Policy & Regulation

Policy & Regulation / Recently Commented

EU Lawmakers Call for Further Talks to Strengthen Proposed US Data Transfer Pact

EU lawmakers are pushing for additional negotiations to strengthen a proposed data transfer agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States. They argue that the current agreement still has shortcomings that must be addressed. The potential delay in reaching an accord is concerning for the thousands of companies that rely on the agreement. more

The Internet as a Public Utility

I recently attended a workshop on Lessons Learned from 40 Years of the Internet, and the topic of the Internet as a Public Utility in the context of national regulatory frameworks came up. For me, 40 years is just enough time to try and phrase an answer to the big policy question: Has the Internet been a success in the experiment of using market forces to act as an efficient distributor of a public good? Or has it raised more issues than it has addressed? more

UK Announces £100 Million in Funding to Help the Nation Build and Adopt the Next Generation of ‘Sovereign’ AI

The UK's Foundation Model Taskforce has been established in response to the UK government's ambition to become a leader in the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI). The task force will be supported by £100 million of investment and will focus on building the UK's 'sovereign' national capabilities, so public services can benefit from the transformational impact of this type of AI. more

Humans’ Best Defense Against Cybersecurity

At regular intervals, I have discussed the cybersecurity situation in Australia. In those assessments, I wrote about my frustration that the previous government policies more or less resembled a fire brigade approach. Trying to address individual incidents with regulations and legislation rather than coming up with a holistic strategy. more

UN and the Global Digital Compact: How to Strengthen the IGF?

According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the forthcoming UN World Summit on the Future", scheduled for September 2024, should adopt a "Global Digital Compact" (GDC).1 The GDC is part of the so-called "UN Common Agenda." The compact is expected to "outline shared principles for an open, free and secure digital future for all" and to cover issues as digital connectivity, avoiding Internet fragmentation, providing people with options as to how their data is used... more

Return of Net Neutrality: Discussion of European Net Neutrality Proposal Relevant for U.S. Broadband Market

There is an interesting recent discussion in Europe about net neutrality that has relevance to the U.S. broadband market. The European Commission that oversees telecom and broadband has started taking comments on a proposal to force content generators like Netflix to pay fees to ISPs for using the Internet. I've seen this same idea circulating here from time to time, and in fact, this was one of the issues that convinced the FCC first to implement net neutrality. more

UK Communications Watchdog Calls for Investigation into Microsoft and Amazon’s Cloud Market Dominance

The UK's communications watchdog, Ofcom, has proposed referring Microsoft and Amazon to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for further investigation into their dominance of the cloud computing market. more

Meta Spells Out Absurdity of EU’s Plan to Tax Big Tech for Broadband Expansion

The EU is proposing a telecom-industry-backed plan to effectively tax Big Tech companies, with the intention of throwing that money toward Big Telecom companies for broadband expansion. The proposal is part of the EU's efforts to craft digital policies for the next few decades, with an eye on shoring up lagging broadband access. more

Experts Urge Immediate Halt on Development of “Giant” AIs

More than 1,000 experts in the artificial intelligence community have called for an immediate pause on the development of "giant" AI systems like GPT-4 for at least six months. more

Biden Administration Bans Federal Agencies from Using Commercial Spyware

The Biden administration has announced an executive order that would ban U.S. federal agencies from using commercially developed spyware that poses threats to human rights and national security. more

An Economic Perspective on Internet Centrality

The IETF met in November 2022 in London. Among the many sessions that were held in that meeting was a session of the Decentralised Internet Infrastructure Research Group, (DINRG). The research group's ambitions are lofty: DINRG will investigate open research issues in decentralizing infrastructure services such as trust management, identity management, name resolution, resource/asset ownership management, and resource discovery. more

Biden-Harris Administration Unveils National Cybersecurity Strategy

Today, the Biden Administration released the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which outlines the use of all available resources to protect the United States' security, safety, and economic prosperity. more

European Union Wants to Fix the GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted in 2016 and has since become the global standard for privacy regulation. The GDPR has been a watershed moment in tech regulation, requiring companies to ask for consent to collect data online and threatening hefty fines if they don't comply. more

FAA Announces $175,000 Fine Against SpaceX for Failure to Submit Required Pre-Launch Information

SpaceX, the leading provider of commercial launches in the United States, is subject to FAA regulations and must provide safety data prior to any attempt at launch. Last year, SpaceX performed a record 61 launches, with 34 of them primarily for the Starlink program. more

Amazon Gets FCC Approval to Deploy Its Project Kuiper Broadband Satellites

Today, the FCC has sided with Amazon in a regulatory battle over Project Kuiper, the company's satellite internet system. Despite objections from rival SpaceX, the commission has approved Amazon's plan to prevent the upcoming satellite internet constellation from causing orbital debris in space. more