FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

What is "real" and what is "fake" in terms of online content we review? This has become a major, if not dominant, concern with respect to the reliability of what we see on the internet. Are suggested "facts" really true? Do we really know the actual source of material posted on the internet?

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

Amazon truly has developed into a beast of the Northwest. Indeed, Amazon is a major presence in Seattle, occupying tremendous amounts of office space, employing many people, and generally boosting the economy in that region.

Amazon announced some months back that it will establish a second headquarters within the United States. Not surprisingly, many cities came courting, trying to woo Amazon into their backyards. There has been quite a bit of buzz about where Amazon ultimately will locate its second headquarters. And now, according to a recent article by the Business Insider, Amazon may be on the brink of reaching a decision. But where? Drumroll please!

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT), what might come to mind are "things" like the automatic regulation of settings in the home and routine ordering of household products when supplies are low. But IoT applications are more diverse than that and can be of greater societal importance, for example, when seeking to increase food production for our heavily populated planet.

In a recent article in TheAtlantic.com, a company is profiled called Sid Wainer & Son. Wainer has sold speciality foods using heirloom tomatoes, green eggplants and fig-infused balsamic vinegar in the New England area for more than a century. But more recently, the Wainer farm has gone high-tech.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

We tend to think of censorship happening in other countries, and not so much in the United States. Just like the government can't violate the First Amendment, we like to think that private companies would be equally generous in allowing freedom of expression, unless something is truly troublesome in nature. Well ...

As it turns out, Facebook recently censored a post that displayed a very small 30,000-year-old statuette carved in the image of a naked woman and referred to as the "Venus of Willendorf," according to USAToday.com.

A Facebook spokesperson has since apologized for Facebook not allowing the post in the first instance, but how did this all come to pass?

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

Apple opened its glittery, circular, spaceship campus in Cupertino a few months ago. This campus is the of dream of Steve Jobs, which he pitched to the Cupertino City Council in 2011. It reportedly is estimated by the Santa Clara County Assessor to have cost $5 billion.

The gigantic, circular building comes with 45-foot-high curved panels of glass, among other modern, glass features.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

When we hear about artificial intelligence, we frequently are bombarded with notions of ultra-smart robots taking over the world, while either destroying humans, or at least leaving humans in the development dust. The good news, at the time of this writing, is that humans currently do not face that AI existential threat. However, the bad news is that artificial intelligence nevertheless creates present and future safety concerns.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

A scholarly law review article talks about the right to privacy in the face of new technology encroachments and speaks of "the right to be let alone." When was this article written? This year? Last year? No, in 1890, and think of all the technological advancements that jeopardize the right to privacy since then!

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

As you enter the new year of 2018, you probably are planning to eat at restaurants, stay in hotels, visit doctors and other professionals, and shop online and in stores. Before spending your hard-earned dollars, you may be one of millions of people who go to review sites, like Yelp, to make sure that you will be spending your money at establishments that have earned favorable reviews. But what happens when vendors and providers require contractual clauses that ban consumer reviews? Enter the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

You might like to think that you can move about in the world without being noticed. Perhaps you relish the idea of being able to disappear into a crowd while not being recognized. But such notions of anonymity are disappearing.

Of course, you probably have heard about GPS tracking that can be used to determine the specific geographic whereabouts of a person. And now facial recognition can be used to pinpoint the identity of a person in a crowd or frankly at any location where the technology is implemented.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

At this point, you likely already know about the many tasks and functions that can be performed by artificial intelligence (AI). Indeed, you probably have learned quite a bit about that from prior editions of this blog. And now there is more, this time in the realm of art.

When it comes to works of art, authenticity is of vital importance. For example, before an art buyer decides to buy a painting supposedly created by Picasso, he or she will want to undertake best efforts to determine whether or not the painting truly is a Picasso or a fake. Plainly, a true Picasso has enormous monetary value, whereas a fake does not.