Search: battlefield robots
14 May Brookings Conference on Legislating Counterterrorism
...framework for counterterrorism – which is to say, a framework of domestic law for things like detention, interrogation, FISA, etc. My paper, which I’ll post up if Brookings will let me once complete, is forward looking with respect to the tactics of counterterrorism, specifically targeted killing, particularly by Predators and advancing robotic technologies. (Yes, dear readers, you knew I would work around to robots eventually.) My fundamental observation to the Obama administration is that, to judge by Campaign Obama and Administration Obama, it embraces targeted killing as a useful method...01 Jun Ken also Blogging at Volokh, but not Leaving OJ
...areas not really related to law, but raise topics appropriate to CTLab. You should check out CTLab – it has wonderful academic symposia, an active blog, and many fascinating features that go far outside of the usual international law frame on group violence. Anyway, I am devoted to OJ, and want to be clear that joining up with Volokh is not at all about leaving OJ. Alas, there will be many, many a post devoted to robots and war, and I’ll start talking about microfinance and development finance again. So...30 May Pentagon Concludes Cyber Attack Can Be Act of War
The Wall Street Journal reporting on un-classifed portions of a report anticipated for release next month. I concentrate on robots, not cyber, so I leave it to others to comment, but I do recall that this report and its conclusions have been discussed a fair amount in academic circles, and as far as I know this will not surprise people following those discussions. (Here’s a good new piece on the topic from Matthew Waxman, in YJIL) Though this is not my speciality, I wanted to flag it for people’s attention....27 Dec Besides the Year-End Reviews, How About Looking Forward to the Year, or the Century, to Come?
...to society and/or to innovation. (Uh, you know, issues having to do with African cyberpunk, DNA hacking and stuff like that. And don’t even let Ken Anderson (1, 2, 3, etc.) or me (1, 2, etc.) get started on robots…) So I was happy to see that the current issue of Scientific American looks at “The Future of Science: 50, 100, and 150 Years from Now.” Heady stuff. Ubiquitous computing, biotech, colonizing Mars, possibly even my long-awaited flying cars. But reading this with the cool eye of a lawyer (as...21 Feb The Ethics and Economics of Asteroid Mining (and the Role for Law)
...the economies of resource-exporting nations. What would happen to most of Africa? What would it do to the cost of iron ore? And what about refining and manufacturing? If we spend the money to harvest iron in space, why not outsource the other related processes as well? Imagine a future in which solar-powered robots toil in lunar or orbital factories. “On the one hand, it’s great,” Brother Consolmango said. “You’ve now taken all of this dirty industry off the surface of the Earth. On the other hand, you’ve put a...
08 May New Technologies Symposium: Autonomous Weapons Systems– Why Keeping a ‘Human On the Loop’ Is Not Enough
...(159) In sum, Boothby provides a highly interesting conceptual framework within which autonomous weapons systems should be regulated. His argument pushes contemporary debates forward by finding a plausible middle ground between those advocating a strict ban on ‘killer robots’, and those (few) who seem to have unlimited confidence in this type of technology. Nevertheless, I believe there is still more work to do before concluding that a human on the loop will make the employment of autonomous weapons systems safe enough to be used both in armed conflict and in...15 Nov Genocide and Battlestar Galactica
...policeman bides his time, and then, as she draws closer to him, he whispers to his dead wife—murdered by the occupiers—that he’ll see her soon. His thumb presses the detonator, and the ceremony is ripped apart, along with a sense of security and optimism for the occupying power. If this sounds like Iraq, it should. But it’s the season premiere of Battlestar: Galactica, the Sci Fi Channel’s acclaimed remake of the kitschy Star Trek also-ran. In its previous two seasons, Battlestar has hinted at war-on-terrorism overtones. The evil Cylon robots...26 Nov Human Rights Watch Report on Autonomous Weapons, and Matthew Waxman and Ken Anderson’s Critique
Human Rights Watch has released a new report (co-authored by the Harvard Law School Human Rights Clinic) on autonomous weapons systems that might emerge over the next several decades, titled “Losing Humanity: The Case Against Killer Robots.” The report calls for a multilateral treaty that would preemptively ban “development, production, and use” of fully autonomous weapons by all states. It would be hard to be more sweeping than the report’s language in calling a comprehensive ban – here is the language from the recommendations, directed to states: Prohibit the development,...12 Jan Space Law Update – US Won’t Build Death Star, Also Does Not Support Blowing Up Planets
...White House site, which I haven’t included). It is more substantive than one might have anticipated – it discusses private space flight initiatives, the International Space Station and – naturally! – robots. Update: Response from the Air Force General Counsel’s Twitter feed (and I recommend both the Twitter feed (@AirForceGC) and blog: Air Force GC @ AirForceGC Still smarting from Death Star decision, but must admit weapons review would have been a bear. Referring to US legal requirements for a review of the legality of all weapons systems, meeting the...