factor effects inferred through the Taguchi experiment array data suggested acceptable or close agreement between the two except at the predicted optimum point, where a difference outside a rule-of-thumb bound was observed. We have concluded that there is most likely an interaction effect not provided for in the original orthogonal array selected as the basis for our experimental design. However, we feel that the data indicates that this interaction is a mild one and that inclusion of its effect will not alter the location of the optimum

CROP INSURANCE, GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL POLICIES, AND SOIL EROSION

This paper investigates the relationship between government agricultural programs and soil erosion. Using county-level data from the years 1992 and 1997, we estimate a model of water-induced (i.e., sheet and rill) soil erosion and crop insurance participation for counties where corn, soybean, and winter wheat account for at least 90% of total planted acreage. This includes most of the areas that have exhibited the highest historical levels of sheet and rill erosion. We find that crop insurance participation and conservation payments are significantly associated with county average soil erosion levels. In particular, corn insurance participation exhibits a positive impact on soil erosion, while wheat insurance participation exhibits a negative impact. After controlling for differences in soil erodibility, counties that receive higher conservation payments exhibit lower levels of soil erosion. We also find that government price and income support program payments (e.g., target price-based/loan deficiency payments and AMTA payments) exhibit no statistically significant association with our soil erosion measure.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Time for play – An exploratory analysis of the changing consumption contexts of digital games

This study posits that Internet technologies are relaxing the coupling constraints required for the consumption of digital games, resulting in entirely different modes of consumption than has been the norm for the past thirty years. The data collection and analysis found that players of traditional console-based games tend to play for several hours at a time while at a home during evenings and on weekends, the traditional scenario associated with leisure activities. Players of the latest breed of online browser-based digital games, on the other hand, tend to play them for only a few minutes at a time, and at many times throughout the day as a diversionary filler activ-ity between other daily activities. Because they utilize simple and readily available Internet technologies, online browser-based games have facilitated the penetration of digital games into new spaces, including the workplace and school, reflecting a growing trend in modern society.Digital games; online browser-based games; time use; uses and gratifications

The Relationship Between Economically and Environmentally Marginal Land

Concerns have frequently been raised regarding the impact of federally-subsidized crop insurance and agricultural subsidy payments on land allocation and crop mix choices. If the reduction in production risk encourages farmers to plant on economically marginal land, it has often been asserted that this will lead to increases in environmental damage, including increases in soil erosion rates. This paper investigates the "conventional" wisdom that economically marginal land is also environmentally fragile, as defined by higher levels of inherent soil erodibility. We address this issue by looking at the distribution of crop yields for 4 major crops across National Resource Inventory (NRI) erodibility classes and by performing regression analysis. Our results indicate that land with higher levels of soil erodibility exhibit lower mean crop yields, a proxy for economic marginality, which lends support to the conventional wisdom.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Gender differences in expectancy of academic success in mathematics

Includes bibliographical references

Hydrodynamical instabilities induced by atomic diffusion in A stars and their consequences

Aims. Atomic diffusion, including the effect of radiative accelerations on individual elements, leads to important variations of the chemical composition inside the stars. The accumulation in specific layers of the elements, which are the main contributors of the local opacity, leads to hydrodynamical instabilities that modify the internal stellar structure and surface abundances. Our aim is to study these effects and compare the resulting surface abundances with spectroscopic observations Methods. We computed the detailed structure of A-type stars including these effects. We used the Toulouse-Geneva Evolution Code (TGEC), where radiative accelerations are computed using the Single Valued Parameter (SVP) method, and we added double-diffusive convection with mixing coefficients deduced from three-dimensional (3D) simulations. Results. We show that the modification of the initial chemical composition has important effects on the internal stellar mixing and leads to different surface abundances of the elements. The results fit the observed surface chemical composition well if the layers, which are individually mixed by double-diffusive convection, are connected.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted in A&

Spatial Dynamic Modeling and Urban Land Use Transformation:

Assessing the economic impacts of urban land use transformation has become complex and acrimonious. Although community planners are beginning to comprehend the economic trade-offs inherent in transforming the urban fringe, they find it increasingly difficult to analyze and assess the trade-offs expediently and in ways that can influence local decisionmaking. New and sophisticated spatial modeling techniques are now being applied to urban systems that can quickly assess the probable spatial outcomes of given communal policies. Applying an economic impact assessment to the probable spatial patterns can provide to planners the tools needed to quickly assess scenarios for policy formation that will ultimately help inform decision makers. This paper focuses on the theoretical underpinnings and practical application of an economic impact analysis submodel developed within the Land use Evolution and Impact Assessment Modeling (LEAM) environment. The conceptual framework of LEAM is described, followed by an application of the model to the assessment of the cost of urban sprawl in Kane County, Illinois. The results show the effectiveness of spatially explicit modeling from a theoretical and a practical point of view. The agent-based approach of spatial dynamic modeling with a high spatial resolution allows for discerning the macro-level implications of micro-level behaviors. These phenomena are highlighted in the economic submodel in the discussion of the implications of land use change decisions on individual and communal costs; low-density development patterns favoring individual behaviors at the expense of the broader community.