ProfNet Experts Available on Sinking of El Faro, New EPA Limits, Copyright Protection, More

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Oct 14, 2015, 11:11 ET

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EXPERT ALERTS

Tragic Sinking and Disappearance of El Faro Cargo Ship During Hurricane Joaquin
University Louisville Basketball Scandal Involving Alleged Hiring of Prostituted Minors
DraftKings/FanDuel Fantasy Sports Scandal Exposes Threat to Integrity of Sport
New EPA Limits on Smog-Related Pollution
Yoga and Copyright Protection

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EXPERT ALERTS:

Tragic Sinking and Disappearance of El Faro Cargo Ship During Hurricane Joaquin
V. Frank Asaro, J.D.
Maritime Attorney
At 5 p.m. on the day El Faro departed, the forecast showed that tropical storm Joaquin would reach hurricane strength and the ship's path would take it straight into the track of the storm. At 8 p.m. later the same day, the ship left port. The Captain had the last word on whether to go and on what particular course the ship should travel. V Frank Asaro knows more than most about what causes large ships to sink and the tragic and costly consequences. While it is rare for large cargo ships like the 790-foot El Faro to sink and completely disappear, Asaro has the nautical expertise and maritime legal experience to discuss this tragic event. Says Asaro: "The potential loss of the captain's crew and his own life should have overridden his apparent economic conflict of interest (the cooperative instinct to protect the crew vs. the competitive instinct to make a profit)."
Asaro is the author of the just released suspense novel "The Tortoise Shell Game," about the sinking of a tuna boat and subsequent litigation.
Website: http://www.bettieyoungsbooks.com/authors/FrankAsaro/tortoise.htm
Contact: Scott Lorenz, [email protected]

University Louisville Basketball Scandal Involving Alleged Hiring of Prostituted Minors
Cynthia Godsoe
Professor of Law
Brooklyn Law School
"Juvenile prostitution continues to be a massive problem in the U.S.; the FBI estimates that 100,000 minors are sold for sex each year. The recent scandal about the Louisville basketball team's alleged use of prostituted girls is just one sad illustration of this massive problem. Unfortunately, discussion of the scandal coverage largely continues to ignore these victims, and also gives a pass to some of the alleged perpetrators -- there has been no talk of prosecuting the players or recruits that had sex with these young girls."
Godsoe teaches courses in family law, criminal law, children and the law, professional responsibility and public interest lawyering. Her scholarship centers on the regulation of intimate behavior and gender roles through family and criminal law, encompassing topics including the path to marriage equality, the designation of victims and offenders in intimate violence, the public vs. private family law systems, and the criminalization of non-conforming girls. Articles include "Punishment as Protection," Houston Law Review (2015); and "Give Restitution to Victims of Child Pornography, But Also Recognize All Child Victims of Sexual Exploitation," Huffington Post, (March 2015).
Website: http://www.brooklaw.edu
Contact: John Mackin, [email protected]

DraftKings/FanDuel Fantasy Sports Scandal Exposes Threat to Integrity of Sport
Jodi Balsam
Professor of Law
Brooklyn Law School
"The DraftKings/FanDuel scandal invites closer scrutiny of the daily fantasy phenomenon and its threat to the integrity of sports. While sports entities line up to take stakes in fantasy games, no one appears to be focusing on the long-term threat they pose to the values that undergird sports' popularity. On the list of short-term profit seekers who have invested in fantasy are most of the pro leagues and the biggest sports networks. More ominously, the NFL Players Association just struck a deal with DraftKings to earn fees from the company's use of player images in its ads. The concern here is less with the integrity of fantasy sports games -- that ship has sailed despite DraftKings and FanDuel's new ban on employee participation in any fantasy games -- but rather the integrity of the underlying sports competition. No one is going to watch, much less bet on, a contest infested with point-shaving and other forms of performance manipulation."
Balsam is a former attorney for the NFL, where she managed litigation in all areas of law, oversaw a variety of policy and operational matters, negotiated contracts for League special events, and administered the League's internal dispute resolution processes and compliance program. She is frequently quoted in media (including USA Today and The New York Times) on NFL legal matters.
Website: www.brooklaw.edu
Contact: John Mackin, [email protected]

New EPA Limits on Smog-Related Pollution
Philip Stevens
Environmental Science Faculty Chair
Indiana University School of Public & Environmental Affairs
"The EPA's new standard of 70ppb was expected. However, 70ppb doesn't leave much of a margin for safety for protecting public health. While the EPA Science Advisory Panel recommended a standard between 60-70ppb, industry lobbied hard to keep it at its current level of 75ppb. Lowering it to 70pbb, may be seen as a compromise."
Website: https://spea.indiana.edu/faculty-research/directory/profiles/faculty/full-time/stevens-philip.html
Contact: Agata Porter, [email protected]

Yoga and Copyright Protection
Barbara Dobberthien
COO
Yoga Alliance
On Oct. 8, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California affirmed a previous ruling by a federal district court that Bikram Choudhury's sequence of 26 yoga poses is not entitled to copyright protection. Says Dobberthien: "Yoga instructors can now put together a sequence of yoga poses without fear of infringing copyrights."
Website: www.yogaalliance.org
Contact: Dani Mackey, [email protected]

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