May 5, 2023
Dear Readers,
We are pleased to come together to present Issue Three of the Twenty-Ninth Volume of the Richmond Journal of Law and Technology. This final issue includes three articles, each discussing a modern and relevant issue with a joint law and technology focus.
Our first article is written by Nicholas Robinson, Director of Accountancy and Associate Professor of Accounting and Law at Eastern Illinois University. Dr. Robinson’s article examines the reliance of executives, legislatures, and courts on using the “forced approach” to understand and regulate tax and business technologies, opting to try to address them through analogy as digital forms of existing methods rather than taking care to evaluate and understand each technology. He discusses the problems with this approach and warns that viewing technologies in this way leads to the creation of laws that fail to properly regulate them.
Our second article comes to us from University of Pennsylvania Cary Law School student, Melany Amarikwa. Ms. Amarikwa’s article discusses how TikTok’s use of algorithms engage with people of color. Ms. Amarikwa’s article highlights the potential these algorithms have to promote discrimination and exclusion of people of color and encourages social media platforms to take steps towards understanding the potential biases of these algorithms in order to minimize their effects.
Our final article is authored by Jumpei Komoda, visiting scholar at Duke University School of Law and a sitting judge of the Osaka District Court and the Osaka Family Court. Judge Komoda’s article discusses how artificial intelligence can be used by courts around the world and provides a discussion on the benefits and risks of using AI technology within judicial systems. Judge Komoda concludes that AI technology can revolutionize court systems globally, but courts are encouraged to engage in its creation.
We thank each of our brilliant authors for selecting JOLT as their publisher. We would also like to thank our Editorial Board and Staff for their dedication to our journal and for the keen attention to detail they have shown throughout every stage of the publication process. We also extend a thank you to our incredible faculty supervisors, Professors Jim Gibson and Chris Cotropia, for the guidance, support, and encouragement they have given us this year.
Finally, as JOLT enters its thirtieth year of publication, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to you, our readers, for joining us in appreciating the innovative contributions of our authors and supporting our endeavor in promoting the field of law and technology. On behalf of our former, current, and incoming editors: thank you. Long live JOLT!
Sincerely,
User Error: Regulatory Failures To Properly Address Technological Issues In Business And Taxation
By Nicholas Robinson
Social Media Platforms’ Reckoning: The Harmful Impact Of Tiktok’s Algorithm On People Of Color
By Melany Amarikwa
By Jumpei Komoda