Theoretically unbreakable encryption schemes like those underpinning blockchain have proven to be less than impermeable in practice, as users of Coinbase discovered upon losing fortunes. Attackers go after the weakest link in the chain, usually the way in which the algorithm is implemented. Perhaps more ominous, the emergence of a new class of devices called quantum computers threatens to eat the algorithms that underlie crypto for lunch. 

Jerry Lawson and Elizabeth Southerland

The rest of the LLRX.com article discusses the non-technical reasons why cryptocurrency mania must come to and end–possibly very quickly.

Asking questions can benefit audiences—and presenters—in multiple ways. The biggest personal benefit I have found is simple: I learn things.

Even when an audience answer is off the mark it can prompt me to think about issues in different and better ways. Audience answers often spark useful ideas that never would have occurred to me if I had not asked a question. Sometimes audiences teach me more than I teach them.

The mother of a boy named Izzy had the right approach. Every day when he came home from school she had one query: “Izzy, did you ask any good questions today?” Every day the same demanding and persistent query: “Izzy, did you ask any good questions today?

Is it really a complete surprise that Izzy grew up to be Nobel Prize winner Dr. Isidor Rabi?

From the LLRX.com article Presenter’s Guide Series Part IV: The Power of Asking Questions.

Elizabeth Southerland knows how lawyers should talk to to clients. A sample from her article at LLRX.com:

Sometimes lawyers—and others trying to sell me professional services—seem to believe that I must treasure their 47-page footnoted memo because their craft is so complex that only something that reads like a technical manual or Ph.D. thesis is adequate to convey their scintillating insights. There is one problem with their approach: I wouldn’t pay for these professional services.

Best analysis I’ve seen on the impact of AI on the practice of law. A key quote:

[M]ost of the short-term claims being made about its impact on lawyers and the courts hugely overstate its likely impact. More significantly, I think that most of the long-term claims hugely understate its impact.

Read the rest of it.

Thanks to Jennifer Wondracek for putting this on my radar screen, to Richard S. Granat for introducing me to this thinker and to Richard Susskind for being truly brilliant.

My article on AI, Susskind and the ABA’s eLawyering Project will be ready soon. Watch this space.

So the National Music Publishers Association is seeking to hold Elon Musk liable for rampant copyright infringement:

“Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service. Twitter knows full well that music is leaked, launched, and streamed by billions of people every day on its platform. No longer can it hide behind the DMCA and refuse to pay songwriters and music publishers.”

My inclination is to believe that anything that takes money from Elon Musk is a good idea. The possibility of collateral damage means I am not so sure in this case. Is it wise to discard the policy considerations behind the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation (“safe harbor”) section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?

Kevin O’Keefe: “Few in the States seems prepared to regulate AI.”

Kevin has a rare gift for understatement.

At least the EU is trying, but I am under impressed by what they have come up with so far. No EU policy will or even could do for AI what Diamond v. Chakrabarty did for patents on human-made bacteria. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which proved to have significant impact, but AI is a different kettle of fish. The EU has about as much power over AI as King Canute had over the tide.

The EU focus on social equity for people in a few categories is not a bad thing, it’s just myopic. There are more important things to worry about.

Are blogs dead? Not exactly. They can be fantastic tools–if you do them right.

The biggest problem with most bad blogs is too much marketing drivel. Which would you rather watch: A good ballgame on ESPN or a channel that had nothing but advertisements? A good movie on Netflix or a never-ending string of commercials?

The best lawyer bloggers market not by saying “I’m a good lawyer, hire me.” They prove they are a great lawyer.

The usual suspects have worthy tips on how to engage audiences–and market more subtly, more effectively.