While the impact of social media on the mental health of children and teens has rapidly emerged as a hot-button political debate, the federal government has largely stalled in passing any legislation on the issue.

Instead, the states have led the way, with Utah and Arkansas both passing laws intended to protect children’s online safety in recent weeks. Other states – including Florida, Texas and California – are also considering bills that would apply to social-media services used by minors.

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The European Union dreams of being a leading hub for tech innovation. But it is increasingly clear this is wishful thinking. Heavy-handed regulation is making the bloc inhospitable to innovation, and investors are looking elsewhere. The EU’s recent pushback against ChatGPT is just the latest sign that this is not going to change.

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ICLE Academic Affiliate Adam Mossoff took part in a webinar hosted by the Council for Innovation Promotion on the use of Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 1498(a), in light of  a recent U.S. government statement of interest filed in a patent-infringement suit against Moderna, Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine. Video of the full event is embedded below.

This week the Federal Reserve announced that it expects a recession in the coming months. Companies are already engaging in hiring freezes and layoffs, and several economic indicators point to a pessimistic future. But a pending Department of Labor (DOL) rule could make this recession more severe by cutting off work opportunities for millions of Americans.

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The topic of social media’s impact on childhood mental health has rapidly emerged as a hot-button political debate, becoming the subject of a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee and earning a mention in President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

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Abstract

Innovation plays a crucial role in defining competitive dynamics. Given this fact, one might expect ‘innovation’ to play a consistent role in antitrust law. The present article conducts a systematic content analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union to test this hypothesis. The results suggest that EU courts assign a fragmented role to innovation in competition law cases. We end with proposals to remedy this situation.

The European Commission is working on a legislative proposal that would regulate the licensing framework for standard-essential patents (SEPs). A regulatory proposal leaked to the press has already been the subject of extensive commentary (see here, here, and here). The proposed regulation apparently will include a complete overhaul of the current SEP-licensing system and will insert a new layer of bureaucracy in this area.

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In the era of Uber and DoorDash, state governments are grappling with how to address the problems stemming from a growing independent or “gig” workforce.

In Utah, there are more than 80,000 self-employed and independent workers who may not have access to traditional work benefits. This arrangement reflects a relic of the past. Many decades ago, tax incentives were created to encourage our benefits to be tied to our jobs, and labor laws were created to restrict companies from providing benefits to nontraditional employees.

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ICLE President Geoffrey A. Manne’s March 1 contribution to the Hayek Lecture Series at Duke University’s Center for the History of the Political Economy, adapted from a November 2021 ICLE white paper of the same name. The full video is embedded below.