Cultivated Compendium

The Second Circuit has ruled that the federal government must release a redacted version of the legal guidance for the targeted killings of American citizens by drones, the New York Law Journal reports. The plaintiffs, including the New York Times, wanted information about the justifications for killing U.S. citizens Anwar al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, and Samir Khan by drone strike in Yemen. The appellate court reasoned that the secrecy of the legal analysis was waived because of voluntary disclosures by government officials.

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared to be concerned about the fate of cloud computing but not so much with the fate of Internet startup Aereo in oral arguments today, Re/code reports: "As attorneys for the Web TV service and the TV networks who are suing it argued their case today, justices repeatedly asked about ways they could write a judgment that protected the rights of other cloud computing services, such as Dropbox, to continue operating. But they seemed less concerned about Aereo’s fate. Some justices wondered why Aereo shouldn’t be considered the equivalent of cable company, which would give them the right to transmit TV programming — but would also require them to pay for it. And others argued that Aereo seemed primarily designed to evade copyright law."

Aereo retransmits free broadcast TV over the Internet through individual antennas dedicated to each customer. Aereo says it designed its system with those one-to-one antennas to avoid violating broadcasters' exclusive rights to publicly perform their works. But broadcasters say Aereo is freeloading on their content without having to pay retransmission fees. 

With Internet start-up Aereo and broadcast TV companies slated to go to the U.S. Supreme Court today, the case "could have important implications for Internet streaming, cloud computing, and the future of the TV industry itself," Time reports. Aereo retransmits free broadcast TV over the Internet through individual antennas dedicated to each customer. Aereo says it designed its system with those one-to-one antennas to avoid violating broadcasters' exclusive rights to publicly perform their works. But broadcasters say Aereo is freeloading on their content without having to pay retransmission fees. 

The Fourth Circuit ruled that 'Company Doe' should not have been able to litigate in secret its dispute with the Consumer Product Safety Commission about whether a safety complaint--that a lower-court judge said was "materially inaccurate"--can be posted online, the Wall Street Journal reports. The appellate court held "'that the district court’s sealing order violates the public’s right of access under the First Amendment and that the district court abused its discretion in allowing Company Doe to litigate pseudonymously,"' WSJ further reports.

Government-funded scientists are connecting "terabytes of patient medical records" at 11 sites across the country, The Washington Post reports. The result would be possibly the largest repository of medical information in the country, containing the medical information of 26 million to 30 million Americans. The new repository also raises privacy and propietary concerns, presenting "tricky ethical questions about who owns and controls the data, how to protect patient privacy and how research questions will be prioritized," The Post also reports.

"'The raw data is not what is being shared. That remains with the institution that the patient trusts,' said Devon McGraw, director of the health privacy project for the Center for Democracy and Technology," The Post further reports.

The project arises out of a Affordable Care Act provision  to create an independent nonprofit to help doctors and patients make better-informed decisions about their care, The Post further reports.

A federal judge ruled that a Massachusetts state ban on the sale of prescription painkiller Zohydro violates federal law, Reuters reports. Governor Deval Patrick had banned the drug when declaring a public health emergency about the abuse of opoids in his state. But Judge Rya Zobel ruled that the ban interferes with the Food and Drug Administration's "constitutionally mandated" regulatory authority, Reuters also reports.

Law professor Geoffrey R. Stone, writing in the Daily Beast, said having an evidentiary privilege for journalists' sources is key to democracy. The point of the privilege is that confidential sources will be incentivized to reveal information to reporters without fear of retaliation and exposure, Stone says. It's good for democracy "to gain access to information that otherwise might never see the light of day" because wrongdoing will be exposed more, he says. Congress should enact a federal shield law even if it means that lines are drawn on who qualifies as a journalist and what information is protected by the privilege, he concludes.

The Columbus Dispatch reports on the latest victory for same-sex marriage: Ohio now must recognize other state's same-sex marriages. "A federal judge’s ruling that Ohio must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states is expected to open the door to a variety of issues, including bereavement leave, health-care decisions, taxes and survivor benefits," the Dispatch further reports. Ohio's statewide ban on same-sex marriage remains intact.

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the copyright dispute between broadcast TV companies and Aereo, an Internet startup that streams broadcast programming online. Broadcasters have a Plan B if Aereo wins, The Wall Street Journal reports: "Plan B options under consideration range from lobbying Congress for a legislative solution to perhaps thwarting Aereo by shifting to cable transmission from broadcast. The most radical of the contingency plans is the recent suggestion from CBS Corp. CBS -0.08% Chief Executive Leslie Moonves that the company could offer its own Internet service if Aereo wins."