TPRC 2024: The 52nd Research Conference on Communications, Information and Inter

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Abstract:
Digital platforms, which control unique access points to the rich data stored on their servers, have become a “living lab” of real-time information. Scientists and researchers increasingly use platform data for various purposes, such as training machine learning (ML) systems and Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, and for studying diverse fields such as medicine, humanities, and social sciences, including the influence of digital platforms on society. However, researchers increasingly encounter significant barriers, when attempting to access platform data. Although platforms typically lack proprietary rights over the data itself, they exert strong control over its use by imposing digital locks and boilerplate contractual limitations. Faced with the legal risk of potential breach-of-contract lawsuits filed by well-funded platforms, researchers may simply opt to steer clear of platform data research.

This Article proposes private-law-centered solutions to overcome platform data lockout. First, researchers who access and use platform data without explicit permission should be able to contest breach-of-contract claims made against them by claiming copyright preemption. Platform data falls under copyright law, either because it is protected by copyright (such as user-generated-content) or because it constitutes basic "building blocks", such as users’ digital data trails, which are specifically excluded from copyright protection. When platforms robustly ban any reproduction of data, they effectively benefit from quasi-copyright protection, through private ordering, albeit compromising fundamental copyright principles, including fair use. Their contractual claims should, therefore, be preempted by copyright law. Second, courts should facilitate platform data research by narrowly interpreting boilerplate contractual bans on data access. Third, nuisance law may further support platform data research by empowering researchers to demand the removal of technological barriers that hinder access to public, non-proprietary data.

Private law solutions to platform data lockout, however, do not grant researchers an affirmative right to use platform data for research. Legislative action of the type recently pursued by the European Union is required to establish such a Right to Research. This Article therefore concludes by examining regulatory approaches to platform data lockout, concluding that combining private law solutions with regulatory intervention offers the most effective means of adequately facilitating platform data research.

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Abstract:
We use conference presentation data from 1994 through 2022 and publication records of the papers presented to investigate three main questions and their respective subcomponents: (1) Has the time to publication or the frequency of publication in academic journals shifted over time; does either factor vary by subfield or according to journal ranking? (2) Do factors beyond quality, such as gender or community involvement through board membership or journal editing, influence the likelihood of publication? (3) Is a subfield-specific conference necessarily insular, or could it produce publications and policy-driven papers beyond its subfield? Results suggest that the time to publication has decreased somewhat, and this decrease does not vary by field or journal ranking. Gender appears to be a factor in publication in peer-reviewed journals, while network and community ties do not. Finally, we find that most papers presented at TPRC conferences are published in lower-ranking or field journals, which is as expected given the ultimate goal of scholarly research as a means of impacting policy.

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Abstract:
Digital exclusion is a barrier for people on parole, herein referred to as returning citizens. Yet, much remains unknown about the specific issues they encounter. As the world continues to advance technologically, it is important that we understand returning citizens’ access to and use of technology and how it impacts their ability to reintegrate into society. Framed in the Digital Rehabilitation Model, the current study uses qualitative data from 28 returning citizens to explore their digital exclusion across time since release from prison. Findings show that returning citizens released less than a month to 24 months ago more often described technology-related challenges.