Category: Civil Rights

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TLPC Files Amicus Brief in Colorado Supreme Court Case Examining Search Warrants in a Digital Context

Led by student attorneys Sebastian Blitt, Madeline Finlayson, and Sarah Misché, the TLPC filed an amicus brief on November 6 on behalf of a group of CU Law and Engineering professors. The brief was filed in People v. Dhyne, a case pending before the Colorado Supreme Court involving the search and seizure of a computer based on the association between an internet protocol (IP) address and a physical address. 

The TPLC’s brief on behalf of Professors Blake Reid, Eric Wustrow, and Vivek Krishnamurthy, which was filed in support of neither party, urged the Court to consider the “totality of the circumstances” when examining the constitutionality of search warrants based on the association between an IP address and physical address.  

Due to technological changes in the last 20 years, the brief explained that the strong connection that once existed between an IP address and a physical address has attenuated. Given the increasingly strong privacy interests that individuals possess in electronic devices, the TLPC brief suggests that a “totality of the circumstances” approach is best suited to evaluating whether search warrants in such contexts meet the constitutional requirements of probable cause and particularity. 

The TLPC’s amicus brief in Dhyne can be downloaded by clicking here. 

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Canvassing the Current and New Accessibility Issues Arising from 911’s Transition to NG911

(by Sanam Analouei, Colorado Law 2L)

As the United States embarks on the ambitious journey to transform its emergency service infrastructure with Next Generation 911 (NG911), I developed a white paper delving into the pressing accessibility concerns surrounding this life-saving system, especially for people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or Deaf Blind (D/HH, or DB). The white paper explores the promises and pitfalls of NG911, revealing a landscape fraught with unresolved issues that could leave people in the D/HH or DB community struggling to access vital emergency services. The paper is divided into two sections: pre and on-call issues and post-call concerns.

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Dispelling the Myth that Privacy Laws Prevent Accessible Videoconferences

(by Veronica Phifer, Colorado Law 2L)

Today, TLPC student attorneys Veronica Phifer, Tanner Kohfield, and Xelef Botan posted a white paper, developed in collaboration with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), dispelling the urban legend that educational and health care institutions can avoid providing of third-party American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and captioning services during videoconferences under the guise of protecting the privacy rights of people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or DeafBlind.

First, we explained that there is no generally applicable federal privacy law that applies in these contexts. Next, we explained that sectoral privacy laws do not prohibit the use of these services, and that even if these laws impacted the provision of these services, there are effective remedies. These remedies include entities requiring interpreters or closed caption providers to protect the privacy of a student or patient via contract, or, if all else fails, obtaining consent from a patient or a student to use these services.

Dispelling the Myth that Privacy Laws Prevent Accessible VideoconferencesDownload
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FCC Approves Changes to Carceral Communications

(by Jackson McNeal, Colorado Law 2L)

On September 29th, the FCC approved a Report and Order making substantive changes that improve access to relay services eligible for funding through the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) for incarcerated people with disabilities, while also seeking comment on further reforms to expand the provision of communications services for incarcerated people with disabilities.

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TLPC Files Comments and Reply Comments on Behalf of Accessibility Coalition Before FCC on Interoperable Video Conferencing Services

Today, the TLPC filed comments on behalf of its client, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI), and a coalition of more than 20 accessibility advocacy and research organizations before the Federal Commmunications Commission. The comments urge the FCC to proceed with ensuring the accessibility and usability of video conferencing services by finalizing a decade-long pending rulemaking on the scope of “interoperable video conferencing services” governed by the FCC’s rules under the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.

July 18, 2022 update: the TLPC filed reply comments on the same matter—see the bottom of the post.

2022.06.21-Accessibility-Advocacy-and-Research-Organizations-IVCS-Comments-finalDownload

2022.07.18-Accessibility-Advocacy-and-Research-Organizations-IVCS-Reply-Comments-finalDownload
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TLPC Submits Comments and Reply Comments at FCC on Behalf of Accessibility Coalition

With the assistance of John Jang, Peter Troupe, and Victoria Venzor, the TLPC filed comments and reply comments on behalf of our client, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) and a broad coalition of accessibility advocacy and research organizations urging the FCC to require improvements to the accessibility of closed captioning display settings. The comments and reply comments can be downloaded below.

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TLPC Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Accessibility, Security, and Repair Fair Users Urging DC Circuit to Strike Down Controversial Copyright Law as Unconstitutional

Led by Colorado Law student attorneys John Jang, Victoria Venzor, and Peter Troupe, the TLPC today filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on behalf of a coalition of accessibility, security, and repair individuals and organizations, supporting the lawsuit of security researcher Dr. Matthew Green and others, represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, over a controversial copyright law. The brief urged the court to conclude that Section 1201 of Title 17 of the U.S. Code, added by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, violates the First Amendment by chilling fair uses aimed at making copyrighted works accessible to people with disabilities, researching security vulnerabilities in computer software, and repairing software-enabled vehicles and devices. Section 1201 prohibits the circumvention of technological protection measures (TPMs) on copyrighted works, requiring accessibility, security, and repair organizations to pursue exemptions in a burdensome triennial rulemaking conducted by the U.S. Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. The brief details the substantive and procedural harms of Section 1201 and the rulemaking to the First Amendment rights of people with disabilities, disability services organizations and libraries, security researchers, and ordinary consumers and repair professionals.

Functional Fair Users Final BriefDownload
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TLPC Submits Comments on Carceral Communications Accessibility for Accessibility Coalition

(by Cameron Benavides, TLPC Student Attorney)

In consultation with HEARD and on behalf of our client Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI) and a coalition of numorous deaf and hard of hearing advocacy and research organizations, the TLPC filed comments and reply comments in the Federal Communications Commission’s pending proceeding on addressing the accessibility of communications systems in carceral facilities.

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TLPC Releases Policy Brief on Access to Colorado Law and the Government Edicts Doctrine

(by Stacey Weber, TLPC Student Attorney)

The TLPC is pleased to release a policy brief detailing the state of free and open public access to the law in Colorado under the government edicts doctrine. At the request of Carl Malamud, President of Public.Resource.Org., the TLPC took a deep dive into the legal and practical realities of access to the law in Colorado. The brief details our findings, noting that Colorado demonstrates leadership with its open government framework but still has important work to do to preserve access to justice and foster innovation.

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TLPC Advocates Before the FCC for Equal Access to Communications and Video Programming

(by Dakotah Hamilton, TLPC Student Attorney)

On June 7th, the TLPC and the Communications and Technology Law Clinic (CTLC) at Georgetown Law filed a comment on behalf of 22 accessibility advocacy and research organizations, including TLPC and CTLC client Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI), in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s public notice to revisit many of its rules under the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA). The comment, drafted by Professor Blake E. Reid, TLPC Director, and Professor Laura Moy, CTLC Director, with assistance from TLPC student attorneys Dakotah Hamilton, Rachel Hersch, and Scott Goodstein and CTLC staff attorney Michael Rosenbloom and student attorney Ellen Gardiner, comprehensively reviewed the past decade of FCC proceedings implementing the CVAA as well as some dating back to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, spanning more than two dozen dockets.

The comment identifies numorous specific priorities the FCC should consider for the accessibility of video programming, communications, and hearing device accessibility, including bolstering the availability of interpretation and captioning for video conferencing platforms and expanding captioning requirements for video distributed online. The comment also calls for dedicated inquiries into accessibility barriers facing people who are deaf or hard of hearing and have multiple disabilities, older people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and people who are deaf or hard of hearing and living on rural or tribal lands or in U.S. territories. The comment also urges the Commission to emphasize supervised multistakeholderism, centering the civil rights of people with disabilities, vigorous enforcement, and reporting to Congress.

2021.06.07-Accessibility-Advocacy-and-Research-Organizations-Omnibus-Accessibility-Comments-finalDownload