Internet Meets World

Moving to hashtag mode for #internetmeetsworld

A month or two ago, I created this publication to be a living scrapbook chronicling rules going boom as the internet collides with the world. Both to create a nice place to collect my and others’ thinking and also to experiment with Medium’s new…

 
…. on the blockchain and transparency-based regulation

“Companies that choose to do business on the Bitcoin blockchain are binding themselves to a degree of transparency that regulators and the public can use. If more companies use these types of protocols then we can enforce the…

….an Underwriters Laboratory for the Internet of Things?

“Even if we don’t have the answers today, policymakers can start to think about what best practices in the industry might look like. Should there be an “Underwriters Laboratories” that audits the software on Internet of Things…

 
…on the freedom to investigate

“On the policy front, it’s not yet clear what role Washington will be able to play in addressing the upcoming risks. But a good start would be for political leaders and the public to recognize the importance of communications transparency. I’d even suggest that…

Video reveals the moment Google’s self-driving car slams into a bus | ZDNet Charlie Osborne, www

“Our car had detected the approaching bus but predicted that it would yield to us because we were ahead of it,” the report states.

…on how we see privacy, security and surveillance

“The FBI wants to set a precedent that tech companies will assist law enforcement in breaking their users’ security, and the technology community is afraid that the precedent will limit what sorts of security features it can offer customers…

A comparison of Gilded Age San Francisco to today

I wrote this history of Henry George and San Francisco in the first Gilded Age to make a bunch of eerie comparisons around wealth inequality, tenant regulations, land rents, transit monopolies and beyond before the Progressive Era transformed…

 
….on daily fantasy

“The bill will require fantasy sports sites to pay the state a $50,000 registration fee, and implement policies to verify that all participants are 18 years of age or older. It also requires player funds to be segregated from a company’s operating funds, and bans employees of fantasy…

 
….on the challenges of policing platforms and sharing data w govt

“Your confirmation of this purge shows an ability and willingness by Airbnb not only to identify hosts who violate multiple City and State laws, but also to drop these bad actors from your platform. You have…

 
….on the challenge of making sensible encryption laws…

“This kind of move is *so stupid* on so many levels that it defies any kind of logic. It’s *bad for security*, because weak encryption puts us all at *much greater risk* than the threat of terrorists or criminals using encryption…

Apple, the FBI, and the San Bernadino iPhone Dan Wallach, freedom-to-tinker.com

“As a national policy matter, we need to decide what’s more important: backdoor access to user data, or robustness against nation-state adversaries. If you want backdoor access, then the…

….on encryption

“I would posit that each device should ship with an *individual* key that is created by the manufacturer specifically for the purpose of unlocking the device. The key should then be stored in a way where it can be requested by law enforcement (either by the manufacturer or a third party that…

Intersection Names New CEO Amid Push to Bring Free Wi-Fi to New York City Nathalie Tadena, www.wsj

Helping cities and companies work together is a “kind of model that is going to become increasingly important as cities are looking for ways to diversify their…

Lyft settles California driver lawsuit over employment status

“As part of the settlement, Lyft has agreed that it can only deactivate drivers for specific reasons, like low passenger ratings. Drivers will be given an opportunity to address those issues before they are deactivated…