Two of the more active tech regulators signal action on Google and Apple’s anti-competitive practices app stores for some of the same reasons. Twitter Australia and the EU look at app stores, with possible action coming. Cocktail Party The European Commission (EC) is moving ahead with investigation of Apple’s potentially anti-competitive App Store practices with … Continue reading EU and Australia Take Aim At App Stores
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Privacy, Technology, and the Law Subcommittee held a hearing titled “Algorithms and Amplification: How Social Media Platforms’ Design Choices Shape Our Discourse and Our Minds.” Twitter A hearing tries to get beyond the usual tech talking points to examine the role algorithms play online for good or ill. Cocktail Party Another … Continue reading A Senate Subcommittee Tackles Algorithms
Other Developments The House passed an amended version of the “Cyber Diplomacy Act of 2021” (H.R.1251) that would establish a Bureau of International Cyberspace Policy and Cyberspace Policy Coordinating Committee inside the United States (U.S.) Department of State. The Secretary of State would also need to craft and issue an International Strategy for Cyberspace.House Foreign … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, Coming Events (29 April 2021)
Other Developments The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) lauded its partial victory in Australian federal court against Google that found the company “misled consumers about personal location data collected through Android mobile devices between January 2017 and December 2018.” The ACCC conceded the court “dismissed the ACCC’s allegations about certain statements Google made about … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (27 April 2021)
Even though the staff memo is billed as addressing “Big Tech,” it might be better titled how to remake Section 230 Twitter House E&C Republicans signal areas of tech policy they may cooperate with Democrats on. Cocktail Party The minority on the primary committee of jurisdiction over the technology industry has decided to stake out … Continue reading Republican Staff Suggest Options On Regulating “Big Tech”
Other Developments A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives wrote the President asking for funding to stimulate semiconductor production in the United States (U.S.) per provisions in the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (P.L. 116-283). In a press release issued by one of the signatories, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), the Members stated:We write … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (20 April 2021)
Other Developments Google prevailed against Oracle in their borderline epic legal battle over whether Google’s use of 11,500 lines of Oracle’s Java code represented infringement of a copyright or fair use. Oracle had won in a federal appeals court, which left Google facing $8 billion in liability. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (19 April 2021)
Other Developments The United Kingdom launched its Digital Markets Unit (DMU) that will “will oversee plans to give consumers more choice and control over their data, promote online competition and crack down on unfair practices which can often leave businesses and consumers with less choice and more expensive goods and services” according to its press … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (16 April 2021)
You can receive all the content posted on my blog by subscribing to my free (for now) newsletter, the Wavelength, which covers the major events in the world of technology policy, politics, and law. I spent more than a decade working on these issues in Washington DC as both a staffer in Congress and a … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (15 April 2021)
Other Developments The White House has finally named its nominees to be the first National Cyber Director and the next Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director. In a statement, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that President Joe Biden’s intention “to nominate Chris Inglis as National Cyber Director and Jen Easterly as the Director … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (13 April 2021)
Michael Kans 