Further Reading “3G Could End This Year. For People Who Rely on Basic Phones, That’s a Big Problem.” By Hannah Frishberg — OneZero. The major telecommunications carriers will soon shut down their 3G coverage and with it, the last of the “dumb” phones will theoretically no longer work. There are other issues, however. In some … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (11 February 2021)
Further Reading “A Hacker Tried to Poison a Florida City's Water Supply, Officials Say” By Andy Greenberg — WIRED. Given the fact that most water and sewage systems are linked to the internet, even their operational systems, it is surprising these sorts of incidents do not occur more frequently.“UK regulator to write to WhatsApp over Facebook … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (10 February 2021)
Congress starts chewing over the Russian hack of many agencies through SolarWinds. What changes as a result is the key question. In its first hearing of the new Congress, the House Homeland Security Committee delved into United States (U.S.) public and private sector cybersecurity in light of the seemingly massive SolarWinds hack. However, one of … Continue reading House Committee Kicks Off With Cybersecurity Hearing
The Norwegian DPA proposes a €9,600,000 fine for GDPR violations. Norway’s data protection authority has proposed to fine Grindr, a dating app, €9,600,000 (100,000,000 Norwegian Krone), which is about 10% of the company’s worldwide revenue for sharing “user data to a number of third parties without legal basis.” This is a proposed fine, and Grindr … Continue reading Norway Issues Preliminary Fine Against Grindr
The FTC and Amazon settle claims the company was stealing drivers’ tips to subsidize wages. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Amazon reached a settlement over the FTC’s allegations that the tech giant was stealing tips promised to the drivers in its attempt to compete with UPS and FedEx in order to subsidize the wages … Continue reading FTC Settles With Amazon Over Wage Theft
Further Reading “Why Intel's troubles should concern us all” By Ina Fried — Axios. One of the last major American semi-conductor manufacturers is struggling to keep up with rivals, and this could be very bad for United States (U.S.) national security. Biden Administration officials have made noise signifying they understand, but we will see what, … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (9 February 2021)
The SAFE TECH Act addresses Section 230 issues bills introduced in the last Congress largely did not. Three Democratic Senators have introduced a new bill to reform 47 USC 230 (Section 230), which is among the first major bills on the liability protection social media platforms and other technology companies have. Senate Intelligence Committee Chair … Continue reading Another Democratic Section 230 Bill
Further Reading “‘A kiss of death’: Top GOP tech critics are personae non gratae after election challenge” By Cristiano Lima — Politico. I take these articles with a block of salt, not least of which because many inside the Beltway articles lack perspective and a sense of history. For sure, in the short term the … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (8 February 2021)
The incoming chair of the subcommittee that oversees antitrust is proposing the most significant revision of U.S. antitrust law since Hart-Scott-Rodino in 1976. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and three Democratic colleagues on the subcommittee with oversight of antitrust and anti-competitive matters have unveiled their bill to remake the United States’ (U.S.) antitrust enforcement regime. Left … Continue reading Klobuchar Proposes Major Update Of Antitrust Law
Further Reading “Global Privacy Control wants to succeed where Do Not Track failed” By Russell Brandom — The Verge. A new effort to block tracking people across the internet and selling people’s information has launched, the Global Privacy Control. This initiative is looking to leverage a provision currently effective in the “California Consumer Privacy Act” … Continue reading Further Reading, Other Developments, and Coming Events (4 February 2021)
Michael Kans 