Volume XXIX, Issue 2, March 3, 2023

March 3rd, 2023

Dear Readers,

We are proud to present you with Issue Two of the Twenty-Ninth Volume of the Richmond Journal of Law and Technology. This issue includes four articles, each discussing a timely topic at the intersection of law and technology.

Our first article is written by Joshua Goland, a third year-law student at the University of Virginia School of Law. Mr. Goland’s article discusses how the Federal Trade Commission has recently begun to require algorithmic disgorgement in its enforcement of data privacy protection laws – the deletion of not just the improperly obtained data itself, but also any models and algorithms built using such data. The article examines recent enforcement actions brought by the FTC that resulted in algorithmic disgorgement orders and discusses the legal, policy, and practical implications of the new remedy.

The second article is authored by Dr. Garrett Morrow, a Research Affiliate at Northeastern University’s Ethics Institute, and Associate Professor John P. Wihbey, a Faculty Researcher at Northeastern University’s Ethics Institute. Dr. Morrow and Professor Wihbey outline the history of the “Marketplace of Ideas” free speech metaphor and recontextualize the metaphor in the modern information environment characterized by algorithms and distributed through private networks. The authors update our understanding of the metaphor in what they describe as the Marketplace of Ideas 3.0 shaped by both technological affordances and communications regulation.

Our third article comes from Ying Zhou, Dr. Zhou will join the Oklahoma City University School of law as an Assistant Professor starting in August 2023. She previously served as a Hauser Global Fellow at New York University School of Law, where she studied international anti-corruption and corporate compliance policies. Dr. Zhou’s article investigates how U.S. law enforcement authorities should cope with foreign laws that restrict cross-border data transfers in the corporate investigation context. In the article, laws that restrict the disclosure of investigation-related data to foreign regulators are collectively referred to as anti-investigative laws. Using China’s newly enacted Data Security Law and Personal Information Protection Law as case studies, Dr. Zhou highlights the key features of anti-investigative laws that threaten to obstruct global corporate enforcement. She then analyzes how these features may affect the investigation and prosecution of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases involving China. Ultimately, the article proposes a conflict-of-laws approach for FCPA enforcers to understand, evaluate, and balance conflicting compliance requirements in corporate enforcement actions.

The final article is written by Madison Blevins, a third-year law student at the University of Richmond School of Law. Ms. Blevins’s article brings to light the Constitutional issues that arise with the use of dirty data in predictive policing algorithms, arguing that police reliance on this dirty data is a violation of the Fourth Amendment and evidence collected through these methods should be subject to the Exclusionary Rule. Ms. Blevins’s article won third place in the 2022 McNeil Writing Competition, an internal competition at the University of Richmond School of Law judged by alumni and distinguished members of Virginia’s legal community.

I would like to thank these four fantastic authors for their contributions to our journal and to the legal field. I would also like to thank the entire JOLT Staff, Editorial Board, and Executive Board for their hard work in publishing this Issue, with a special shout-out to our new Associate Editors who stepped up to lend a valued helping hand this season. Finally, I would like to thank our fearless leader, Editor-in-Chief Anna Gobin, for her tireless dedication to the success of this journal and its members.

On behalf of all of the JOLT team, we truly hope you enjoy this Issue Two, and we thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,