We Robot 2014 presentations feature Discussants and Moderators who are in integral part of the conference. Discussants are the lead speakers in their session and are responsible for presenting the main themes of the paper and offering their views. Moderators are the ringmasters of their panels. Jack M. Balkin will be the Discussant for Ian […]

When Robot Eyes Are Watching You: The Law & Policy of Automated Communications Surveillance Kevin Bankston and Amie Stepanovich Robots are reading your email, right now. Whether it’s the NSA scanning for suspicious keywords, Google trying to divine your interests so that it can serve better ads, or your ISP scanning for viruses and spam, […]

Robots, Micro-Airspaces, and the Future of “Public Space”Peter Asaro In United States v. Causby, the Supreme Court conceptualized airspace as a “public highway.”  In the same decision, the Court recognized that landowners must be able to “exercise exclusive control of the immediate reaches of the enveloping atmosphere” in order to exercise full enjoyment of their property.  […]

Risk, Product Liability Trends, Triggers, and Insurance in Commercial Aerial Robots David K. Breyer, Donna A. Dulo, Gale A. Townsley, and Stephen S. Wu The commercialization of autonomous aerial robots, “drones” will become pervasive and ubiquitous across the national airspace over the coming years resulting in an increasing risk potential for drone operators and manufacturers. […]

A Conservation Theory of Governance for Automated Law Enforcement Gregory Conti, Woodrow Hartzog, John C. Nelson, and Lisa A. Shay Enforcement of the law has thus far largely been a manual process, one moderated by the discretion of human judgement and finite human resources, which were focused on priority offenses. Increasingly, however, the portions of, […]

Considerations of a Legal Framework for the Safe and Resilient Operation of Autonomous Aerial RobotsCameron R. Cloar and Donna A. Dulo Autonomous aerial robots, also known as drones, will be a major segment of the National Airspace System in the near future. The extent of innovation of aerial robotic systems is seemingly limitless. Yet, within […]

Self-Defense Against RobotsA. Michael Froomkin and Zak Colangelo Deployment of robots in the air, the home, the office, and the street inevitably means their interactions with both property and living things will become more common and more complex. This paper examines when, under U.S. law, humans may use force against robots to protect themselves, their property, […]

Robotics and the New CyberlawRyan Calo The ascendance of the Internet wrought great changes to society and launched a movement among legal academics known as cyberlaw.  The themes of this movement reflect the essential qualities of the Internet—connectivity, community, and control.  Even as the law adapts, technology has not stood still.  The same government and […]

Chief Justice John Roberts is a RobotIan Kerr and Carissima Mathen The title of this article is not pejorative. It is suggestive. It asks readers to imagine the following counterfactual. Around the globe, people awaken to some very strange news. In different languages, the same headline thunders: “Chief Justice John Roberts is a Robot.”  Badly […]