MJIL Blog

By Erik Allerson On March 10th, 2021, Russia’s federal agency in charge of communications and information technology, Roskomnadzor, announced via the Russian social media website VKontakte that it had deliberately slowed down internet service speed for users in the country attempting to access Twitter.[1] It claimed to have decelerated the use of Twitter on 100% […]

By Michael Keller Bitcoin’s astronomical surge in valuation was one of the defining digital trends of 2020. Valued at around $8,500 at the beginning of March of last year, the cryptocurrency is now, as of March 9, 2021, trading above $50,000.[1] Its market capitalization—which, in the crypto space, is calculated by multiplying coins in circulation

By Yu-Chen Wang The digitalization of the economy has been a focus of tax debates in recent years. For example, in 2019, there was a potential trade war caused by a France tax targeting the so-called “digital services” of “GAFA”, the abbreviation of Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.[1] Other countries, including Italy and the United

By Molly McKinsey In 2015, Europe was facing a “crisis” as a record number of refugees sought refuge from conflict, terror, and persecution in their home countries.[1] European leaders became desperate to curb irregular migration.[2] Believing that the crisis was a result of insecure external borders, EU leaders entered into pacts that placed asylum processing

By Rebecca Wilton If you were asked to describe the function of a Google Doc, you might note its convenience for remote collaboration, its ubiquity in organizing circles, or its penchant for getting lost in the Cloud. Would you also mention its advantages as a key weapon in an international conspiracy? This week the Indian

By Zack Crandell On his first day in office, January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation exploring options to terminate the national emergency and temporarily cease construction of the wall being built on the U.S.-Mexico border, while awaiting a review of the legality of the wall on multiple grounds.[1] This prompted the Supreme

By Parth Deshmukh In just over two weeks in office, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have issued nearly fifty executive orders,[1] actions and memoranda alike in the realms of immigration, COVID-19, environment, health care, economy, and equity.[2] About 16 orders directly reverse policies of the former administration.[3] The immigration policy changes are

By Mike Green Mexico’s recent military clampdown on organized criminals that sell stolen gas, or huachicol, has produced short-term results. But until the corruption that enables the black market for contraband is addressed, the long-term effects of the measures are unclear. Large-scale gasoline theft takes many forms, such as siphoning pipelines, bribing employees, and intercepting

By Grace Swindler Colombia’s existing property ownership laws can be traced back to the Spanish conquest of South America.[1] After Colombia’s liberation from Spain in the early 18th century, the wealthy and elite obtained ownership to the property.[2] This resulted in extreme economic disparity that has continued until today. As of 2018, a majority of

By Emma Janicki The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020, a bill with bipartisan and bicameral support, was introduced in both houses of Congress in March to address problems with US trademark law. [1] Its goal is to combat the rise in fraudulent trademark applications, as well as provide new procedures to cancel fraudulent registrations, and