Policy & Regulation

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When CDA Immunity is Not CDA Immunity

Here's a question: If 47 USC 230(c) (the Good Samaritan provision of the Communications Decency Act) says that online services are not liable for third party content, then can you even sue the online service? Shouldn't the online service be immune from lawsuit? Because, after all, what would be the point of being sued for something for which you cannot be liable? more

Microsoft’s Brad Smith Calls for a ‘Digital Geneva Convention’ to Protect Civilians

In a blog post published today on Microsoft's website, company President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, has raised concerns over escalating cyberattcks over the past year and the need for a Digital Geneva Convention. more

Technology: Doomsday or Godsend – the Choice Is Ours

Following the American insurrection and the role the media played -- social media, particularly the "doomsday scenario," started to appear again in relation to technological developments. Only a few years ago, a group of hi-tech companies, including Tesla, warned against the negative aspects of artificial intelligence (AI). Other technologies that could seriously affect human developments include gene editing, nanotechnology and synthetic biology. more

CEOs and Encryption: The Questions You Need to Ask Your Experts

Barely a week passes without something in the news that reminds us of the critical role encryption plays in securing our data. It is a technology that protects so much of what we rely on, as individuals protecting our privacy, as companies securing our business assets and transactions, and as governments responsible for critical national infrastructure. ... The request Kathy mentions came after the San Bernardino shootings in California... more

NCUC Workshop: One World, One Internet? New gTLDs & Competition in a Changing Global Environment

The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) has organized and is holding a policy workshop, One World, One Internet? New gTLDs & Competition in a Changing Global Environment, next week in Beijing at ICANN-46. The program, which brings together top Western and Chinese experts, will explore pressures for integration versus fragmentation of the Internet and implications for ICANN, as well as different competition and regulation perspectives as they relate to new gTLDs. more

Cybersecurity Continues to Be the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Top Priority for 2019

For the fourth year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office continues to include cybersecurity as one of the top enforcement priorities for 2019. more

Luddites of the 21St Century Unite? (Revisited)

In the winter of 2014 I wrote a blogpost under the title 'Luddites of the 21st century unite?' (read here). In the post I wondered where the 21st century Luddites were. ICT, automation, artificial intelligence all threatened jobs, yet all those affected embraced smartphones and the Internet in droves. It seems I found them, but what to do? Brexit and Luddites Fast forward to early summer 2016. more

Digital Sovereignty and Internet Standards

There have been a number of occasions when the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has made a principled decision upholding users' expectations of privacy in their use of IETF-standardised technologies. (Either that, or they were applying their own somewhat liberal collective bias and to the technologies they were working on!) The first major such incident that I can recall is the IETF's response to the US CALEA measures. more

Paris Cyber Agreement Has Grown to More Than 450 Signatories

The "Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace," announced by French President at the Paris Peace Forum on November 13, has attracted more than 450 signatories. more

U.S. House Republicans Ask CEO’s of Major Tech, Telecom Companies to Testify on Net Neutrality

U.S. House Republicans have invited CEOs of major technology and telecommunications companies to weigh in on the net neutrality debate amidst Federal Communications Commission move to repeal the Obama-era rules. more

Trump Administration Backs Repeal of Broadband Privacy Rules

"In a defeat for digital privacy advocates, the House of Representatives voted Tuesday to allow internet service providers to sell information about consumers’ browsing history without their knowledge or consent," Molly Olmstead reporting in Slate. more

Why the Republican Policy Brief on Copyright Should Have Been Withdrawn

On November 16, the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, inadvertently released a policy brief entitled "Three Myths About Copyright Law" which was quickly withdrawn. Of course, as a work of the U.S. government, this document does not itself enjoy copyright protection, so it is widely available on the internet through groups like The Internet Archive project. more

Simplifying Legalese

I attended a conference last week on Data Protection and one of the prime issues that cropped was that on the immanent complexity of legalese that prevents users from understanding the Terms & Conditions for which they're signing up when they join a social network, use an app or visit a website. This led to the Users being disinterested in understanding the T&Cs. This had a huge impact on Data Protection Policies since Users were ignorant about how their data was being used... more

Trump Expected to Name FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai as Chairman

"Pai, a Barack Obama nominee who has served as the senior FCC Republican for more than three years, could take the new role immediately and wouldn't require approval by the Senate because he was already confirmed to serve at the agency," Alex Byers and Tony Romm reporting in Politico. more

Internet Society Issues Statement on Developing Cyber Security Policy Initiatives

The Internet Society has released an announcement setting out its views on the development of policy to address the balance between security and privacy. From an Internet perspective and in the context of the growing threat vector from hacking, targeted cyber attacks on networks and individuals, and surveillance, the Internet Society's approach to the development of cyber security policy initiatives is based on the following key considerations. more