Legal Issues with Pokemon Go

Pokémon GO is an augmented reality video game that lets players catch digital monsters that appear on an in-game map of the surrounding area. You might have heard about this recent unpublished study, which found that drivers playing the game were responsible for a dramatic increase in automobile accidents. This is just one example of the real-word consequences surrounding the game. While the game is not the cultural phenomenon that it was when it came out in July 2016, it is still one of the top grossing according to Google Play and sites like App Annie. The game's popularity and unique connection between game play and a player's surroundings have led to a number of legal issues, which this post will briefly discuss.

Emojis and the Law - the (ㆆ‿ㆆ) and the ( ˘︹˘ )

While I am no stranger to emojis, researching this blog post opened my  to their prevalence, as well as their potential  implications.
What is an emoji? Emoji is a Japanese word meaning picture (e) + letter (moji). Just how prevalent is the use of emojis? About 500 emojis are sent out to the the twittersphere every second! For a realtime view of emoji usage on twitter go to emojitracker. Watch with delight as emoji are rapidly highlighted and their use totals continue to soar. Even the seemingly innocent emoji can have legal implications. Recently, during the Silk Road Trial, featuring the Dread Pirate Roberts, Judge Forrest instructed the jury to pay attention to an emoji that a prosecutor withheld when reading text from an internet post. Technology resource Wired highlighted several other cases in which emojis were relevant. For example, a New Yorker was charged for using emoji to make threats against police. In another case, a Pennsylvania man argued that threats made on Facebook towards his ex-wife should not be taken seriously because they concluded with an emoji smiley face sticking its tongue out. Even the Senate Floor is getting in on the action; Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, recently introduced a shruggie when discussing health care reform. If you want to brush up on your emoji knowledge, you can skim an emoji dictionary or the emojisaurus. Also, you can visit the emoji governing body, the Unicode Consortium. Will you ever need to know about emojis when conducting legal research? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

P.S. Emojis and emoticons are fun to see, but they may present obstacles for those using screen readers. In addition to the emoji in the first paragraph of this post, the title has a smiling face and a frowning face, and there is a shruggie at the end of the post.

Charging Station Available for UW Law Students in Bogle & Gates Law Student Lounge!

Do low battery alerts cause an unhealthy rise in your blood pressure?

Oh no! This device is running out of battery power and I forgot my charger at home!

If so, our little buddy wants you to keep your cool and visit the Bogle & Gates Law Student Lounge in the law library. 

Hey, don't sweat it!  Charge your stuff here!

This charging station (provided by WestlawNext, thanks WestlawNext!) is available to UW law students and will be stationed in the Bogle & Gates Law Student Lounge on the L1 floor of Gallagher Law Library. The charging station has 1 mini USB cable (older smartphones) and 3 micro USB (most smartphones from 2010-present). While the Bogle & Gates Law Student Lounge is accessible only to UW Law Students via Husky Card, be sure to keep an eye on your stuff even when it is charging!

Ergonomic Tips for Computers and Mobile Devices

Would you like to avoid neck and back pain and other ergonomic risks? Check out these videos:

How People Find Lawyers

According to an article in the online ABA Journal Law News Now, more people now turn to the Internet rather than the Yellow Pages when searching for an attorney. The article describes a report issued in February of this year by the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services.

The report is based on the committee-sponsored Harris poll of 1000 individuals reached by land line telephones. Here are a few of the findings from the report:

* People with personal legal matters are far more likely to turn to trusted sources instead of impersonal sources to find a lawyer, yet impersonal sources have a substantial and stable place in providing access to legal services.

* Innovative online models, such as those that enable an exchange of questions and answers with lawyers and those that provide consumer feedback about lawyers are most likely to be used to assist in finding a lawyer for personal legal matters.

* People would not use social media avenues to a substantial degree to assist in finding a lawyer for a personal legal matter, but relatively few lawyers market their services through these avenues at this time.

* When people would proceed on a personal legal matter without a lawyer, they report they are likely to turn to free online services and self-help books, but are not likely to turn to online services that charge costs.

Be sure to take a look at the comments to this article. Several posts strongly agree with the committee's "caution" that the results would be quite different had the poll used cellphone numbers rather than land line telephones. A few posts discuss other methods used to find clients.

Blackberry Apps for Lawyers

If you have (or are thinking about) a Blackberry, you might be interested in this list of apps for lawyers.

Compiled by attorney Nicole Black, the list includes:

• dictation software
  
• federal court rules
• legal dictionaries
• mobile Microsoft Office suite

Cell Phone Discounts for UW Students & Employees

In the May 1st issue of OnTechNews, discounts of 10-18% for cell phones from AT&T and T-Mobile were announced. Check out the contact information and details.