NYC Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB)

 NYC Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB)

"The main purpose of ethics laws lies not in punishing wrongdoing, but in preventing it, not in catching people, but in teaching them.

The Conflicts of Interest Board is the independent New York City agency tasked with administering, enforcing and interpreting Chapter 68 of the New York City Charter, the City's Conflicts of Interest Law, and Section 12-110 of the Administrative Code, the City's Annual Disclosure Law. We hope you'll enjoy learning more about this agency, and government ethics in general, by exploring the tabs on the left and the other offerings on our site.

Through a combination of engaging training, confidential advice, and vigorous enforcement, the Board seeks to prevent ethics questions from becoming ethics problems for public servants. Ultimately, however, integrity in City government rests upon all of us, public servant and private citizen alike. Only when each of us plays his or her part will the public trust inherent in public service be ensured."

New York mayor Eric Adams faces nepotism claim over job for brother; The Guardian, January 9, 2022

Edward Helmore , The Guardian; New York mayor Eric Adams faces nepotism claim over job for brother

"Adams is a retired [sic] NYD officer. So is his brother, Bernard Adams, who most recently worked as assistant director of operations for parking and transportation at the medical campus of Virginia Commonwealth University but has now been appointed as deputy police commissioner with a $240,000-a-year salary. The move has exposed the mayor to accusations of nepotism.

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a good governance group, told City & State: “New Yorkers expect that public servants are hired based on their unique qualifications and not because they are the mayor’s brother.”

Lerner said the approval of the city conflict of interest board would be required, but “even with a waiver, the appointment of the mayor’s close relative does not inspire public confidence”.

On CNN, Adams said the board would “make the determination and we have a great system here in the city”.

“But let me be clear on this. My brother is qualified for the position. Number one, he will be in charge of my security, which is extremely important to me in a time when we see an increase in white supremacy and hate crimes. I have to take my security in a very serious way.""

UNESCO AI Ethics Impacting 2022 Global Startups And Humanity’s Billions; Forbes, December 30, 2021

Stephen Ibaraki, Forbes; UNESCO AI Ethics Impacting 2022 Global Startups And Humanity’s Billions

"AI influences nearly 8 billion people and human & earth diverse ecosystems on an unprecedented scale. Startups accelerate to incorporate AI innovation as AI tools proliferate. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The UNESCO recommendations on the ethics of AI recently adopted by member states provides a foundational global agreement on AI Ethics. The global UNESCO AI recommendations in 2022 guides governments, industry, education, academia, non-profits, media, investments, and startups. This filters into national and international policies and regulatory frameworks and operational guidance across all industries. The objectives ultimately drive emerging AI driven technologies that are trustworthy, safe, human-centered for the benefit of people and humanity. 

The focus in this article is the IRCAI – International Research Center on Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO. The article is guided by the daily pro bono work I do across more than 100,00 CEOs, investors, experts, and scientists."

Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, on what physicians need to know about ethics in 2022; American Medical Association (AMA), January 5, 2022

American Medical Association (AMA); Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, on what physicians need to know about ethics in 2022

"AMA's Moving Medicine video series amplifies physician voices and highlights developments and achievements throughout medicine.

Kicking off 2022 with the AMA's "Look Forward/Look Back” series, AMA Chief Experience Officer Todd Unger talks with Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, the AMA's vice president of ethics, about the AMA's critical work in medical ethics and what to expect in the months ahead.

Speaker

• Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, vice president, ethics, AMA...

Unger: In addition to mandates, another one of these key ethics challenges that physicians faced in 2021, and this is a very painful one, is about allocating scarce resources. Throughout the pandemic, we've seen hospitals goal with shortages of ventilators, ICU beds, even staff to take care of critically ill patients. And sometimes, hospitals are forced to implement "crisis standards of care," in which they prioritize patients largely on their likelihood of survival. How did the AMA guide physicians and hospitals in what is an extremely difficult decision?

Dr. Kao: Yeah, I mean, you raise a great point. I mean, according to the AMA Code of Medical Ethics, allocation policies should be based on criteria relating to medical need. It's not appropriate to base allocation policies on social worth, perceived obstacles to treatment, patient contribution to illness or, frankly, past use of resources.

While the Code provides a general framework for addressing allocation decisions, the COVID pandemic revealed that much of the health care system was not prepared to implement allocation policies. To be blunt, these are not decisions we can make on the fly. So, we need to be better prepared. And for the Code, that means its ethical guidance on this critically important topic should be updated. As a living document, the Code is continually updated and this is a prime example of AMA's stewardship of the code I mentioned earlier.

Unger: That's interesting. It's almost this opportunity to take a look back at the year and look beyond what are, I don't know, more theoretical in terms of the ethics and how they were applied to help people learn that. When you're talking about a living document, is that what you're meaning?

Dr. Kao: Yeah, that's right. I mean, I think we have to have a strong dose of humility in medicine to know what we know and what we don't know. And so, to not learn the lessons of this pandemic to apply to how we should care for patients in the future would not speak well of our commitment to promote the health of the public."

Artificial intelligence author kicks off Friends of the Library nonfiction lecture series; Naples Daily News, January 7, 2022

Vicky Bowles, Naples Daily News; Artificial intelligence author kicks off Friends of the Library nonfiction lecture series

"Over the past few decades, a bunch of smart guys built artificial intelligence systems that have had deep impact on our everyday lives. But do they — and their billion-dollar companies — have the human intelligence to keep artificial intelligence safe and ethical?

Questions like this are part of the history and overview of artificial intelligence in Cade Metz’s book “Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought AI to Google, Facebook, and the World.”

On Monday, Jan. 17, Metz, a technology correspondent for The New York Times and former senior writer for Wired magazine, is the first speaker in the 2022 Nonfiction Author Series, sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Library of Collier County, which raises money for public library programs and resources...

"NDN: This was such a wonderful sentence early on in your book: “As an undergraduate at Harvard (in the 1940s), using over three thousand vacuum tubes and a few parts from an old B-52 bomber, (Marvin) Minsky built what may have been the first neural network.” Is that kind of amateur, garage-built science still possible, given the speed of innovation now and the billions of dollars that are thrown at development?

CM: It certainly is. It happens all the time, inside universities and out. But in the AI field, this has been eclipsed by the work at giant companies like Google and Facebook. That is one of the major threads in my book: academia struggling to keep up with the rapid rate of progress in the tech industry. It is a real problem. So much of the talent is moving into industry, leaving the cupboard bare at universities. Who will teach the next generation? Who will keep the big tech companies in check? 

NDN: I was amused to see that Google and DeepMind built a team “dedicated to what they called ‘AI safety,’ an effort to ensure that the lab’s technologies did no harm.” My question is, who defines harm within this race to monetize new technologies? Isn’t, for example, the staggering amount of electrical power used to run these systems harmful to the globe?

CM: I am glad you were amused. These companies say we should trust them to ensure AI "safety" and "ethics," but the reality is that safety and ethics are in the eye of the beholder. They can shape these terms to mean whatever they like. Many of the AI researchers at the heart of my book are genuinely concerned about how AI will be misused — how it will cause harm — but when they get inside these large companies, they find that their views clash with the economic aims of these tech giants."

How Do You Practice Responsible Astrology?; Wired, January 5, 2022

 DIANA ROSE HARPER, Wired; How Do You Practice Responsible Astrology?

"Some professional astrological organizations attempt to address these issues through codes of ethics, but because there’s no governing body dictating who can and cannot call themselves an astrologer, such codes are limited in their capacity to reign in practitioners behaving irresponsibly. Additionally, those codes, by their very nature, cannot fully address ethical differences across cultures or generational divides."

Ethical aspects relating to cyberspace: copyright and privacy; Israel Defense, January 9, 2022

Giancarlo Elia Valori , Israel Defense; Ethical aspects relating to cyberspace: copyright and privacy

"A further right - the right to privacy - is one of the most fundamental rights: it reflects the natural human need for privacy, confidentiality and autonomy, as well as for the protection of one's own “personal sphere” from outside intrusion, and the ability to make decisions without being spied on and to remain oneself and maintain one’s own individuality.

It is no coincidence that in all international documents declaring human rights and freedoms, as well as in all codes of ethics related to the sphere of information, privacy is proclaimed as a fundamental moral value, which constitutes the foundation of human freedom and security, and therefore requires respect and protection."

Opinion: Where was Justice Neil Gorsuch’s mask?; The Washington Post, January 7, 2022

 Ruth Marcus, The Washington Post; Opinion: Where was Justice Neil Gorsuch’s mask?

"The sad part here is that Gorsuch is more emblem than outlier. The pandemic has brought out the best in some of us, but the worst — the most selfish and irresponsible — in too many others. This “you’re not the boss of me” immaturity has made a difficult period even harder.

Actions that should be understood as minor inconveniences desirable for the greater good have somehow been transformed into intolerable incursions on liberty. Being required to wear a mask has assumed symbolic resonance far in excess of any reasonable objection.

No one is the boss of Justice Gorsuch. Like his colleagues, he had a choice about whether to wear a mask. Unlike them, he chose poorly."

Sean Hannity, Fox News Face Ethical Issues Over Trump Text Revelations; Associated Press via The Hollywood Reporter, January 6, 2022

Associated Press via The Hollywood Reporter; Sean Hannity, Fox News Face Ethical Issues Over Trump Text Revelations

"It’s not unheard of for journalists to offer advice to politicians — history records Ben Bradlee’s friendship with former President John F. Kennedy — but such actions raise questions about their independence and allegiance to the public interest, said Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota.

Just last month, CNN fired primetime host Chris Cuomo when it became clear his efforts to advise his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, were more extensive than previously acknowledged.

In one text revealed by the committee on Tuesday, Hannity wrote to Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on Dec. 31, 2020, that “we can’t lose the entire WH counsel’s office” and said Trump should announce he was leading a nationwide effort to reform voting integrity."

The self-belief that made Novak Djokovic a champion has put him in limbo in Australia; The Washington Post, January 6, 2022

Liz Clarke, The Washington Post; The self-belief that made Novak Djokovic a champion has put him in limbo in Australia

"Two qualities in particular set the 6-2, 170-pound Djokovic apart:

A fanatical adherence to a strict gluten-free diet and a program of stretching and exercise that has transformed his otherwise unremarkable physique (much like Tom Brady) into a purpose-built, pliable winning machine.

And profound self-belief and self-determination that have pulled him from the brink of defeat in countless high-stakes matches. Djokovic’s inner belief is arguably his greatest asset, but it doesn’t necessarily mesh with decision-making for the greater good — such as complying with vaccine mandates amid a global pandemic."

2021 Year in Review; American Libraries, January 3, 2022

American Libraries ; 2021 Year in Review

Looking back at the news that affected libraries

"ALA Code of Ethics gains ninth principle

On June 29, ALA Council approved the addition of a new principle focused on equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice:

“We affirm the inherent dignity and rights of every person. We work to recognize and dismantle systemic and individual biases; to confront inequity and oppression; to enhance diversity and inclusion; and to advance racial and social justice in our libraries, communities, profession, and associations through awareness, advocacy, education, collaboration, services, and allocation of resources and spaces.”...

Emergency broadband discount program launched

In May, the Federal Communications Commission launched its $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which provides discounts on broadband internet service and digital devices for eligible low-income households...

ALA speaks out against anti-Asian hate crimes

On March 11, the ALA Executive Board issued a statement in solidarity with the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association’s stance recognizing and condemning anti-Asian violence. The Executive Board called on ALA members to condemn the “wave of anti-Asian language, hate speech, and physical assaults on streets across the country, in media reports, in statements by politicians, and on social media related to the origins of COVID-19.”"

Killer Robots Aren’t Science Fiction. A Push to Ban Them Is Growing.; The New York Times, December 17, 2022

Adam Satariano, Nick Cumming-Bruce and Rick Gladstone, The New York Times; Killer Robots Aren’t Science Fiction. A Push to Ban Them Is Growing.

A U.N. conference made little headway this week on limiting development and use of killer robots, prompting stepped-up calls to outlaw such weapons with a new treaty.

"It may have seemed like an obscure United Nations conclave, but a meeting this week in Geneva was followed intently by experts in artificial intelligence, military strategy, disarmament and humanitarian law.

The reason for the interest? Killer robots — drones, guns and bombs that decide on their own, with artificial brains, whether to attack and kill — and what should be done, if anything, to regulate or ban them.

Once the domain of science fiction films like the “Terminator” series and “RoboCop,” killer robots, more technically known as Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, have been invented and tested at an accelerated pace with little oversight. Some prototypes have even been used in actual conflicts.

The evolution of these machines is considered a potentially seismic event in warfare, akin to the invention of gunpowder and nuclear bombs."

Public Relations Bring Ethics Under the Spotlight; Entrepreneur, December 31, 2021

Krishna Athal , Entrepreneur ; Public Relations Bring Ethics Under the Spotlight

Contemporary PR should constantly review its codes and practices.

"Ethical public relations should not aim merely to confuse or cause equivocation but should inform and honestly influence judgment based on good reasons that advance the community. A necessary precondition of professionalism is ethically defensible behavior. Such a framework derives from philosophical and religious attitudes to behavior and ethics, laws and regulations, corporate and industry codes of conduct, public relations association codes of ethics, professional values and ethics, training and personal integrity."

What Libraries Need to Know about the Digital Equity Act; American Libraries, December 28, 2021

Michelle Frisque, American Libraries ; What Libraries Need to Know about the Digital Equity Act

Tips to maximize support and funding for your library’s digital inclusion goals

"What does the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) mean for libraries?

Signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021, IIJA includes a historic investment in advancing digital equity and an opportunity for libraries to leverage and expand their roles in that work.

The Digital Equity Act (DEA), a provision within IIJA, includes a federal investment of $2.75 billion over five years to promote digital equity, literacy, and inclusion initiatives at the local, state, and national levels. Libraries of all types will be eligible to apply.

As DEA states, broadband connections are critical for participation in society, the economy, civic institutions, health care, education, and digital careers."

Why your local library might be hiring a social worker; NPR, January 3, 2021

DARIAN BENSON, NPR; Why your local library might be hiring a social worker

"For years, libraries have been a place people turn to for information to help them solve problems. But the challenges patrons are dealing with are increasingly beyond the scope of what most librarians are trained to handle — and that's where social workers can fill in the gaps."

‘A For-Profit Company Is Trying to Privatize as Many Public Libraries as They Can’; FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING (FAIR), December 17, 2021

JANINE JACKSON, FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING (FAIR); ‘A For-Profit Company Is Trying to Privatize as Many Public Libraries as They Can’

CounterSpin interview with Caleb Nichols on defending public libraries

CN: And so it’s all about slashing pensions, slashing pay from salaries to hourly rates, kind of nickel-and-diming workers. And that does save money. But the other dimension to that is that these are library budgets and county budgets that are miniscule compared to the other things that money is being spent on. So it’s this sort of race to zero idea of, there’s already not really much money. So in the case of Riverside, and I go over this in the article, they kind of have this narrative, it’s their flagship case, it’s like, look at what the private sector can do for the public sector. Look at how much better we are at running this.

But really, if you look at the amount of money that Riverside was spending on their libraries, it just wasn’t enough money. It just wasn’t a good fraction of the budget. And also the savings that they claimed to have engineered come from places that are not necessarily linked to what this company has actually done. It’s all kind of a shell game, scam, illusion. It’s a grift.

And the same people that are running this company are the same usual suspects as have done other grifting, notably the Scantron Corporation, which has arguably changed the way that we do public education in the United States—for the worse, if you ask most people. The CEO of Library Systems & Services came from the Scantron Corporation. So these are people with experience in this type of, we are going to take our private interests into the public and capitalize off of taxpayer dollars without being accountable...

"CN: But the thing that people need to know, first and foremost, is that there is a private, for-profit company that is trying to privatize as many public libraries as they possibly can. And why is that? That right there for me is enough to go whoa, whoa, whoa, something’s really wrong.

And so on that same note, I don’t understand why American Library Association, for example, is not coming out much more forcefully against this happening, and is not being much more pivotal in forwarding this discussion. There are non-profit groups, like Every Library that has been working on individual cases where libraries are trying to be privatized by this company. But why isn’t the professional organization that governs all of librarianship, literally accredits the schools that give us our master’s degrees, why aren’t they protecting this most precious public good? So that’s a big question that I have. But also, like, where’s the rest of the media?

Why aren’t we talking about this? ‘Cause it’s happening. According to LS&S, they have 80 public library systems they are operating, making them the third-biggest public library operator in the country. I guess that’s probably behind New York Public Library, and maybe LA? I’m not really sure what exactly their metric is. But they’re bragging about that on their website. So I’m just like, no no no no no no; that can’t be how this is.

Because Americans love public libraries. And they love the public part of public libraries. It is one of these things that’s like, we all love the post office and we all love libraries. We can kind of agree on that. And as you mentioned before, the post office is another example of where this kind of attack is happening."

Driverless Cars And AI Ethics; Forbes, December 29, 2021

Cindy Gordon, Forbes; Driverless Cars And AI Ethics

"One of the most validated research surveys of machine ethics1, called the Moral Machine, was published in Nature, found that many of the moral principles that guide a driver’s decisions vary by country. This reinforces a regulatory set of complexities to navigate on cultural preferences. For example, in a scenario in which some combination of pedestrians and passengers will die in a collision, people from relatively prosperous countries with strong institutions were less likely to spare a pedestrian who stepped into traffic illegally. There were over 13 scenarios identified where a death could not be avoided and respondents had to make a decision on the impacts to old, rich, poor, more people or less people being killed. The research found that there are cultural variances in public preferences which governments and self-driving cars would need to take into account to gain varying jurisdictional confidence.

In other words different rules for countries would need to apply. Talk about moral and ethical complexities in design engineering. If this , then this etc."

In a year-end report, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasizes judicial ethics; NPR, December 31, 2021

ERIC MCDANIEL , NPR; In a year-end report, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasizes judicial ethics

"U.S. courts need to do more to ensure compliance with ethics rules — including rules that preclude a judge from presiding over cases in which he or she has a financial interest, Chief Justice John Roberts says in a year-end report on the federal judiciary.

Roberts was responding, in part, to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal which found that between 2010 and 2018, 131 federal judges ruled in cases involving companies in which they or their families owned shares of stock. 

Roberts said that while those amount to "less than three hundredths of one percent of the 2.5 million civil cases filed in the district courts" during that period, the federal judiciary must take the matter seriously.

"We are duty-bound to strive for 100% compliance because public trust is essential, not incidental, to our function," he wrote."

‘Live with it’: Betty White defied racist demands in 1954; The Washington Post, December 31, 2021

Gillian Brockell, The Washington Post ; ‘Live with it’: Betty White defied racist demands in 1954

"White made a career playing sweet characters with hidden — and hilarious — grit, and that quality goes all the way back to her first televised variety show, where, as the host and producer, she defied racist demands to get rid of Duncan because he was Black.

Her response?

“Live with it."...

“And all through the South, there was this whole ruckus,” White remembered in the doc. “They were going to take our show off the air if we didn’t get rid of Arthur, because he was Black.”

“People in the South resented me being on the show, and they wanted me thrown out,” Duncan agreed. “But there was never a question at all.”

“I said, ‘I’m sorry, but, you know, he stays,’ ” she said. “‘Live with it.’ ”"

Ryan Reynolds and more pay tribute to Betty White; CNN, December 31, 2021

Marianne Garvey, CNN; Ryan Reynolds and more pay tribute to Betty White

"Betty White is being remembered for her light, humor, charm and friendship."

The top 10 most-read medical ethics articles in 2021; American Medical Association (AMA), December 29, 2021

 

Kevin B. O'Reilly ,  American Medical Association (AMA); The top 10 most-read medical ethics articles in 2021

"Each month, the AMA Journal of Ethics^® (@JournalofEthics) gathers insights from physicians and other experts to explore issues in medical ethics that are highly relevant to doctors in practice and the future physicians now in medical schools, as well as the other health professionals who constitute the health care team.

Below, find the 10 most popular AMA Journal of Ethics articles published this year."

Design Ethics: Rethinking Practice in 2021; ArchDaily, December 30, 2021

 Eric Baldwin, ArchDaily; Design Ethics: Rethinking Practice in 2021

"Ethical practice spans all parts of architecture. From intersectionality and labor to the climate crisis, a designer must work with a range of conditions and contexts that inform the built environment and the process of its creation. Across cultures, policies and climates, architecture is as much functional and aesthetic as it is political, social, economic, and ecological. By addressing the ethics of practice, designers can reimagine the discipline's impact and who it serves."

Right or wrong?: How La Crosse health-care leaders use ethics to make decisions; NEWS 8000, December 29, 2021

 Jordan Fremstad, NEWS 8000; Right or wrong?: How La Crosse health-care leaders use ethics to make decisions

Gundersen Health System ethicist Tom Harter helps providers make best decisions for critical care

"As hospitals fill up and medical supplies are needed for more people, health-care leaders are forced to make even more tough decisions. How do you decide who’s health matters more?

Most of us strive to do what is right.

“We have to be cognizant of the needs of everybody in the hospital,” said Dr. Wayne Bottner, a hematologist at Gundersen Health System...

Bottner has to decide who receives the available resources. However, he doesn’t do it alone.

“We would never want a physician at the bedside to do that,” said Tom Harter, Gundersen’s bioethics and humanities director. “The psychological stress of that is extremely high.”

Health-care decisions are a wide, murky river that Harter helps bring into focus."

Has the pandemic fundamentally changed our ethics?; The Conversation, December 28, 2021

Hugh Breakey, The Conversation; Has the pandemic fundamentally changed our ethics?

"Ethics became more visible

In daily life, ethical decision-making often isn’t front of mind. We can often just coast along.

But the pandemic changed all that. It highlighted our human inter-connectedness and the effects of our actions on others. It made us re-litigate the basic rules of life: whether we could work or study, where we could go, who we could visit."

Realtor ethics case involving gay rights, Montana pastor garnering national attention; KTVH, December 29, 2021

Mike Dennison, KTVH ; Realtor ethics case involving gay rights, Montana pastor garnering national attention

"Weyandt said Huber can hold and express any religious belief he wants, but that he can’t profess anti-gay views and still be a member of the Realtors’ group, according to the code of ethics.

“I definitely respect the individual’s right to their freedom of speech and expression, but when you’re clearly violating the governing doctrine of a private institution, that issues membership, that’s a whole other story,” he said.

Weyandt also said Huber is free to continue selling real estate. 

However, if a Code of Ethics violation leads to Huber getting kicked out of the Realtors’ group, he would lose access to the Montana Regional multiple-listing service for properties, potentially making it difficult to conduct business as a real-estate agent."

Americans widely distrust Facebook, TikTok and Instagram with their data, poll finds; The Washington Post, December 22, 2021

 

Heather Kelly

 and 

Emily Guskin

 

, The Washington Post; Americans widely distrust Facebook, TikTok and Instagram with their data, poll finds

"According to the survey, 72 percent of Internet users trust Facebook “not much” or “not at all” to responsibly handle their personal information and data on their Internet activity. About 6 in 10 distrust TikTok and Instagram, while slight majorities distrust WhatsApp and YouTube. Google, Apple and Microsoft receive mixed marks for trust, while Amazon is slightly positive with 53 percent trusting the company at least “a good amount.” (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Only 10 percent say Facebook has a positive impact on society, while 56 percent say it has a negative impact and 33 percent say its impact is neither positive nor negative. Even among those who use Facebook daily, more than three times as many say the social network has a negative rather than a positive impact."

Wake County Library ban of LGBTQ+ book may be unconstitutional; The News & Observer, December 16, 2021

SARA PEQUEÑO, The News & Observer; Wake County Library ban of LGBTQ+ book may be unconstitutional

"On Wednesday, the Wake County Public Library announced it was pulling its copies of the graphic novel memoir Gender Queer out of circulation. In a statement to The News & Observer, a spokesperson said it was due to “explicit illustrations that do not align with WCPL’s selection policy.”

The decision has been met with outcry from LGBTQ+ groups and activists, but it’s possible that the action could have legal consequences for the county government."

A Plea from Cleveland Clinic; December 21, 2021

12/21/21 email from Cleveland Clinic:

A Plea from Cleveland Clinic

"This past month has been sobering for many of us in healthcare. Nearly two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, we’re seeing some of the highest volumes of patients with the disease in hospitals throughout the Midwest.

"Here at Cleveland Clinic, we’re caring for more than 800 patients with COVID-19 at our Ohio hospitals. Of these patients, more than 200 are in the intensive care unit. The majority of these patients are unvaccinated.  

Our Ohio emergency departments are filled. We have people waiting to get into our hospitals. Neighboring hospitals in our communities are facing the same issues. 

We’ve had to postpone many non-urgent surgeries in Ohio as we try to leave enough space for patients with COVID-19. Our physicians, nurses and caregivers are working around-the-clock to care for these sick patients. They are exhausted.  

Today, we come to you with a plea. Get vaccinated. Please. Whether you are due for your booster shot, undecided about getting your child vaccinated or have been leery of the vaccine all along. The science is clear. Vaccines save lives. Please, get vaccinated.

For those of you who have lost a loved one to COVID-19 this year, we extend our deepest sympathies. We feel your loss. We share in your grief. We, too, are heartbroken.

The only way we can get through this is together. Please do your part for yourself, your family and your community. Get vaccinated. Wear your mask, wash your hands and stay home if you're feeling ill. 

Cleveland Clinic will always be here for you when you need compassionate, high-quality care. The sun will rise tomorrow morning, and with it will bring renewed hope for a better day. 

We wish you and yours a joyous holiday season & a happy and healthy New Year."

4 Things to Know About Intellectual Property and COVID-19 Vaccines; U.S. Chamber of Commerce, December 9, 2021

U.S. Chamber of Commerce; 4 Things to Know About Intellectual Property and COVID-19 Vaccines

Intellectual property enabled the discovery of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s why calls to waive IP rights would undermine medical innovation and our ability to respond to the next pandemic.

"Key takeaways

• Some governments, including the United States, are considering a proposal to waive intellectual property laws for COVID-19 vaccines.
• But waiving intellectual property laws could jeopardize medical innovation, including the development of new or adapted vaccines to combat COVID-19 variants like Omicron.
• Waiving intellectual property rights for COVID vaccines could have ripple effects on innovators and investments across industries."

Congress Takes Aim at the Algorithms; Wired, December 2, 2021

 Gilad Edelman, Wired; Congress Takes Aim at the Algorithms

"“I agree in principle that there should be liability, but I don’t think we’ve found the right set of terms to describe the processes we’re concerned about,” said Jonathan Stray, a visiting scholar at the Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI who studies recommendation algorithms. “What’s amplification, what’s enhancement, what’s personalization, what’s recommendation?”...

[Mary Anne] Franks proposes something both simpler and more sweeping: that Section 230 not apply to any company that “manifests deliberate indifference to unlawful material or conduct.” Her collaborator Danielle Citron has argued that companies should have to prove they took reasonable steps to prevent a certain type of harm before being granted immunity. If something like that became law, engagement-based algorithms wouldn’t go away—but the change could still be significant. The Facebook Papers revealed by Haugen, for example, show that Facebook very recently had little or no content-moderation infrastructurein regions like the Middle East and Africa, where hundreds of millions of its users live. Currently Section 230 largely protects US companies even in foreign markets. But imagine if someone defamed or targeted for harassment by an Instagram post in Afghanistan, where as of 2020 Facebook hadn’t even fully translated its forms for reporting hate speech, could sue under an “indifference” standard. The company would suddenly have a much stronger incentive to make sure its algorithms aren’t favoring material that could land it in court."

Maryland Mayor Is Charged in ‘Revenge Porn’ Case; The New York Times, November 16, 2021

Amanda Holpuch, The New York Times; Maryland Mayor Is Charged in ‘Revenge Porn’ Case

Andrew Bradshaw, the mayor of Cambridge, on the state’s Eastern Shore, posted nude photos of a former partner on Reddit, along with degrading comments and racial slurs, prosecutors said. 

"The landscape for revenge porn cases has shifted significantly over the past decade. In 2013, three states had criminalized nonconsensual pornography. Today, 48 states have done so, said Mary Anne Franks, the president and legislative and tech policy director at the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. Maryland’s revenge porn law went into effect in 2014.

Dr. Franks said Maryland’s law, like others in the United States, was too restrictive because, to convict someone, prosecutors must prove that the person who shared the photos intended to cause serious emotional distress.

That standard can protect people who say they posted photos for profit, to improve standing in their community or because they didn’t think the individual in the photo would care, Dr. Franks said. Prosecutors might have an easier time proving malicious intent in Mr. Bradshaw’s case, she said, because of the breadth and cruelty of the posts prosecutors accused him of making."

Far right is using Twitter’s new rule against anti-extremism researchers; The Washington Post, December 2, 2021

Drew Harwell, The Washington Post; Far right is using Twitter’s new rule against anti-extremism researchers

Researchers fear the new ban on posts sharing people’s private information will be ‘emboldening to the fascists’ eager to keep their identities concealed. ‘Things now unexpectedly work more in our favor,’ one Nazi sympathizer wrote.

"The company said that each report will be reviewed case-by-case and that flagged accounts can file an appeal or delete the offending posts to resolve their suspensions.

Snyder, the Philadelphia anti-fascist researcher, said she believed her reported tweet did not break the rules but deleted it anyway, worried that any appeal she filed would take too long or ultimately fail. She suspects the rule could have a “catastrophic” chilling effect on other researchers working to expose extremists."

Who Owns a Recipe? A Plagiarism Claim Has Cookbook Authors Asking.; The New York Times, November 29, 2021

Priya Krishna , The New York Times; Who Owns a Recipe? A Plagiarism Claim Has Cookbook Authors Asking.

U.S. copyright law protects all kinds of creative material, but recipe creators are mostly powerless in an age and a business that are all about sharing.

"U.S. copyright law seeks to protect “original works of authorship” by barring unauthorized copying of all kinds of creative material: sheet music, poetry, architectural works, paintings and even computer software.

But recipes are much harder to protect. This is a reason they frequently reappear, often word for word, in one book or blog after another.

Cookbook writers who believe that their work has been plagiarized have few options beyond confronting the offender or airing their grievances online. “It is more of an ethical issue than it is a legal issue,” said Lynn Oberlander, a media lawyer in New York City...

“The whole history of American cookbook publishing is based on borrowing and sharing,” said Bonnie Slotnick, the owner of Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, an antique bookstore in the East Village of Manhattan...

Mr. Bailey said many cookbook authors are used to the free exchange of ideas on social media, and may not be conscious of the importance of giving credit. “It has become so tempting in this environment to just take rather than to create,” he said."

E-commerce and China: Strategies for fighting online counterfeits, Part 2; United States Patent and Trademark Office Webinar: Thursday, December 2, 2021 9 AM - 10:30 AM EST

United States Patent and Trademark Office Webinar; E-commerce and China: Strategies for fighting online counterfeits, Part 2

"E-commerce now accounts for nearly 14% of all retail sales, and continues to grow at a healthy rate. But U.S. businesses engaged in e-commerce, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), face a number of challenges in protecting their intellectual property (IP) on e-commerce platforms.

Register now for this free program to learn proven strategies for protecting and enforcing your IP rights when selling on e-commerce platforms.

Part 2 of the two-part series will focus on administrative and judicial mechanisms for enforcing IP rights and combatting the sale of Chinese counterfeits on e-commerce platforms in China. The program will feature presentations by senior United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) IP attorneys with extensive China IP experience and experts from Mattel, Specialized Bicycles, and Amazon.

Topics to be covered include: 

• overview of administrative, civil, and criminal IP enforcement
• strategies for collaborating with e-commerce platforms
• industry perspectives and experiences
• establishing a criminal case

During the program, participants can submit their questions to a dedicated email box. There will be time allotted to respond to participants' questions.

(Note: Although some advanced IP topics may be touched upon in the webinar, the materials presented are intended for representatives from SMEs with limited experience in IP protection and enforcement in China.)"

Register today