Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Weirdest Ad of the Year?

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

This is a genuine Cruz-for-Prez production aimed at Donald Trump.

Weird doesn’t begin to describe it.

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Popular Science Likes Our Book

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

Robot Law is the front of their homepage today, and the subject of an article, Rock ‘em, sock ‘em, cross examine ‘em.

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Just Got My Advance Copy of ‘Robot Law’!

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

This is exciting: just got my first copy of “Robot Law,” a book I edited with Ryan Calo and Ian Kerr. I suppose I might be a little biased, but I think it’s a pretty darn good collection that will give anyone interested in how society will cope with robots plenty to think about.

Robot Law is apparently going to list for $165 when it’s out in (very) late March, which is a lot, but you can pre-order it for less, or buy an online copy for much less. Meanwhile, however, you can peek inside, and read my introductory essay which gives you a tour of the wonderful contributions by our extraordinarily varied contributors. This is not a book just by some law profs: it’s an attempt to do real interdisciplinary work and, more importantly, to foster an ongoing series of interdisciplinary conversations.

Of course, the real-life place where we do that is at We Robot — registration for this year’s conference is now open and the early-bird discounted registration ends Friday.

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Celebrating Groundhog Day in Miami?

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

Due to an aside I delivered in class, my Administrative Law students have expressed an interest in celebrating Groundhog Day, which is Feb. 2. My initial reaction was a bit negative: How, living in Florida, can this be anything but an ironic, even potentially offensive, celebration? Indeed, can we in Miami plan to celebrate whether winter will continue without giving the impression of rampant schadenfreude? Not to mention that our interests are probably the reverse of most the country’s: winter is good for us! It’s usually nice out (although this December was unseasonably hot).

But despite all this, I’m warming to the idea. Why not?

But this just leads me to another problem: How, in the absence of an actual groundhog (please no one bring one to class!) do we celebrate Groundhog Day. We are not going to watch the movie starring Bill Murray much as I do like it; it’s long and we have work to do. Other than that, or projects aimed at first graders, the web has been surprisingly little help…..

Suggestions anyone?

Posted in U.Miami | 2 Comments

Slides from Toronto Big Data Talk

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

This morning I presented a short talk on the tensions between Big Data and privacy at the University of Toronto’s conference on The Future Frontiers of Online Privacy.

Here, in case you care–and for the record–are my slides from the talk entitled Big Data / Privacy: Pick One?

P.S. My phone said it was 17° (-8°C) this morning when I walked over. I believe it.

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Off to Toronto (Brrrr)

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Michael Froomkin

Giant East-coast storm notwithstanding, I’m off to Toronto to participate in a conference on The Future Frontiers of Online Privacy at the University of Toronto on Saturday. Tickets are available online.

I’m going to speak about the great challenges that Big Data, and the love of Big Data, pose for privacy and for privacy regulation.

In theory I ought to just fly over or around the storm, which is not expected to hit Toronto. In theory, air transport might not be so disrupted as to block my return on Sunday. In theory…

Did I mention it is predicted to be a high of 23°F on Saturday, low of 14°F? That’s about 45°F less than here. Brrrr indeed.

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