Small Victories in the War on Internet Disinformation
People like DeGette and Lindenberger are little points of light in the dark night of search engine optimization. Their success will depend on the willingness of millions of ordinary people to join their fight for reality-based public policy.
Questions for Witnesses in Tomorrow’s Net Neutrality Hearing
Net neutrality was created at a time when the only large firms conducting Internet business were ISPs. It was sensible for lawmakers to focus on ISPs in 2003. But today’s Internet is dominated by non-ISP edge services that routinely abuse personal information. Internet law need to leap forward to the present day.
Confusion Reigns in DC Circuit Oral Arguments on Net Neutrality Regulations
Net neutrality was promoted by Silicon Valley to take policy makers’ eyes off the massive dossiers of personal data its major players assembled from their platforms. Now that the public is aware of this (very real) behavior, the claims of possible harms to consumers from the lack of net neutrality regulations are much less compelling.
Enough Raw Meat Internet Policy, Congress!
The task for Congress is simple and straightforward: it needs to prioritize the issues that plague the Internet today in order to prevent them from getting worse.
Books, Books, and more Books!
If you’re a fan of books on tech and tech policy this is a particularly good time for you because so much new stuff is hot off the presses. Here’s a short list of the books in my reading queue at the moment, along with a couple of longish journal articles.
Larry Roberts was a Networking Legend
Creating a network that can be all things to all people was a monumental undertaking. Making it work for every user in the most reliable, safe, and economical way is even harder. I happily shared the Amicus Brief with Larry last October that was influenced so heavily by his work on Telenet; and I was glad that it pleased him.
Does Fact Checking Work on Fake News?
Some subjects are so emotional that simply raising them, truthfully or not, tends to influence is in the direction of figures that stake out extreme positions. Remaining silent on all matters of great public concern doesn’t feel like a winning strategy, however.
Sharing Federal Spectrum by Contract
Applications that can’t be supported by LTE and its progeny probably can be supported by a small number of alternative technologies that have commercial applications. So sharing by contract should be the default mode.