Recently, I was interviewed about Internet policy and network neutrality in Business & Information Systems Engineering, a highly regarded, long-standing, peer-reviewed German academic journal. I was interviewed opposite a leading German engineering professor, Christof Weinhardt.
Here are the interviews in Deutsch, for those who prefer my policy analysis in German…
And here are the interviews in English.
In the last three days, I’ve heard sentences like the one above uttered several times.
I’ve heard it about phones that lacked buttons, that had huge cracks along their touch screen, and that have only slightly-obsolete-looking designs.
No time in American history have we as a nation held onto to so many cell phones that are over 18 months old…
I was on Here & Now, produced by the wonderful folks at Boston’s NPR station WBUR today.
I discussed freedom of speech and the BART disruption that I’ve written about here (several times).
To listen, follow this link.
In a post on The Netflix Blog that went up Sunday night, the company’s CEO, Reed Hastings, announced that Netflix would split its DVD-by-mail service and its streaming-video service into two companies. The new DVD-only company, called “Qwikster,” will be completely separate from the streaming business. Hastings also expressed contrition for the way the company rolled out its recent price hike, which alienated many customers. “Qwikster” which will ship DVD’s and games reminds me of two already dead platforms, Napster and Friendster (I don’t like “sters”). So after 10 years the stock is sold. The subscription canceled. The last little red envelope placed back in the mail this morning. Qwikster? Technological domination? Nope just a plain bad idea.
From Reuters – Japan’s largest defense contractor reported its systems had been compromised, including computers at its shipyards and other facilities.
Yesterday, several think tanks and scholars filed an amicus brief in FCC v. Fox, the indecency case before the Supreme Court. This case has a long history, and grows partly out of Paris Hilton’s use of bad words on live TV. The case is before the Supreme Court for a second time.
Some scholars affiliated with the Yale Information Society, the think tank New America Foundation, and Professor Monroe Price filed an amicus brief to remind the court that the case is limited to indecency regulations, rather than concerning broader spectrum policy issues. In the short-hand of Supreme Court precedents, only Pacifica is at issue, not Red Lion, NBC v. US, CBS v. FCC, and so on.
The brief can be found here. Thanks to Nick Bramble at Yale for taking the lead on this brief. We have consistently reminded the Court of this point; I drafted and filed an amicus brief making this argument to the Supreme Court the first time this case reached the Court, in 2008.
Somini Sengupta at the NY Times Bits blog discusses the balance between online privacy and advertising effectiveness, and previews some of the issues that will be discussed during today’s hearing “Internet Privacy: The Impact and Burden of EU Regulation” in the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
My former employer, the University of Nebraska, has joined the inspiring Gig-U project, headed by Blair Levin.
Both Blair and the CIO of UNL emailed to thank me for connecting them–which I don’t remember doing. I think I just emailed the Dean of the law school, who gets things done.
I’m not sure where on the Maimonides giving ladder I end up for sending an email but not remembering it… Probably a lower rung. But glad Gig-U and UNL connected–and that UNL students and others will connect to the Internet faster than ever.
Cecilia Kang at the Washington Post discusses the potential challenges facing the FCC’s net neutrality rules, including suits from commercial operators and action by lawmakers.
There’s no doubt that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a comedy classic. Those who have appreciation of such things should watch it, and those who show classic films to their kids (and you know who you are) should definitely put it on their lists. Now, picture AT&T as the chap hoisting the older fellow, and cast T-Mobile as the poor sod who insists, “I’m not dead.” AT&T is doing everything it can to kill off poor T-Mob, even to bopping it over the head and throwing it on the cart with its other victims of the Black Death. That’s because the more AT&T can marginalize T-Mobile, the more its tenuous case to take over T-Mobile will remain on life support. Even in the face of the Justice Department taking the extraordinary step to go to court to block the takeover, AT&T isn’t backing down. It never does.
Marvin Ammori 