Tech Policy Podcast

434: The Free Speech Recession

TechFreedom — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff discuss their fantastic new book, The Future of Free Speech.

Links:

The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom

433: AI and the First Amendment

TechFreedom — Tue, 7 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Santana Boulton, and Andy Jung discuss whether AI promotes free speech, why AI outputs are protected free expression, why Anthropic should win its First Amendment lawsuit against the Department of War, and much else besides.

Links:

AI + 1A: Why the First Amendment Protects Artificial Intelligence

Don’t Ban Kids From Using Chatbots

Heaven’s Gate—How and When It May Be Entered

432: Live: The New Frontiers of Speech

TechFreedom — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Our host, Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom), speaks on a panel at State of the Net with Joel Thayer (Digital Progress Institute) and Ashkhen Kazaryan (The Future of Free Speech), and Luke Hogg (Foundation for American Innovation). They discuss how the First Amendment should work in a world of algorithms and AI.

Links:

AI + 1A: Why the First Amendment Protects Artificial Intelligence (Corbin’s new paper) (https://tinyurl.com/mw5vbuzf)

State of the Net 2026

Tech Podcast Policy 373: Porn and the First Amendment

Tech Podcast Policy 417: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton Is Wreaking Havoc

431: Barrett’s Moody Concurrence: Oddly Popular, Wholly Wrong

TechFreedom — Mon, 9 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Host Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) deconstructs Justice Barrett’s surprisingly influential concurrence in Moody v. NetChoice. Or: Why the First Amendment protects algorithms and AI.

Links:

Moody v. NetChoice

The Post-human First Amendment

Tech Policy Podcast 286: How Algorithms Can Fight Extremism

Tech Policy Podcast 414: Beware the Butlerian Jihad

430: Social Media on Trial

TechFreedom — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0000

A landmark bellwether trial in Los Angeles is testing whether Instagram and YouTube can be blamed for teen addiction and mental health problems. Clay Calvert (American Enterprise Institute) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) review the many problems with letting plaintiffs’ lawyers demagogue social media platforms in front of a jury.

Links:

Social Media Addiction Lawsuits: The Deceptively Flawed Tobacco Analogy

Tech Policy Podcast 347: When Schools Scapegoat Social Media

429: AI and Jobs

TechFreedom — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 14:54:51 +0000

Brent Orrell (American Enterprise Institute) discusses the future of work in a world of genius machines.

Links:

De-Skilling the Knowledge Economy

What Anthropic’s Internal Study Suggests About the Future of Work

Did the Canaries Just Die?

AI and the Future of Work Looks Bright

428: New Right Antitrust: Culture War Over Consumer Welfare

TechFreedom — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Thom Lambert (Mizzou Law) discusses the Trump II administration’s new right antitrust regulators. Stay calm everyone, they just want the discretion to reward friends and punish enemies.

Links:

‘New Right’ Antitrust

New Right vs. Conservative Antitrust

The Limits of Antitrust

427: More State Tech Policy Than You Can Poke a Stick At

TechFreedom — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Scott Babwah Brennan is the director of NYU’s Center on Technology Policy. Scott and his team have just released their 2025 State Technology Policy Report—a thorough and thoughtful survey and analysis of the tech legislation coming out of statehouses across the country. Scott joins the show to discuss the report and break down how states are shaping the regulatory landscape on AI, child online safety, data privacy, and more.

Links:

The Center on Technology Policy: State Technology Policy Report 2025

New Year’s Message / From the Vault: Age Verification

TechFreedom — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Host Corbin Barthold offers some end-of-year reflections on the moral panic over kids’ use of social media and AI. Then we revisit Episode 405 (“No, Internet Age Verification Has Not Been ‘Solved’,” Apr. 30, 2025), in which Prof. Eric Goldman discusses his paper “The ‘Segregate-and-Suppress’ Approach to Regulating Child Safety Online.”

Links:

This Country Banned Social Media for Young Teens. Here’s how They’re Defying It.

Australia’s Social Media Ban Goes Into Effect as Pretty Much Everyone Realizes It’s a Total Mess

The “Segregate-and-Suppress” Approach to Regulating Child Safety Online

Tech Policy Podcast 417: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton Is Wreaking Havoc

426: Copyright v. The Internet

TechFreedom — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Pamela Samuelson (UC Berkeley) discusses the Supreme Court oral argument in Cox v. Sony, a copyright case that could have major ramifications for the internet.

Links:

Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment

425: Social Media Is Always Changing

TechFreedom — Tue, 2 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Corbin heads over to the Techdirt Podcast, hosted by the one and only Mike Masnick, for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of social media.

424: Meta Beats the Antitrust Regulators

TechFreedom — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Geoff Manne (ICLE) returns! He and Corbin break down a judge’s ruling (politely) laughing the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta out of court.

Topics include:

The bizarro world of antitrust trash tweeting
“‘Antitrust’ means what I want it to mean!”
Back in reality: a straightforward ruling
Maybe Zuck just . . . knows what he’s doing?
Users want what they want ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Does your market definition pass the laugh test?

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 384: The Facebook Antitrust Case

Tech Policy Podcast 393: Herbert Hovenkamp on the State of Antitrust Law

423: Free Speech Hypocrites

TechFreedom — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Ari Cohn (FIRE) and host Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) survey the Trump administration’s many attacks on the First Amendment.

Topics include:

Law firms you should no longer hire
Political opponents = terror groups?!
Brendan Carr is a lap dog
Jawboning rebrand: it’s “outreach”!
Terrorizing foreign students is bad

Links:

What if the Big Law Firms Hadn’t Caved to Trump?

The Global Free Speech Recession

Tech Policy Podcast 394: Tech and Trump 2.0

422: Algorithms Rule the Internet (and Ash Feels Fine)

TechFreedom — Mon, 3 Nov 2025 14:00:00 +0000

She’s back! Former host Ash Kazaryan (Future of Free Speech) returns for a wide-ranging discussion about powerful algorithms, attacks on Section 230, and much, much more.

Topics include:

Ash: this is your life!
In defense of tHe aLGoRitHm
In defense of Section 230
Once more: Anderson v. TikTok is so bad
Has information gotten too cheap?
Why Evangelicals should love AI
Why every platform has a metamorphosis
Let’s get cancelled

Links:

I Built This Algo Brick by Brick

The Bedrock Principle

Neural Viz

Tech Policy Podcast 417: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton Is Wreaking Havoc

TPP From the Vault: Revising Section 230 Will Silence Marginalized Voices

TPP From the Vault: Why Section 230 Matters

421: OpenAI’s Tumultuous Corporate Reboot

TechFreedom — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 14:14:53 +0000

Sri Muppidi (The Information) discusses OpenAI’s effort to overhaul its corporate structure—and the resulting power struggle over the company’s future.

Links:

OpenAI Says Its Business Will Burn $115 Billion Through 2029

OpenAI Executives Rattled by Campaigns to Derail For-Profit Restructuring

OpenAI Says Nonprofit Parent Will Own Equity Stake in Company of Over $100 Billion

420: Tech and Immigration

TechFreedom — Mon, 6 Oct 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Jeremy Neufeld (Institute for Progress) discusses how our immigration system works, why high-skilled immigrants are so important to the tech sector, what’s wrong with the Trump administration’s H-1B reforms, why America is so complacent about competing for global talent, and more.

Links:

Trump’s H-1B Changes Won’t Work

Talent Recruitment Roulette: Replacing the H-1B Lottery | IFP

The Talent Scout State | IFP

Tech Policy Podcast 317: Making Progress

419: Do Tech Optimists Have a Party?

TechFreedom — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Adam Kovacevich (Chamber of Progress) discusses the populist / anti-tech turn in politics, and what can be done about it.

Topics include:

How did we get here?
Tech optimists: There are dozens of us!
Beware ThE gROupS
If there’s a crisis, maybe act like it?
Duct tape and bubble gum
The great relearning
We’re so doomed
We’re so not doomed

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 403: The Constitutional Crisis

Tech Policy Podcast 388: The Abundance Agenda

Tech Policy Podcast 355: Conservative Futurism

Tech Policy Podcast 301: The Realignment

418: Algorithms, AI, and Product Liability

TechFreedom — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Ari Cohn (FIRE) and Tom Kurland (Patterson Belknap) discuss the spate of product-liability lawsuits against social-media and AI companies.

Topics include:

A tort law primer
The ballad of Helen Palsgraf
Causation, shmausation
Speech =/= product
Ideas are powerful. (That’s the point!)
“Addiction.” You keep using that word …
♪ Junk science ♪
AI, suicide, and you

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 414: Beware the Butlerian Jihad

Tech Policy Podcast 347: When Schools Scapegoat Social Media

Tech Policy Podcast 310: Algorithmic Amplification

417: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton Is Wreaking Havoc

TechFreedom — Thu, 4 Sep 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Host Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discusses why Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton is wrong, how it muddies First Amendment law, and how it is already causing wider harm.

Topics include:

FSC v. Paxton: a result-oriented ruling
A credulous court
PoRn iS sCArY
Ashcroft v. ACLU is sitting right there!
tEcH Is ScARy
RIP First Amendment 101
The porn-to-social media litigation pipeline
States cite FSC v. Paxton 1,000 times

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 373: Porn and the First Amendment

416: Britain Censors the Internet (and More)

TechFreedom — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Shoshana Weissmann (R Street) discusses the disastrous Online Safety Act, the growth of censorship in the UK, and more.

Topics include:

Protect the children, they said . . .
The SpongeBob videos must stop
Solve problems? Or just shut people up?
How dare you comply with our law!
Age verification in practice
Peter Kyle: polite demagogue
Let’s kill KOSA
UK: global speech police?
“Rights”: you keep using that word . . .

Links:

U.K.’s Online Safety Act Censors the Internet—A Preview of U.S. Proposals

Tech Policy Podcast 405: No, Internet Age Verification Has Not Been “Solved”

Tech Policy Podcast 404: The Worst Possible Moment to Break Encryption

Tech Policy Podcast 356: The UK Targets End-to-End Encryption

Tech Policy Podcast 354: Online Age Verification (Sucks)

From the Vault: Revising Section 230 Will Silence Marginalized Voices

TechFreedom — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 13:00:00 +0000

From November 8, 2020 (Episode 279): Billy Easley sits down with former host Ashkhen Kazaryan. They remind us of the value of the free and open Internet.

Links:

Revising the Law That Lets Platforms Moderate Content Will Silence Marginalized Voices

Free Speech and Tech Policy at the US Supreme Court, 2025 (AEI Event)

415: The State of AI Regulation

TechFreedom — Mon, 4 Aug 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Matt Perault (a16z) joins Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) for a wide-ranging discussion of AI bills, AI laws, and AI vibes. Part of the WLF-TechFreedom Tech in the Courts webinar series.

Topics include:

Why did the AI moratorium die?
Activity in the states
Regulate outcomes, not models?
Next steps in Congress
“Transparency”: so hot right now
The AI panic
Lawsuits

Links:

Recorded Tech in the Courts Webinar—The State of AI Regulation

414: Beware the Butlerian Jihad

TechFreedom — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Our host, Corbin Barthold, heads over to So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast. He talks with Nico Perrino and Ari Cohn of FIRE about the death of the AI moratorium, a bogus wrongful death lawsuit against Character AI, the FTC’s campaign of censorship against ad agencies, and the absurdities of Europe’s Digital Services Act.

Links:

Shownotes, courtesy of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast

413: AI: Things Are About to Get Weird

TechFreedom — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Richard Morrison (Competitive Enterprise Institute) joins the show for a Big Picture Episode on how AI could affect art, culture, and politics.

Topics include:

Take your Zyn and LSD
Don’t rock out to this AI band
What is AI slop? (What is art?!)
Cultural elites hardest hit
A brief history of tech panics
Ban the prompt theory!
The AI civil rights movement
AI as counterculture

Links:

Big Yowie, AI social media influencer

AI and the End of the World

More Thoughts on AI

Richard’s Free the Economy podcast

Tech Policy Podcast 366: Tech, Gender, and Freedom (2023/24 Big Picture Episode)

Tech Policy Podcast 327: The Collapse of Complex Societies (2022 Big Picture Episode)

Tech Policy Podcast 301: The Realignment (2021 Big Picture Episode)

412: NASA: Lost in Space?

TechFreedom — Tue, 1 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

TechFreedom’s Jim Dunstan and Corbin Barthold discuss the NASA administrator vacancy, the Artemis program, the NASA budget, SpaceX and Blue Origin, the moon and Mars, the FAA and NEPA, space regulatory sandboxes, and more.

Links:

“A Blueprint to Launch”: Regulatory Sandboxes for Outer Space

Roadster location in space

Tech Policy Podcast 372: Spacesuits!

Tech Policy Podcast 349: The State of Space Exploration

Foster The People - Lost In Space

411: Live: (Fired?) FTC Commissioners Slaughter & Bedoya

TechFreedom — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 13:00:00 +0000

FTC commissioners Rebecca Slaughter, Alvaro Bedoya, and Bill Kovacic speak with hosts Bilal Sayyed and Jessica Melugin at the 2025 TechFreedom / CEI Policy Summit: Constitutional Limits of FTC, FCC & DOJ Interference in Media and Speech.

Links:

Constitutional Limits of FTC, FCC and DOJ | Day 1

Constitutional Limits of FTC, FCC and DOJ | Day 2

SCOTUS Should Not Hand Sweeping Removal Powers to this President

Supreme Court order in Wilcox v. NLRB

Tech Policy Podcast 410: The FTC and Online Speech: What’s Next?

Tech Policy Podcast 409: The FTC's Quixotic Social Media Inquiry

Tech Policy Podcast 402: Can Trump Fire FTC Commissioners at Will?

410: The FTC and Online Speech: What’s Next?

TechFreedom — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Maneesha Mithal (Wilson Sonsini) discusses the FTC’s investigation of social media companies. What’s going on behind the scenes? What’s the FTC likely to do now? How can platforms prepare? How much damage to the First Amendment can the FTC inflict? We cover all this and more.

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 409: The FTC’s Quixotic Social Media Inquiry

Tech Policy Podcast 406: The Take It Down Act (Is a Weapon)

Tech Policy Podcast 394: Tech and Trump 2.0

Tech Policy Podcast 322: FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips

Appeals Court: Yeah, Of Course Ken Paxton’s Investigation Into Media Matters Was Bullshit

409: The FTC’s Quixotic Social Media Inquiry

TechFreedom — Mon, 2 Jun 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Santana Boulton (TechFreedom) discuss the FTC’s “Inquiry on Tech Censorship.”

Topics include:

What are we doing here?
The myth surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop
Does the FTC know how terms of service work?
Does the FTC know how cartels work?
Content moderation is pro-free speech
Jawboning on steroids

Links:

Copia Institute FTC comments (https://tinyurl.com/y6r2b82f)

TechFreedom FTC comments (https://tinyurl.com/mccbwa2h)

Hello! You’ve Been Referred Here Because You’re Wrong About Twitter And Hunter Biden’s Laptop (https://tinyurl.com/685fjmk8)

Moderating Eating Disorder Content Is Harder Than You Think (https://tinyurl.com/r37nvnjb)

Why Is The Republican Party Obsessed With Social Media? (https://tinyurl.com/bdec2u9w)

408: Live: FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez

TechFreedom — Fri, 23 May 2025 13:00:00 +0000

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez speaks with TechFreedom President Berin Szóka at the 2025 TechFreedom / CEI Policy Forum: Constitutional Limits on FTC, FCC, and DOJ Interference in Media and Speech.

Topics include:

Nice broadcast license. Would be a pity if …
Section 230 is good, actually
Agency independence is good, actually
How do you litigate regulation-by-threat?
Edge providers =/= common carriers
Jawboning versus jaw 👏 boning 👏
Skidmore is for experts

Links:

Constitutional Limits of FTC, FCC and DOJ | Day 1

Constitutional Limits of FTC, FCC and DOJ | Day 2

407: Google Search Antitrust Remedies

TechFreedom — Wed, 14 May 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Vidushi Dyall (Chamber of Progress) discusses the remedies phase of the Google search antitrust trial. Will Judge Mehta order Google to sell Chrome? To license its search data? To stop paying Apple for default status? And: With AI advancing rapidly, why are we talking about any of this?

Sorry about Corbin’s sound quality! He’ll be back in front of a proper microphone next episode.

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 353: The Google Search Antitrust Trial

Tech Policy Podcast 393: Herbert Hovenkamp on the State of Antitrust Law

406: The Take It Down Act (Is a Weapon)

TechFreedom — Wed, 7 May 2025 14:08:18 +0000

Jess Miers (Akron Law) discusses the problems with the Take It Down Act—the federal bill that (ostensibly) targets non-consensual intimate imagery.

Topics include:

What does Take It Down (claim) to do?
FFS, enforce the laws you have!
“Sexually explicit content” (in a normal world)
Brendan Carr is a preview of things to come
Amy Klobuchar is asleep
Is the “it” in Take It Down “all adult content”?
The censorship administration

Links:

Jess’s Bluesky thread on Take It Down

The Take It Down Act Isn’t a law, It’s a Weapon

Tech Policy Podcast 403: The Constitutional Crisis

Tech Policy Podcast 404: The Worst Possible Moment to Break Encryption

405: No, Internet Age Verification Has Not Been “Solved”

TechFreedom — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Eric Goldman (Santa Clara Law) discusses his new paper, “The ‘Segregate-and-Suppress’ Approach to Regulating Child Safety Online.”

Topics include:

The many kinds of online age-verification law
Age verification as an information problem
Fancy tech as deus ex machina
Data collection today; state surveillance tomorrow
What about devices and app stores?
The internet and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Child safety: it takes a village
The parental consent nightmare

Links:

The “Segregate-and-Suppress” Approach to Regulating Child Safety Online

Age-Verification Laws Are a Verified Mistake

Tech Policy Podcast 354: Online Age Verification (Sucks)

404: The Worst Possible Moment to Break Encryption

TechFreedom — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 13:54:40 +0000

Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discusses the recent spate of attacks on end-to-end encryption—and free speech more broadly—in the United Kingdom and United States.

Links:

U.K. Orders Apple to Let It Spy on Users’ Encrypted Accounts

Tech Policy Podcast 356: The UK Targets End-to-End Encryption

The UK’s state-funded anti-encryption propaganda

The UK Has A Voyeuristic New Propaganda Campaign Against Encryption

403: The Constitutional Crisis

TechFreedom — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:06:49 +0000

Liz Dye and Andrew Torrez (Law & Chaos) discuss the Trump administration’s renditions to El Salvador, its purges of Justice Department lawyers, and other heinous things you should worry about.

Links:

Law & Chaos

Trump v. J.G.G. (SCOTUS)

Noem v. Abrego Garcia (4th Cir.)

Trump docket w/ CourtListener links

The Constitutional Crisis Is Here

402: Can Trump Fire FTC Commissioners at Will?

TechFreedom — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 13:00:00 +0000

In a crossover episode with the Rethinking Antitrust podcast, Bilal Sayyed (TechFreedom) questions our host, Corbin Barthold, about the presidential removal power, Humphrey’s Executor, the FTC, the Trump administration, and the Roberts Court.

Note: This episode was recorded just before the D.C. Circuit issued an interlocutory order addressing the president’s removal power as to the NLRB and the MSPB. That order is in the links.

Links:

Rethinking Antitrust

The Executive Power of Removal

Will the Supreme Court Face Down Trump or Flinch?

The D.C. Circuit’s post-recording order

401: Everything NetChoice

TechFreedom — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Chris Marchese, NetChoice’s director of litigation, discusses the many, many lawsuits NetChoice has brought to defend free speech on the Internet.

Topics include:

Texas’s HB 20: time to create a 100,000 page record
NetChoice speaks for you!
California’s building code for the Internet
“Addictive”: you keep using that word . . .
Targeting social media = targeting the little guy
Age-gating the Web: bad idea then; bad idea now

Links:

Second preliminary-injunction order in NetChoice v. Bonta (N.D. Cal.)

Tech Policy Podcast 383: SCOTUS Internet Non-Law

400: The Harm the TikTok Ruling Will Do

TechFreedom — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Anupam Chander (Georgetown Law) discusses the many bad precedents—legal, geopolitical, and otherwise—that we’ll be living with in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the TikTok ban.

Links:

TikTok v. Garland Opens the Door to Global Censorship

Harvard Law School Rappaport Forum: TikTok and Free Speech

The National Security Internet

Tech Policy Podcast 399: What the TikTok Ruling Should Have Said

399: What the TikTok Ruling Should Have Said

TechFreedom — Mon, 3 Mar 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Jeffrey Fisher (Stanford Law) argued the TikTok case before the Supreme Court, on behalf of a group of U.S. TikTok users. He and host Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the SCOTUS TikTok ruling that should have been.

Links:

U.S. TikTok Petitioners’ Opening Supreme Court Brief

Tech Policy Podcast 394: Tech and Trump 2.0

Tech Policy Podcast 371: So You Want to Ban TikTok

Tech Policy Podcast 344: TikTok and the First Amendment

398: AI Policy Potpourri (Part Two)

TechFreedom — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 14:00:00 +0000

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Andy Jung, and Santana Boulton continue their discussion of the many, many things going on in AI innovation, competition, and regulation.

Topics include:

The Lina Khan AI crackdown (that we averted)
What’s next for the FTC and AI?
(More) AI culture war
600 state AI bills (might be 600 too many)
Blackpilled about Europe
Micromanaged deregulation (is not a thing)
Will the EU become unaligned?

Links:

Don’t California My Texas: Stargate Edition

The European Commission’s (Anti)Competitiveness Compass

How Liberal Democracy Might Lose the 21st Century

Tech Policy Podcast 394: Tech and Trump 2.0

397: AI Policy Potpourri (Part One)

TechFreedom — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 14:00:00 +0000

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Andy Jung, and Santana Boulton take you on a tour of the many, many things going on in AI innovation, competition, and regulation.

Topics include:

First signs of AI escape velocity?
Automated luxury libertarianism
The Trumpian vibe shift
AI culture war
The AI $$$$ bonfire
The one-week DeepSeek freakout
Is regulation futile?

Links:

Tyler Cowen on OpenAI’s Deep Research

Dwarkesh Patel on fully automated firms

Trump Signs AI and Tech Executive Orders

Some Simple Lessons From China’s Big AI Breakthrough

Tech Giants Double Down on Their Massive AI Spending

396: The Cybersecurity Crisis

TechFreedom — Mon, 3 Feb 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Maggie Miller (Politico) discusses the Chinese Communist Party’s sweeping cyberwar on the United States.

Topics include:

What is Salt Typhoon?
The CCP is on the phone
Holiday break > national security
Volt Typhoon (it gets worse!)
Is the Trump team taking this seriously?
Save CISA!
The CCP ♥️ the Thucydides Trap

Links:

We Need to Talk About Salt Typhoon

How Chinese Hackers Graduated From Clumsy Corporate Thieves to Military Weapons

395: The Digital Fourth Amendment — With Orin Kerr

TechFreedom — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Orin Kerr (Stanford Law) discusses his new book “The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in Our Online World.”

Topics include:

The un-original Fourth Amendment
Should crooks just not carry smartphones?
Do originalists cheat on the 4A?
SCOTUS 4A rulings as equilibrium adjustment
Content vs. metadata
The mosaic theory (is unworkable)
Applying the 4A to tomorrow’s tech today

Links:

The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in Our Online World

Tech Policy Podcast 368: How the Government Gets Your Data

Tech Policy Podcast 339: Will Tech Swallow the Fourth Amendment?

Tech Policy Podcast 294: Border Searches of Digital Devices

394: Tech and Trump 2.0

TechFreedom — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Ari Cohn (FIRE) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) preview the biggest tech policy issues of the Trump II administration.

Topics include:

TikTok ban: still unconstitutional
Trump’s bonkers TikTok brief
Was it worth it, Brendan Carr?
Obsolete rules for obsolete TV networks
Carr & Sec. 230: not how any of this works
Andrew Ferguson plays MAGA Mad Libs
Ferg & antitrust: not how any of this works
KOSA rises from the crypt

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 344: TikTok and the First Amendment

Tech Policy Podcast 371: So You Want to Ban TikTok

Christopher Terry’s Carr/Fox FOIA request

The Incoming FCC Chair Is Threatening to Censor Views He Doesn’t Like

Andrew Ferguson’s FTC enforcement priorities

The Trump II FCC and FTC Will Use Any Stick to Beat a Dog

From the Vault: Why Section 230 Matters

TechFreedom — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000

From October 31, 2022 (Episode 331): Emma Llansó discusses the history and importance of Section 230.

Links:

The Third Circuit’s Section 230 Decision In Anderson v. TikTok Is Pure Poppycock

Five Decisions Illustrate How Section 230 Is Fading Fast

393: Herbert Hovenkamp on the State of Antitrust Law

TechFreedom — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Herbert Hovenkamp (Penn Law and Wharton) shares his thoughts on the progressive antitrust movement, the government’s antitrust campaign against Big Tech, the 2023 Merger Guidelines, the famous tech antitrust cases of the past, and more.

Links:

Charting Antitrust’s Future

Antitrust Policy After Biden

Structural Antitrust Relief Against Digital Platforms

Breaking Up Google Would Be a Big Mistake

What Big Tech Antitrust Gets Wrong

392: Vaping Heads to SCOTUS

TechFreedom — Mon, 9 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Jonathan Adler (Case Western Law) and Ari Cohn (FIRE) discuss the FDA’s war on vaping and the Supreme Court case FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments.

Topics include:

The (comparative) health case for vaping
Yet another moral panic
Kids take risks!
The bungling FDA
A disappointing oral argument
Fine points of administrative law
Will the Trump admin switch course?

Links:

En Banc Fifth Circuit Rejects FDA's Vaping Regulation "Surprise Switcheroo"

Baptists, Bootleggers & Electronic Cigarettes

Uneducating Americans on Vaping

The Food & Drug Administration Has a Vaping Problem

More Evidence that Bans on Flavored Vaping Products May Increase Teen Smoking

Speech Regulation and Tobacco Harm Reduction

391: Dispatch from the Fediverse

TechFreedom — Mon, 2 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Samantha Lai (Carnegie Endowment) discusses the state of federated social media (Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon, etc.).

Topics include:

A map of the fediverse
What makes Bluesky new?
Tools for tiny moderators
Turning the dial of centralization
“Community” or “echo chamber”?
Will one platform “win” the fediverse?
The beauty of exit
The beauty of the unknown

Links:

Online Safety and the “Great Decentralization” – The Perils and Promises of Federated Social Media

Some (Slightly Biased) Thoughts on the State of Decentralized Social Media

Dot Social with Mike McCue

Tech Policy Podcast 358: Information Animals Fighting Information Wars

Tech Policy Podcast 352: Yoel Roth on the Future of Content Moderation

390: The Apple Antitrust Case

TechFreedom — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Geoff Manne (International Center for Law & Economics) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple.

Topics include:

The DoJ’s case: five weird tricks
Apple: closed from the start
Let’s talk about green bubbles …
Refusal to deal or exclusionary conduct?
A well-defined product market (for once)
Triple-bank-shot antitrust liability (eww)
DoJ-designed smartphones: what could go wrong!

Links:

Lina Khan’s Norm-Busting Legacy

Tech Policy Podcast 384: The Facebook Antitrust Case

Tech Policy Podcast 357: The Amazon Antitrust Case

Tech Policy Podcast 353: The Google Search Antitrust Trial

Tech Policy Podcast 302: Epic v. Apple

389: The Rise of the Compliant Speech Platform — With Daphne Keller

TechFreedom — Thu, 7 Nov 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Daphne Keller (Stanford Cyber Policy Center) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) have a wide-ranging conversation about the impact of the EU’s Digital Services Act on content moderation, the costs and benefits of platform transparency, the pervasiveness of complexity, the work of James C. Scott, Germans’ abiding thirst for data, the Burmese heroin trade, and more. For more, see Daphne’s recent article in Lawfare, “The Rise of the Compliant Speech Platform.”

Topics include:

Big Tech and the DSA
Daphne the investigative reporter
A court case for every comment removal
The EU: bean counter of human dignity
James C. Scott appreciation day
What does the DSA mean for the fediverse?
Capitalism as a force for quantification
Daphne’s metaphysics

Links:

The Rise of the Compliant Speech Platform

The Humpty Dance

388: The Abundance Agenda — With Marshall Kosloff

TechFreedom — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Marshall Kosloff (The Realignment) discusses the abundance agenda—what it is, what it could achieve, how it applies in various policy areas, how to build a political coalition around it, how to implement it, and more.

Topics include:

Abundance of what?
Energy policy: wtf is going on
Fixing defense procurement
Fixing state capacity
Building an abundance coalition
Culture war forever?
Abundance after the 2024 election

Links:

The Realignment

Arsenal of Democracy

The Harris Broadband Rollout Has Been a Fiasco

The White House Bet Big on Intel. Will It Backfire?

(Still) Against Degrowth

Tech Policy Podcast 381: American Techno-Industrial Leadership — With Noah Smith

From the Vault: Progress — With Alec Stapp

TechFreedom — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

From April 12, 2022 (Episode 317): Alec Stapp discusses the work, goals, and philosophy of his innovative new think tank, Institute for Progress.

Topics include:

Metascience: the key field you’ve never heard of
Tech industry 🤝 policy wonks
Alec’s theory of change
How to evangelize for progress
Baby making music (j/k not j/k)
The need for an abundance agenda

Links:

Institute for Progress

Tech Policy Podcast 381: American Techno-Industrial Leadership — With Noah Smith

Tech Policy Podcast 327: The Collapse of Complex Societies — With Joseph Tainter

387: Crypto Regulation — With Paul Grewal

TechFreedom — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Paul Grewal (Coinbase) takes us on a deep dive into all aspects of crypto regulation, litigation, and legislation. A crossover episode with the Washington Legal Foundation / TechFreedom Tech in the Courts series.

Topics include:

The elevator pitch for crypto
Securities law: it’s not the New Deal anymore
The inconsistent SEC
SEC v. Coinbase / Coinbase v. SEC
Operation Choke Point 2.0
The need for crypto legislation
Central bank digital currencies (are dumb)
Satoshi Nakamoto: a $68 billion mystery

Links:

Keep Crypto Free

Coinbase’s Petition for Rulemaking to the SEC

Operation Choke Point 2.0 Is Underway, and Crypto Is in Its Crosshairs

Tech Policy Podcast 312: Web3

386: Major Questions About Major Questions

TechFreedom — Thu, 3 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) provides a guided tour of the Supreme Court’s major questions doctrine.

Topics include:

Major questions: an introduction
No one knows what it means, but it’s provocative
Is major questions new?
Stories we tell about Congress
Welcome to the kludgeocracy
Politics vs. expertise
The Supreme Court cannot save us

Links:

West Virginia v. EPA: Sound and Fury, Signifying What?

Tech Policy Podcast 311: Administrative Law, and Why You Should Care

385: AI Snake Oil

TechFreedom — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Sayash Kapoor (Princeton) discusses the incoherence of precise p(doom) predictions and the pervasiveness of AI “snake oil.” Check out his and Arvind Narayanan’s new book, AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference.

Topics include:

What’s a prediction, really?
p(doom): your guess is as good as anyone’s
Freakishly chaotic creatures (us, that is)
AI can’t predict the impact of AI
Gaming AI with invisible ink
Life is luck—let’s act like it
Superintelligence (us, that is)
The bitter lesson
AI danger: sweat the small stuff

Links:

AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference

AI Existential Risk Probabilities Are Too Unreliable to Inform Policy

AI Snake Oil (Substack)

384: The Facebook Antitrust Case

TechFreedom — Mon, 9 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Geoff Manne (International Center for Law & Economics) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the many, many flaws in the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta (Facebook).

A crossover episode with the Washington Legal Foundation / TechFreedom Tech in the Courts series.

Topics include:

- The ontology of Facebook

- Social networking: it’s not 2008 anymore

- The FTC’s made-up market

- The WhatsApp Catch-22

- Has Facebook been enshittified?

- Product design by government: bad idea!

- Growing startups: hard, actually

Links:

The Feds Unfriend Facebook: Why the FTC’s Meta Antitrust Case Should Fail

Tech Policy Podcast 357: The Amazon Antitrust Case

Tech Policy Podcast 353: The Google Search Antitrust Trial

Tech Policy Podcast 302: Epic v. Apple

383: SCOTUS Internet Non-Law

TechFreedom — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Ari Cohn, and Santana Boulton partake in a summer doldrums bitchfest about recent and upcoming Supreme Court internet speech cases.

Topics include:

SCOTUS ducks in Moody v. NetChoice
Hey, let’s *not* reward bad-faith legislating
Justice Kagan: progressive traitor (and we love it)
Justice Alito is mad
What’s next for online speech?
SCOTUS ducks in Murthy v. Missouri
Judge Terry Doughty: incompetent boob
The censorship industrial complex that wasn’t
SCOTUS takes up Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
Texas tries to age-gate XXX
Is porn getting more extreme?
The seven dirty words

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 350: When the Government Yells at Social Media

Tech Policy Podcast 373: Porn and the First Amendment

Project 2025 Co-Author Caught Admitting Secret Conservative Plan to Ban Porn

382: AI and Everything

TechFreedom — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Is AI a miracle? A threat? Will it free us? Enslave us? Both? Neither? What’s the future of AI and governance? AI and art? AI and elections? AI and social media? AI and the economy? AI and the world?

Welcome to the Tech Policy Podcast: AI and Everything. On this special episode, we present highlights from more than a year of conversations with leading experts on the state of the AI revolution.

Featuring Adam Thierer, Samuel Hammond, Liza Lin, Arnold Kling, Brian Frye, Joseph Tainter, James Pethokoukis, Robert Atkinson, Alice Marwick, and Ari Cohn.

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast 327: The Collapse of Complex Societies

Tech Policy Podcast 337: China and Domestic Surveillance

Tech Policy Podcast 346: Who’s Afraid of Artificial Intelligence?

Tech Policy Podcast 355: Conservative Futurism

Tech Policy Podcast 361: AI, Art, Copyright, and the Life of Brian

Tech Policy Podcast 363: AI and Elections

Tech Policy Podcast 369: AI and State Capacity

Tech Policy Podcast 375: Tech Facts and Fallacies

Tech Policy Podcast 377: AI and Wicked Problems

381: American Techno-Industrial Leadership — With Noah Smith

TechFreedom — Thu, 1 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Noah Smith (Noahpinion Substack) discusses techno-industrial competition with China and Russia.

Topics include:

American industry: we’re #2 :(
Allies: no longer a luxury
NEPA sucks
A brief lesson about nickel
The death of state capacity: greatly exaggerated?
Will information destroy liberalism?
Clowns to the left, clowns to the right
Hey, let’s *not* be divided and poor

Links:

Noahpinion (Substack)

People are realizing that the Arsenal of Democracy is gone

Happy fun Cold War 2 update

Three holes in the U.S.’ economic strategy against China

How liberal democracy might lose the 21st century

Liberalism is losing the information war

380: Quantum Computing

TechFreedom — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Brandon Kirk Williams (Lawrence Livermore) discusses quantum computing—the science behind it, its potential applications, the geopolitics surrounding it, and more.

Links:

The U.S. Must Win the Quantum Computing Race. History Shows How to Do It

The U.S. Needs a Strategy for the Second Quantum Revolution

379: Child Online Safety Legislation as Bright Shiny Object

TechFreedom — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Alice Marwick (UNC-Chapel Hill) discusses her new paper, “Child Online Safety Legislation: A Primer.”

If you’re wondering, the article Corbin quotes at the top of the show is Zephyr Teachout, Ending Big Tech’s Child Exploitation (Compact Magazine).

Topics include:

Moral panic in the technical sense
The Kids Online Safety Act: not about kids, not about safety
Once more, with feeling: correlation is not causation
“Harmful content”: no one knows what it means, but it’s provocative
Care about kids? Center them, not technology

Links:

Child Online Safety Legislation: A Primer

Tech Policy Podcast #342: Save the Children (From State Social Media Laws)

378: Broadband Regulation at the Zombie FCC

TechFreedom — Mon, 1 Jul 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Berin Szóka (TechFreedom) and James Dunstan (TechFreedom) discuss the FCC’s recent orders on Title II common-carrier regulation and digital discrimination.

Topics include:

A hundred years of telecom law in four minutes
The craziest story in the history of federal regulation
FCC: Huzzah for crappy Internet (like in Europe)!
SCOTUS: Congress must tackle major questions!
Disparate treatment vs. disparate impact
The FCC crams an elephant in a mousehole

Links:

Zombie FCC vs. Schoolhouse-Rock Supreme Court

FCC Revives Common Carriage for the Internet

TechFreedom’s brief in the digital discrimination litigation

TechFreedom’s comments in the FCC’s Title II proceeding

Net Neutrality Legislation: A Framework for Consensus

377: AI and Wicked Problems

TechFreedom — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 13:50:18 +0000

Arnold Kling discusses his recent article in Reason magazine, “Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning Work.”

Topics include:

Why central planning is impossible
The importance of prices
What is AI good for?
Will AI know us better than we know ourselves?
What markets will AI disrupt?
Social media and tribal gang-sign flashing
The myopia of the revanchist right

Links:

Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning Work

David Brin’s Transparent Society Revisited

Mir McLuhanism

The Revanchist Right

Tech Policy Podcast 368: How the Government Gets Your Data

376: Influencer, Algorithm, Crowd — With Renée DiResta

TechFreedom — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Renée DiResta (Stanford Internet Observatory) discusses her new book, Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality.

Topics include:

Social media influencers: the new media elite
How do ideas take root?
Influencers as exploiters of asymmetries
Bullshit: an investigation
Could platforms have stopped Stop the Steal?
Fixing the expert class
Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent
The future of social media

Links:

Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality

Influencers, Bullshitters, and How We Lost a Shared Reality

Renée DiResta at Politics and Prose (DC), June 13

Renée DiResta at the Commonwealth Club (SF), June 17

The New Media Goliaths (Noema)

Agents of Influence newsletter

Tech Policy Podcast 293: The Supply of Renée DiResta Should Be Infinite

From the Vault: Conspiracy Theories and the Internet

TechFreedom — Thu, 30 May 2024 13:00:00 +0000

From January 10, 2022 (Episode 309): Joseph Uscinski (University of Miami) argues that the internet is not increasing the prevalence of conspiracy theories.

Links:

Don’t Blame Social Media for Conspiracy Theories—They Would Still Flourish Without It

375: Tech Facts and Fallacies

TechFreedom — Mon, 20 May 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Robert Atkinson is president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. He joins the show to discuss his new book, Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths About Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today’s Innovation Economy, co-authored with David Moschella.

Topics include:

Tech panic: speeding-uppers vs. slowing-downers
Tech and privacy: try living in an analogue village!
The wicked problem of content moderation
Is tech progress bad for the middle class?
Is tech driving market concentration?
“Industrial planning”: dirty words?

Links:

Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today’s Innovation Economy

374: Politics and Technological Change

TechFreedom — Thu, 9 May 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Richard Morrison (Competitive Enterprise Institute) joins the show, in a crossover episode with the Free the Economy podcast.

Topics include:

The history of podcasts
The rise of micro media (find a thousand true fans!)
Performative tech doomerism
The idleness of romanticizing the past
The quest for online community
Conservatives in the Technium

Links:

Free the Economy

Why Conservatism Failed

The Quest for a Better Online “Community”

#373: Porn and the First Amendment

TechFreedom — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 13:00:00 +0000

It’s the episode you’ve been waiting for: TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn talk about pornography and free expression.

Topics include:

The Founding Fathers: epic porn fiends (j/k)
Obscenity law, a brief history
Do conservatives still want to ban James Joyce?
“I know it when I see it”—Worst. Legal standard. Ever.
Is there a moral case against porn? (Spoiler alert: No)
The Fifth Circuit botches internet speech law

Links:

Tech Policy Podcast #360: Red States vs. Every SCOTUS Internet Precedent

A Reagan Judge, The First Amendment, And The Eternal War Against Pornography

Texas Legislature Convinced First Amendment Simply Does Not Exist

Is Porn Harmful? The Evidence, the Myths and the Unknowns

#372: Spacesuits!

TechFreedom — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Ryan Scirocco is the spacesuit business development lead at Collins Aerospace. Collins, an RTX business, is, along with its partners ILC Dover and Oceaneering, developing a new generation of spacesuits for NASA. Ryan discusses everything that goes into keeping people alive in a freezing zero-gravity vacuum far outside the biosphere.

Topics include:

A spacesuit is a mini-spaceship
Space: it wants to kill you
Spacesuit history
What’s new? No more mirrors!
Testing spacesuits on the vomit comet
The ISS, the Moon, and beyond

Links:

Collins Aerospace Completes Key Spacesuit Testing Milestone

Space Symposium

Tech Policy Podcast #349: The State of Space Exploration

#371: So You Want to Ban TikTok

TechFreedom — Mon, 1 Apr 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discusses, in exquisite detail, the First Amendment problems with H.R. 7521, the House bill to ban TikTok.

Topics include:

Your First Amendment right to read crazy shit
TikTok ban bros: throwing spaghetti at the wall
Foreign broadcast-ownership rules: so passé
“iT’S nOT sPEech, It’S CoNDuCt”
H.R. 7521: Least. Tailored. Law. Ever.
Banning media: it’s what the other guys do
McCarthyism: so hot right now

Links:

A Breakdown of the Bizarre Factions Fighting Over the TikTok Ban Bill

Tech Policy Podcast #344: TikTok and the First Amendment

Tech Policy Podcast #368: How the Government Gets Your Data

Tech Policy Podcast #289: The History, Use, and Abuse of the Fairness Doctrine

The only thing Congress can agree on is to ban TikTok!?

#370: The SCOTUS Internet-Speech Law Apocalypse — With Daphne Keller

TechFreedom — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Daphne Keller (Stanford Cyber Policy Center) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the Supreme Court oral argument in Murthy v. Missouri (government jawboning of social media platforms) and the NetChoice cases (state content moderation laws).

Links:

Six Things About Jawboning

The Lies the 5th Circuit Told You About the Government ‘Pressuring Social Media to Censor’

Tech Policy Podcast #350: When the Government Yells at Social Media

FAQs About the NetChoice Cases at the Supreme Court, Part 1

FAQs About the NetChoice Cases at the Supreme Court, Part 2

The Long Reach of Taamneh: Carriage and Removal Requirements for Internet Platforms

God Help Us, but Brett Kavanaugh Could Save the First Amendment

‘Orwellian’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means

#369: AI and State Capacity

TechFreedom — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Samuel Hammond (Foundation for American Innovation) discusses his essays on “AI and Leviathan.” Can government institutions cope with the coming technological disruption of AI?

Topics include:

- AI’s trajectory

- New Deal agencies in an AI world

- Public Choice Theory vs. the AI juggernaut

- Uber and micro-regime changes

- Government as a network of smart contracts

- Techno-totalitarianism vs. techno-feudalism

- AI Renaissance city states?

- Collapse as a feature, not a bug

- A techno-optimist’s revealed preferences

Links:

AI and Leviathan: Part I

AI and Leviathan: Part II

AI and Leviathan: Part III

Where is This All Heading?

AI: Dumb human to Einstein in a heartbeat

Tech Policy Podcast #337: China and Domestic Surveillance

Tech Policy Podcast #327: The Collapse of Complex Societies

#368: How the Government Gets Your Data

TechFreedom — Mon, 4 Mar 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Byron Tau (NOTUS) discusses his new book Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State.

Topics include:

Some history: four generations of data brokers
The continuing evolution of data collection and technological surveillance
The great danger: data fusion / comprehensive data profiles
Why won’t Congress regulate government data use?
National security vs. privacy
Should we fear a social credit system?

Links:

Means of Control

NOTUS

X: @ByronTau

Tech Policy Podcast #337: China and Domestic Surveillance

#367: The White Pill

TechFreedom — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Brandon Gorrell (Pirate Wires) joins the show to discuss The White Pill, his optimistic (and mind-blowing) newsletter covering “the frontiers of tech, science, space, and more.”

Topics include:

Combatting the overwhelming negativity on social media.
Lasers are amazing.
Why space exploration?
Did the Big Bang really happen?
The Pirate Wires brand — beautiful vibe!
Breaking the New York Times / NPR decel monoculture.
Advances in IVF.

Links:

The White Pill

#366: Tech, Gender, and Freedom

TechFreedom — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:00:00 +0000

It’s a big picture episode! One day (soon?), technology will enable convenient, low-cost gender transition. What does that say about human “nature”? What are the implications for society? What are (some) people getting so upset about? Jason Kuznicki (TechFreedom) joins the show to discuss.

Gender as Essence and as Economic Choice

Cosmos + Taxis issue on gender (including articles by Nathan P. Goodman and by Akiva Malamet and Mikayla Novak)

Pacification (Jason’s Substack)

Tech Policy Podcast #327: The Collapse of Complex Societies (2022 Big Picture Episode)

Tech Policy Podcast #301: The Realignment (2021 Big Picture Episode)

#365: Is the Internet Killing Culture? (No. Don’t Be Stupid.)

TechFreedom — Mon, 5 Feb 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Leigh Beadon (Techdirt) join the show to discuss their new report on the Internet’s (beneficial!) effect on art, entertainment, and culture.

The Sky Is Rising: 2024 Edition

Rather than Destroying Culture, the Internet Has Saved the Content Industries

Filterworld Is a Confused Critique of Algorithms

#364: Will No One Rid Us of This Warrantless Surveillance?

TechFreedom — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 14:00:00 +0000

Liza Goitein (Brennan Center) joins the show to discuss the FISA Section 702 surveillance program. Why is it so contentious? Why is it such a hot topic now? Why and how should it be changed? And what does the Fourth Amendment have to say about it? Liza explains!

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): A Resource Page

How Congress Learned to Live with Warrantless Surveillance (for Now)

Tech Policy Podcast #339: Will Tech Swallow the Fourth Amendment?

#363: AI and Elections

TechFreedom — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 14:00:00 +0000

TechFreedom’s Ari Cohn and Corbin Barthold discuss whether AI is going to spark an “infocalypse,” bring about the “collapse of reality,” and destroy our elections. Is AI about to “flood” our “screens” with “misinformation” that’s “dangerous to democracy”? Notwithstanding these quotes from recent press stories, the answer is probably no.

Ari’s Senate testimony

What the Doomsayers Get Wrong About Deepfakes

Scott Brennen + Matt Perault paper

Tech Policy Podcast #358: Information Animals Fighting Information Wars

Tech Policy Podcast #359: Your Right to Lie — With Jeff Kosseff

From the Vault: The Revolt of the Public — With Martin Gurri

TechFreedom — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 14:00:00 +0000

From February 16, 2021 (Episode 284): Martin Gurri (Mercatus Center) discusses his book The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium.

The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium

Reality Comes Knocking

From the Vault: Responding to the Broadband Populists

TechFreedom — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:00:00 +0000

From March 2, 2022 (Episode 313): Robert Atkinson (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation) discusses the leftwing push to turn broadband into a heavily regulated utility.

Anticorporate Broadband Populists’ Real Agenda: Destroy the Current Private-Sector System

FCC Revives Common Carriage for the Internet

Zombie FCC vs. Schoolhouse-Rock Supreme Court

A Thankfully Doomed Mistake

The Elephant in the Ethernet Port

#362: Common Carrier Rules, the Tech Stack, and You

TechFreedom — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Blake Reid (Colorado Law) and Berin Szóka (TechFreedom) join the show to discuss the constitutional and policy implications of applying common carrier rules at different layers of the “tech stack.” Should broadband providers be forced to carry content? Should social media platforms? How about both? Or neither? Maybe the former, but not the latter? How about the latter, but not the former? . . . Wait, stop. That last one is nonsense. Tune in to find out why.

The Greatest Internet Law Chart Ever

Uncommon Carriage

The Conservative Bias Panic Comes for Gmail’s Spam Detection

The Republican Project to Break Your Email Account

US Telecom (D.C. Cir. 2017)

Carlin Communications (9th Cir. 1987)

#361: AI, Art, Copyright, and the Life of Brian

TechFreedom — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Brian Frye (Kentucky Law) joins the show to say bananas stuff about artificial intelligence, the history of authorship, the economics of copyright, why we’re all misunderstanding plagiarism, the mysteries of free will, and more.

Apologia Pro Plagio Suo

Should Using an AI Text Generator to Produce Academic Writing Be Plagiarism?

Plagiarize This Paper

How About Using AI To Determine Whether Or Not Something Is Creative Enough To Get Copyright Protection

AI and the Nature of Literary Creativity

#360: Red States vs. Every SCOTUS Internet Precedent

TechFreedom — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 14:51:38 +0000

Host Corbin Barthold discusses the campaign by states like Arkansas, Texas, and Utah to age-gate the Internet. As Corbin explains, these states are taking aim at a number of recent Supreme Court decisions, including Reno v. ACLU (1997), Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004), Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011), and even (!?) 303 Creative v. Elenis (2023).

Corbin on the importance of Reno v. ACLU

Paul Matzko on the notorious “fairness doctrine”

Scholarly criticism of the “scarcity rationale”

Corbin on Texas’s H.B. 1181

FedSoc event on age-verification laws

Candeub, Morell, and Toscano in defense of age-verification laws

#359: Your Right to Lie — With Jeff Kosseff

TechFreedom — Thu, 9 Nov 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Jeff Kosseff (Naval Academy) joins the show to discuss his new book Liar in a Crowded Theater, a defense of your First Amendment right to speak falsely (sometimes!).

Liar in a Crowded Theater: Freedom of Speech in a World of Misinformation

The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet

The United States of Anonymous: How the First Amendment Shaped Online Speech

Tech Policy Podcast #350: When the Government Yells at Social Media

#358: Information Animals Fighting Information Wars

TechFreedom — Wed, 1 Nov 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Alicia Wanless (Carnegie Endowment) joins the show to discuss the links between information and technology, information competition through history, the need for a better understanding of information ecosystems, whether we’re in an information “civil war,” and much else besides.

There Is No Getting Ahead of Disinformation Without Moving Past It

The Astor Place Riot

#357: The Amazon Antitrust Case

TechFreedom — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Geoff Manne, president and founder of the International Center for Law & Economics, and host Corbin Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom, discuss the FTC’s lawsuit against Amazon.

FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Mission to Destroy Amazon Will Harm Millions of Consumers

FTC v Amazon: Significant Burdens to Prove Relevant Markets and Net Consumer Harm

Tech Policy Podcast #353: The Google Search Antitrust Trial

#356: The UK Targets End-to-End Encryption

TechFreedom — Mon, 9 Oct 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Crackdowns on Encrypted Messaging Don’t ‘Help the Children’

The UK Online Safety Bill Must Not Violate Our Rights to Free Speech and Private Communication

UK Government ‘Concession’ on Breaking End-to-End Encryption in the Online Safety Act (Just Passed) Turns Out Not to Be One

Around the World, Threats to LGBTQ+ Speech Deepen

#355: Conservative Futurism

TechFreedom — Mon, 2 Oct 2023 13:00:00 +0000

The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised

Faster, Please!

Power and Progress Is a Wrongheaded Critique of Tech Progress

Tech Policy Podcast #327: The Collapse of Complex Societies

#354: Online Age Verification (Sucks)

TechFreedom — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 13:00:00 +0000

The Fundamental Problems with Social Media Age-Verification Legislation

Texas Legislature Convinced First Amendment Simply Does Not Exist

Leak of California Gun Owners’ Private Data Far Wider than Originally Reported

Republicans Can’t Decide If They Want Online Privacy or Not

Tech Policy Podcast #342: Save the Children (From State Social Media Laws)

#353: The Google Search Antitrust Trial

TechFreedom — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Judge Mehta’s summary judgment order

Europe’s Antitrust Demagogues Shake Down Google

#352: Yoel Roth on the Future of Content Moderation

TechFreedom — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Content Moderation’s Legalism Problem

Collective Security in a Federated World

Tech Policy Podcast #345: Content Moderation Around the World

In Internet Speech Cases, SCOTUS Should Stick Up For Reno v. ACLU

#351: The End of Chevron Deference?

TechFreedom — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Dissed Podcast: Lady Justice Isn’t Blind

Pacific Legal Foundation’s amicus brief in Loper Bright

TechFreedom’s amicus brief in Loper Bright

Chevron Is Dead, Long Live Chevron

Tech Policy Podcast #311: Administrative Law, and Why You Should Care

#350: When the Government Yells at Social Media

TechFreedom — Tue, 8 Aug 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Ari Cohn, Free Speech Counsel at TechFreedom, joins the show to discuss Missouri v. Biden, the tricky relationship between the First Amendment and government jawboning of social media platforms, and the unhinged discourse around social media “censorship.”

Links:

Judge Doughty’s opinion

The Future of Online Speech Shouldn’t Belong to One Trump-Appointed Judge in Louisiana

If You Believe In Free Speech, The GOP’s “Weaponization” Subcommittee Is Not Your Friend

Why Is The Republican Party Obsessed With Social Media?

Trumpism on the Bench?

The Internet Speech Case That the Supreme Court Can’t Dodge

#349: The State of Space Exploration

TechFreedom — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Eric Berger’s Ars Technica profile

Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX

Jim Dunstan’s new paper on space regulation

Jim’s recent appearance before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

The ending of Nebo Zovyot (“The Sky Beckons”) (1959)

#348: The State of Space Regulation

TechFreedom — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Read Jim’s new paper on space regulation

Catch Jim’s July 13 testimony before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Tech Policy Podcast #333: The FCC in Space

Tech Policy Podcast #306: The New Space Race

#347: When Schools Scapegoat Social Media

TechFreedom — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Walter Olson’s profile

Follow Walter on Twitter

Courts Should Reject School Districts’ Suits to Childproof the Internet

#346: Who’s Afraid of Artificial Intelligence?

TechFreedom — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Adam Thierer profile

Adam’s work:

Microsoft’s New AI Regulatory Framework & the Coming Battle over Computational Control

What If Everything You’ve Heard about AI Policy is Wrong?

Can We Predict the Jobs and Skills Needed for the AI Era?

Flexible, Pro-Innovation Governance Strategies for Artificial Intelligence

U.S. Chamber AI Commission Report Offers Constructive Path Forward

The Coming Onslaught of “Algorithmic Fairness” Regulations

Corbin’s review of Toby Ord’s book The Precipice:

World to End; Experts Hardest Hit

Also:

An article taking aim at the “IAEA for AI” concept!

#345: Content Moderation Around the World

TechFreedom — Wed, 31 May 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Daphne Keller profile page

Agustina Del Campo profile page

Slide deck for the Digital India Act.

Daphne’s Lawfare article, “The Three-Body Problem: Platform Litigation and Absent Parties.”

Daphne’s new paper, Platform Transparency and the First Amendment.

Daphne’s and Corbin’s appearances at Media Law Resource Center’s Legal Frontiers in Digital Media 2023 conference. (Stay tuned for video.)

Go see Agustina at RightsCon 2023.

#344: TikTok and the First Amendment

TechFreedom — Wed, 10 May 2023 13:56:45 +0000

Many legislators and policymakers want to ban TikTok from the United States. They claim that the wildly popular social media platform endangers American national security. Although the critics are making a lot of noise, their argument for a ban is surprisingly shaky. What concrete threat does TikTok pose? What First Amendment obstacles stand in the way of a ban? TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn discuss.

#343: China and National Security

TechFreedom — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 11:00:00 +0000

What does China’s rise as a tech power mean for American national security? Jimmy Quinn, a writer for National Review, joins the show to discuss. He and Corbin debate the merits of a TikTok ban, consider the new House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and explore other aspects of the recent uptick in Sino-American competition. For more, follow Jimmy’s work at National Review Online. Also, check out Tech Policy Podcast #337: China and Domestic Surveillance.

Correction: At 17:30, Corbin refers to “Senator Warren.” For once, he did not, in fact, mean to criticize Senator Elizabeth Warren. His intended target was Senator Mark Warner.

#342: Save the Children (From State Social Media Laws)

TechFreedom — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 12:28:00 +0000

State governments are passing laws that seek to protect kids from social media. But maybe what we really need is to protect kids—and the Internet—from the government. Mike Masnick, founder and editor of Techdirt, joins the show to discuss California’s AB 2273, Utah’s SB 152 and HB 311, and the wider hysteria over minors and social media use. For more, see Mike’s recent article, “As The Social Media Moral Panic Continues, People Keep Highlighting How Much Value It Actually Provides.”

#341: The FTC Tries to Shape the Market

TechFreedom — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:30:00 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission is making a lot of headlines. Much of that news revolves around the agency’s notable antitrust cases—such as its efforts to block Meta’s purchase of Within, to break up Facebook and Instagram, and to block Microsoft’s purchase of Activision. How aggressive is the FTC’s approach? What is its plan? Our guest is Bilal Sayyed, senior competition counsel at TechFreedom. He explains where the agency’s antitrust policy breaks new ground—and where it does not.

#340: Making Sense of the SCOTUS Internet Speech Cases

TechFreedom — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 18:05:04 +0000

Three major Internet speech disputes are at, or barreling toward, the Supreme Court. In Gonzalez v. Google, the justices will consider the scope of Section 230. In 303 Creative v. Elenis, they will decide whether a company can be compelled to design a website against its will. And if they grant review (as expected) in Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, the justices will rule on whether large social media platforms have a First Amendment right to editorial discretion. How do these cases fit together? Your humble host, Corbin Barthold, Internet Policy Counsel at TechFreedom, tries to figure it out.

#339: Will Tech Swallow the Fourth Amendment?

TechFreedom — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 13:57:00 +0000

Thanks to advancing technology, the police can now easily and cheaply monitor public spaces and identify, profile, and track individuals. Can the Fourth Amendment protect us from sweeping government digital surveillance? Nathan Wessler, a deputy director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, joins the show to discuss. For more, check out the ACLU’s cert. petition in Moore v. United States, which argues that the police need a warrant to conduct 24/7 camera surveillance outside a home.

#338: Gonzalez v. Google

TechFreedom — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 17:36:07 +0000

On February 21, the Supreme Court will hold oral argument in Gonzalez v. Google, the first Section 230 appeal the justices have ever heard. The future of the Internet hangs in the balance. Host Corbin K. Barthold discusses the case, the briefs, and what to watch for at the argument.

Correction: As Corbin explains, the petitioners invoke some inapt authorities for the notion that Section 230 borrows the technical, defamation-law definition of the word "publisher." However, the Roommates decision (mentioned at 18:45) is not one of them. (A proper example would have been the Snap decision, discussed later in the episode.)

#337: China and Domestic Surveillance

TechFreedom — Mon, 6 Feb 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Liza Lin, a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, is the co-author, with Josh Chin, of Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control. She discusses the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to use technology to spur prosperity, quash dissent, and—above all—maintain its grip on power.

#336: Tech Illiteracy on the Right

TechFreedom — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 13:59:05 +0000

Bad tech policy is a bipartisan affair. Lately, though, the right has particularly excelled at it. TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn discuss the GOP’s obsession with supposed “Big Tech censorship,” its performative new “weaponization” subcommittee, its strange quest to turn spammy fundraising emails into a political cause, and more. The episode centers around Corbin’s and Ari’s article at Techdirt, “If You Believe In Free Speech, The GOP’s ‘Weaponization’ Subcommittee Is Not Your Friend,” and Corbin’s article for The Bulwark, “The Republican Project to Break Your Email Account.” The podcast Corbin mentions (8:24) is called Moderated Content. The McSweeney’s piece Ari cites (42:05) is “If I Emailed My Parents Like Democrats Email Me.”

#335: Is Screen Time Bad for Kids?

TechFreedom — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Is screen time—television, smartphones, social media, video games—harming children? Elizabeth Nolan Brown, senior editor at Reason, returns to the show with some good news: probably not! She fills host Corbin Barthold in on the latest research. For more, see Elizabeth’s recent Reason online article 5 New Studies That Challenge Conventional Wisdom About Kids and Tech, as well as her December cover story for Reason magazine, In Defense of Algorithms. The two previous Tech Policy Podcast episodes Corbin mentions are #331: Section 230’s Long Path to SCOTUS and #309: Conspiracy Theories and the Internet.

#334: Snake Oil Salvation: Malcom Kyeyune on the New Internet Counterculture

TechFreedom — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 16:21:01 +0000

Malcom Kyeyune is the author of The New Gnostics, an article in the autumn issue of City Journal’s print magazine. In the piece, Malcom examines the new quasi-religions taking shape on the Internet. “It’s hard to overstate,” he writes, “how full” today’s “Internet is with itinerant prophets, holy fools, hustlers, fraudsters, and soothsayers.” In this episode, Malcom tells us why he thinks this is happening. He also discusses the growing divide between workers and the Left, his problems with the “email class,” why he shitposts from an anon account, and more. Follow Malcom’s work at Compact, City Journal, and UnHerd, among other outlets.

#333: The FCC in Space

TechFreedom — Tue, 6 Dec 2022 07:00:00 +0000

The United States is entering a second golden age of space innovation. Can the country’s regulatory infrastructure keep up? For better or worse, the Federal Communications Commission is bidding to fill the void (so to speak). What moves is the FCC making? Is the agency acting within its legal authority? What can it do to help the American space industry succeed? James Dunstan, TechFreedom’s general counsel, joins the show to discuss. For more, see TechFreedom’s recent FCC comments on in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing. Jim’s 2017 testimony before the Senate space subcommittee, mentioned at 7:36, is available here.

#332: Facial Recognition Technology

TechFreedom — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Facial recognition technology is a powerful tool. Whatever we do with it—whatever rules we set around its use—we should proceed thoughtfully and cautiously, keeping a close eye on the costs and benefits of deploying it. Jane Bambauer, a law professor at the University of Arizona College of Law, joins the show for just such a thoughtful, cautious, cost-benefit driven discussion, with a focus on the use of facial recognition by law enforcement. For more, see Prof. Bambauer’s recent paper, Facial Recognition as a Less Bad Option, published by the Hoover Institution.

#331: Section 230’s Long Path to SCOTUS

TechFreedom — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 07:00:00 +0000

The Supreme Court has never heard a Section 230 case—until now. Earlier this month, the justices agreed to review Gonzalez v. Google, in which the plaintiffs argue that YouTube’s “targeted recommendation” of videos falls outside Section 230 immunity. How did we get Section 230? Why is it important? What would the Internet look like without it? Emma Llansó, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, joins the show to explain how Section 230 came to be, how it has been implemented over the last quarter century, why Congress’s one amendment of it (via FOSTA) was a disaster, and why the upcoming Supreme Court case is so crucial.

#330: The FTC & FCC in Court

TechFreedom — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Independent federal agencies sit awkwardly in our constitutional structure. When they engage in aggressive overreach, therefore, they should expect to see their actions challenged in court. This episode centers around two such challenges. In Axon v. FTC, a case the Supreme Court will hear this term, the plaintiff challenges the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission’s internal tribunal. And in Consumers’ Research v. FCC, a set of cases currently in the federal courts of appeals, the petitioners challenge the Federal Communications Commission’s power to raise money without congressional oversight. Our guest is Trent McCotter, a partner with Boyden Gray & Associates and the director of the Separation of Powers Clinic at the C. Boyden Gray Center at Antonin Scalia Law School. He and host Corbin Barthold discuss Axon, Consumers’ Research, and the cases’ various implications for the separation of powers.

#329: Will Rinehart’s Wild Weird Brain

TechFreedom — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Will Rinehart is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity. In this episode, a wide-ranging discussion of his work, he expands on whether the FDA should declare aging a disease, how to measure broadband access (and best allocate broadband funding), what we can learn from last year’s Facebook blackout, and why we need an abundance agenda. From the nitty-gritty details of policy to big-picture questions about our future, Will is thinking about it all. You can find out more about his various projects, including several he mentioned on the show, at his website.

#328: What’s the Deal with European Antitrust?

TechFreedom — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 07:00:00 +0000

What is driving Europe’s aggressive antitrust enforcement against American tech companies? Are there legitimate antitrust concerns? Or are all the fines, taxes, investigations, and restrictions better thought of as protectionist tariffs? Dirk Auer, director of competition policy at the International Center for Law & Economics, joins the show to discuss.

#327: The Collapse of Complex Societies

TechFreedom — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Is the end near? In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic—and with the specters of political violence, debt crises, secular stagnation, climate change, and resource depletion before us—the potential for societal collapse is (unfortunately) a hot topic. Is collapse inevitable? What are the signs that a society is on the road to collapse? Where are we along that path? Dr. Joseph Tainter, author of the seminal 1988 book The Collapse of Complex Societies, joins the show to discuss these questions and more.

#326: Content Moderation Potpourri

TechFreedom — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Content moderation is, as ever, an interesting, contentious, and fast-paced policy area. TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Andy Jung, and Santana Boulton sit down for a late-summer content moderation news roundup. They cover (among other things) Andy’s recent article on AB 2408, a misguided attempt by California to combat teenage social media addiction; YouTube’s recent Supreme Court brief in Gonzalez v. Google, a case about whether Section 230 protects algorithmic recommendations (spoiler alert: it does); Santana’s essay arguing that algorithms are speech protected by the First Amendment; and Corbin’s recent piece in Techdirt, “Two Dogmas of the Free Speech Panic,” a response to those who equate content moderation with “censorship.”

#325: Live: Quinta Jurecic on Jan. 6, Social Media, and the Great Rage

TechFreedom — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Hello from TechFreedom’s 2022 Policy Summit! The panelists at this year’s gathering discussed truth decay and misinformation, the collapse of trust in experts, and the future of free speech and social media. In this live recording from the event, Lawfare’s Quinta Jurecic explores those themes and more while discussing the January 6 Committee, Trump’s election “Big Lie,” the difficulty of combatting online extremism, the insanity that is Steve Bannon, and the fraying of American civic life. For more, see “The Great Rage,” a must-read essay Quinta published in The Atlantic.

#324: Parler Games

TechFreedom — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 12:56:25 +0000

Is “Big Tech censorship” really a thing? If so, are the social media giants facing effective competition from sites that style themselves as free speech alternatives? What does it mean to be a free speech platform, anyway? Parler’s Chief Policy Officer, Amy Peikoff, discusses these questions and much more with TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn. Needless to say, the talk of the deal between Elon Musk and Twitter, at the top of the episode, was recorded before Musk declared that he wants out! Amy’s law review article on privacy, mentioned toward the end of the show, is available here.

#323: Florida & Texas vs. the Internet

TechFreedom — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 12:41:23 +0000

Last year, Florida and Texas passed draconian social media speech regulations. Each law violates the First Amendment, and, not surprisingly, each was blocked by a federal trial court. On appeal, however, things got weird. Although one appellate court affirmed most of the ruling against Florida’s law (SB 7072), another let Texas’s (HB 20) go into immediate effect. In an emergency order, the Supreme Court re-blocked the Texas law—for now. A further ruling by the justices, probably next year, is all but inevitable. TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn break down the situation. For more, see a recent article by Corbin, “Trumpism on the Bench?,” published at The Bulwark; a recent article by TechFreedom’s Berin Szóka, “Mass Shooting Videos Are Protected Under These Awful Laws,” published at The Daily Beast; and Corbin’s and Berin’s joint essay “No, Florida Can’t Regulate Online Speech,” published at Lawfare.

#322: FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips

TechFreedom — Thu, 2 Jun 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Commissioner Noah Phillips joins the show for a wide-ranging discussion about the Federal Trade Commission. Topics include “unfair methods of competition” rulemaking, the history of the FTC, merger guidelines, the consumer-welfare standard and free-of-charge products, administrative tribunals, the history of the Sherman Act, and neo-Brandeisian antitrust in a time of inflation.

#321: Musk’s Moderation Musings (And Beyond)

TechFreedom — Tue, 24 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Ever since his (putative) deal to buy Twitter was announced, Elon Musk has hijacked the debates around content moderation, the design of social media, and online speech. His comments on these subjects are a mish-mash of (sometimes contradictory) slogans. Jillian York, director for international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Berin Szóka, founder and president of TechFreedom, join the show for a more informed exploration of these topics. Along with host Corbin Barthold, they discuss the nuances of social media transparency, the value of user anonymity, the promise of decentralized protocols, and more. Mentioned on this episode: the Santa Clara Principles; articles on the Musk/Twitter deal by Jillian, Berin, and Corbin; and EFF’s new Tracking Global Censorship project.

#320: The Right and Social Media

TechFreedom — Tue, 17 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Evolving technology—not to mention evolving norms in Silicon Valley—has sparked fierce debate about online speech. Are social media platforms too powerful? Do their content moderation policies strike a good balance between free speech and healthy conversation? Should the government get involved in policing disinformation? In this episode, we home in on how the American Right views these issues. Nate Hochman, an ISI fellow at National Review, and Rachel Altman, TechFreedom’s director of digital media, join the show to discuss the federal government’s new “Disinformation Governance Board,” Elon Musk’s planned acquisition of Twitter, and what conservative political philosophy might tell us about how to approach content moderation. For more, see Nate’s recent piece at National Review: “Elon Musk’s Town Square.”

#319: Remember FAANG?

TechFreedom — Tue, 10 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

In 2017 or so, people started to assert that the FAANG companies—Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google—were unstoppable juggernauts. Lately that claim has taken some hard hits, as Facebook (now Meta) and Netflix, facing stiff competition, have seen their stock prices tumble. Adam Thierer, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, joins the show to discuss how the Schumpeterian “gale of creative destruction” unseats dominant market players, why government antitrust cases so often look foolish in hindsight, and why we should celebrate innovation (spoiler: it leads to progress and human betterment). Adam also discusses his book Evasive Entrepreneurs and the Future of Governance: How Innovation Improves Economies and Governments.

Corbin’s piece on monkeys and double pendulums—mentioned around 20:30—is “Can Experts Structure Markets? Don’t Count on It.”

#318: The Universal Service Fund

TechFreedom — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Though its goal—to help bridge the digital divide—is laudible, the Universal Service Fund is a badly structured, badly run, wasteful, much abused, unsustainable program. Jim Dunstan, general counsel at TechFreedom, joins the show to discuss the many problems with the USF, and some of the proposals to fix it. For more, see Jim’s piece for the Regulatory Transparency Project, “The Arrival of the Federal Computer Commission?”; Corbin’s piece at Law & Liberty, “No Legislation Without Representation”; TechFreedom’s recent comments to the FCC on the future of the USF; and TechFreedom’s recent amicus brief on the unconstitutionality of the private entity that oversees the USF, the Universal Service Administrative Company.

#317: Making Progress

TechFreedom — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Are we doomed to collapse, like Ancient Rome? Or will we continue to make scientific discoveries, build technological innovations, and increase our wealth and well-being indefinitely? Alec Stapp is the co-founder of a new think tank, The Institute for Progress. He joins the show to discuss what drives progress, what political and cultural forces obstruct it, and how he hopes to accelerate it through his new organization.

#316: Putin’s War and the Internet

TechFreedom — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

In response to Russia’s invasion, Ukraine has lobbied the international community to impair Russia’s Internet infrastructure. The Russian state itself, meanwhile, has restricted its own citizens’ access to social media and other websites. Shane Tews, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins the show to discuss how the Internet works, whether the West can—or should—restrict the Internet in Russia, and whether looming technological advances will help keep the Internet open and resilient. For more, see Shane’s recent article, “Is shutting down the Russian internet an act of tyranny or democracy?”

#315: Social Media “Transparency” as First Amendment Violation

TechFreedom — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Can the government require social media services to disclose data, or provide notifications, related to their content moderation practices? Many politicians seem to think so: they’re enacting such “transparency” rules as a second-best way to try to control how websites moderate content. In a forthcoming law review article, “The Constitutionality of Mandating Editorial Transparency,” Eric Goldman, a professor and associate dean at Santa Clara Law, explains why mandated “transparency” for online speech violates the First Amendment. Prof. Goldman joins the show to discusse his paper, analyze “transparency” mandates recently passed by Florida and Texas, and explain why this is such a crucial moment for free speech on the Internet.

#314: The State of Internet Freedom

TechFreedom — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 23:19:17 +0000

The Internet can be a powerful tool for decentralization and resistance. Lately, however, authorities from across the political spectrum have been trying to use it to enforce conformity and exert control. Ari Cohn, TechFreedom’s Free Speech Counsel, and Rachel Altman, its Director of Digital Media, join the show to discuss government efforts to stamp out the Canadian trucker protest, to limit end-to-end encryption, and to dictate how private companies engage in content moderation; and to assess what those efforts mean for the future of Internet freedom.

#313: Responding to the Broadband Populists

TechFreedom — Thu, 3 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Activists like to shower the American broadband industry with criticism. In a new paper, Anticorporate Broadband Populists’ Real Agenda: Destroy the Current Private-Sector System, Robert Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, highlights the activists’ ultimate goal: to turn broadband into a government-run utility. Rob joins TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold and James Dunstan to discuss the holes in the activists’ arguments, the problems with municipal broadband, and the (pretty darn good) state of the broadband industry.

#312: Web3

TechFreedom — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Web3 could lead to greater decentralization, authentication, and immutability on the Internet. But what does that mean? It’s about much more than just crypto and NFTs. Joining the show to break things down are Hillary Brill, a senior fellow at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Technology Law and Policy, and Gabrielle Hibbert, co-founder of Bloom, a Web3 development education program for women and genderqueer individuals. They discuss whether Web3 is in fact the “next big thing” for the Internet, explain the technology that makes it possible, and dispel some of the misconceptions about it. Hillary and Gabrielle are both members of the Decentralized Future Council, an initiative that aims to help policymakers understand decentralized technologies.

#311: Administrative Law, and Why You Should Care

TechFreedom — Thu, 3 Feb 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Administrative law—including key administrative law principles, such as the “major questions” and “nondelegation” doctrines—deserves far greater public attention. You’ll find out why on this episode, in which host Corbin Barthold is joined by Andrew Grossman, a partner at BakerHostetler and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. Andrew is counsel for a party in West Virginia v. EPA, an important administrative law case before the Supreme Court this term. He and Corbin discuss major questions, nondelegation, the West Virginia litigation, the importance of the constitutional separation of powers, the future of the administrative state, and more. Catch the oral argument in West Virginia on February 28. Also, check out Corbin’s recent paper on these issues: A Path Forward on Nondelegation.

#310: Algorithmic Amplification

TechFreedom — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Algorithmic amplification is the latest hot topic in the (seemingly endless) debate over social media content moderation. Legislators are introducing bills that would regulate when and how social media websites may “amplify” content by placing it near the top of people’s newsfeeds. But are these bills constitutional? Do they even address the problems the legislators claim to care about? Daphne Keller, a fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Internet and Society, is the author of Amplification and Its Discontents, a seminal paper on these subjects. She joins host Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn, Free Speech Counsel at TechFreedom, to discuss her paper, the obstacles to regulating speech-related algorithms, the fact that there is no “un-amplified” social media Eden to return to, and more.

#309: Conspiracy Theories and the Internet

TechFreedom — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Is social media accelerating the spread of conspiracy theories? It sure feels like it: look at anti-vaxxers, claims about election fraud, and QAnon. Professor Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami, argues that this widespread hunch is not supported by the evidence. He and host Corbin Barthold examine that view, with a focus on what polling data says about the prevalence of conspiracy theories over time. They also discuss how the Internet affects public opinion (or not), when conspiracy theories become dangerous, how people should form beliefs, whether birds are real, whether King James II fathered a “warming pan baby,” and more.

#308: All Eyes on the FTC

TechFreedom — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 07:00:00 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission is making headlines lately, as its new chair, Lina Khan, seeks to impose a “neo-Brandeisian” antitrust agenda. Adam Cella, an attorney advisor to FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson, joins the show to discuss what’s happening at the agency. For more, see Commissioner Wilson’s speech, The Neo-Brandeisian Revolution: Unforced Errors and the Diminution of the FTC, given last month at the ABA Antitrust Law Section’s Fall Forum.

#307: Complexity Theory in One Lesson

TechFreedom — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Neil Chilson has written a great new book: Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World. He and host Corbin Barthold discuss the book, complexity, emergent phenomena, effective leadership in a fast-changing world, and the need for epistemic humility in policymaking (and elsewhere). Also covered: fractals, free will, and the risks of taking advice from hermits in caves. Neil is a senior research fellow for technology and innovation at Stand Together and a former chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission.

#306: The New Space Race

TechFreedom — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and even William Shatner have just been to space. Elon Musk is building rockets, launching satellites, and dreaming of going to Mars. The reaction on Twitter has been . . . snark!? TechFreedom’s own James Dunstan (a bona fide space lawyer) and Corbin Barthold (who’s been on Disneyland’s Space Mountain ride) discuss the new space entrepreneurs, the regulatory hurdles they face, and why people should root for them to succeed. For more, see Jim’s Medium post, “Bring on the Space Barons,” and Corbin’s article in The Bulwark on SpaceX’s Starlink satellite project.

#305: FISA at the Supreme Court

TechFreedom — Wed, 3 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

On November 8, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in FBI v. Fazaga, an important case on the meaning and scope of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The system of domestic foreign-intelligence spying created by FISA has been plagued with abuse and controversy. Could the Court use Fazaga to address some of the system’s shortcomings? Elizabeth (Liza) Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program, joins the show to discuss the case, to give a preview of the argument, and to explain the broader flaws in the FISA framework. For more, see the amicus brief the Brennan Center (joined by TechFreedom) filed in Fazaga.

#304: Gen Z and Social Media

TechFreedom — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Generation Z are the first true digital natives—people who cannot remember a time before the internet. This gives Gen Z a unique perspective, but it is also driving concerns (mainly among older generations) about the potential drawbacks of growing up in a digital age. Kir Nuthi, public affairs manager for NetChoice, and Rachel Altman, director of digital media at TechFreedom, join the show to discuss how Gen Z use social media, the challenges of content moderation, and the moral panic over teen social media use. For more, see Kir’s op-ed on content moderation at Fortune.com.

#303: Antitrust and Innovation

TechFreedom — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 07:00:00 +0000

The lively debate over the future of antitrust law continues. The Neo-Brandeisians want an aggressive, “big is bad” approach. The Chicago School defends the current system and its consumer-welfare standard. Which side has the better of the argument? Could it be that neither does? Aurelien Portuese, Director of ITIF’s Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy, joins the show to discuss the problems with antitrust populism, the flaws in the antitrust debate more generally, and his vision for a dynamic antitrust policy centered around innovation. In addition—naturally!—Aurelien has some thoughts to share on the great Joseph Schumpeter, the economist who popularized the term “creative destruction.” Also joining the show is TechFreedom Legal Fellow Andy Jung.

#302: Epic v. Apple

TechFreedom — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Last year, Epic Games made a splash with its lawsuit / ad campaign challenging the rules and commission structure of the Apple app store. Last week, a judge ruled in favor of Apple — but only just, and not in full. Geoff Manne, president and founder of the International Center for Law & Economics, joins the show to discuss the decision, what it means for Apple, and how it could shape the future of antitrust policy.

The quote that Geoff and Corbin grasp for, about seven minutes in, is John Hicks’s quip that “The best of all monopoly profits is a quiet life.”

#301: The Realignment

TechFreedom — Wed, 8 Sep 2021 09:00:00 +0000

American politics, media, and culture are realigning in ways that are, as of yet, hard to identify and define. Marshall Kosloff, co-host of The Realignment podcast, joins the show for a wide-ranging discussion about what these shifts are, what they mean for the country, and how institutions like Big Tech and the Republican Party are adapting (or failing to adapt) to them. For more, check out The Realignment, as well as another of Marshall’s podcasts, The Deep End.

#300: The New Editors

TechFreedom — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Because most attacks on social-media websites’ free-speech rights are dismissed under Section 230 (which is good!), there are comparatively few cases fleshing out those websites’ right to editorial control under the First Amendment. So although it’s clear that that right to editorial control is strong, its exact contours remain imperfectly defined. Mailyn Fidler, a fellow at the University of Nebraska Governance and Technology Center and an affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, joins the show to discuss The New Editors: Refining First Amendment Protections for Internet Platforms, her recent paper on this topic.

#299: Can Apple Protect Children While Respecting Privacy?

TechFreedom — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Apple recently announced that its next operating system will include new features to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material. Privacy advocates have raised concerns about how these new features could be abused by governments, hijacked by bad actors, or expanded by Apple or others. Apple’s Chief Privacy Officer, Jane Horvath, joins the show to discuss the new features, to explain how they work, and to address some of the privacy objections that have been raised.

#298: Blood Trial: Elizabeth Holmes Goes to Court

TechFreedom — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 02:21:37 +0000

In 2015, Elizabeth Holmes and her firm, Theranos, seemed poised to revolutionize blood testing. Everything began to unravel in October of that year, however, when the Wall Street Journal published an investigative report questioning the accuracy of Theranos’s “Edison” blood-testing machine. Holmes was indicted in 2018. Her trial begins later this month. Sara Randazzo, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal, joins the show to discuss Holmes’s rise and fall, her upcoming trial, and what her case might mean for Silicon Valley start-up culture. You can follow Sara’s work, including her reporting on Holmes’s trial, here.

#297: The Latest on Section 230

TechFreedom — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 01:09:21 +0000

Section 230 is as important — and as widely misunderstood — as ever. TechFreedom’s Free Speech Counsel, Ari Cohn, joins the show to discuss the latest lawsuits, legal theories, and legislative bills swirling around the great charter of free speech on the Internet.

Update: Ari and Corbin fret, on the show, about the Second Circuit’s grant of rehearing in Domen v. Vimeo — a case in which the panel straightforwardly applied Section 230(c)(2). It turns out that the court granted only panel rehearing (not en banc rehearing), and that it did so simply to issue a slightly amended opinion. Phew! Better yet, the amended opinion cites an article written by Berin, our president, and Ashkhen, a former host of this podcast. For a discussion of that article, Section 230: An Introduction for Antitrust & Consumer Protection Practitioners, check out Episode #280.

#296: The Antitrust Crusade Against Big Tech

TechFreedom — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 12:02:13 +0000

Both the Democrats and the Republicans are introducing antitrust legislation targeted at tech companies. Elizabeth Nolan Brown, senior editor at Reason, joins the show to discuss some of the recent bills, as well as how each party is trying to use antitrust law to further political ends unrelated to antitrust. For more, see Elizabeth’s cover story for this month’s Reason magazine: “The Bipartisan Antitrust Crusade Against Big Tech.”

#295: Can Social Media Be Regulated Like Common Carriage?

TechFreedom — Wed, 7 Jul 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Are social media websites more like newspapers (with strong free speech rights) or common carriers (with weaker free speech rights)? Enjoining enforcement of Florida’s Internet speech law, SB 7072, a federal judge recently wrote that they’re somewhere “in the middle.” Eugene Volokh, of UCLA School of Law, and Berin Szóka, president of TechFreedom, join the show to debate whether that’s right.

For more on Eugene’s position (i.e., some aspects of social media can properly be analogized to common carriage), see Eugene’s recent post, “Social Media Platforms as Common Carriers?,” at The Volokh Conspiracy. For more on Berin’s position (i.e., social media is nothing like common carriage), check out the amicus brief TechFreedom submitted in the Florida litigation.

#294: Border Searches of Digital Devices

TechFreedom — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 01:25:00 +0000

Border agents have broad authority to search the smartphone or laptop of anyone entering the country. That might be about to change, however, if the Supreme Court takes up one of several cases challenging such searches. Professor Orin Kerr, of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, joins the show to discuss the interplay between the Fourth Amendment and the border, the Court’s evolving views on smart-device searches, and what might happen if any or all of these cases is taken up.

#293: The Supply of Renée DiResta Should Be Infinite

TechFreedom — Thu, 3 Jun 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Named in honor of her wonderful essay in The Atlantic, “The Supply of Disinformation Will Soon Be Infinite,” this episode is a wide-ranging discussion with Renée DiResta, the technical research manager of Stanford Internet Observatory. Corbin and Berin pick Renée’s brain about the latest trends in misinformation, social media’s role in the “Stop the Steal” movement, the rise of online influencers, how to increase information literacy, and more.

Other pieces of Renée’s mentioned or discussed in the show include “Mediating Consent,” “How to Stop Misinformation Before It Gets Shared,” “The Misinformation Campaign Was Distinctly One-Sided,” and “The Anti-Vaccine Influencers Who Are Merely Asking Questions.”

#292: Is Miami the Next Great Tech Hub?

TechFreedom — Tue, 25 May 2021 23:57:45 +0000

Thanks in part to outreach by its mayor, Francis Suarez, Miami is becoming a tech hotspot. Matt Haggman, an executive at the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, joins the show to discuss what’s drawing tech entrepreneurs to Miami, as well as what social, political, and environmental challenges could stand in the way of Miami becoming a new Silicon Valley.

#291: The Facebook Oversight Board

TechFreedom — Mon, 10 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Last week, Facebook’s new Oversight Board issued a much-discussed ruling on the platform’s suspension of Donald Trump. Two of the Board’s members, Ronaldo Lemos and John Samples, join Corbin and Berin for a wide-ranging discussion on the Trump decision, the Board, and content moderation.

#290: The Net Neutrality Feud Heads West

TechFreedom — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 01:12:28 +0000

“America is built on a tilt,” runs the apocryphal Mark Twain quote, “and everything loose slides to California.” So it might be said of net neutrality. The court fight over California’s new net neutrality law is only the latest episode in a long-running battle. TechFreedom’s James Dunstan and Corbin Barthold discuss what got us here (net neutrality ping pong at the FCC), where we are (a state trying to regulate an inherently interstate network), and where we need to go (a federal law that finally puts the debate to rest).

For more, see TechFreedom’s amicus brief in the California net neutrality case. (And if you’re wondering where Corbin got the concept of “kludgeocracy,” check out political scientist Steven Teles’s 2013 article, Kludgeocracy in America.)

#289: The History, Use, and Abuse of the Fairness Doctrine

TechFreedom — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Few public policies are more misunderstood than the Fairness Doctrine that briefly governed American broadcast media. If you think we need a “new Fairness Doctrine” for the Internet, chances are you’re not clear on what the old version was. Paul Matzko, editor for technology and innovation at Libertarianism.org, joins the show to discuss the history of the Fairness Doctrine, why it failed, and why making a new one would be a terrible idea. For more, see Paul’s book, The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement.

#288: The State of Data Privacy Law

TechFreedom — Wed, 7 Apr 2021 02:26:03 +0000

Data privacy is a complex and dynamic policy field. Lydia de la Torre, an inaugural board member of the new California Privacy Protection Agency, and Alan Friel, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs, join the show to help make some sense of it. They discuss the history of privacy policy, the growing influence of European privacy principles, and the new privacy laws we are seeing, or can expect, at the state and federal levels here in the United States.

#287: No, Florida Can’t Regulate Online Speech

TechFreedom — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 02:44:39 +0000

Florida is poised to enact a law limiting social media websites’ ability to ban or moderate users. TechFreedom's Berin Szóka and Corbin Barthold discuss whether the bill is constitutional, and whether it would really protect speech (spoiler alert: no and no). For more, see their essay on the bill in Lawfare, a TechFreedom paper on Section 230 and the First Amendment, and a previous podcast episode on efforts to apply the Fairness Doctrine to the Internet.

If you’ve already heard us explain why the First Amendment protects content moderation and just want to hear why the Florida law’s special protections for political candidates are also unconstitutional, skip forward to 23:55. And here’s the 1979 Supreme Court decision in Midwest Video II explaining how, in 1934, Congress rejected proposals to require broadcasters to “turn over their microphones to persons wishing to speak.”

#286: How Algorithms Can Fight Extremism

TechFreedom — Mon, 8 Mar 2021 13:53:35 +0000

What can social-media platforms do to address growing concerns about extremism on their sites? Research suggests that YouTube, for one, has made great strides in driving viewers of radical messages toward more mainstream content. As new forms of misinformation arise, YouTube has succeeded in quickly adjusting its algorithmic recommendations. Dr. Anna Zaitsev is a postdoctoral scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Information, and the co-author of the paper “Algorithmic extremism: Examining YouTube’s rabbit hole of radicalization.” She joins the show to discuss her research on YouTube’s recommendation system, and what it takes to spot, block, and demote ever-evolving extremist content.

#285: Data Rights for Criminal Defendants

TechFreedom — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 01:01:17 +0000

Data plays an increasingly important role in our criminal justice system, yet there are serious inequalities in prosecutors’ and defendants’ rights of access to it. Rebecca Wexler, assistant professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and faculty co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, joins the show to discuss the growing role that data plays in criminal investigations and trials; the asymmetries in access to data, code, and more; and how we might reform the criminal justice system’s approach to science and technology.

#284: The Revolt of the Public

TechFreedom — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 14:06:29 +0000

The events of the last few years have shown the clear impact that movements beginning online can have in the real world. Social media platforms, as well as the legacy media and the government, have struggled to adapt to this development. Martin Gurri, former CIA analyst, Mercatus Center visiting research fellow, and author of The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium, joins the show to discuss the technologically driven fragmentation of narratives, what this means for society, and the broader challenges facing political and media elites and institutions. For more, check out The Revolt of the Public, see Martin’s work in Discourse Magazine, and read his recent article on the rise of post-journalism in City Journal.

#283: Privacy and Surveillance in China

TechFreedom — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 18:15:20 +0000

China’s approach to surveillance, particularly its dystopian-sounding Social Credit System, has raised serious human rights concerns, particularly in its treatment of minority groups. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, associate professor at the University of Texas’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, joins the show to discuss China’s surveillance policies and the influence it could have on privacy around the world.

#282: Tech and the Biden Administration

TechFreedom — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 01:30:57 +0000

What can the tech industry expect from the incoming Biden administration? Emily Birnbaum, tech policy reporter at Protocol, joins the show to discuss President-elect Biden and his team’s likely approach to antitrust, Section 230, the gig economy, and artificial intelligence.

#281: Should companies be allowed to acquire their start-up competitors?

TechFreedom — Tue, 8 Dec 2020 00:44:38 +0000

Policymakers across the political spectrum are using antitrust law to attack established companies’ acquisitions of smaller competitors. But are these “nascent acquisitions” inherently harmful? Asheesh Agarwal, TechFreedom’s deputy general counsel and competition counsel, and Andy Jung, a law clerk at TechFreedom, join the show to provide some historical context. They argue that nascent acquisitions often benefit both entrepreneurs and consumers. For more, see their new paper, The Long and Successful History of Nascent Acquisitions Suggests Caution in Rethinking Antitrust Enforcement.

#280: Section 230, Antitrust, and Consumer Protection

TechFreedom — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 01:14:53 +0000

The Global Antitrust Institute’s Report on the Digital Economy is out! Berin Szóka, the founder of TechFreedom, returns to the show to discuss his chapter, Section 230: An Introduction for Antitrust & Consumer Protection Practitioners. On tap: the history of Section 230; how it applies in antitrust and consumer-protection cases; l’affaire Federalist; adventures in futile litigation; Internet Darwinism; and more. Be sure to check out the full GAI report.

#279: Revising Section 230 Will Silence Marginalized Voices

TechFreedom — Sun, 8 Nov 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Social media content moderation has been a hot topic for policymakers throughout the election, with a particular focus on the liability protections offered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Billy Easley, senior policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity, joins the show to discuss how proposals to limit the scope of Section 230 would harm free speech online, particularly for marginalized communities. For more, see his recent op-ed in Slate.

#278: Privacy by Design

TechFreedom — Sat, 7 Nov 2020 07:00:00 +0000

The data that we generate in our everyday lives can be immensely useful, but it’s vital that any use of that data carefully protects privacy. Sunny Seon Kang, senior privacy counsel and head of policy at Inpher, joins the show to discuss how data can benefit commerce, healthcare, finance, and more, while still maintaining user privacy.

#277: Can the DOJ Break up Google?

TechFreedom — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Last week, the Department of Justice and eleven Republican state attorneys general filed a lawsuit alleging Google has used anticompetitive practices to maintain a monopoly. TechFreedom deputy general counsel Asheesh Agarwal and president Berin Szóka join the show to discuss the problems with the lawsuit and the broader issues within competition policy. For more, see TechFreedom’s work on the subject, including a press release on the lawsuit, an op-ed in The Federalist on the economic harms of overly aggressive antitrust, and comments on DOJ and FTC draft vertical merger guidelines.

#276: Nationalizing 5G?!

TechFreedom — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 07:00:00 +0000

While 5G technology is being rolled out across the country, some have been dissatisfied with the speed at which the revolutionary next step in wireless Internet has been deployed and have suggested that the federal government step in directly. Nathan Leamer, vice president at Targeted Victory and former policy advisor to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, explains the flaws in nationalization and highlights the work already being done by Congress and the FCC to enable 5G deployment by the private sector. @NathanLeamerDC

#275: The Future of Innovation

TechFreedom — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Between heavy government regulations, a competitive marketplace, and an uncertain economy, the early stages of an innovative start-up are full of risks that could stifle beneficial new technology. Nina Archie, founder of Innovator Connector, joins the show to discuss threats to innovation, the possibilities of public-private partnerships, and the role innovation will play in shaping the labor market.

#274: Can Platforms Stop the Spread of Misinformation?

TechFreedom — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 07:00:00 +0000

With the approaching election, preventing the spread of online misinformation is especially important. Heather West, head of Americas policy at Mozilla, joins the show to discuss how misinformation spreads, how platforms are dealing with it, and how this ties in to the broader discussion on content moderation.

#273: [The] Breakup Speech: Antitrust and Free Speech

TechFreedom — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Legislators on both the left and right have raised concerns over the control a few major platforms have over online speech. Is breaking up those platforms a way to protect free expression on the Internet? Neil Chilson, Senior Research Fellow for technology and innovation at the Charles Koch Institute and former acting chief technologist at the FTC, joins the show to discuss the problems with this approach. For more, see his essay on the subject.

#272: Transparency, Tech, and Surveillance with WashingTech

TechFreedom — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 07:00:00 +0000

With policing reform at the center of the country’s attention, it’s critical to examine the ways in which the state’s use of technology can enable abuse and discrimination. Joe Miller, president and CEO of the Washington Center for Technology Policy and Inclusion and host of the WashingTech podcast, joins the show to discuss the roles that body cameras, facial recognition, and other technologies play in government surveillance. Follow him on Twitter @joemillerjd

#271: Pay Black Women, Pinterest

TechFreedom — Thu, 2 Jul 2020 07:00:00 +0000

This is the story of two brilliant Black women — Aerica Shimizu Banks and Ifeoma Ozoma. Pinterest, the company they gave their talents and dedication to, mistreated them and discriminated against them. Pinterest still hasn't done right by them.

You can read coverage of their story in The Washington Post, The Business Insider, The Protocol, Politico, The LA Times, Forbes, NPR, USA Today and many other outlets. Here is the Statement from The Color of Change.

Follow Aerica and Ifeoma on Twitter at @erikashimizu and @IfeomaOzoma

#270: Cryptocurrency and Florida’s Tech Policy

TechFreedom — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 10:49:27 +0000

The current economic and social upheaval has made cryptocurrency more important than ever, Andrea O’Sullivan, director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the James Madison Institute joins the show to discuss the latest policy developments in the area, as well as an update on the state of tech policy in Florida.

#269: Telehealth in the Age of COVID-19 – What’s Next?

TechFreedom — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Given the importance of staying home to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, telehealth is more vital than ever. Recently, the federal government has eased regulations to allow easier access to alternatives to in-person doctor visits. Rene Quashie, Vice President of Digital Health for the Consumer Technology Association, joins the show to discuss the implications of these regulatory rollbacks, particularly with regard to privacy. For more on the subject, see CTA’s guiding principles on digital health.

#268: 5G Innovation w/ Samsung

TechFreedom — Fri, 8 May 2020 07:00:00 +0000

While 5G wireless technology is beginning to be rolled out, we’re only just starting to see how new innovations will affect our lives. John Godfrey, senior vice president for public policy at Samsung Electronics America joins the show to discuss what Samsung’s work in 5G innovation and how the technology will influence the future of work and society as a whole, as well as the company’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

#267: 5G and the Spectrum Wars

TechFreedom — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Spectrum allocation can make or break the development of new wireless technologies like 5G, but in recent years, interagency conflicts have held up the policymaking process. Nathan Leamer, vice president at Targeted Victory, joins the show to discuss how these conflicts hold back innovation, and to answer once and for all whether 5G caused the coronavirus (spoiler alert: it didn’t).

#266: The Economics of Tech Policy w/ TPI

TechFreedom — Wed, 8 Apr 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Given the importance of economic impact in informing policy decisions, the Technology Policy Institute focuses on economic analysis within the tech policy space. The organization’s president Scott Wallston and senior fellow Sarah Oh join the show to discuss their policy work, the COVID-19 Economic Impact Dashboard, and this year’s Aspen policy forum.

#265: Preventing Algorithmic Discrimination

TechFreedom — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 13:55:03 +0000

While the use of algorithms has proven incredibly valuable in a range of applications, their implementation can often lead to harmful discriminatory outcomes. Dr. Ignacio Cofone, assistant professor at McGill University Faculty of Law, joins the show to discuss how this happens, as well as potential policy solutions for minimizing discrimination without hindering the use of algorithms. For more, see his papers: “Antidiscriminatory Privacy,” “Algorithmic Discrimination Is an Information Problem,” and “Nothing to Hide, but Something to Lose,” and his op-ed in the Hill, “Privacy Law Needs Privacy Harms.”

#264: Is the WHO Blowing Smoke about Vaping Dangers?

TechFreedom — Mon, 9 Mar 2020 07:00:00 +0000

E-cigarettes have provided an important harm-reduction tool in lessening the health hazards of smoking. Despite this, many government agencies and public health organizations have engaged in advocacy that has muddied the waters over the subject, including fearmongering over ingredients, overstating the extent of youth vaping, and misrepresenting cases of vaping-related illness and death. To discuss recent problems with the World Health Organization’s approach, Ash is joined by the R Street Institute’s harm reduction policy team: Chelsea Boyd, a research associate, and Carrie Wade, the team’s director.

#263: A Tech Update from the West Coast

TechFreedom — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

California has often been among the most active states in passing new legislation to regulate the tech industry. These policies can potentially impact not just Californian consumers and companies, but those across the United States. Cathy Gellis, a lawyer in the Bay area, joins the show to discuss the latest developments in the west coast affecting privacy, the sharing economy, and free speech.

#262: Another Attack on Encryption

TechFreedom — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Encryption is a vital tool, not just for privacy, but for cybersecurity as well. However, law enforcement and legislators have been pushing to undermine access to encryption, often in the name of preventing crime and protecting children. Jim Baker, director of national security and cybersecurity at the R Street Institute and former general counsel for the FBI, joins the show to discuss the latest threat to encryption. For further information, see his recent post on Lawfare.

#261: Florida’s Sharing Economy

TechFreedom — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

As new niches in the sharing economy develop and provide consumers with new opportunities, governments at both the national and state level continue to attempt to keep up with their laws and regulations. Spence Purnell, policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, joins the show to discuss new Florida legislation that would create a framework to regulate car sharing services.

#260: How America Can Keep Leading Innovation

TechFreedom — Wed, 5 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

The American tech industry has led the world in innovation, in part because principled decisions by the industry. However, government officials have increasingly applied pressure on the industry to compromise user privacy and limit online speech. Jesse Blumenthal, vice president of technology and innovation at Stand Together, joins the show to discuss the organization’s “Principles for Continued American Tech Leadership,” which aims to guide the tech sector in making ethical decisions and resisting regulatory threats.

#259: Section 230 and Online 'Censorship'

TechFreedom — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 07:00:00 +0000

The liability protections in Section 230 that make digital free speech possible have faced nearly constant threats from both sides of the aisle. Late last year, Sen. Josh Hawley introduced the Ending Support for Online Censorship Act that would require the government to certify that platforms were being neutral in their content moderation. Diane Katz, senior research fellow in regulatory policy at the Heritage Foundation, joins the show to discuss the challenges of assessing bias and the threats Hawley’s approach poses to free speech. For more, see her recent paper on the legislation.

#258: Protecting creativity with Pinterest

TechFreedom — Fri, 3 Jan 2020 23:33:38 +0000

One of the largest challenges online platforms face is finding the best approach to content moderation on a large scale. Aerica Shimizu Banks, public policy and social impact manager at Pinterest, joins the show to discuss how Pinterest has built its platform, the challenges of content moderation, and the importance of Section 230 for digital speech.

#257: The Future of 5G with T-Mobile

TechFreedom — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 03:33:19 +0000

While 5G continues to be a major buzzword within the wireless industry, 2020 will likely see important steps forward in bringing the new technology to consumers. Marie Sylla-Dixon, vice president of federal government and external affairs for T-Mobile, joins the show to discuss the company’s work, including the “5G for Good” program, which aims to ensure that first responders, students, and other underserved communities have access to quality Internet connections. Note: This podcast was recorded on November 25, 2019. Since then, T-Mobile has launched a nationwide 5G network on December 2, 2019.

#256: Driving Out Flexibility

TechFreedom — Fri, 6 Dec 2019 22:47:39 +0000

The gig economy has given workers important new opportunities to earn extra income or work a job that gives them freedom over their schedule. However, a recent push from several state legislatures to reclassify contractors as employees threatens the flexibility that’s made the gig economy so valuable to both workers and consumers. Patrice Onwuka, Senior Policy Analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum, joins the show to discuss the potential consequences of the new legislation. For more on the subject, see her recent post on the California legislation.

#255 How Much Should We Worry About Deep Fakes?

TechFreedom — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Deep fake technology, which uses artificial intelligence to convincingly alter video, has become the source of the latest panic over the spread of misinformation. While the technology can certainly be put to creative and entertaining uses, are those benefits outweighed by the threat it poses to democracy and the media? Or is it simply the next step in a history of deceptive practices that we’ve managed to adapt to? Taylor Barkley, program officer of technology & innovation at Stand Together, joins the show to discuss. For more, see his recent post in Human Progress.

#254: Bridging the Digital Divide through Internet Essentials

TechFreedom — Thu, 3 Oct 2019 12:16:20 +0000

Despite the fact that the Internet is more intertwined with our daily lives than ever before, far too many people in America lack a reliable connection and are left behind. Karima Zedan, Vice President of Digital Inclusion and Internet Essentials at Comcast, joins the show to discuss how Comcast is working to bridge the digital divide by offering low-cost service, the option to purchase a heavily subsidized computer, and providing digital literacy training opportunities in partnership with nonprofits around the country in an effort to expand access.

#253: The Road Ahead for Self-Driving Cars

TechFreedom — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 12:12:37 +0000

As the technology behind self-driving cars becomes increasingly viable for more widespread use, lawmakers and regulators have grappled with creating a legal framework for them. Jamie Boone, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Consumer Technology Association, and Ian Adams, Vice President of Policy at TechFreedom, join the show to discuss the current regulatory landscape for autonomous vehicles at the state and federal levels.

#252: Harm-Reducing E-Cigs Might Go up in Smoke

TechFreedom — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Despite an ever-growing body of evidence showing that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than traditional combustible cigarettes and can serve as a valuable smoking cessation tool, efforts continue to restrict or outright ban them in the name of public health. Paul Blair, director of strategic initiatives at Americans for Tax Reform, joins the show to discuss the latest developments in vaping regulation. For more on the subject, see Blair’s work and Tech Policy Podcast episode #213.

#251: SESTA/FOSTA Hurts the Victims It Aims to Protect

TechFreedom — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 12:13:55 +0000

Last year, Congress passed SESTA/FOSTA, legislation intended to help law enforcement fight sex trafficking online. However, as numerous experts (including us) predicted, the law has ultimately pushed sex workers into more dangerous practices and made online platforms less likely to assist law enforcement due to fear of liability. Kendra Albert, clinical instructional fellow at the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School, joins the show to discuss how the law has backfired and what to expect in the legal challenges against it. For more, see episodes #189 and #218 of the podcast, and Albert’s work at Harvard.

#250: Mapbox

TechFreedom — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Apps increasingly rely on user location data as part of their services, but how private is that data kept? Ash is joined by Tom Lee, policy lead at Mapbox, which provides mapping and location services to a range of companies including Snapchat, TikTok, and the Weather Channel. Lee discusses how Mapbox provides useful location services while still protecting user privacy, and how the US can develop privacy laws to help preserve this balance.

#249: Information Fiduciaries: The Privacy Awakens

TechFreedom — Wed, 5 Jun 2019 07:00:00 +0000

On the previous episode of the show we covered a new legal concept of information fiduciaries and how it can apply to tech policy. Today we are diving in deeper and applying the concept to privacy with Lindsey Barrett, staff attorney and teaching fellow at the Institute for Public Representation Communications & Technology Clinic at Georgetown University, joins the show to discuss the difference between American and European views on privacy, and how a privacy policy based around the concept of information fiduciaries might look in the US. For more, see Barrett’s recent paper on the subject.

#248: Everything You Wanted to Know about Information Fiduciaries but Were Afraid to Ask

TechFreedom — Tue, 28 May 2019 07:00:00 +0000

The reaction against the ever-growing amount of information collected by tech giants has led to proposals ranging from self-regulation to strict GDPR-style privacy, and even the potential break-up of larger companies. But could treating tech companies as information fiduciaries — creating a legal obligation to be trustworthy in their use of our data — help solve this privacy problem? Ash is joined by Jack Balkin, Knight professor of constitutional law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School and founder Yale’s Information Society Project, and Mike Godwin, senior fellow of technology and innovation at the R Street Institute. For more, see Balkin’s work on the subject (law review article, website, Balkinization blog), and Godwin’s book, The Splinters of our Discontent.

#247: Seeing the Silver Lining in the Current Techlash

TechFreedom — Mon, 13 May 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Growing anti-tech sentiment both in the government and the general public has led to calls for policies that threaten to stifle innovation. Despite this rising techlash, there’s reason to be optimistic about the future of innovation, according to Jesse Blumenthal, director of technology and innovation policy at the Charles Koch Institute, who joins the show to discuss the latest developments in consumer privacy, antitrust, social media bias accusations, and more. For more, see CKI’s work on tech and innovation, and the Pessimists Archive podcast.

#246: Talking Privacy with DuckDuckGo

TechFreedom — Tue, 7 May 2019 07:00:00 +0000

As the consumer privacy debate rages on in the policy world, DuckDuckGo has made a name for itself by providing a range of privacy-protecting tools and services for consumers. DuckDuckGo CEO and Founder Gabriel Weinberg joins the show to discuss how users are tracked online, as well as what both DuckDuckGo and upcoming legislation are doing to change that. For more, see DuckDuckGo’s Do Not Track Act model legislation, their coalition letter in support of the Privacy for All Act, and our most recent episode on the encryption debate.

#245: Does the Internet Actually Need Saving?

TechFreedom — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 07:00:00 +0000

The Save the Internet Act, intended to force the FCC to revert to regulating the Internet under Title II, passed the House earlier this month and will soon be considered in the Senate. But is the legislation even necessary to protect consumers? Is it legally sound, or will it create new complexities and unintended consequences? TechFreedom President Berin Szóka joins the show to discuss. Here you can find the blogpost about Santa Clara Fire and Verizon and TechFreedom’s analysis of the Save the Internet Act.

#244: Utah Wants a Warrant

TechFreedom — Wed, 3 Apr 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Despite a recent Supreme Court victory in Carpenter v. United States, progress in defending personal data from government snooping has been at a crawl at the federal level. Fortunately, state legislatures have been taking their own actions to protect privacy. Connor Boyack, president of the Libertas Institute, joins the show to discuss his organization’s work on a bipartisan bill that passed unanimously in Utah, and what the new law means both for the state and the broader conversation on data privacy around the country.

#243: Will the Electric Scooter Movement Lose Its Charge?

TechFreedom — Mon, 3 Dec 2018 07:00:00 +0000

Electric scooters been popping up in cities all over the US, seemingly overnight. While many have found the scooters to be a welcome addition to their transportation options, some local governments have tried to regulate them out of existence. Jennifer Huddleston Skees, Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, joins the show to discuss the benefits and risks of the growing electric scooter trend, and how cities can work with innovators to keep transportation both accessible and safe. For further discussion, follow Jennifer on Twitter, and see her other work, including a recent op-ed on scooter regulation.

#242: Hybrid Networks and the Future of Wireless

TechFreedom — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 07:00:00 +0000

The proposed merger of Sprint and T-Mobile raised a plethora of concerns from both regulators and the general public. In response, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) welcomed comments on the proposed merger to evaluate the benefits and potential harms of the proposed New T-Mobile. Although the anti-competitive analysis was quite extensive, it was incomplete as the FCC declined to include the role of Hybrid Mobile Network Operators (HMNOs) on the market for mobile wireless services.

Today, Michelle P. Connolly, Professor of the Practice in the Economics Department at Duke University, is here to discuss her recent report on the role of HMNOs and why the FCC should have broadened its definition of the mobile telephony and broadband market to account for HMNOs, as this narrow scope accurately reflects how the market is satisfying consumer demand for mobile broadband services.

#241: Journalists v. Trump

TechFreedom — Thu, 8 Nov 2018 07:00:00 +0000

President Trump is known for his aggressive attitude toward the media, but do his actions and statements represent a violation of the First Amendment? In a recent lawsuit, PEN America argues that Trump’s use of regulatory and enforcement powers against critical media outlets goes well beyond constitutional limits. Joining the show to discuss the case are Kristy Parker, counsel for Protect Democracy, the nonprofit helping to represent PEN America in the case; and Berin Szóka, president of TechFreedom. For more information about the case, see Protect America’s overview.

#240: Techlash: What Do Americans Think?

TechFreedom — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 07:00:00 +0000

The tech industry’s reputation has taken several hits in recent years over privacy breaches, allegations of bias, and concerns over election interference, causing a backlash in public opinion. But exactly how severe in this “techlash” among American consumers? What do they think government's role should be in regulating the sector? A recent NetChoice poll attempts to answer these questions. The organization’s president and CEO, Steve DelBianco, joins the show to discuss the poll’s results.

#239: Net Neutrality: Can States Regulate the Internet?

TechFreedom — Mon, 8 Oct 2018 07:00:00 +0000

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on September 30 that would apply the net neutrality regulations imposed by the 2015 Open Internet Order to Internet service providers in the state of California. Will the law stand up to the legal challenges against it? And what can states do to protect consumers when it comes to Internet service? Ash is joined by TechFreedom President Berin Szóka and former TechFreedom Legal Fellow Graham Owens to discuss. For more, see Graham’s paper on state regulation of broadband, and our other work on net neutrality, including our letter urging the veto of the bill, and our statement in support of the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against it.

#238: Breaking Down Encryption

TechFreedom — Tue, 2 Oct 2018 07:00:00 +0000

Encryption continues to be a contentious policy issue, with law enforcement constantly applying pressure on companies to create backdoors to aid in criminal investigations. Most recently, the US government has urged Facebook to compromise the encryption features in its Messenger app, which has been used by MS-13 gang members. But what would be the consequences of such measures? How exactly does encryption work? Navroop Mitter, CEO of Armortext, joins the show to discuss.

#237: Prodigal Son Returns

TechFreedom — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 13:01:26 +0000

Evan Swarztrauber, the Tech Policy Podcast’s original host, returns to discuss the work he’s doing to speed the deployment of 5G wireless networks in his new role as policy advisor to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. For more, follow Evan and Twitter, and listen to his new FCC podcast, More than Seven Dirty Words.

#236: Low Hanging Fruit with Professor Daskal

TechFreedom — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 17:28:09 +0000

Law enforcement continues to face challenges with the evolving problems associated with digital evidence gathering. Just last year, US law enforcement made over 130,000 requests for digital evidence to just six tech companies - Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and Oath. These requests to internet service providers have not gone smoothly, as law enforcement is often not suited to accommodate such technical requests or simply do not know what they are looking for. Service providers, in turn, are quite reluctant to comply with these demand for “any and all” data, citing fears that trade secrets or sensitive information will be leaked. Today Jennifer C. Daskal, Adjunct Professor at American University Washington College of Law, is here to discuss her recently published CSIS report titled “Low Hanging Fruit” on what challenges law enforcement encounter, how to address these problems, and policy recommendations to Congress, law enforcement agencies, and Service Providers.

#235: Hasta La Vista, Robocalls?!

TechFreedom — Mon, 6 Aug 2018 08:00:00 +0000

The FCC welcomed Comments on how to interpret what an Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems(ATDS) is under the TCPA, which targets telephone solicitations that rely upon equipment that have the capacity to store or produce numbers using a random or sequential number generator, and to dial those numbers without human intervention. This comes after the ACC International v. FCC ruling where the FCC’s interpretation of an ATDS in its’ 2015 Declaratory Ruling and Order was held as overly broad. That interpretation encompassed all technology with both the present and theoretical capacity as an ATDS, which meant smartphones would be viewed as an ATDS. Will the FCC revert back to a broader interpretation or will the narrower approach prevail? Today we welcome Charlie Kennedy, Adjunct Fellow for TechFreedom, and Jim Dunstan, General Counsel for TechFreedom, to discuss which interpretation of an ATDS is best for both consumers and businesses. For more info, see TechFreedom’s statement on the issue, and the comments we filed with the FCC.

#234: Judging Judge Kavanaugh

TechFreedom — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Since Donald Trump announced Brett Kavanaugh as his pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, both his supporters and opponents have argued aggressively over his fitness for the role. But where does Kavanaugh stand on digital privacy, telecom regulation and other critical tech issues? Ash and Berin dig into Kavanaugh’s previous decisions to try to evaluate what we can expect if he is confirmed.

#233: The Sharing Economy is Dead... Long Live the Hustle Economy

TechFreedom — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 16:07:38 +0000

According to a recent survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are fewer independent contractors working in the US now than there were in 2005. Does this mean that the end of the sharing economy is near? Jared Meyer, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability, joins the show to discuss the serious flaws in the survey’s methodology that led to a serious under-counting of independent contractors. For more, see his article in Reason, and his testimony before the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

#232: Nationalizing 5G

TechFreedom — Mon, 16 Jul 2018 12:57:02 +0000

According to leaked documents in January, a senior official from the National Security Council in the White House had suggested to build a national 5G network and have it under state control for national security reasons. Reaction from Trump appointed Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Ajit Pai was very strong, he stated that “any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would be a costly and counterproductive distraction” from winning the global 5G race. There haven’t been any new developments on this issue until June. Brad Parscale, President Trump’s campaign manager tweeted out that US needs to have one 5G network, his reasoning suggested this is needed for US to have “best cell service.” Berin Szóka, President of TechFreedom is joining Ashkhen to share his strong opinion on the issue. You can read Berin’s blog on “TrumpNet” here.

#231: Preview of the Internet Governance Forum USA 2018

TechFreedom — Mon, 9 Jul 2018 06:00:00 +0000

This episode is a preview of the Internet Governance Forum USA 2018. IGF USA will take place on July 27, 2018 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies located at 1616 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036. Ashkhen is joined by Shane Tews, President of Logan Circle Strategies, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Steve DelBianco, President and CEO of NetChoice. To find out more visit the Forum’s website and Wiki. You can register for IGF here.

#230: Updating the FCC's Kid Vid Rules with Commissioner O'Rielly

TechFreedom — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 10:12:00 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission has put forward an NPRM to reexamine the so-called “KidVid” requirements, which put obligations on broadcasters for a very specific amount and place for children’s educational and informational broadcasting. Is KidVid is a classic example of a well-intentioned policy gone awry and resulting in less quality children's programming on TV, the exact opposite of the law’s intent? We are joined by the Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O’Rielly to discuss current laws and regulations in this area and their policy implications.

#229: LabMD Court Decision Ushers in a New Era for the FTC

TechFreedom — Fri, 8 Jun 2018 20:14:26 +0000

Since the Federal Trade Commission began bringing data security enforcement actions in 2002, no court had ruled on the substantive merits of the FTC’s approach. A panel of three Eleventh Circuit judges decisively rejected the FTC’s use of broad, vague consent decrees, in the LabMD v Federal Trade Commission ruling that the Commission may only bar specific practices, and cannot require a company “to overhaul and replace its data-security program to meet an indeterminable standard of reasonableness.” We are joined by TechFreedom’s President Berin Szóka and Legal Fellow Graham Owens. They explain why this case is so crucial, what’s next for the FTC and what policy changes can be on the horizon.

#228: FBI Lost Count... Of Locked Phones

TechFreedom — Mon, 4 Jun 2018 20:57:03 +0000

The FBI has been a vocal critic of the spread of encryption, often citing the nearly 8,000 devices connected to crimes that were inaccessible to law enforcement last year as evidence that increased device security represents a major threat to law enforcement. But a recent Washington Post article revealed that this number was seriously inflated due to “programming error,” with the real value estimated at around 1,200. Robyn Greene, the policy counsel and government affairs lead for the Open Technology Institute joins the show to discuss what this mistake means for the future of encryption policy. For more, see this letter led by OTI and signed by TechFreedom calling on the Inspector General to investigate the FBI and DOJ’s handling of the error, as well as Greene’s other work.

#227: Can Flightsharing Finally Take Off?

TechFreedom — Mon, 28 May 2018 07:00:00 +0000

While sharing economy business models have revolutionized transportation in many ways, the aviation industry has been a notable exception, thanks to outdated regulations that stifle such behavior. However, the Aviation Empowerment Act, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, attempts to change that by updating and clarifying FAA rules that have held back innovation. To discuss what this bill means for the future of aviation, we’re joined by Chris Koopman, Senior Director of Strategy and Research for the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University. See the full text of the bill here, and some of Koopman’s past work on flightsharing here.

#226: The Fairness Doctrine: The Next Generation

TechFreedom — Mon, 21 May 2018 11:09:07 +0000

In recent hearings, congressional Republicans have accused social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube of stifling conservative content. Some, such as Sen. Ted Cruz, have called for a “Fairness Doctrine” for the Internet. Cruz reasoned that “in order to be protected by Section 230, companies like Facebook should be ‘neutral public forums.’ But would this policy approach, which failed to encourage ideological diversity in broadcasting, work any better when applied to the Internet? How might this undermine important protections that have allowed free speech to flourish online? TechFreedom President Berin Szóka and General Counsel Jim Dunstan join the show to discuss. For more, see Szóka's oral and written testimonies before the House Judiciary Committee on the subject.

#225: WHOIS going to deal with cybersecurity: GDPR Edition

TechFreedom — Mon, 14 May 2018 13:37:26 +0000

WHOIS, the system used for querying databases of information on domain name registrations and IP addresses, has been a vital tool for journalists, security researchers and law enforcement in identifying and tracking spammers, phishers, identity thieves and other cybercriminals. However, when the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation takes effect on May 25, the service will heavily limited or possibly shut down completely in order to comply with privacy requirements. How will this impact cybersecurity? Does WHOIS raise legitimate privacy concerns? Shane Tews, President of Logan Circle Strategies, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Tim Chen, CEO of DomainTools, join the show to discuss. For more, see Shane’s piece on the subject, Tim’s white papers, and TechFreedom President Berin Szóka’s blog post on ICANN’s IANA transition.

#224: Disruptive Innovation (Part 1)

TechFreedom — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 07:00:00 +0000

The growing pace of technological innovation means both regulators and established industries are finding it increasingly harder to keep up. How do companies adapt (or fail to adapt) to new disruptions in their industries? How can regulators address new technology without causing harmful unintended consequences? Author Larry Downes joins the show to discuss. For more, see Larry’s books The Laws of Disruption and Big Bang Disruption, and his recent article in the Harvard Business Review.

#223: Law Enforcement as a Political Weapon

TechFreedom — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 07:00:00 +0000

President Donald Trump has been vocal to criticize those he deems political opponents. However, these criticisms often extend to threats of legal action, particularly against the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post and Amazon. Trump has set aside decades of precedent and involved himself directly in a number of enforcement actions, often in ways that would benefit him or his political allies. How lawful is this kind of intervention? And how can the rest of the government resist inappropriate political meddling? Justin Florence, Legal Director for Protect Democracy, and TechFreedom President Berin Szóka join the show to discuss. For more, see their joint op-ed in the Seattle Times, and Protect Democracy’s filing in the antitrust case against the AT&T/Time Warner merger.

#222: Bring in the Nerds: Reviving the Office of Technology Assessment

TechFreedom — Mon, 9 Apr 2018 07:00:00 +0000

In recent decades, Congress has struggled to enact laws that keep up with the breakneck pace technological innovation. This pace shows no signs of slowing, and with major implications for healthcare, transportation, privacy and other key social and economic issues, it’s more important than ever for Congress to be properly informed on tech issues. We’re joined by the R Street Institute’s Zach Graves and Kevin Kosar, who argue in their recent paper “Bring in the Nerds,” that reviving the Office of Technology Assessment — an expert advisory agency that gave guidance to Congress in shaping tech policy until it was shuttered in 1995 — could help bridge this gap.

#221: Swarm’s Rogue Satellites

TechFreedom — Tue, 3 Apr 2018 16:29:27 +0000

Earlier this month, IEE Spectrum broke the story that Silicon Valley startup Swarm Technologies had launched several experimental satellites through the commercial arm of India’s space agency, despite being denied authorization by the FCC. The case illustrates the complexity of the licensing process for satellites, both in the US and internationally. Space lawyer Jim Dunstan joins the show to discuss the ramifications of this launch, and how the process could be improved. For more, see part 1, part 2, and part 3 of our series on space law with Jim.

#220: FDA, Free Speech and E-Cigarettes

TechFreedom — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 13:18:52 +0000

The Food and Drug Administration’s 2016 Deeming Rule classified e-cigarettes and other vaping materials as tobacco products and imposed strict regulations on what vaping entrepreneurs can say to their customers, even though advocates say these technologies can reduce the harm from smoking and help some smokers quit entirely. In response, the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is taking FDA officials to court on behalf of small business owners on the grounds that the rules violate free speech and were enacted unconstitutionally. Joining us is Thomas Berry, Attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation who is leading this legal effort.

#219: Women in Tech

TechFreedom — Thu, 8 Mar 2018 20:04:20 +0000

On International Women’s Day, we’re highlighting the stories of several incredibly talented women in tech policy. They discuss what brought them to tech policy, and what drives them on this career path. Featured in this episode are: Gigi Sohn, a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Mozilla Policy Fellow; Michelle Richardson, Deputy Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Freedom, Security, and Technology Project; Dr. Betsy Cooper, executive director of the Berkley Center for Long-Term Cyber Security; Cathy Gellis, lawyer with a focus on Internet issues; Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel for the ACLU; Carrie Wade, Director of Harm Reduction Policy and Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute; and Tiffany Li, resident fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project.

#218: How Should Congress Address Online Sex Trafficking?

TechFreedom — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 11:30:00 +0000

Tomorrow the House of Representatives will vote on the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA). However, the bill to be voted on includes an amendment that merges it with the drastically different Senate counterpart bill. What the bill gets right, and what does it get wrong? How is Congress likely to resolve the conflicts between the two version? And most importantly, how will this legislation affect victims of sex trafficking? Eric Goldman, professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, and Berin Szóka, President of Techfreedom join Ashkhen to discuss.

#217: What is Cybersecurity, and How Can it Affect the Winter Olympics?

TechFreedom — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 17:36:57 +0000

The world in 2018 is interconnected. Cybersecurity threats are widespread — even at the 2018 Winter Olympics. As we recorded this episode in January, our guest warned us of potential cybersecurity attacks. And just last week organizers in Pyeongchang confirmed that a cyberattack crippled important IT systems, bringing down display monitors, Wi-Fi and the Olympics website just ahead of the opening ceremony. Government, private and corporate data is constantly under attack from bad actors like this. That’s where cybersecurity comes in. In this episode we are joined by Dr. Betsy Cooper, the Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. Dr. Cooper breaks down “cybersecurity”: defining and assessing it, the risks it carries, and the future of cybersecurity.

#216: The Nunes Memo and FISA Explained

TechFreedom — Wed, 7 Feb 2018 22:35:04 +0000

The controversial memo prepared by Rep. Nunes (R-CA) hasn’t left the newscycle since its release on February 2. Berin recorded this special episode from the Bay Area and is joined by Jennifer Granick, the “NBA All-Star of surveillance law,” and the Surveillance and Cybersecurity Counsel at the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. Jennifer breaks down FISA, the authority that allowed collection of the information used in the memo, and the intricacies of the infamous memo.

#215: The Net Neutrality CRA: Yay or Nay?

TechFreedom — Wed, 7 Feb 2018 19:49:51 +0000

The effort to overturn FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order already has 50 Senators signed onto the Congressional Review Act - a vehicle chosen by Senate Democrats in attempt to bring back Obara-era net neutrality regulations. To break down what a CRA is and the prospects of its passage we have invited the leading experts in the field: Gigi Sohn - a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, a Mozilla Fellow, Counselor to the Former FCC Chairman Wheeler and Berin Szóka, President of TechFreedom.

#214: Information Intermediaries in a Nutshell

TechFreedom — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Recently Facebook has unveiled multiple planned changes to its newsfeed. Now we will see more content from our friends and fewer posts from news sites and businesses. They also hand checking the credibility of news organizations by users and the wider Facebook community. This has likely been done in response to the harsh criticism of the information dissemination that happened before the 2016 Presidential election. Facebook and other platforms that host third party content are often called “information intermediaries.” In this episode, we dig into the current challenges they face in the modern social media era and are joined by Tiffany Li, Resident Fellow at Yale Law, who leads the the Wikimedia/Yale Law School Initiative on Intermediaries and Information.

#213: Heat Baby Heat? Harm Reduction and E-Cigarettes

TechFreedom — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:33:18 +0000

While some may have started 2018 with a resolution to quit smoking, statistics say many will fail. In this episode we explore harm reduction as a path to achieving smoke free future and discuss the UK's Royal College of Physicians, one of the first researchers to raise the alarm on the dangers of smoking, has released a report underlining that e-cigarettes are 95% safer than their combustible counterparts. To give us a 101 on harm reduction, vaping and e-cigarettes we invited Carrie Wade, Director of Harm Reduction Policy and Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute.

#212: Department of Labor Saves Gig Economy

TechFreedom — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 23:02:38 +0000

On our new episode we are joined by Jared Meyer, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability to discuss changes that executive and legislative branch made in regards to the definitions of “contractor” and “employer” and how that’s going to affect the sharing economy. For more on the topic, read Jared’s op-ed in Forbes and follow him on Twitter.

#211: Warrantless Spying & Parallel Construction

TechFreedom — Fri, 5 Jan 2018 17:42:11 +0000

Four years after the Snowden disclosures, Congress continues to wrestle with surveillance issues. These include an ongoing reform battle over Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act—a major intelligence surveillance law that targets foreigners but can result in warrantless spying on people in the US. Despite the size of the programs the government conducts under Section 702, and the fact that the FBI currently can query Section 702 data without a warrant, the government has provided notice of its use of 702 surveillance data in only about eight criminal cases. One reason notification may be so rare in Section 702 cases is a practice called “parallel construction,” which the government may also be using to conceal the use of even bigger or more problematic surveillance programs carried out under a separate authority called Executive Order 12333. We are joined by Sarah St. Vincent, Researcher at Human Rights Watch, their report on parallel construction comes out January 2018.

#210: Watching the Watchmen: Surveillance in 2017 ... and Beyond

TechFreedom — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 19:35:48 +0000

Have you ever assessed many ways your government spies on you? There is a crucial government surveillance authority up for reauthorization before December 31. We will talk about potential avenues for that reform and do “a surveillance year in review” with Michelle Richardson, Deputy Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Freedom, Security, and Technology Project, Senior Fellow at GW’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security.

#209: Restoring Internet Freedom? Feat. Brendan Carr, FCC Commissioner

TechFreedom — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:59:20 +0000

As the vote on Net Neutrality approaches this Thursday, December 14th, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr joins the show to explain why he plans to vote for Chairman Pai’s controversial proposal, “Restoring Internet Freedom.” To learn more read Carr’s op-ed in The Washington Post. The Commissioner also shares some of his 2018 plans with us, including taking the lead on the wireless agenda.

#208: Data Danger: Keeping Information Safe Online

TechFreedom — Thu, 7 Dec 2017 20:52:23 +0000

As the saying goes: there are those who’ve been hacked, and those who haven’t just don’t know they have. After over 140 million Americans saw their data compromised in the Equifax breach, they may be wondering: what is our government doing about it? With so many companies collecting our data, should the FTC crack down or would that have consequences for innovation? Evan is joined by Neil Chilson, Acting Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission. For more, see the FTC’s upcoming workshop on informational injury, and Neil is happy to take your questions at nchilson@ftc.gov.

This will also be Evan’s last show, he has now moved onto a new job working for Commissioner Brendan Carr at the FCC. Feel free to contact him at sayre.evan91@gmail.com or on Twitter at @SayreEvan

#207: Carving Out Privacy Rights: Carpenter v US

TechFreedom — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 21:41:39 +0000

The Fourth Amendment protects American citizens from unwarranted searches and seizures, but how far does that protection extend? The Carpenter v. United States case in front the Supreme Court seeks to determine whether or not the use of cell site location information requires law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant. Ashkhen Kazaryan, TechFreedom Legal Fellow is joined by Curt Levey, President of the Committee for Justice and Ashley Baker, Director of Public Policy to discuss.

#206: The Future of Internet Regulation w/ FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

TechFreedom — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 16:26:29 +0000

Today we discuss the end of net neutrality....or do we? Under the leadership of Chairman Ajit Pai, the FCC is set to undo broad claims on power over the Internet made in 2010 and 2015. That will also mean rolling back most – but not all – of the FCC's broadband rules. What is Pai planning to change, and what does he see as the future of Internet regulation? Is net neutrality really dying, or just changing? What difference will this make for consumers? We discuss these issues and more with our special guest, Ajit Pai himself.

#205: Who Owns the Airwaves?

TechFreedom — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 22:52:35 +0000

You might not be able to see them but airwaves are very important, enabling all sorts of communication that we rely on. Given the exploding demand for access to the airwaves from new technologies like AR, VR, and 4K video, is the way we allocate spectrum good enough? Is there a better way? We discuss that and more with our guests, Ryan Radia, Research Fellow and Regulatory Council at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Joe Kane, Tech Policy Associate at the R Street Institute.

#204: Digital Learning: Future or a Flunk?

TechFreedom — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 18:09:32 +0000

While many classrooms have iPads and children rely on the Internet to do their homework, in many ways education is still an analog experience. Are we headed for a wave of disruption? Or are there certain human elements of education that simply can’t be digitized? Evan is joined by Jan Hein Hoogstad, founder and technology developer for Offcourse, an online education platform. They discuss the state of online education, the challenges it faces, and how government policies might change the game.

#203: Super Mathio? What We Learn From Video Games

TechFreedom — Mon, 6 Nov 2017 04:30:25 +0000

Video games have presented a challenge for parents since their advent. “Get off the couch and play outside!” or “Read a book!” are phrases the host of this podcast heard plenty throughout his childhood. But it’s been over three decades since Pong was invented, and the landscape has changed dramatically. Video gaming has become a professional and spectator sport, and the industry’s impact on the economy is significant. But can gaming also help educate people and build a workforce fit for a high-tech, 21st century economy? Evan is joined by Erik Huey Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at the Entertainment Software Association. They discuss the role of video games in STEM education, what to expect from virtual reality, and how “e-sports” are changing society. To see how your state is impacted, check out www.areweinyourstate.org.

#202: Artificial Intelligence

TechFreedom — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 13:18:54 +0000

Artificial intelligence is already transforming our lives in many ways, and it has the potential to do so much more. But it seems like news headlines only focus on potential job loss and the end of the world than increased productivity and social benefits. Is this because our mental imagery of AI is so influenced by dystopian sci-fi novels and movies like Terminator? Or have policymakers not done enough to communicate honestly about the disruptions we face with AI? What can listeners of this podcast reasonably expect to see in the coming years? Is there even a single definition of AI that everyone can agree on? Evan is joined by Elizabeth Hudson, Senior Research Scientist of Machine Learning at Symbotic, an industrial robotics company, and Austin Carson, Executive Director of TechFreedom.

#201: Who Owns the Media?

TechFreedom — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 15:51:47 +0000

In 1975, “media” essentially meant television, radio, and newspapers. Obviously, today’s market looks way different thanks to the Internet and other developments. We have cable and satellite TV, online news, podcasts, and social media. We have “cord cutters” and “cord nevers,” and there are more ways to consume more content than ever before. In this competitive environment, however, many of the media regulations passed by the FCC in the 1970s still apply to TV, radio, and newspapers. Are these rules necessary to prevent consolidation, ensure competition, and promote a diversity of viewpoints? Or are they making it harder for traditional media to compete in the Digital Age? Evan is joined by Jerianne Timmerman, Senior VP and Senior Deputy General Counsel at the National Association of Broadcasters. For more, see her blog post.

#200: Bicentennial

TechFreedom — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 20:00:00 +0000

Pop some champagne and untangle your headphones, as the Tech Policy Podcast is celebrating it's 200th episode. Woo! Evan sits down with Austin Carson, Executive Director of TechFreedom and an all-around normal guy. They celebrate this milestone, solving all of the world's problems in under 30 minutes and answering some of your burning questions. Are all New Yorkers this awful, or is it just Evan? Why can't Austin stop his hands hitting the table during recording? Is tech policy about to get really ugly, or can think tanks like TechFreedom help bind the wounds? If you've enjoyed this show, please consider donating to us to help keep it going.

#199: Telemedicine

TechFreedom — Sat, 7 Oct 2017 13:41:29 +0000

The Internet has disrupted the way we communicate, entertain ourselves, and more. But what about how we take care of ourselves? While the Fitbit and Apple Watch are nice ways to track exercise, how often do we still have to fill out paper forms when we visit a doctor? Is there more to telemedicine than “counting steps?” Evan is joined by Nadia Morris, Director at the AT&T Connected Health Foundry in Houston, TX, an innovation center focusing on digital health technologies by working with startups, and established companies. They discuss what technology means for blindness, diabetes, opioid addiction, and other public health issues. Are bigger data sets the key to better health? How can universities use the “cloud” to do better research?

#198: Social Media and Elections (w/ FEC Comm'r Lee Goodman)

TechFreedom — Mon, 2 Oct 2017 15:17:34 +0000

Russia's meddling in the 2016 election isn't exactly breaking news. But recently, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are facing an intense backlash from prominent Senators after revelations that Russian actors bought hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ads meant to stoke division among Americans on hot button issues like gun control, race relations, and even the recent NFL protests. Should the Federal Election Commission regulate social media ads the same way it does television, radio, and direct mail? What would that mean for the free speech rights of Americans and U.S residents? Many are calling for social media platforms to be treated like public utilities. How might that impact the Internet? Evan discusses with FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman. For a different take, see his former colleague Ann Ravel’s op-ed here. For more on digital free speech, listen to our previous episodes with Goodman: #107 and #116.

#197: Technologiepolitik

TechFreedom — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 15:18:32 +0000

Germans head to the polls on Sunday for a national election. And while many political headlines are bemoaning what could be a “boring” victory for Chancellor Angela Merkel, the election could have serious implications for tech policy. Will Merkel’s coalition with the social democrats (SPD) survive, or might we see an unexpected contract with the up and coming libertarian-leaning “free democrats (FDP)?” Would continuity mean more government hacking, facial recognition in the subways, and stockpiling of cyber vulnerabilities, or will a possible new coalition partner like the FDP push back against the government’s ever growing powers in the digital realm? Evan is joined by Julia Schuetze, Berlin-based project manager of the Transatlantic Cyber Forum at Stiftung Neue Verantwortung.

#196: Online Voting

TechFreedom — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 19:14:05 +0000

When it comes to voter turnout, America lags behind much of the world. Could online voting help spur more civic engagement? The 2016 election was plagued by headlines about Russian hacking, faulty voting machines, and frustration over the Electoral College. But with all the concern around cybersecurity and the integrity of elections, is online voting really the solution? Does the Internet make elections less or more secure? What can the U.S. learn from countries like Estonia? Evan is joined by Andrew Weinreich, tech entrepreneur and host of the podcast, “Predicting Our Future.”

#195: Textalyzer

TechFreedom — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 18:46:04 +0000

When it comes to tech policy, New York seems to lead the way in… interesting ideas. The government has an important role in making sure our roads are safe for driving. This means there’s nothing abnormal about a police officer checking their blood alcohol levels with a breathalyzer. But the “textalyzer” is a different animal: law enforcement scanning phones to see if drivers were “texting” before an accident raises a host of privacy and cybersecurity concerns, among other issues. Manufactured by Cellebrite, an Israel-based tech company, the textalyzer is still months away from coming to market. But New York is considering legislation that would authorize law enforcement to use the textalyzer when it’s available for purchase. Are these types of searches legal under current case law, and what would they mean for civil liberties? Evan is joined by Dan King, an Advocate at Young Voices. For more, see his op-ed.

#194: Is the RAISE Act Sinking?

TechFreedom — Wed, 6 Sep 2017 17:17:55 +0000

When it comes to immigration policy, the headlines are naturally focused on DACA, Dreamers, and illegal immigration. But many in Congress are also looking to reduce legal immigration, namely Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA), who introduced the RAISE Act, aimed at cutting green cards issued in half over the next ten years. What kind of impact does legal immigration have on the tech sector, and how might the RAISE Act change that? What else could Congress do to address problems in our immigration system without stifling entrepreneurship and innovation? Evan is joined by Alex Nowrasteh, immigration policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and Graham Owens, legal fellow at TechFreedom. For more, see Alex’s post on the RAISE Act.

#193: NAFTA, Tech, and Trade

TechFreedom — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 22:03:17 +0000

The North American Free Trade Agreement was a major sticking point in the 2016 election, with then-candidate Trump criticizing the trade deal for killing U.S. jobs, particularly in manufacturing. But how do policies like NAFTA impact technology and the everyday consumer experience? Recently, Canada, Mexico, and the United States began renegotiating the 1994 trade agreement, aiming to complete a new deal by the end of the year. Should tech stakeholders be worried about changes to NAFTA, or is this an opportunity for improving a deal that was struck long before most Americans had ever used the Internet? What will it mean for cybersecurity, intellectual property, tariffs, and other tech issues? Evan is joined by Ed Brzytwa, Director of Global Policy for the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). For more, see ITI’s comments on NAFTA modernization.

#192: Cyber Digest

TechFreedom — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 17:32:07 +0000

It seems like every week there are more headlines about cyber attacks. Should you be worried about the next Petya or WannaCry? What can we do to protect ourselves from getting hacked? With an endless stream of alarming incidents — Sony, HBO, North Korea, and federal agencies — are we at risk of falling into a “cyber fatigue?” Evan is joined by Heather West, Senior Policy Manager for the Americas at Mozilla, and Austin Carson, Executive Director of TechFreedom. They discuss the latest in cyber news and what Internet users, and their governments, can do to sort through the mess. For more, see TechFreedom’s primer on the PATCH Act and Mozilla’s policy blog.

#191: The Future of Online Music

TechFreedom — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 19:25:27 +0000

The Internet has changed a lot over the past 20 years, and so has the music industry. CDs and record stores have been replaced by streaming and the iTunes store. While consumers are benefitting from more content and ways to listen to music than ever before, prominent artists like Taylor Swift have lamented declining revenues for artists in the digital age, even taking their gripes to the halls of Congress. Is streaming a viable future for online music, or will online piracy and low royalties spoil the party? Are websites like YouTube doing enough to combat copyright infringement? Evan is joined by Steven Marks, Chief of Digital Business & General Counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). For a different perspective on copyright, listen to episode #176.

#190: Thinking Outside the (X)Box

TechFreedom — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 20:17:20 +0000

What does government have to do with video games? Censorship and the First Amendment may come to mind, but that’s only a small piece of the puzzle. The American video game industry is worth $30 billion, and everything from tax reform to NSA surveillance can have a huge impact on this growing sector of the economy. Why should gamers care about net neutrality and broadband deployment? Are there policy solutions to the dreaded “lag” problem? How do free trade and intellectual property fit in the mix? Evan discusses all this and more with Mike Gallagher, President and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the trade group representing U.S. computer and video game publishers.

#189: Fighting Online Sex Trafficking

TechFreedom — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 15:03:53 +0000

Recently, Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA). The bill is gaining co-sponsors and support on both sides of the aisle, and virtually everyone agrees that sex trafficking is a very real problem that Congress needs to address. But the bill is also getting pushback from voices across the spectrum, including right- and left-leaning civil society groups and tech companies big and small.

Supporters of SESTA argue that long-standing intermediary liability protections for web platforms are enabling sex trafficking, citing the website Backpage.com, whose founders knowingly profited from and facilitated sex crimes. Critics of SESTA caution that the safe harbor in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is a bedrock of Internet freedom, and warn that the bill would actually undermine cooperation between law enforcement and tech companies. Evan discusses with TechFreedom’s Berin Szoka and Ashkhen Kazaryan. For more, see our coalition letter.

#188: Sex Offenders and Social Media

TechFreedom — Fri, 4 Aug 2017 15:30:51 +0000

Sex offenders are often banned from playgrounds and schoolyards, but what about social networks? Should policymakers treat the virtual world the same as the real world? North Carolina passed a law in 2008 banning sex offenders from accessing websites where information is exchanged and minors can participate, including social media platforms like Facebook. Recently, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the North Carolina law violates free speech, meaning sex offenders can use Facebook as long as they’re not using it to commit crimes. What does this case mean for digital free speech? How should policymakers proceed from here? Evan is joined by Katie Glenn, Policy Counsel at the 1st Amendment Partnership. For more, check out their website.

#187: Engaging Cuba

TechFreedom — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 03:41:19 +0000

Like most things in Cuba, the Internet is complicated. While only a tiny percentage of homes have WiFi, nearly a third of Cubans went online in 2016, and the growing private sector is increasingly digital. While the previous administration opened up relations with Cuba in 2014, President Trump announced a rollback of some of those reforms in a speech in Miami last month. How will the potential changes affect Cuba’s digital future? Evan is joined by Celia Mendoza, founder of Concierge Havana, a travel agency geared toward American visitors to Cuba; Robin Pedraja, founder of Vistar, a magazine focused on culture and entertainment and the first independent media outlet in Cuba; and Michael Maisel, Director of External Affairs at Engage Cuba.

#186: Road to the Driverless Future Part 2 (Mass Transit)

TechFreedom — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 21:52:05 +0000

As the autonomous future approaches, what will it mean for public transit? Cities across the world are testing new technologies, such as collision avoidance and emergency braking, in their transit systems. But the changes won’t just be limited to our vehicles, as credit card companies and payment apps get it on the action, too. What can the U.S. learn from Finland’s approach? Will fears over cybersecurity and privacy hold back the automation of public transit? Will workers feel threatened by new tech? How will labor unions respons? Evan is joined by Darnell Grisby, Director of Policy Development and Research at the American Public Transportation Association. For more, check out apta.com/resources.

#185: Law Enforcement Seeks Data Abroad

TechFreedom — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 21:20:25 +0000

In the Digital Age, your data could be stored anywhere in the world, regardless of where you live. So what happens when your police department is investigating a crime in the United States, but the relevant data are stored in Ireland? Do you need a U.S. warrant, or an Irish one? How much of a problem for law enforcement is cross-border data? What kinds of agreements can nations strike to facilitate investigations without trampling on civil liberties and human rights? Evan is joined by Jennifer Daskal, Associate Professor at American University’s Washington College of Law, and Drew Mitnick, Policy Counsel at Access Now. For more, see Drew’s five-part blog series and Jennifer’s latest post.

#184: Sex Toy Hacking

TechFreedom — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 20:23:49 +0000

Are vibrators, dildos, and other sex toys the next frontier in hacking and surveillance? Some tech experts say this creepy scenario has already arrived. Hackers have already broken into Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connected dildos through password hacks, remote access, and script overrides. Evan is joined by Amie Stepanovich, US Policy Manager at Access Now, and Arthur Rizer, Senior Fellow at R Street. They discuss teledildonics, personal privacy, and the serious implications of sex you hacking. For more, see their op-ed in Wired.

#183: Is the Sharing Economy Progressive?

TechFreedom — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 22:34:49 +0000

Cities like San Francisco and New York are at the cutting edge of technology. But are "progressives" friends or foes of innovation? City councils across the U.S. have had their share of spats with companies like Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb. Does the sharing economy pose problems for progressive values like job security and healthcare? Is all the focus on large, mostly Democratic cities distracting from anti-tech Republicans and conservatives? Evan is joined by Jared Meyer, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability, and author of How Progressive Cities Fight Innovation. For more, buy his book on Amazon and follow him on Twitter.

#182: Powering the Internet

TechFreedom — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:16:39 +0000

The Internet is nothing without electricity, and the increased demand for data and expanding “Internet of Things” means we need more and more power to stay online. One billion people worldwide lack electricity, and four billion remain offline. Bridging the Digital Divide will involve more data centers, wireless networks, smartphones, and other equipment that will strain energy grids. But could the Internet also be part of the solution to global power needs? Evan is joined by Nilmini Rubin, Vice President of Tetra Tech, a global engineering and consulting company.

#181: NextGen Air Traffic

TechFreedom — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 17:19:49 +0000

Is our air traffic control (ATC) system outdated? The White House seems to think so. A couple weeks back, the president announced his support for transferring ATC from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to a nonprofit corporation governed by a board of directors, including representatives of airlines, unions, airports and others. The FAA has struggled for years to upgrade its technology from radar to GPS, and proponents of ATC reform say “privatizing” ATC will enable a NextGen system. Opponents say ATC reform could undermine labor unions, increase costs of travel, and give corporations too much control of our airspace. Evan discusses the pros and cons with Marc Scribner, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Baruch Feigenbaum Assistant Director of Transportation Policy at the Reason Foundation. For more, see Marc’s FAQ on ATC reform.

#180: Mayday for Tech in the UK

TechFreedom — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 14:47:35 +0000

UK Prime Minister Theresa May is pushing ahead with a controversial tech agenda, despite a grave political miscalculation that cost her Conservative party its majority in Parliament. Will a flimsy minority government supported by a Northern Irish party be enough to push through measures on online pornography, hate speech, and electronic surveillance? How will the UK's European neighbors and the United States react? Evan discusses with TechFreedom legal fellow Ashkhen Kazaryan and UK native Robert Winterton.

#179: Hate Speech

TechFreedom — Fri, 9 Jun 2017 01:37:03 +0000

Recent terrorist attacks in Portland, London, and Manchester have many calling for a crackdown on Internet hate speech. They argue that allowing toxic content to exist online, especially on social media, leads to violence, crime, and terrorism. But who should decide what we’re allowed to say? Government? Internet companies? A combination of the two? Having the government “clean up” the Internet may sound good in theory, but would you trust the president of the U.S. or other world leaders to make these determinations? Especially if you don’t support them? Evan discusses with Cathy Gelis, an Internet lawyer based in the Bay Area and friend of the show. Follow Cathy on Twitter @CathyGellis.

#178: Is it time to break up Big Tech?

TechFreedom — Mon, 5 Jun 2017 13:48:46 +0000

In a New York Times op-ed, Jonathan Taplin argues that Google, Facebook, and Amazon have become monopolies. With such large market shares in search advertising, social media, and e-commerce respectively, Taplin says it’s time to break up these companies — or regulate them as public utilities. Is this a fair assessment? Is Big Tech really stifling innovation? What lessons can we learn from the growth of other industries like automobiles and fossil fuels? Tech is often seen as a bright spot in our otherwise sluggish economy. Should policymakers focus their efforts elsewhere? Evan discusses with Mike Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute and co-author of a report, “The Coming Productivity Boom.”

#177: Online Privacy and the BROWSER Act

TechFreedom — Tue, 30 May 2017 17:25:40 +0000

How should online privacy be regulated? Currently, Internet platforms, mobile applications, and online ad networks allow consumers to “opt-out” of having their data collected for marketing purposes, with the Federal Trade Commission utilizing a variety of tools to ensure these service providers act reasonably in protecting consumer’s privacy and personal information. Recently, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the BROWSER Act, which would regulate privacy much more strictly, similar to the “opt-in” regime seen in Europe. More privacy protection always sounds good, in theory, but could the bill have unintended consequences for our Internet economy? Evan and Berin discuss.

#176: Future of Internet Copyright (w/ TechDirt)

TechFreedom — Wed, 24 May 2017 20:23:20 +0000

What can Taylor Swift and Katy Perry agree on? Not much, but they both think America’s notice-and-takedown laws are outdated. These laws allow copyright holders to ask Internet platforms to remove content that infringes on intellectual property. The 1996 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) aimed to strike a balance that protects copyright while shielding online platforms from being sued out of existence. But plenty of stakeholders have gripes with the current system. Many in the music industry say Internet platforms are enabling piracy, which robs artists and discourages creativity. The tech industry worries that stricter copyright laws would allow frivolous lawsuits to put platforms out of business, creating a chilling effect on free speech. Evan discusses with Mike Masnick, founder and CEO of Floor64 and editor of Techdirt.

#175: The Driverless Future

TechFreedom — Fri, 19 May 2017 21:15:27 +0000

How close are we to a driverless future? Over 30,000 Americans die in car accidents every year, and autonomous vehicles have the potential to dramatically reduce that number. Self-driving Ubers already hit the streets of Pittsburgh, and automakers have been striking deals with tech companies. Can government agencies like the Department of Transportation keep up with the fast pace of technological change? How do state and local governments factor in the discussion? As more and more cars connect to the Internet, will concerns over privacy and cybersecurity stand in the way? Evan is joined by Jamie Boone, Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Consumer Technology Association.

#174: Vaping and the FDA

TechFreedom — Fri, 12 May 2017 14:31:53 +0000

How does an e-vapor business navigate the FDA’s approval process? On August 8, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration’s “Deeming Rule” took effect, starting a two-year period where every manufacturer of e-cigarettes, e-liquid, and other vapor products would have to get permission from the FDA to keep their products on the market. You’ve heard some statistics on this podcast trying to quantify the regulatory burden, which could be anywhere from a few hundred thousand to millions of dollars per product. But what does that actually look like in the real world? Chris Howard and Jeff Sanderson from E-Alternative Solutions discuss the impact and what they’re doing to get their Cue product through the FDA’s process.

#173: NSA Checks Itself?

TechFreedom — Thu, 4 May 2017 17:06:21 +0000

Last week, the National Security Agency (NSA) announced it was ending a surveillance practice known as “about collection.” It’s one piece of a larger puzzle called “Section 702,” the legal authority behind some of the programs first revealed to the public in the Snowden leaks of 2013. While “about collection” is focused on surveillance of foreign communications, Americans’ data are routinely swept up in the process. The data can be queried by the FBI and local law enforcement for domestic purposes, as we discussed in a previous episode. Does the NSA’s announcement indicate that the intelligence agency is cleaning up it's act? Is our government capable of self regulation and oversight? What's the NSA’s motivation here? Evan discusses with friends of the show Neema Guliani, legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union in DC, and Liza Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program.

#172: Future of Internet Regulation (w/ FCC Chairman Ajit Pai)

TechFreedom — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 21:21:32 +0000

Yesterday, at the Newseum in Washington, DC, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai outlined his vision for the future of Internet regulation, including a plan to undo "Title II." In 2015, Pai's predecessor, Tom Wheeler, reclassified broadband Internet as a "common carrier" service under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act. Net neutrality activists say that public utility regulations are necessary to have a free and open Internet. Critics of Title II, including Pai, argue that the rules are outdated and depress investment and innovation. Does the answer lie somewhere in between? What role might Congress and the Supreme Court play? Evan and Berin discuss all that and more with Chairman Pai.

#171: Tech and Immigration

TechFreedom — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 13:41:26 +0000

How does immigration impact the tech sector? Recently, President Trump ordered federal agencies to review the H-1B visa program, which is used by many tech companies to fill roles they claim can't be filled by Americans. As a candidate, Trump took tough stances on immigration. Should tech companies be worried? Could the review actually improve the program by rooting out fraud and abuse? What role should Congress play? Evan is joined by Michael Hayes, Senior Manager for government affairs at the Consumer Technology Association.

#170: Tech and Tax Reform

TechFreedom — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 00:12:16 +0000

Congress and the White House tried, and failed, to repeal and replace Obamacare. Since then, their focus has shifted to other priorities — in particular, reforming America’s tax code. It’s been decades since Congress did any significant reform, but there’s generally widespread agreement that our tax code is too long, too complicated, and riddled with loopholes. What would a lower corporate tax rate mean for tech companies and consumers? Will the proposed “border adjustment tax” mean a big adjustment for tech? Will there be winners and losers? How would reform impact domestic firms versus multinationals? Evan is joined by James Lucier, Managing Director at Capital Alpha Partners, a Washington-DC based policy research firm.

#169: The Future of Tech Policy

TechFreedom — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 21:02:45 +0000

Is tech policy stuck in the past? Does innovation move faster than government’s ability to keep up? Are we fighting over what to do with last year’s products, when we should be planning for what lies ahead? Evan is pleased to welcome to the show Austin Carson, Executive Director at TechFreedom. Previously, he worked in Congress on a variety of tech policy issues, including encryption, cybersecurity, and intellectual property. He discusses lessons learned from his time on the Hill, where the future of tech policy is headed, and how think tanks like TechFreedom can help foster bipartisan dialogue and implement solutions to seemingly intractable problems.

#168: FBI and Facial Recognition

TechFreedom — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 23:59:30 +0000

Would you agree to stand in a police line-up if you never committed a crime? Probably not. But if you have a drivers’ license, you might be in a perpetual, digital line-up. 18 states allow the FBI to scan your license photo, and many states allow local law enforcement to do the same. One in two American adults — that’s about 125 million people — are in the FBI’s facial recognition database, and most, if not all, searches are conducted without a warrant.

Evan is joined by Alvaro Bedoya, Executive Director of the Center on Privacy & Technology, Georgetown Law, who testified at a recent hearing in Congress on the FBI’s use of facial recognition technologies (FRTs). They discuss the state of FRTs, how they impact different communities, and how policymakers can balance the needs of law enforcement with civil liberties and due process. For more, check out https://www.perpetuallineup.org/.

#167: The Airbnb Wars Rage On

TechFreedom — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 19:39:58 +0000

HomeAway, Airbnb, and other short-term rental platforms are at war with cities across the country. Nashville’s Downtown has the highest hotel rate in the U.S. — even pricier than New York and San Francisco. Despite that, the city council passed a law capping the number of second homes in a neighborhood that can be rented out to tourists. In a lawsuit brought by the Beacon Center, a local think tank, the judge ruled against the city but left the door open for lawmakers to rewrite the bill. Will litigation drag on, or will the Tennessee state government step in and nullify city laws? Elsewhere, in Colorado, a patchwork of regulations illustrates the different approaches that cities are taking. Jared Meyer, Senior Research Fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability, joins. For more, see his op-ed.

#166: Hacking the CIA

TechFreedom — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 15:36:03 +0000

Earlier this month, Wikileaks published 9,000 pages of hacked CIA files. The haul, dubbed “Vault 7,” catalogues some of the spy agency’s hacking techniques, including exploits of Android and iOS phones, and even Samsung Smart TVs. When the feds discover vulnerabilities in the products we use, should they tell the companies so they can patch things up? Or does the government sometimes need to keep these things secret for national security purposes? What are the trade-offs? Evan is joined by Heather West, Senior Policy Manager for the Americas at Mozilla and Mieke Eoyang, Vice President of the National Security Program at Third Way. They discuss what Vault 7 means for encryption, the Apple v. FBI case, and the government’s “Vulnerabilities Equities Process” (VEP).

For more, see Mozilla’s primer on VEP and its statement on Vault 7.

#165: Regulating the Universe

TechFreedom — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 16:53:42 +0000

Who's in charge of the universe? "Innovative space activities" like asteroid mining and private missions to Mars raise key questions for countries and their regulators. Can you "plant a flag" on an asteroid? How can countries cooperate in space without interfering with each other? Is the "weaponization of space" a growing concern between the US, Russia, and China? Congress is trying to figure out the answers. Evan and Berin discuss a recent hearing with Jim Dunstan, longtime space lawyer and founder of the Mobius Legal Group.

#164: Blogging in Ethiopia

TechFreedom — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 14:50:48 +0000

Blogging in the United States isn’t risk free. You might get deluged by trolls, or even receive death threats. But it’s nothing compared to what happens in Ethiopia when bloggers find themselves on the wrong side of their government. Endalk Chala is the founder of Zone 9, named in reference to an infamous Ethiopian prison divided into eight zones — the oppressed country itself being the ninth. A doctoral journalism student at University of Oregon, Endalk founded the platform to advocate for bloggers in his home nation and foster free speech. How did his government respond? How important are encryption and other technologies in Ethiopia? Evan is joined by Endalk and Robert Chapman-Smith, producer for the series Coded, whose season finale features Zone 9.

#163: Online Sales Tax

TechFreedom — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:20:24 +0000

Big-box retailers have long griped that untaxed online sales put them at a competitive disadvantage. Congress is exploring legislation to “level the playing field,” but will the solution be worse than any perceived problems caused by e-commerce? Supporters of bills like the “Marketplace Fairness Act” say that states and cities are being starved of lost revenue from Internet sales. But critics charge the bill would discriminate against Internet businesses with burdensome reporting requirements while allowing states and cities to tax people outside their borders. Is there room for common ground? What other approaches could Congress and the states pursue? Evan discusses with Steve Delbianco, Executive Director of NetChoice. For more info, see this op-ed.

#162: Should Government Pay for Broadband?

TechFreedom — Tue, 7 Mar 2017 18:15:04 +0000

Should the government pay for broadband? In his joint address to Congress, President Trump laid out plans to spend a lot of taxpayer money on infrastructure. Many in the tech community want some of that money to go toward broadband, but will that actually help get people online? What about subsidies? Uncle Sam has long subsidized telephone service for low-income Americans. Will broadband subsidies bridge the Digital Divide? Evan is joined by Will Rinehart, Director of Tech and Innovation Policy at the American Action Forum.

Resources:

Will’s blog, “How Well Do Rural Broadband Subsidies Work?”
Coalition letter opposing FCC action on Lifeline
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s response on Medium

#161: Spying on the World

TechFreedom — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 18:31:48 +0000

Innocent Americans don’t like getting spied on by their government. But should they care when their government spies on foreigners? Countries do this all the time for intelligence purposes, right? Congress even authorized our government to do this in Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.

But in the Digital Age, it’s increasingly common for large swaths of the American public to communicate with people outside the country. That leads to U.S. residents being caught in the foreign surveillance dragnet, and their communications collected without a warrant. Current laws allow the NSA and other agencies to share information with your local police department. Could you end up in jail without due process?

As Section 702 nears its December expiration date, should Congress reform the law, or just reauthorize it as is? Meanwhile, what does the European Union think? Will fears over American surveillance lead nations to “localize their Internet?” Evan is joined by Jake Laperruque, Privacy Fellow at the Constitution Project and Ashkhen Kazaryan, Legal Fellow at TechFreedom. For more, see Jake’s blog post on Section 702.

#160: Privacy at the Border

TechFreedom — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 21:43:47 +0000

What are the privacy rights of non-US citizens? The Trump Administration’s crackdown on immigration has dominated the headlines. But while most of the focus is understandably on detentions and deportations, privacy could actually decide who stays and who goes in some cases. A recent executive order reverses long-standing policies that gave certain non-US persons rights under the Privacy Act, including limits on dissemination and the right to access information and seek corrections. How will this impact immigrants and refugees? What role should Congress play? Evan discusses with Neema Guliani, Legislative Counsel for the ACLU in DC.

#159: Next-Gen TV

TechFreedom — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 18:33:10 +0000

Are you a “cord-cutter?” Did your ditch your cable bundle for Netflix? Or, maybe you remembered that you can still get over-the-air television for free with a cheap antennae? Watching NFL games in high-def for free is pretty sweet, but wouldn’t it be even sweeter if the games were in 4K or Ultra HD?

The technology might be right around the corner for households, as broadcasters have invented a new standard, ATSC 3.0 — a thoroughly unsexy acronym better known as “Next-Gen TV” — that can bring 4K to your over-the-air signal. Will the FCC approve the new standard? How will this affect competition in the 4K marketplace? What else can consumers expect from the new standard? Evan is joined by two experts from the National Association of Broadcasters: Allison Neplokh, Vice President of Spectrum Policy, and Patrick McFadden, Associate General Counsel.

#158: Who Owns Your Data?

TechFreedom — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 16:04:02 +0000

Property rights in the US are rooted in the physical world — your house and your car are yours. But does this concept transfer to the digital world? It’s not so simple. When you share data about yourself in exchange for free services, who owns the data? You? The company? Third-party advertisers? This question is a lightning rod in tech policy debates over privacy, data security, and government surveillance. There may not be an easy answer, but in the meantime, how can individuals get a piece of the action? Matt Hogan, CEO of DataCoup, joins the show to discuss his business model and how you can monetize your data (or donate to a non-profit...cough cough TechFreedom). If you like this podcast as much as you hate opening your wallet, check out GiveWithData.com. It won’t cost you a cent!

#157: Counterpoint on Trump's FCC

TechFreedom — Thu, 9 Feb 2017 17:41:38 +0000

If you're a regular listener of this podcast, you've probably heard many episodes where TechFreedom President Berin Szóka rants about telecom and the FCC. That's always fun, of course, but on today's show we're bringing you a different view. For those who supported much of the Obama-era FCC's policies, how are they reacting to President Trump? Phillip Berenbroick, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge, joins the show to discuss. TF and PK are often at odds on telecom policy, but is there room for common ground on legislation?

#156: Car Talk

TechFreedom — Tue, 7 Feb 2017 21:03:46 +0000

“Connected cars” are increasingly a staple of modern life. Today, that might just mean that your car has a 4G connection to distract your kids during a long drive. But as the “Internet of Things” continues to grow, having a connected car will mean a lot more than streaming Netflix for your backseat passengers. How will cars communicate with the roads, highways, and with each other? Recently, the Federal Highway Administration issued guidelines on how connected vehicles should interact with connected infrastructure (V2I communications). Marc Scribner, Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joins the show to discuss. For more, see his blog post.

#155: Supreme Court of Tech

TechFreedom — Thu, 2 Feb 2017 19:37:26 +0000

This week, President Trump announced his pick to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who currently serves on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, has sparked a lot of controversy among progressives over social issues, but what about his views on tech? With a solid record on warrant requirements and 4th Amendment issues, should the Left find comfort in having “another Scalia” on the Court? Gorsuch has been critical of the growing power of the Executive and regulatory state. Does his nomination mean the end of “Chevron deference" for the FCC and FTC? Evan discusses with Berin and Ash Kazaryan, TechFreedom Legal Fellow.

#154: Augmented Reality and Poképolicy

TechFreedom — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 22:47:06 +0000

When Pokémon Go launched last summer, 40 million people were playing the game within weeks. The game provided entertainment, an excuse for kids to get off their asses, and a slew of funny — and not-so-funny — accidents involving pedestrians and drivers playing the game in the wrong place and time. This phenomenon was also the first time many Americans had ever heard of or experienced “augmented reality,” where artificial elements (like Pokémon) are superimposed onto our physical surroundings.

The game’s rapid rise caused the predictable backlash over health and public safety and kneejerk calls for regulation. But getting beyond traffic safety, what are the short- and long-term policy implications of augmented reality? What does it mean for privacy, data security, surveillance, and intellectual property? Anne Hobson, Tech Policy Fellow at R Street joins the show. For more, see her report.

#153: Trump Picks Ajit Pai for FCC Chair

TechFreedom — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Early this week, the White House confirmed that President Trump picked FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai to chair the agency. This means that Republicans have a 2-1 majority until the vacancies can be filled by candidates confirmed by the Senate. While some of his more hysterical critics pull their hair out over the impending “death of the Open Internet,” others are looking forward to a new direction at the FCC. Hopefully this is characterized by a renewed spirit of bipartisanship on a wide range of telecom issues, including net neutrality and broadband deployment. Pai has proposed “Gigabit Opportunity Zones” to jumpstart broadband in both urban and rural low-income communities. What else can we expect from the new FCC? Evan and Berin discuss.

#152: Uber Dodges Bullet in Maryland

TechFreedom — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 21:13:36 +0000

The holidays are a time to eat, drink, and be merry. That last one might have been an issue for residents of Maryland if ridesharing had disappeared on December 23, two days before Christmas. That's because state regulators had until December 22 to decide whether Uber and Lyft would have to fingerprint their drivers as part of background checks. If fingerprinting were mandated, the two companies would have ceased operations in Maryland, just as they did in Austin (Episode #79). Fortunately for Maryland, state regulators chose not to impose a fingerprinting mandate, and residents had access to convenient ridesharing options over the holidays. How did Uber dodge this bullet? Why is fingerprinting such a big deal? Elsewhere, people in upstate New York still can't use ridesharing. Why the hell not? Our favorite sharing economy analyst Jared Meyer joins the show to discuss. For more, see Jared's op-eds in The American Spectator and Reason.

#151: 16 Going on 17

TechFreedom — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 20:32:34 +0000

We're back! After a not-so-brief holiday hiatus, we'll be back in your favorite podcast app with normal regularity -- meaning 2-3 episodes per week but sometimes different. Anyway... Evan and Berin recap some of TechFreedom's favorite issues of 2016, look ahead to 2017, and make baseless predictions on what might happen in tech policy. 150 episodes in one year ain't bad, right? But can you leave us a damn review on ITunes already?

#150: If Hotels Could Regulate Airbnb

TechFreedom — Thu, 5 Jan 2017 03:48:25 +0000

If the hotel lobby had its way, what would happen to Airbnb? Well, we don’t have to wonder, because the American Hotel and Lodging Association has released model legislation to regulate short-term rentals. Will the bill level the playing field between online homesharing platforms and hotels? Or is this just an attempt by the AHLA to insulate its members from competition? Evan discusses the bill with Matt Kiessling, Vice President of Short-Term Rental Policy at Travel Tech.

#149: Do Smart Cars Need Smart Roads?

TechFreedom — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 20:20:21 +0000

Driverless cars are all the rage in the tech world. But as our cars get smarter, will our roads keep pace? The autonomous future has the potential to drastically reduce, or even eliminate, vehicular deaths. But many experts say these cars would need to rely on real-time data collected on the road to maximize safety. Is roadside sensor infrastructure the answer? Or will the cars themselves have everything they need? What role should government play in implementing this technology? Joining Evan is Brent Skorup, Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center. For more, read his article here.

#148: Fake News and Filter Bubbles

TechFreedom — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 23:40:09 +0000

The shocking outcome of the presidential election has spurred many journalists, pundits and politicians to look for some explanation as to why people voted the way they did. “Fake news” has been a particularly popular scapegoat with many have claimed that false information alone tipped the election in Trump’s favor. But is fake news as widespread and influential as some are claiming? Are political opinions that easily changed? Do our filter bubbles make us more likely to believe outlandish stories? Will Facebook’s new efforts to combat the spread of fake stories work? Will Rinehart, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at American Action Forum, joins the show to discuss. For more, see his op-ed in Real Clear Future.

#147: Secret Law

TechFreedom — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:09:50 +0000

When Snowden revealed classified information about NSA surveillance programs, Americans were outraged. But what might surprise many voters is that their elected representatives in Congress were also in the dark about the full extent of the surveillance state. How were our representatives so unaware that government was spying on innocent constituents? What could be done to bring them up to speed? Evan is joined by Elizabeth Goitein, Co-Director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice and author of a recent report on “secret law.”

#146: Robot Scalpers and the BOTS Act

TechFreedom — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 01:26:33 +0000

Have you ever tried buying a ticket online to a popular event? Maybe you got up early or stayed up late so you could grab a ticket right as they went on sale, only to find out they sold out almost instantly? Of course you could probably get one on StubHub or from another scalper, but that can be expensive. Who is to blame for this travesty? According to your elected officials, it’s the robots. That’s why Congress recently passed the BOTS Act, which would ban robotic scalpers in hopes of lowering ticket prices. It sounds good, in theory, but will it actually work? What are the unintended consequences? Joining Evan to discuss this is Anne Hobson, Technology Policy Fellow at the R Street Institute. For more, you can read her her op-ed here.

#145: Chicago's War on Homesharing

TechFreedom — Fri, 9 Dec 2016 00:19:36 +0000

Chicago’s crackdown on Airbnb, HomeAway, and other online home-sharing platforms has sparked a lawsuit. In June, the city council passed a law that heavily restricts property rights and places significant burdens on homeowners. Is this regulation needed to protect consumers and preserve affordable housing? Or is this another giveaway to the hotel industry, seeking to insulate itself from competition? What does it mean for Chicago consumers? Evan is joined by Christina Sandefur, Executive Vice President of the Goldwater Institute, which has filed a legal challenge to the Chicago law.

#144: 5G and the Internet of Everything

TechFreedom — Mon, 5 Dec 2016 21:47:04 +0000

The move from 4G to 5G will help move you from HD to 4K and from augmented to virtual reality. But the implications of 5G stretch far beyond your smartphone and tablet. The technology has the potential to support autonomous cars, healthcare, and connected homes. Will 5G bring about the “Internet of everything?” What sorts of regulatory challenges lie in the way? Can our aging infrastructure support the next generation of wireless? Evan is joined by Bret Swanson, President of Entropy Economics LLC and Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

#143: Trump's FCC

TechFreedom — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 21:37:19 +0000

With all eyes on the Trump transition, what does the president-elect’s victory mean for the Federal Communications Commission? The Obama-era FCC has been very active on Internet regulation, passing controversial rules on net neutrality, broadband privacy, and more. Since these regulations were largely passed on 3-2 party-line votes under a Democrat FCC, most observers expect a GOP-controlled agency to reverse Chairman Wheeler’s agenda. What does this mean for consumers? Will net neutrality be repealed and replaced? Will the FCC’s authority be rolled back? Do we even need an FCC at all? Evan and Berin are joined by Tom Struble, Policy Counsel at TechFreedom.

#142: Fake News and the Fairness Doctrine

TechFreedom — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 21:21:58 +0000

Fake news has gotten a lot of media attention since the election. After Trump’s surprise victory, many disgruntled Clinton supporters are pointing the finger at Facebook and Twitter for allowing false information to circulate on their platforms. Is this just sour grapes, or should the companies and government be doing more to combat fake news? What are the implications for free speech? In related news, Trump recently criticized Saturday Night Live for political bias. Will the next FCC bring back the “Fairness Doctrine,” long-extinct rules requiring equal time for opposing views on controversial topics? Evan and Berin discuss.

#141: Trump's Tech Policy

TechFreedom — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 20:14:45 +0000

The election of Donald Trump raises many questions on the future of tech policy. While the GOP platform and Trump’s campaign didn’t offer many details on tech, Silicon Valley and the President-elect have clashed on high-profile issues like immigration and trade. Aside from a few outliers, the tech community was banking on a Clinton victory. With the campaign over, is there room for common ground on issues like regulation, net neutrality, and high-tech infrastructure? Will pro-tech Republicans be able to bridge the gap between Trump and the Left Coast? Evan is joined by Michael Petricone, Senior VP for Government Affairs, Consumer Technology Association.

#140: Comparing EU and US Tech Policy

TechFreedom — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 02:23:43 +0000

The European Union (EU) and the United States have a lot in common. We share many of the same values, including free speech and the right to privacy. But despite our similarities, America and Europe often take different approaches to regulating technology. Does the EU prize privacy over free speech? Is the US too permissive when it comes to regulating Big Data? Does NSA surveillance pose a threat to the free flow of data across the Atlantic? What can the US learn from the EU, and vice versa? Evan is joined by Dimitar Dimitrov, EU Policy Director for Wikimedia in Brussels, and John Weitzmann, Legal and Policy Advisor for Wikimedia Germany.

#139: Make America Boom Again

TechFreedom — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 21:16:23 +0000

Since 1973, supersonic flight over land has been illegal in the US. In those days, supersonic planes were loud, gas-guzzling, and inefficient beasts, propped up by government subsidies. Today, however, new technologies have made supersonic flights quieter, more efficient, and more affordable. Is it time to lift the ban? How should supersonic flight be regulated? What role will NIMBYism play in the debate? Eli Dourado, Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, joins the show. For more, see his report here.

#138: New York's Crackdown on Airbnb

TechFreedom — Mon, 7 Nov 2016 23:35:17 +0000

New York has dealt a major blow to Airbnb, HomeAway and other short-term rental platforms. Recently, Governor Cuomo signed a law banning platforms from advertising whole apartments that rent for fewer than 30 days. The bill’s supporters have claimed that the short-term rental ban is necessary to maintain housing affordability and quality of life. But is that really what’s going on? Is this just another giveaway to the hotel industry and labor unions, which have long held sway in New York politics? Is Airbnb really to blame for high rents in New York? Are there better ways to address legitimate concerns over short-term rentals? Joining Evan is Jared Meyer, research fellow at the Manhattan Institute. For more, see his op-ed in the NY Post.

#137: Cuba's Digital Future

TechFreedom — Tue, 1 Nov 2016 21:51:39 +0000

Under decades of communist rule, Cuba lagged far behind much of the world in technology and digital connectivity. In 2014, less than 30 percent of Cubans had Internet access. Yet in recent years, Cuba has made significant strides — more public Wi-Fi hotspots are being deployed, and the U.S. and Cuban governments are normalizing relations. What does Cuba’s digital future look like? What does this mean for Cuban-Americans and tech entrepreneurs? Evan is joined by Adelina Bryant and Michael Maisel from the Engage Cuba coalition and Lydia Beyoud, senior tech and telecom reporter for Bloomberg BNA. For more, see www.engagecuba.org.

#136: The Age of Emulation

TechFreedom — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 21:37:18 +0000

A robot-driven world is often a mainstay of science fiction titles like Terminator and I, Robot. While that future may be far off, emulations — computers that scan and reproduce human brains — could be the first step into the age of robotics. Their society could evolve at the pace of software, not hardware or biology — allowing for radical transformations in less time than it takes humans to get their dry cleaning back. So what might an emulation-based society look like? How would emulation technology affect how humans live in the future? Joining Berin to discuss is Professor Robin Hanson of George Mason University, author of The Age of Em: Work, Love, and Life when Robots Rule the Earth. For more, see the book’s website.

#135: Bug Bounties

TechFreedom — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 20:55:44 +0000

We know that hacking can get you in trouble with governments and companies. But could it also make you rich? Or even a hero? Hollywood has long portrayed hackers as evil geniuses or complete weirdos, but the caricature doesn't often tell the whole story. Increasingly, hackers are being asked to try their skills on various cyber systems in an effort to expose vulnerabilities. So they hack in, find the bug, and get paid. Right? Of course, it's not that simple. Katie Moussouris, founder and CEO of Luta Security and creator of Microsoft's first bug bounty program, joins the show to explain. Can hacking really be a force for good?

#134: California Regs on Self-Driving Cars

TechFreedom — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 01:11:12 +0000

Recently, the Obama administration released non-binding “guidelines” for self-driving cars, telling states not to create their own regulations just yet. California went ahead anyway, and the Golden State’s DMV drafted new regulations based on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) guidelines. Did California jump the gun? What changes could the DMV make to improve the draft proposal? It’s open for public comment, and several organizations have weighed in. Here to discuss their joint comments, co-authored with R Street and ICLE, are Marc Scribner, research fellow at CEI, and Berin Szoka, President of TechFreedom.

#133: Russian Hacking and Surveillance

TechFreedom — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 18:17:07 +0000

Edward Snowden has been living in Russia for over three years under political asylum after leaking classified documents about American surveillance practices. Ironically, Russia’s policies on surveillance are hardly libertarian. Snowden recently spoke out against so-called “Big Brother” legislation introduced in the Duma, Russia’s legislature. On cybersecurity, Russian hacking has dominated the American news cycle, especially around electoral politics. Evan is joined by Russian native and TechFreedom Legal Fellow Ashkhen Kazaryan. They discuss hacking, surveillance, and the tenuous relationship between Cold War foes. For more, see Ashkhen’s op-ed.

#132: Indiana E-Cig Law Struck Down

TechFreedom — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 21:05:32 +0000

Vapers in Indiana scored a federal court victory recently, as Judge Richard Young ruled that Hoosiers can buy e-vapor products not approved by the state Alcohol Tobacco Commission. He said Indiana’s regulations were responsible for creating a local monopoly. While the law signed in May 2015 by Governor Mike Pence was billed as protecting public health, the rules had little to do with product safety and everything to do with padding the pockets of the one security company that could comly and offer services. The FBI is investigating. Manhattan Institute’s Jared Meyer joins to discuss the impact of Indiana’s law and the subsequent ruling. How is the market expected to change as a result of Judge Young’s decision? For more see his article in Forbes.

#131: Uber Battles in Montreal, London

TechFreedom — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 19:49:35 +0000

London’s black cabs have long been icons in the British capital. But Mayor Sadiq Kahn is worried that pressure from Uber and other ride-sharing companies is threatening to put the city’s taxi industry out of business. That’s why he unveiled a 27-point plan to ensure that black cabs don’t “go the way of the red telephone box.” Will the plan create a level playing field for competition, or is this just another giveaway to the taxi industry? Elsewhere, the Quebec government struck a last-minute deal with Uber to prevent the company from ditching Montreal. Manhattan Institute’s Jared Meyer joins the show to discuss these international developments. For more, see his op-ed in Forbes.

#130: The Future of Internet Governance

TechFreedom — Fri, 7 Oct 2016 00:10:01 +0000

You may have heard a lot of news recently about President Obama and Ted Cruz debating whether the US should “give away the Internet.” But there’s more to Internet governance than the so-called “IANA transition.” Evan is joined by Shane Tews, Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and David Gross, Partner at Wiley Rein. They discuss the future of Internet governance — getting beyond the domain name system. What is the proper role for governments in controlling the Internet? How do we protect Internet freedom from the likes of China and Russia? How involved, if at all, should the UN be? How will this debate impact consumers around the world?

#129: Surveillance on Arab-Americans

TechFreedom — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 21:16:53 +0000

If you’ve ever gone through airport security, you’ve felt the effect of the 9/11 attacks. But for Arab-Americans, the impact is a lot more serious than longer lines and inconveniences. Evan is joined by Yolanda Rondon, Staff Attorney with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. They discuss how government policies involving counterterrorism have shaped the public image of Arab-Americans and Americans who are Muslim. How has surveillance and social media monitoring impacted these communities? What sorts of reforms could improve relations between law enforcement and Arab-Americans?

#128: Mobile Money in Africa

TechFreedom — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 03:39:34 +0000

Cell phone ownership in Africa has ballooned over the last decade, bringing the benefits of the Internet to developing populations. In particular, mobile finances have taken off in places like Kenya, where the heavily-regulated banking system had long failed to serve entrepreneurs and low-income customers. What makes Kenya such an attractive place for mobile money? Could other countries benefit from adopting this approach? Scott Burns, Mercatus PhD Dissertation Fellow, joins the show to discuss. For more info, see Scott’s post on Alt-M.

#127: Rules of the Driverless Road

TechFreedom — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 20:02:27 +0000

“Driverless cars” is a hot topic this year, especially as self-driving Ubers hit the roads in Pittsburgh. This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put out guidelines for autonomous vehicles, including performance standards, model state policy, and regulatory tools for future innovations. What impact with the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy have? Is it premature to regulate driverless cars at this early stage — before they’ve even hit the road en masse? Evan is joined by Marc Scribner, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. They discuss the Feds’ policy on driverless cars, what it gets right, what it gets wrong, and what the driverless future will look like. For more, see Scribner’s article.

#126: Who Watches the Watchmen?

TechFreedom — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 20:46:54 +0000

We know from the Snowden leaks that the NSA and other intelligence agencies are watching us. But who watches the watchers? Congress is responsible for overseeing intelligence practices, but is it doing its job effectively? A growing number of experts thinks not. What can be done to strengthen oversight and protect journalists and whistleblowers? Nathan Leamer, Outreach Manager at the R Street Institute, and Daniel Schuman, Policy Director at Demand Progress, join the show to discuss. For more, see their report.

#125: An Economics-Free Zone

TechFreedom — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 22:43:05 +0000

Is the FCC an “economics-free zone?” The agency routinely issues regulations that will have a major impact on businesses and consumers. But does the Commission truly weigh the trade-offs — the costs and benefits of its policies? Not nearly enough, says Hal Singer, Senior Fellow at the GW Institute for Public Policy. In an op-ed for the Hill, he charges that this FCC in particular is more preoccupied with politics than economics. What does it mean to be “economics-free?” What can the agency do differently. Evan and Hal discuss.

For more, Read Hal Singer's report, "The Curious Absence of Economic Analysis at the Federal Communications Commission: An Agency in Search of a Mission."

#124: Suing a Website

TechFreedom — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 21:19:58 +0000

Have you ever been wronged by a website? Have you ever wanted to sue it? Before you rush to hire a lawyer, you may wanna check up on federal law first. Back in 1996, Congress didn’t know much about the Internet. But Republicans and Democrats did at least understand that it was important, and that too many lawsuits against websites could mess it up for everyone. That’s why Congress enacted the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 of the law shields websites from liability for the content that users to the platforms. It’s arguably what led to the development of Facebook, YouTube and other user-generated platforms. So what’s the problem? Is Section 230 under attack? Are the courts paving the way for more website lawsuits? Cathy Gellis, a cyber lawyer and tech policy expert, joins the show to discuss.

#123: Flytenow and Plane-sharing

TechFreedom — Fri, 9 Sep 2016 20:55:07 +0000

You’re probably familiar with Uber and ride-sharing. But do you ever wonder why there isn’t something similar for air travel? A plane-sharing app? There was one, actually, but the Federal Aviation Administration shut it down. In December of 2015, the FAA banned flight-sharing, a ruling that forced the startup Flytenow to shut down its platform. Flytenow allowed private pilots to share the cost of flying with passengers going to the same destination by connecting them online. The company has sued the FAA to overturn the ruling, and TechFreedom and the Cato institute filed a brief in support of Flytenow. Evan and Berin discuss.

#122: Saving Local News

TechFreedom — Wed, 7 Sep 2016 20:52:24 +0000

Today’s media landscape looks nothing like the 1970s. Back then, newspapers, radio, and television were the only games in town. But despite such insignificant developments like Internet news and massive layoffs in traditional print media, FCC rules haven’t kept up with the times. Last month, the FCC voted to retain nearly all rules preventing the cross-ownership of newspapers, broadcast TV stations and radio stations in the same market. Evidence suggests that cross-ownership could help save the struggling print news industry by allowing local media to pool their resources and share newsrooms. Why is the FCC stuck in the past? How will these rules affect diversity in media? Matthew Berry, Chief of Staff for FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, joins the show to discuss. For more, read Commissioner Pai’s dissent.

#121: An Uber Bailout For Taxis

TechFreedom — Thu, 1 Sep 2016 20:17:39 +0000

It’s no secret that ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft have disrupted the taxi industry. While many cities have embraced the fierce competition, others have simply banned ride-sharing outright. But Massachusetts is taking a novel approach — forcing companies like Uber to subsidize their taxi competitors. A new 20 cent tax on ridesharing trips includes 5 cents that goes directly to the taxi industry. If it sounds unfair, then why are both the companies and Governor Baker (a Republican) supporting it? Should Uber subsidize taxis in other cities as well? What are the downsides? The Manhattan Institute’s Jared Meyer joins the show to discuss. For more, read his article in Forbes.

#120: From 4G to 5G

TechFreedom — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 16:49:00 +0000

The wireless industry is gearing up for 5G, the next generation of networks. And don’t let the numbers fool you — 5G speeds are going to be much faster than 4G. But what’s it gonna take to get us from HD streaming to 4K? From augmented to virtual reality? Major obstacles remain in the way. Whether it’s acquiring more spectrum, building small cells, or navigating a web of regulation, carriers face significant hurdles. Can 5G support the “Internet of Things?” What effect will FCC regulations have on deployment? What can government do to help? Peter Rysavy, a wireless technology expert and president of Rysavy Research, joins the show.

#119: FCC Loses on Government Broadband

TechFreedom — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 18:51:39 +0000

When government-run broadband networks in Chattanooga, TN and Wilson, NC sought to expand beyond their cities’ boundaries, they ran into state restrictions. The cities asked the FCC to intervene, but can a federal regulator overturn state laws on broadband? The agency thought so, but the Court disagreed. This month, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC’s 2015 order preempting state laws and dictating how municipalities make decisions with regard to government-run broadband networks. What does this mean for the future of state broadband policy? Should critics of the FCC be encouraged by the Court’s rebuke. Evan and Berin discuss. For more, see our blog post.

#118: Subsidizing Uber

TechFreedom — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 19:15:45 +0000

When we talk about Uber and ride-sharing on this show, it's usually about regulatory battles. Today, we’re not talking about restricting or banning Uber — quite the opposite. Far from banning these platforms, some local governments are looking to subsidize ride-sharing. As cities like Washington, DC struggle with public transit, is subsidizing Uber a good alternative? Or, is this simply more intrusion by government in otherwise well-functioning markets? Jared Meyer, research fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins the show to discuss.

#117: FBI Spying on Journalists

TechFreedom — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 19:17:13 +0000

What happens when the FBI wants to spy on journalists? This summer, The Intercept obtained classified rules revealing a largely unrestrained procedure for obtaining journalists’ call information using national security letters. Cora Currier, the reporter who broke the story for The Intercept, joins the show to discuss. What impact does FBI spying have on journalism? Is there a chilling effect on free speech? What reforms could strike a proper balance between civil liberties and law enforcement needs?

#116: Digital Free Speech Part 2 with FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman

TechFreedom — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 21:35:41 +0000

The Federal Election Commission has long taken a light-touch approach to regulating online speech. But two recent cases involving livestreaming and filming political debate resulted in split, 3-3 votes along party lines. Is digital free speech in danger? FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman joins the show to discuss. Listen to part 1 of our series on digital free speech here.

#115: Brexit and Tech

TechFreedom — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 18:14:03 +0000

This summer, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Most of the fallout focused on the stock market and value of the pound, but what does “Brexit” mean for technology? Is the UK now less attractive to startups? Will Frankfurt be the new London? How will Brexit impact negotiations over cross-border data flows and the so-called “Privacy Shield” agreement? What does it mean for surveillance policy. Will Rinehart, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at the American Action Forum, joins the show. For more, see his blog post.

#114: The Internet of Cars

TechFreedom — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 20:52:09 +0000

Cars these days often come with mobile data connections and entertainment systems. But as we move toward autonomous vehicles and car-to-car communications, the “Internet of Cars” will be much more sophisticated and technical. While self-driving cars pose many benefits, they also raise concerns over cybersecurity and privacy. What are the risks, and how can manufacturers and regulators strike a balance that protects consumers without stifling innovation? Beau Woods, Deputy Director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council, joins the show to discuss.

#113: Wikipedia for Data

TechFreedom — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 18:18:31 +0000

Most people are familiar with Wikipedia, but there's a lot more to "open data" than the convenience of checking how tall your favorite Olympic athlete is. Open databases can play a key role in supporting research and innovation, but they also raise questions about intellectual property and fair compensation for creators. How are databases like Wikidata regulated in Europe, and how does that approach differ from the U.S.? Julia Schuetze, a Euromasters student and tech strategist at Wikimedia Germany joins the show.

#112: Verizon Shifts on Business Broadband

TechFreedom — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 20:16:13 +0000

Is Verizon moving away from broadband and fiber deployment? Earlier this month, the company filed an ex parte with the FCC indicating support for price regulation on business broadband. Bruce Mehlman, Co-Chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance, argued in a recent article that the telecom giant’s ex parte represents a significant departure from its past positions. Why the sudden change? Is price regulation making capital investment less attractive? What can the FCC do to encourage new infrastructure? Bruce and Evan discuss.

#111: FDA Cracks Down on E-Cigs

TechFreedom — Tue, 9 Aug 2016 14:22:31 +0000

Is the FDA putting e-cigs and vapor products out of business? Yesterday, the FDA’s “Deeming Rules” took effect. The rules will force e-cig manufacturers to undergo an expensive and time-consuming approval process unless their products were on the market — or very similar to products on the market — prior to the “predicate date” of February 15, 2007, long before modern e-cigs were introduced. If e-cigs are helping people quit harmful tobacco cigarettes, why is the FDA doing this? How will this impact the industry? Evan is joined by Lori Sanders and Caroline Kitchens of the R Street Institute. For more, check out their event on harm reduction.

#110: TechFreedom Appeals FCC Power Grab

TechFreedom — Thu, 4 Aug 2016 18:15:39 +0000

What’s next in the litigation over Title II and the FCC’s “net neutrality” rules? In June, the FCC scored a victory when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld its Open Internet Order, which reclassified broadband as a common carrier service. While the agency won the first round, TechFreedom and tech entrepreneurs are hoping to overturn the ruling through appeal. Last Friday, they filed a motion for the D.C. Circuit to re-hear the case. If that fails, is it the end of the line? Or, will the Supreme Court have the final say? Evan and Berin discuss.

#109: Small Business and the Internet

TechFreedom — Mon, 1 Aug 2016 20:12:18 +0000

While most people associate the structure of the Internet with major companies like AT&T and Comcast, the reality is that small and medium-sized business play a major role. Evan is joined by Christian Dawson, Executive Director of the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, to discuss how small businesses helped build the Internet, and how their role can be threatened by regulation.

#108: Microsoft Beats Justice Department in Ireland

TechFreedom — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 19:20:40 +0000

Can a US warrant compel Microsoft to give the Justice Department customer data stored in Ireland? The Obama administration thought so, but last week, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided in favor of Microsoft’s challenge of such a warrant. Evan is joined by Greg Nojeim, Director of the Freedom, Security and Technology Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology to discuss the case. What does the decision mean for email privacy? What alternatives does the U.S. government have in investigations involving data stored abroad?

#107: Digital Free Speech (w/ FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman)

TechFreedom — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 20:26:18 +0000

Political speech has flourished on the Internet, thanks in large part to the First Amendment and a lack of regulation from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). But is the longstanding “Hands Off the Net” consensus in danger? Evan is joined by FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman to discuss how digital political speech is currently regulated and what threats exist for digital speech.

A couple highlights:

Goodman: “We can either recognize and embrace free speech on the internet and its wholly constructive democratic effects, or we can start regulating it, impeding it, and discouraging it, and causing everyone who wants to communicate on the internet to look over their shoulder and decide ‘am I going to be punished by my government for speaking freely on my home computer.’”

Swarztrauber: “While the first amendment does protect all kinds of speech, I think there was a particular premium on political speech. That was the real goal.”

#106: GOP Tech Platform: The Good, Bad, the Vague

TechFreedom — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 18:40:53 +0000

While Trump hasn’t said much specifically about tech policy, the GOP platform does, believe it or not, have a tech section. There’s plenty to like, plenty to dislike, and plenty to scratch your head at. Is Obama really throwing the Internet to the wolves? Has the GOP changed its mind about net neutrality? Can encryption be both good and bad at the same time? Without further ado, here’s TechFreedom’s guide to the 2016 GOP Tech Platform. For more, see here.

#105: GOP Platform: Who Governs the Internet?

TechFreedom — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 20:59:44 +0000

The GOP’s 2016 platform says that Obama “threw the internet to the wolves, and they — Russia, China, Iran, and others — are ready to devour it.” Well, that’s a little harsh, but there are serious concerns about the United States transferring control of the Internet’s domain name system to an international, multi-stakeholder body: the so-called “IANA transition.” Is the transition a good idea? Does the plan have the safeguards needed to protect free speech, ecommerce, and the hallmarks of an open Internet? Brett Schaefer, Research Fellow in International Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, joins the show to discuss.

#104: Legal Hacking

TechFreedom — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 19:38:38 +0000

Is encryption really a problem for law enforcement? If so, what’s the solution? In recent months, the FBI has faced legal pushback over its use of hacking to obtain evidence. What do these legal challenges mean for the future of law enforcement hacking? Evan is joined by Adam Klein, Visiting Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. They discuss the FBI’s legal woes and whether “legal hacking” is the future of the crypto debate. Does a defendant have a right to know how law enforcement hacked them? Does the government have a legitimate interest in keeping its methods a secret?

#103: A Network for the Future

TechFreedom — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:41:26 +0000

Imagine a broadband network that's smart. It teaches itself. It repairs itself. And maybe, it's even self-aware. No, we're not talking about Skynet, but software-defined networking (SDN) has the potential to completely transform our Internet infrastructure. Since the birth of the commercial Internet, network upgrades, modifications, and repairs almost always involved on-the-ground engineers and technicians making changes. But companies are already working on virtualizing those functions. Soon enough, it may all be in the cloud. A transformation like this is hardly simple, so who would make such a massive investment? Who would take such a gamble? Evan is joined by Mazin Gilbert, Assistant Vice President of Intelligent Services Research at AT&T Labs. They discuss how AT&T is approaching SDN and what it means for customers, businesses, and the world.

#102: The FBI and Browser Spying

TechFreedom — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 19:38:16 +0000

Should the FBI need a warrant to look at your browser history? What about other records about how you use the Internet? Recently, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and John Cornyn (R-TX) proposed an amendment dubbed the “ECTR fix” that would allow the FBI to access electronic communication transactional records, such as email metadata, without a court order. Evan is joined by Jadzia Butler and Gabe Rottman of the Center for Democracy & Technology. Is the ECTR fix really just about correcting a typo? Are there any problems with the current system for obtaining these records? For more, see Jadzia and Gabe’s blog post.

#101: Government and the Internet of Things

TechFreedom — Fri, 8 Jul 2016 19:00:25 +0000

When it comes to the Internet of Things — think connected cars and coffee makers — is there a role for government? If so, what should that be? Increased interconnectivity has the potential to transform our economy, but it also poses serious questions around cybersecurity and interoperability. Evan is joined by Joshua New, a policy analyst at the Center for Data Innovation. They discuss government’s role in the Internet of Things and how regulation can be effective without hindering innovation. For more, see Joshua’s white paper.

#100: Centenario

TechFreedom — Tue, 5 Jul 2016 20:36:40 +0000

Here's to 100 episodes! Evan and Berin discuss their big milestone, their recent travels to Europe, and fallout from the court decision on net neutrality. Are the FCC's regulations now written in stone? Is there any hope for an appeal? What can Americans learn from Europe's approach to net neutrality? Will the podcast finally get cancelled? Will Berin finally fire Evan? All that and more on today's special episode.

#99: Controlling the Price of Business Broadband

TechFreedom — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 20:28:26 +0000

Who should set the price of broadband? Businesses, or the government? While the FCC doesn’t (yet) regulate the price of your home Internet connection, the agency isn’t so hands-off when it comes to business broadband. Now the agency is looking to extend monopoly-era copper price regulations to next-gen fiber and cable services. Why? The FCC says there isn’t enough competition in the market. Our guest disagrees. Bruce Mehlman, co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance, joins to discuss. Is the market as uncompetitive as the FCC claims? Are new rules even needed? For more, see Bruce’s op-ed in Morning Consult.

#98: Uber for Planes?

TechFreedom — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:52:49 +0000

Given the success of tech in the sharing economy, you might be asking yourself: why don’t we have Uber for planes? Well, we might have, but the Federal Aviation Administration banned Flytenow and other flight-sharing websites. Ironically, it’s perfectly legal to share empty seats on a plane through word of mouth or posting on a bulletin board, but as soon as the Internet gets involved, the FAA says no. What’s going on here? Jared Meyer, research fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of Uber Positive: Why Americans Love the Sharing Economy, joins the show to discuss what happened to Flytenow and what the future of plane-sharing looks like.

#97: Space Regulation

TechFreedom — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 20:32:38 +0000

With recent budget cuts to NASA, exploration of the final frontier has increasingly fallen to the private sector. But what kind of regulatory environment are commercial spaceflight companies facing? Evan is joined by Aaron Oesterle and Cody Knipfer of the Space Frontier Foundation. They discuss the past, present, and future of space regulation. What are the challenges facing the industry? What role does Russia play?

#96: Recharging Hotels

TechFreedom — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 17:51:38 +0000

When we talk about hotels and the sharing economy, it’s usually about the hotel industry’s war against Airbnb, HomeAway, and other home-sharing sites. But today, we’re talking about the good news story of Recharge, a tech company that enables consumers to rent hotel rooms for a few hours, or even a few minutes. What’s behind this latest innovation in what otherwise looks like a stagnant industry. Jared Meyer, research fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of Uber Positive: Why Americans Love the Sharing Economy, joins the show to discuss. Why does the company see Starbucks as its biggest competition?

#95: Cybersecurity Myths

TechFreedom — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 18:53:09 +0000

With all the headlines around cyber attacks, there’s a lot of confusion and myths surrounding data security. Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the right one, and cybersecurity isn’t always as complicated as it seems. Human error and physical-world problems play a large role, and not all cyber attacks are created equal. Joining Evan to bust through some common myths is Taylor Barkley, Assistant Director of Outreach for Tech Policy at the Mercatus Center. Does cybersecurity really start with you?

#94: Email Privacy in an Emergency

TechFreedom — Thu, 9 Jun 2016 18:41:36 +0000

Email privacy reform passed unanimously in the House, but the Email Privacy Act has hit a snag in the Senate. Though the bill’s core mission — requiring warrants before law enforcement can access Americans’ online communications — is largely uncontroversial, some Senators are pushing an exception that would allow law enforcement to bypass warrant requirements in an emergency. Evan is joined by Jim Trainum, former police officer and co-chair of the Constitution Project’s Policing Reform Committee, who argued in a recent op-ed in The Hill that the emergency exception is both harmful and unnecessary. Is email privacy at an impasse? Can a compromise be reached?

#93: Activism, or Slacktivism?

TechFreedom — Tue, 7 Jun 2016 21:37:04 +0000

Digital activism is often little more than trending hashtags and caps-locked arguments that devolve into Hitler comparisons, but a new company is hoping to take advantage of the connective power of the internet to form effective, local groups around specific issues. Evan is joined by Clearvoter Founder Michelle Ray to discuss how her organization plans to turn slacktivism into activism.

#92: Government Hacking

TechFreedom — Mon, 6 Jun 2016 22:52:14 +0000

If you get hacked, should the government hack back? Recent efforts have been made to fight the use of illegal botnets, but many privacy advocates are concerned that these policies will excessively expand government hacking powers and impede legitimate security research. Evan is joined by Drew Mitnick, policy counsel for Access Now, to discuss the proposals. Can government fight illegal botnets without harming privacy? Should government need your permission to hack on your behalf?

#91: Democrats Divide on Uber

TechFreedom — Thu, 2 Jun 2016 20:48:10 +0000

Tech policy has gotten scant attention in the 2016 election, but Uber and the sharing economy are starting to break through. While Trump hasn’t said much, if anything, about ride sharing, erstwhile Republican candidates like Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Carly Fiorina spoke favorably about the on-demand economy and urged government to largely stay out of the way. If the GOP is generally pro-Uber, are Democrats less uniform in their approach? How do Sanders and Clinton feel about the sharing economy? What about high-profile Dems like Elizabeth Warren. Evan is joined (again…) by Manhattan Institute fellow Jared Meyer to discuss Uber in the election and his new book Uber-Positive: Why Americans Love the Sharing Economy.

#90: Media Ownership

TechFreedom — Tue, 31 May 2016 19:00:46 +0000

The media and advertising markets are more competitive than ever, and it’s been awhile since radio, TV stations, and newspapers were the only games in town. As competition from the Internet is ever increasing, traditional media must adapt. Joint sales agreements (JSAs) allow two broadcast stations to have the same advertising sales force, which can increase efficiency and cuts costs. But the FCC’s media ownership rules have long restricted JSAs and other business practices like having radio and TV stations buy newspapers. Recently, a court threw out the FCC’s JSA rules over the agency’s failure to review its media ownership policies as mandated by Congress. Matthew Berry, chief of staff to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, joins the show to discuss the case. Where did the FCC go wrong?

#89: Arizona Tackles Airbnb, Home Sharing

TechFreedom — Thu, 26 May 2016 19:47:40 +0000

There are two kinds of states: those that recognize home sharing, and those that pretend it isn’t happening. While regulations that provide a framework and certainty for an industry can actually be good companies like Airbnb and HomeAway, the devil is always in the details. Recently, Arizona passed a law on home sharing, and Carl Szabo, Policy Counsel for NetChoice, says other states should follow the Grand Canyon State’s example. Carl and Evan discuss the bill and how it differs from approaches in other states and cities. Should states have the final say on home sharing? Can localities be trusted to avoid regulatory capture? For more, see Carl’s op-ed in the Tech Policy Corner.

#88: Regulating Fantasy Sports

TechFreedom — Wed, 25 May 2016 21:23:06 +0000

How are states handling the controversial issue of regulating daily fantasy sports, including companies like DraftKings and FanDuel? As the industry has exploded in popularity, state lawmakers, attorneys general, and gaming commissions have taken different approaches. While some states have enacted outright bans, others are grappling with how to regulate a relatively new industry that claims its products are skill-based rather than games of chance. Chris Koopman, research fellow at the Mercatus Center, returns to the podcast to discuss the latest developments in the wild world of online fantasy sports. For more, see our previous episode on this topic.

#87: High School Surveillance Debate

TechFreedom — Tue, 24 May 2016 17:12:00 +0000

If you’re looking for a nuanced, thoughtful debate on government surveillance, you probably won’t find it in Congress. But look no further than American high schools. Jenna McLaughlin, a national security and surveillance reporter for The Intercept, immersed herself in a major high school debate competition. She found the arguments to be much more substantive and scrutinized than the claims about surveillance made in the halls of Congress. She and Evan discuss her feature article, high schoolers’ views on surveillance, and how different generations view the issue.

#86: Supreme Court Decides in Spokeo

TechFreedom — Mon, 23 May 2016 21:49:21 +0000

Spokeo is a search engine for people. But unlike your phone book, Spokeo claims to glean its information from public databases, such as social media profiles. So when the site allegedly posted false info about Thomas Robins, he sued. On May 16, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Spokeo v. Robins, the latest in a line of cases where the Court tries to flesh out when a plaintiff is allowed to sue in federal courts — that is, whether the plaintiff has "standing." Evan is joined by Adam J. White, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and of counsel at Boyden Gray & Associates. They discuss the case and its implications for tech policy. Why are big players like Google and Facebook so interested in the outcome?

#85: Privacy in the Golden Age of Surveillance

TechFreedom — Fri, 20 May 2016 09:00:00 +0000

In the “Golden Age of Surveillance,” are limits on government data collection really enough to protect privacy? Is mass surveillance inevitable? In the past, there was a “wall” between intelligence agencies and law enforcement. This separation protected Americans from being prosecuted for crimes unrelated to national security with information swept up in intelligence operations. But, in a post-9/11 world, government is increasingly blurring the lines between the NSA and your local police department. Evan is joined by Jake Laperruque, Privacy Fellow at the Constitution Project. They discuss proposed limitations on how government uses data after they’re collected. Is a chain link fence the sensible alternative to a wall? For more, see Jake’s paper.

#84: WhatsApp with Brazil?

TechFreedom — Thu, 19 May 2016 22:25:28 +0000

WhatsApp has over a billion users worldwide, and the Facebook-owned encrypted messaging app is particularly popular in Brazil, where it’s used by 93% of Internet users. Earlier this month, a Brazilian court shut down the app across the country after the company failed to comply with a court order demanding data related to a drug trafficking investigation. Evan is joined by Javier Pallero, policy analyst in Latin America for Access Now, and his American counterpart, Amie Stepanovich. They discuss WhatsApp’s woes in Brazil and what the shutdowns mean for the broader global debate over encryption.

#83: Europe's War on Google

TechFreedom — Tue, 17 May 2016 21:21:58 +0000

News broke yesterday that Google will soon face a 3 billion euro fine from the European Commission after 6 years of antitrust investigations from EU regulators. In the past, the EC has accused Google of unfairly promoting its own services in search results at the expense of its competitors. Now, regulators are complaining that Google requires smartphone manufacturers to make Google search the default and pre-install Google apps on phones running its Android operating system. Evan and Berin discuss the merits and implications of the case. Is Google really abusing its dominance in the search and smartphone markets?

#82: Tech Policy in Europe

TechFreedom — Mon, 16 May 2016 20:47:17 +0000

The European Union (EU) is an interesting case for tech policy. While individual member states get direction from Brussels, where the EU is headquartered, they also create policies within their own borders. Should technology regulations be harmonized across the EU to create a “Digital Single Market?” Or should EU nations compete over crafting the best policies and attracting the most startups and investment? What can the US learn from this dynamic? Evan is joined by Dominique Lazanski, Public Policy Director at GSMA, an international trade association representing mobile operators. They discuss the latest tech headlines from the EU, their connection to the United States, and what it all means for Internet governance.

#81: How Stuff Works: Software-Defined Networking 101

TechFreedom — Fri, 13 May 2016 17:43:30 +0000

The Internet is getting smarter. And as the way we use the Internet is changing, the way we manage its traffic must change too. Evan and AEI Economics Research Associate Evelyn Smith discuss software-defined networking (SDN), it's benefits, and policy implications. How does SDN compare to road traffic? Does net neutrality make broadband “dumb?” For more, see Evelyn's post in Tech Policy Corner.

#80: FCC Comm'r Ajit Pai Dissents on Charter-TWC Merger

TechFreedom — Thu, 12 May 2016 22:47:13 +0000

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai joins the show to discuss his dissenting vote in the FCC’s approval of the Charter-Time Warner merger. Late last month, the FCC and Department of Justice (DoJ) approved the merger of the sixth and third biggest broadband providers in America. And even though the DoJ determined that the merger will benefit consumers without harming competition, the FCC extorted a series of onerous conditions from the two companies in its review process. For that reason, Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai dissented. Pai discusses his dissent with Evan and Berin. Do the harms of the merger conditions outweigh the benefits? What does this say about the FCC’s process? Is merger review an appropriate avenue for policymaking?

#79: Uber Shuts Down in Austin, TX

TechFreedom — Thu, 12 May 2016 01:31:04 +0000

Uber and Lyft have ceased operations in Austin, TX following a failed vote on a referendum to overturn regulations adopted in December by the city council. The regulations restricted where passengers could be picked up and dropped off, required ride-sharing cars to be clearly labeled with company logos, and mandated data reporting and fingerprint background checks. What does this mean for the future of ride-sharing in Austin? Will other cities follow suit? Jared Meyer, a research fellow at the Manhattan Institute, discuss. For more, see Jared’s op-ed in Forbes.

#78: Permissionless Innovation

TechFreedom — Tue, 10 May 2016 19:59:15 +0000

Should innovation require permission? Should entrepreneurs have to get government approval before experimenting with new products and business models? As technology has rapidly evolved over the last several decades, regulators have taken different approaches to creating and adapting rules to keep up. In his book Permissionless Innovation, Adam Thierer, senior research fellow with the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center, examines the conflict between the two main visions for regulating emerging technologies: permissionless innovation and prior restraint. He and Evan discuss the two visions, real world examples of their impact, and what government can do to protect consumers while providing certainty and freedom to innovators. You can get Adam’s book on Amazon.

#77: Facebook Bias? The Right Over-Reacts

TechFreedom — Tue, 10 May 2016 02:13:50 +0000

Is Facebook biased against conservatives? Gizmodo ran a story today based on interviews with former contractors for Facebook, who “curated” the otherwise-machine-generated “Trending Topics” next to the Newsfeed (the real heart of the Facebook experience). They allege that other “curators” implemented their own political bias in writing blurbs about trending stories, excluding conservative themes and publications, and injecting left-of-center stories. Gizmodo acknowledges that no one alleges Facebook management actually directed such bias, but buries this point, which most outraged conservatives have missed. So what’s going on? Is Facebook really out to get the Right? Or is this just independent contractors failing to uphold company policy on a tangential feature of the site? Should Facebook simply do more to enforce its own stated policies of official neutrality? Evan and Berin (of course) discuss.

#76: Little Rock's Taxi Monopoly is on Trial

TechFreedom — Fri, 6 May 2016 19:16:18 +0000

Taxi monopolies have clashed with ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft across the country. But what happens when the clash is between two taxi companies? Ken Leininger, founder of Ken’s Cab, found out the hard way. When he tried to operate his small cab company in Little Rock, AR, he found out that local law protected the city’s taxi monopoly from competition. He and the Institute for Justice (IJ) are suing the city. Evan is joined by Allison Daniel, an attorney for IJ. They discuss the case and its broader implications for competition and consumers. Are mom-and-pop taxi companies the unsung victims of outdated regulation? Is this a new front in the battles over the sharing economy? For more, check out IJ’s case site.

#75: War on Drug Phones

TechFreedom — Thu, 5 May 2016 21:12:08 +0000

Has the War on Drugs become a war on phones? The Apple v. FBI saga made encryption a household issue, but while that case focused on counter-terrorism, the vast majority of law enforcement confrontations with the tech sector deal with drug investigations. Is the “going dark” problem really an issue of national security? Or is law enforcement just trying to solve more drug crimes by getting into locked phones? Evan and Eli Dourado, director of the Mercatus Center’s Technology Policy Program, discuss how the War on Drugs fuels efforts to undermine encryption and cybersecurity. For more, see Eli’s post in Plain Text.

#74: The Role of Phone Companies in Surveillance

TechFreedom — Wed, 4 May 2016 19:44:49 +0000

What role should telephone and other technology companies play in national security and surveillance? Who should be in charge of collecting and storing data about our phone calls? The NSA? Or the companies themselves? In a recent paper, Mieke Eoyang, VP of the National Security Program at Third Way, argues that the telecommunications industry should play a greater role in the shaping and enacting of surveillance policy. She and Evan discuss what that role should be and policy recommendations that would protect privacy and economic interests while still allowing the government to access the information it needs. Can foreign customers of US tech companies trust that their data are protected from mass, indiscriminate surveillance?

#73: On Amazon's Design, Gov't Knows Best

TechFreedom — Tue, 3 May 2016 20:25:26 +0000

You may have seen this story in the news: a child runs up thousands of dollars worth of purchases on her parent’s Apple, Google, or Amazon app store account. In pretty much every case, the companies have been happy to refund the purchases when asked, as parents were clearly unaware of what their children were buying. Nonetheless, the FTC has taken enforcement action against all three companies. While Google and Apple settled, Amazon fought back. Late last month, a federal district court granted the FTC’s motion for summary judgment against Amazon over charges for unauthorized in-app purchases. Evan and Berin discuss the case and its implications. Should the government be involved in product design and user experience? For more, see Geoff Manne’s post in Truth on the Market.

#72: Regulating Bitcoin

TechFreedom — Mon, 2 May 2016 18:52:29 +0000

How does one regulate Bitcoin and other virtual currencies? This is question is puzzling many lawmakers and bureaucrats struggling to navigate a new, decentralized industry that’s still in its nascent stage. Isn’t the point of Bitcoin not to be regulated? And who would even have jurisdiction anyway? Evan is joined by Peter Van Valkenburgh, Director of Research at Coin Center, a think tank focused on cryptocurrency issues. They discuss the past, present, and future of Bitcoin regulation.

#71: How Stuff Works: Bitcoin 101

TechFreedom — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 22:34:19 +0000

Over the last few years, bitcoin and other virtual currencies have become increasingly viable alternatives to traditional money. Yet for most people, bitcoin is still a pretty obscure subject. What exactly is bitcoin? How does the blockchain work? Who’s in charge? Where does it derive its value? What does it mean to mine bitcoin? Evan is joined by Michael Bombace, TechFreedom adjunct fellow, who sheds some light on the world of cryptocurrency in today’s episode.

#70: Auctioning the Airwaves

TechFreedom — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 22:40:53 +0000

As the demand for mobile data explodes, so does the need for spectrum holders to free up the airwaves for wireless carriers. While free, over-the-air television is still available using an antenna, Americans are much more likely to get their video through cable or Internet streaming. Last month, the FCC began its incentive auction of broadcast spectrum, whereby television stations sell spectrum to the government to then be sold to wireless carriers. Many broadcasters have voiced concerns that the auction may place excessive burdens on television stations that decide remain on the air. Ryan Radia, Associate Director of Technology Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joins the show.

#69: TWC-Charter Merger and FCC Extortion

TechFreedom — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 19:34:00 +0000

This week, the Department of Justice approved the merger of Charter and Time Warner Cable, the sixth and third biggest broadband providers in America. If the agency thinks the merger will benefit consumers without harming competition, why is the FCC attaching conditions to the deal? Is this consumer protection? Or regulation by extortion? Evan and Berin discuss. For more, see our statement.

#68: Uber Settles a Lawsuit

TechFreedom — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 17:51:23 +0000

Last week, Uber settled a class-action lawsuit alleging that the company misclassified its drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. While the settlement carries no legal precedent, it does mean that Uber can continue with its current business model while paying out up to $100 million to the plaintiffs — with $25 million alone going to attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who has sued several gig-economy companies. The rest will be split among roughly 385,000 drivers in California and Massachusetts who can expect an average of $80 each in winnings. Uber also agreed to increase transparency around its driver ratings and deactivation policies, among other concessions. Jared Meyer, a research fellow at the Manhattan Institute, joins to discuss the settlement and what it means for the gig economy going forward.

#67: Killing the Cable Box

TechFreedom — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 20:54:45 +0000

The FCC wants to “unlock” the cable box. But shouldn’t the agency be helping to kill the box? The FCC recently proposed rules that would force cable, satellite, and telco video providers to make their programming accessible through third-party apps. Sure, it sounds great in theory, but the proposal poses serious concerns around privacy, piracy, and the way that independent and minority-owned programmers present their content. Moreover, the video industry is already moving away from clunky, costly boxes and offering programming through their own apps on devices like Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast. Just last week, Comcast announced that its entire X1 interface would be available through an app. In the Golden Age of Television, what exactly is the FCC trying to solve? Is having too many apps and remotes really a national emergency? For more, see our press release and comments, which explains why the FCC’s proposal is doomed to fail in court.

#66: Government Transparency

TechFreedom — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 20:58:14 +0000

These days, it costs almost nothing to publish information online. So why isn’t more government information available to the public? Taxpayers spend $100 million a year on the Congressional Research Service (CRS), but only Congress gets to decide whether the research gets published. Is that fair? Should the CRS just put it all online? Evan is joined by Kevin Kosar, Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute and a supporter of legislation that would make all CRS reports public. Is there any potential harm to releasing this information? Could more transparency improve citizens’ view of government? For more, see Kevin’s post on Medium.

#65: Student Debt and Technology

TechFreedom — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 18:28:46 +0000

Our national student debt is sittin’ pretty at $1.3 trillion, and the number is rising by $3,000 every second. Can technology help solve the problem of ballooning student debt? Evan is joined by Liz Wessel, CEO of WayUP, a company whose mission is to get every college student the job — or jobs — they need to pay off student debt and have a fruitful career. What makes WayUP different? How is technology impacting the policy debate over student debt? What does this have to do with labor laws on the sharing economy? All that and more on today’s show.

#64: Encryption is a Global Issue

TechFreedom — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 20:34:32 +0000

When the encryption debate is so often framed as “Apple v. FBI,” it’s easy to forget that digital security is a global issue. Nonetheless, how the United States decides to handle the issue will have an outsized impact on the rest of the world. Evan is joined by Amie Stepanovich, US policy manager at Access Now, an international civil society group dedicated to human rights in technology. She argues that we need global leadership on encryption, starting with the White House. What does President Obama think about encryption? How are other nations reacting to issues of digital security? For more, check out https://securetheinternet.org/.

#63: Special Prices for Business Broadband

TechFreedom — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 17:38:29 +0000

While the FCC chooses not to regulate the prices that consumers pay for residential broadband — for now — the same isn’t true for businesses. Special access services are dedicated connections used by businesses to transmit voice and data. The FCC regulates the price of special access lines to ensure they’re provided at “reasonable” rates and terms and conditions. The Commission is looking at updating these regulations, and a new study from Hal Singer, Senior Fellow at GW Institute for Public Policy, warns that the new rules could depress investment in fiber technology. Evan and Singer discuss the study, whether the FCC should be in the rate-regulation business, and what this all means for consumers.

#62: Uber Surge and Price-Fixing

TechFreedom — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 21:27:32 +0000

Uber’s surge pricing has come under fire — and not just from drunk passengers who paid exorbitant fares for rides home on New Years’ Eve. A new lawsuit alleges that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and anyone who signs up to drive for Uber is party to an illegal conspiracy to fix prices. Is surge pricing just a reflection of supply and demand and economics 101? Or is it something nefarious. Jared Meyer, a research fellow at the Manhattan Institute joins the show to discuss. For more, see his article in Reason.

#61: FCC Shenanigans and Deal-Breaking

TechFreedom — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:13:52 +0000

Before the last FCC monthly meeting, GOP Commissioners Pai and O’Rielly (previous guests of the show) struck a deal with Democrat Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on Lifeline. The Universal Service program subsidizes access to communications services for low-income Americans. This rare moment of bipartisanship at the politicized FCC would have extended Lifeline to cover broadband while capping its budget and rooting out fraud and abuse that have long plagued the program. At the 11th hour, Chairman Tom Wheeler pressured Commissioner Clyburn to renege on the deal and rammed through his own proposal on a 3-2 party line vote. What happened behind the scenes? Matthew Berry, Chief of Staff to Commissioner Pai, joins to show to discuss.

#60: Email Privacy, It's Happening?

TechFreedom — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Is email privacy finally happening? Will Congress finally protect the privacy of Americans’ emails? Will law enforcement finally be required to get a warrant before accessing the private files we store in the cloud? After six years, the House Judiciary Committee is finally marking up the Email Privacy Act — which has the support of over 70% of the House. But what will the Senate do? And what about geolocation data? Will we have to wait another six years for that? Evan and Berin discuss.

#59: FCC Takes on Privacy (w/ FCC Commr. Mike O'Rielly)

TechFreedom — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:28:51 +0000

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly joins the show to discuss the Commission’s foray into privacy. What exactly does the FCC have to do with Internet privacy? Nothing — until recently. Before the agency reclassified broadband under telephone-style regulation in the name of “net neutrality,” the privacy practices of Internet service providers (ISPs) were regulated by the Federal Trade Commission — not the FCC. But, as former FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright noted, the FCC’s Title II reclassification of broadband as a “common carrier” service stole the FTC’s “jurisdictional lunch money.” What does this mean for consumers’ privacy and Internet advertising?

#58: Banning Encryption

TechFreedom — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 21:41:01 +0000

Last week, a pair of Senators introduced a bill that was overwhelmingly described by technology experts as “ludicrous, dangerous, and technically illiterate.” That’s because critics say the bill would effectively ban end-to-end encryption, a basic practice of digital security that protects privacy and cybersecurity but can also be used by terrorists and criminals to avoid detection. The “Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016” would mandate that a company like WhatsApp, with other a billion users, be able to produce the plaintext of any message sent over its platform. Is this even technically possible? What would happen to companies that refuse to comply? Joining Evan to sort out the details is Julian Sanchez, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute.

#57: Burner Phones and Terrorism

TechFreedom — Fri, 8 Apr 2016 17:52:44 +0000

Pre-paid “burner” phones are often associated with the illegal world, whether it’s drug dealing, organized crime, or even terrorism. But for most consumers, they offer legitimate benefits, including privacy protections and an alternative to lengthy phone contracts. In the wake of the Brussels attacks, some lawmakers are turning their sights on burner phones. Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) recently introduced a bill that would require consumers to present government-issued ID to buy these phones. Is this a legitimate counter-terrorism effort? Or knee-jerk scapegoating of technology? What does an ID requirement mean for social justice? Evan discusses the bill and its implications with Morgan Wright, a cybersecurity expert.

#56: FCC Intrigue, Netflix Throttling, and Zero-Rating (w/ FCC Comm’r Mike O’Rielly)

TechFreedom — Thu, 7 Apr 2016 21:12:02 +0000

What’s the FCC been up to lately? Short answer: a lot. Luckily for us, a special guest, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, made time to join the show to discuss broadband subsidies, Netflix throttling, and the agency’s “inquiry” into zero-rating programs. Why did the FCC’s monthly meeting get delayed for several hours last week? Why isn’t the Commission looking into Neflix’s throttling of AT&T and Verizon customers’ video streams? What’s going on with the FCC’s investigation of T-Mobile’s Binge On and other zero-rating programs? All that and more on today’s show.

#55: 3D Printing, Free Speech, and Gun Rights

TechFreedom — Wed, 6 Apr 2016 19:11:07 +0000

3D printing is revolutionizing manufacturing, but not without controversy. The technology has made printing guns in your home relatively easy and cheap using open-source code provided by organizations like Defense Distributed. The nonprofit came under fire from the State Department, which alleged that disseminating code to print 3D guns is akin to international arms trafficking. Evan is joined by Randal Meyer, a legal associate at the Cato Institute, which filed a brief in Defense Distributed v. U.S. Dep’t of State. They discuss the case and its implications for free speech, gun rights, and our economy. Is computer code always free speech? Is there a legitimate public interest in banning citizens from printing their own guns? See Cato’s brief here.

#54: Presidential Campaigns & Big Data

TechFreedom — Tue, 5 Apr 2016 19:07:56 +0000

How much do the presidential campaigns know about you? Most Americans are probably aware that tech companies and intelligence agencies collect their personal information — albeit for very different reasons. But perhaps less known are the data collection practices of the 2016 campaigns. Evan is joined by TechFreedom intern Ashley Holmes, a graduate student at George Washington University studying global communication. They discuss Big Data in the elections, what the campaigns want with it, and what it means for tech policy.

#53: Don't F@*# With My Call of Duty

TechFreedom — Fri, 1 Apr 2016 22:22:07 +0000

Is the FCC f***ing with your Call of Duty? Could strict net neutrality regulation make online video gaming worse? The FCC's Title II reclassification of broadband included a blanket ban on paid prioritization of Internet traffic, even if done at the request of the user. Net neutrality activists called that a win for consumers, but prioritization could improve lag-sensitive services like online gaming, live-streamed sports, and video chatting. Evan is joined by Tom Struble, TechFreedom’s Policy Counsel. They discuss the FCC’s impact on video games and the treatment of Internet traffic. Are all bits created equal?

#52: Regulating Airbnb

TechFreedom — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 20:50:46 +0000

How friendly is your city to short-term rentals? As Airbnb, Home Away, and other home-sharing platforms grow in popularity, they run into a hodgepodge of local regulations that differ, sometimes even by zip code. Evan is joined by Andrew Moylan, Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute. They discuss Roomscore.org, a new website that grades cities on their home-sharing regulations.

#51: Netflix Wins Hypo(crite) Award

TechFreedom — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 20:48:41 +0000

Last week, Netflix copped to deliberately downgrading its video quality for AT&T and Verizon customers for the past five years -- without telling anyone. While the throttling isn't a net neutrality violation per se, since Netflix is not a broadband provider, it looks pretty hypocritical given the company's heated, absolutist rhetoric on the treatment of Internet traffic. It certainly poses serious concerns for transparency, and anti-competitiveness, since Netflix spared T-Mobile and Sprint customers from its throttling. Evan and Berin discuss the "mea culpa," its impact on net neutrality, and whether Netflix committed deception under FTC law by lying to its customers. For more, see Berin's post on Medium.

#50: Regulators Gonna Regulate

TechFreedom — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 19:24:32 +0000

You may not know much about the most important agency in Washington when it comes to regulating new technologies. The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC for short, is for better or worse, becoming the Federal Technology Commission. This week, FTC Commissioner Julie Brill resigned, leaving a second seat for Congress to fill. What does a second vacancy mean for the agency? Can the agency protect consumers without stifling innovation? Evan and Berin discuss the FTC’s past, present, and future. For more, see Berin’s post on Medium.

#49: Apple v FBI- On Hold... For Now

TechFreedom — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 18:39:15 +0000

Apple’s battle with the FBI in California is on hold for now, but the battle is far from over. This week, a federal magistrate postponed a court hearing on the case scheduled for Tuesday. Initially, the FBI had asked Apple to help it unlock the iPhone of Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters. But now, the agency is saying it found an “outside party,” rumored to be an Israeli cybersecurity firm, to help unlock the phone. What does this mean for the ongoing debate over tech companies’ cooperation with law enforcement? Evan and Berin discuss. For more, see Berin’s post on Medium.

#48: How Stuff Works - The Sharing Economy

TechFreedom — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 22:05:31 +0000

What exactly is the “sharing economy?” Regulatory battles with Uber and Airbnb make for flashy headlines, but how much do we know about the sharing economy as a whole? Is the term even accurate? Should we be calling it the “gig economy” instead? Evan is joined by Will Rinehart, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at American Action Forum. They discuss the history of the gig economy, whether it’s really “on the rise,” and what makes Uber and Airbnb different from Etsy and Ebay.

#47: Government-Run Internet

TechFreedom — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 19:44:45 +0000

As cities like Chattanooga, TN and Wilson, NC look to expand government-owned broadband networks (GONs) beyond their borders, they’re running into state laws that authorize, but restrict, GONs. How much control should states have over these networks? The FCC says it can overturn specific provisions of state broadband laws under its Section 706 authority to “promote broadband deployment.” But does the FCC actually have this power? Is the agency trampling on states’ rights? That’s what the Sixth Circuit will decide as North Carolina and Tennessee do battle with the FCC in Cincinnati. Evan and Berin discuss the case and what it means for GONs nationwide. Should government even be in the broadband business? Berin briefly (no, really) summarizes the case on the Tech Policy Corner, and provides a full legal writeup, too.

#46: The Nether

TechFreedom — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 21:21:07 +0000

In the future, what will the Internet look like? One playwright imagines The NETHER: a network of virtual reality realms that allow users to log in and indulge in their deepest, darkest desires. These immersive, sensory experiences include behavior that, in the real world, is almost universally regarded as repugnant and illegal. Could virtual reality create an outlet for people to blow off steam? Or will anonymous, virtual behavior only encourage users to engage in the real thing? Evan is joined by Jennifer Haley, playwright for The NETHER. They discuss the play and the tough questions it poses to viewers and tech policymakers.The show’s DC premiere is April 4th. You can buy tickets here.

#45: Sex Trafficking and the Internet

TechFreedom — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 22:30:43 +0000

Backpage, the second largest classified ads website after Craigslist, has been embroiled in controversy and legal battles over allegations that its “adult” section facilitates sex trafficking and prostitution. Just yesterday, the Senate voted unanimously to hold Backpage in contempt for not cooperating with a committee’s months-long investigation into sex trafficking. Evan is joined by Randal Meyer, a legal associate at the Cato Institute, which filed a brief in Backpage.com v. Dart. They discuss Backpage’s legal woes and the Internet’s impact on sex trafficking. Can Backpage actually be a friend to law enforcement — not an enemy?

#44: A Lifeline for Broadband

TechFreedom — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 21:30:06 +0000

Ever notice those fees on your cell phone or landline telephone bill? The FCC collects them to fund programs like Lifeline, which subsidizes communications service for those can’t afford it. But is Lifeline effective? Critics have long argued that the program is fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse. A government report suggested that the vast majority who receive subsidies don’t need them. Evan is joined by Will Rinehart, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at American Action Forum. They discuss the past, present, and future of Lifeline. Should the FCC expand Lifeline to subsidize broadband Internet access? Are the FCC’s reforms enough to fix the program?

#43: Drone Safety

TechFreedom — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 17:27:54 +0000

Do toy drones endanger the national airspace? The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) seems to think so. Right before Christmas, the FAA rushed through rules requiring basically every kid who got a drone from Santa to register with the agency for $5. Will a government database of drone users actually make us safer? Is the agency just buying time to figure out what to do about drones? Evan is joined by Eli Dourado, Director of Technology Policy at the Mercatus Center, a research center based at George Mason University. They discuss drone safety and the FAA’s approach. Is there really much of a difference between small drones and birds? See Eli’s study here.

#42: Broadband Privacy

TechFreedom — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 20:47:53 +0000

The FCC is set to issue new regulations on how Internet access providers collect and use consumer data. On Thursday, March 11, the agency released a fact sheet indicating that it will require broadband companies to get consent from their customers for certain advertising and data practices. The Internet wasn’t invented yesterday, so why is the agency doing this now? Evan and Berin discuss the FCC’s fact sheet and what it means for privacy and competition. Will the new regulations really be better for consumers? Will they hold up in court?

#41: The War on Hacking

TechFreedom — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 22:28:21 +0000

If 2015 was the “year of the hack,” what will 2016 mean for cybersecurity? Will Congress’s hastily-passed cyber bill (CISA) do anything to stop the onslaught of hacking? Evan is joined by Morgan Wright, a cybersecurity expert. They discuss the state of the “War on Hacking” and whether private and public sector efforts to combat cyber attacks will be effective. See more of Morgan’s work on his website.

#40: Unlocking the Cable Box

TechFreedom — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 21:27:15 +0000

Consumers have never had more ways to watch video, but traditional cable and satellite subscriptions still require set-top boxes, which typically cost 15-20 dollars a month to rent. The FCC is looking to disrupt this market by forcing cable, telephone, and satellite companies to make their equipment interoperable with third-party set-top boxes made by other companies. It sounds good in theory, but will it actually help consumers? And is this move only prolonging the inevitable death of the cable box? Evan is joined by Moriah Mensah, a recent graduate of Howard University School of Law. They discuss the FCC’s proposal and what it will mean for consumers.

#39: Uber vs. Thumbtack: Labor in the Sharing Economy

TechFreedom — Wed, 9 Mar 2016 09:00:00 +0000

When it comes to the sharing economy, most of the focus is on companies like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb. But skilled professionals like handymen, mechanics, and personal trainers are taking advantage of online platforms like Thumbtack to find customers. Evan is joined by Jared Meyer, a research fellow at the Manhattan Institute. They discuss Thumbtack’s new report, released today, about skilled workers in the sharing economy. Should skilled labor be treated differently by regulators than “gig” platforms like Uber?

#38: How Stuff Works - Spectrum 101

TechFreedom — Tue, 8 Mar 2016 21:58:15 +0000

Spectrum is everywhere, and we’re interacting with it almost constantly. Whether we’re using smartphones, tablets, bluetooth speakers, AM/FM radios or basically any WiFi device, we're relying on spectrum to send and receive information. Evan is joined by Brent Skorup, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, a research center based at George Mason University. They discuss the history of spectrum from radios to smartphones. Were spectrum licenses really doled out through beauty and popularity contests? Are incentive auctions a better alternative?

#37: Social Media and Terrorism

TechFreedom — Mon, 7 Mar 2016 20:26:41 +0000

ISIS and other terrorist groups are using social media to recruit members to their causes. Tech companies like Twitter and Facebook are working to take down extremist propaganda, and even hacktivist groups like Anonymous are joining the fight. But is this a losing battle? Evan is joined by Morgan Wright, a cybersecurity analyst for major media outlets and a senior fellow at the Center for Digital Government. They discuss the state of terrorism on social media and efforts to combat radicalization online. What responsibility do tech companies have to police their platforms? What’s the proper role for government? See more of Morgan’s work on his website.

#36: MOBILE NOW & The Future of Wireless

TechFreedom — Fri, 4 Mar 2016 20:51:35 +0000

Demand for mobile data is exploding, begging the question: is there enough available wireless spectrum to meet this demand? As wireless carriers prepare for 5G, the future of wireless, lawmakers are grappling with how to make mobile broadband deployment easier. Today, the Senate Commerce Committee approved the MOBILE NOW Act. Evan and Berin are joined by Tom Struble, TechFreedom’s policy counsel. Will the legislation free up enough spectrum to make 5G workable? What other ways can government remove barriers to broadband deployment?

#35: Imperial FCC

TechFreedom — Thu, 3 Mar 2016 23:04:32 +0000

On Wednesday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler refused to commit to step down following the election of the next president, breaking with a century of tradition for independent regulatory agencies. Evan and Berin discuss the reasoning behind Wheeler’s controversial decision and the possible implications for the future of the Commission. For more, read Berin’s op-ed in Medium.

#34: Washington #TechFail

TechFreedom — Wed, 2 Mar 2016 22:49:36 +0000

When it comes to technology, is Washington failing America's young? Young people disproportionately use and rely on technology, yet the lawmakers who decide tech policy are often clueless as to how to regulate the Internet, drones, and other new gadgets. Evan is joined by Jared Meyer, a research fellow at the Manhattan Institute and co-author of "Disinherited: How Washington is betraying America's young." They discuss how Washington's approach to tech impacts young people from video games to NSA surveillance.

#33: Space Law (Part 3) Mining in Space

TechFreedom — Tue, 1 Mar 2016 19:50:05 +0000

Congress actually passed an asteroid mining bill last year. Did they get it right? In Part III of our Space Law series, TF Adjunct Fellow Jim Dunstan and Berin discuss the details of the bill, next steps for Congress, and the economics of tapping the resources of the solar system. Check out Episode 13 for an intro to Jim and his 30+ year career in commercial space law, and Episode 28 for an introduction to property rights in space.

#32: McCaul Encryption Comission

TechFreedom — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 15:40:02 +0000

While Apple’s recent refusal to comply with the FBI’s demand to unlock the iPhone of a San Bernardino attacker may have pushed privacy and encryption to the forefront of public debate, a bipartisan plan to examine the impact of encryption on law enforcement has been in the works for months. Today, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced legislation to establish a commission to examine the issue. Evan and Ryan Hagemann, the Niskanen Center’s technology and civil liberties policy analyst, discuss the potential of the commission.

#31: EU Digital Single Market: The View from Milan

TechFreedom — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 15:44:00 +0000

When it comes to tech startups and innovation, the European Union has largely lagged behind the United States and China. In an effort to reverse this trend, the European Commission is working to create a Digital Single Market (DSM) to harmonize technology regulations across its member states. It’s a nice idea, in theory, but it poses serious concerns for competition and differentiation among EU nations. Evan and Berin are joined by Massimiliano Trovato, a research fellow at the Istituto Bruno Leoni, a libertarian think tank based in Milan. Will the DSM, bolster Europe’s tech landscape? What can the US learn from the EU’s approach to regulation? Is espresso really better in Italy?

#30: “Net Neutrality” (Ahem, Title II) Progress Report

TechFreedom — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 21:33:12 +0000

This time last year, the FCC voted 3-2 to reclassify broadband under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act, utility rules designed for railroads and telephone monopolies — all in the name of “net neutrality.” Special guest FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who voted against the Open Internet Order, joins us to give his one-year progress report for the FCC’s Internet regulations. Has the Order protected consumers from harm? Or, as critics warned, has it stifled competition, innovation and investment? Did “reclassification” open Pandora’s Box?

#29: Bitcoin is Unleashing Economies

TechFreedom — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 19:29:38 +0000

Bitcoin, a once-geeky novelty, has grown into a legitimate currency that disrupts financial markets — especially in the developing world. Bitcoin can be an alternative to failing currencies, offering an escape from oppressive regimes and hyperinflation. Evan is joined by Caleb Watney, a graduate research fellow at the Mercatus Center. They discuss Bitcoin’s presence in developing nations — from backing new businesses to providing financial stability. For more, check out Caleb’s op-ed in Policy Interns.

#28: Space Law (Part 2) Property Rights in Space

TechFreedom — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 22:37:10 +0000

Can you own part of space? Or stuff you find there? In Part II of our Space Law series, TF Adjunct Fellow Jim Dunstan and Berin explore the basics of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, what’s good and bad about federal asteroid mining legislation enacted last year, and what’s on the horizon for space property rights. Check out Episode 13 for an intro to Jim and his 30+ year career in commercial space law.

#27: Connecting the Rez: Broadband on Tribal Lands

TechFreedom — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 21:09:06 +0000

While the US has enjoyed well over $1 trillion in broadband investment since the mid-90s, connecting Native American reservations to the Internet has proven difficult. 41 percent of residents on tribal land still lack access to a broadband connection, compared to only 10 percent in the US as a whole. Evan and Berin are joined by Jim Dunstan, founder of Mobius Legal Group and longtime representative of Native American tribes. They discuss the hurdles to broadband deployment and adoption on reservations and what steps are needed to bridge the Digital Divide.

#26: Scalia & Net Neutrality: Law and Politics

TechFreedom — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 16:03:02 +0000

Justice Scalia’s death sparked a flurry of speculation about who will replace him. Sri Srinivasan tops most lists of potential successors. But he's also one of three appellate judges set to rule on the FCC’s Internet regulations. How might that decision affect his nomination, and the president’s decision about whether to pick him? Might the intersection of the looming court decision and his nomination make “net neutrality” a major election issue? And does Scalia’s death change how the courts might rule on the FCC’s reclassification of broadband under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act? See our op-ed in Real Clear Technology for more.

#25: Drones & Humanitarianism

TechFreedom — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:42:02 +0000

Media coverage of drones often focuses on near-misses with airplanes or bombings in the Middle East. But there’s another side to drones that doesn’t get enough attention: humanitarianism. While the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fumbles around with how to regulate drones in the US, the international community is embracing drones for the purposes of disaster response and humanitarian assistance. Evan is joined by Ashley Holmes, a graduate student a George Washington University and intern at TechFreedom. They discuss drones as a force for good, the role of regulation, and what the US can learn from the Philippines and Rwanda.

#24: Apple v FBI: Unlocking the iPhone

TechFreedom — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:49:49 +0000

Apple made headlines today by refusing to comply with a federal judge’s order to unlock the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the San Bernardino attackers. In an open letter to customers, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained the importance of strong data security and the dangerous precedent that would set by forcing the company to unlock the phone. Evan and Berin discuss the 1789 All Writs Act, which the FBI claims requires Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance.” Should that include compromising the security of devices? Are we heading down a slippery slope? And how will the court fight play out?

#23: Getting SLAPPed for Online Speech

TechFreedom — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 19:22:11 +0000

Online free speech is critical to companies like Yelp and TripAdvisor whose business models depend on consumer reviews. But companies often don’t like what they see on those sites, and can use strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) to discourage people from sharing their opinions online. Without anti-SLAPP laws, consumers might end up spending huge sums on legal fees to defend their speech, even when the lawsuits are frivolous. Evan is joined by Moriah Mensah, a recent graduate of Howard University School of Law and a policy intern at the R Street Institute. They discuss the problems with SLAPPs and whether reform efforts like the SPEAK FREE Act will be effective.

#22: India Shuts Down Free Internet

TechFreedom — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 22:51:40 +0000

This week, India shut the door on Free Basics, a Facebook program that offers free, limited Internet access to people in the developing world. While some activists are hailing the decision as a victory for net neutrality, proponents of zero-rating programs like Free Basics note that 80% of Indians still lack Internet access, and shutting down Facebook’s offering won’t help get them online. Evan and Berin discuss the regulator’s decision, and ask: why didn’t the regulator actually address the challenge of getting Indians online? Can zero-rating actually provide an on-ramp to the full Internet?

#21: Broadband Deployment in America with FCC Comm'r Ajit Pai

TechFreedom — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 23:09:27 +0000

Is broadband being deployed in a “reasonable and timely manner” in the United States? From 1998 on, the FCC always said yes. But in 2010, the FCC abruptly reversed course, declaring market failure. The agency immediately used those findings to increase its authority and justify more Internet regulation. Special guest FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai joins the show to discuss the state of broadband in America, why the FCC ignores the good news on deployment, and the increasing politicization of a supposedly independent agency.

#20 - Spying on Foreigners (and Ourselves)

TechFreedom — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 17:03:32 +0000

Section 702, a US foreign surveillance program, is set to expire at the end of 2017. While privacy advocates are crying out for reform or repeal, intelligence agencies say this could hamper their counter-terrorism efforts. Evan is joined by Nathan Leamer, a policy analyst at the R Street Institute. They discuss the effectiveness of foreign surveillance, how Congress oversees intelligence agencies, and what oversight reform should look like.

#19: Europocrisy: EU Privacy Hypocrisy with Stewart Baker

TechFreedom — Tue, 9 Feb 2016 16:52:38 +0000

On surveillance, is Europe unfairly picking on the United States? The Snowden leaks focused outrage on the NSA, but some experts say that the European Union and privacy advocates should focus on the real offenders like Russia and China — and argue that Europe’s surveillance and law enforcement agencies may have even easier access to Europeans’ data than is true in the U.S. Evan is joined by Stewart Baker, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson and formerly the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. They discuss transatlantic data flows, what the EU has in common with North Korea, and Stewart’s proposed Europocrisy prize.

#18: 20 Years of Internet Regulation

TechFreedom — Mon, 8 Feb 2016 20:42:37 +0000

The 1996 Telecom Act turned twenty today — and was obsolete even before the ink was dry. Congress has tried and failed to update it, leaving the FCC to struggle with outdated technological silos and try to “modernize” the Act on its own. Big questions surrounding FCC censorship, broadband competition, and Internet regulation remain unanswered. Berin and Evan discuss what the Act got right, what it got wrong, and what a #CommActUpdate should look like.

#17: E-Cigarettes

TechFreedom — Fri, 5 Feb 2016 20:23:56 +0000

The swift rise of vaping has given many smokers a safer alternative to tobacco products, but regulations and taxes could slow this growth — or even put the industry out of business. Evan is joined by Paul Blair, State Affairs Manager for Americans for Tax Reform. They discuss the public health benefits of vaping and how governments are reacting to this disruptive technology.

#16: Internet in Africa

TechFreedom — Fri, 5 Feb 2016 16:58:06 +0000

With the success of the Internet in the United States, it’s easy to forget that 4 billion people around the world still lack access, including 80% of Africa. Evan is joined by Evelyn Smith, a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute and co-editor of TechPolicyDaily.com. They discuss mobile deployment in Africa, the role of regulation and censorship, and what net neutrality means to the developing world.

#15: Email Privacy

TechFreedom — Wed, 3 Feb 2016 18:14:34 +0000

How private are your emails? The answer may surprise you, as the law that governs much of our electronic privacy was written in 1986! It’s so outdated that law enforcement and government agencies can often read your emails without a warrant, despite Constitutional protections. Evan is joined by Chris Calabrese, Vice President for Policy at CDT. They discuss email privacy reform, why it’s stalling in Congress despite widespread support, and what states are doing to reform surveillance in the absence of federal action.

#14: Internet Taxes

TechFreedom — Tue, 2 Feb 2016 20:49:07 +0000

Ever since 1998, Congress has banned state and local governments from taxing Internet access. The Internet Tax Freedom Act has been renewed six times, and there is widespread bipartisan support for making it permanent. But that effort has hit a roadblock, as the bill is being held hostage by Senators who want to impose online sales taxes. Evan is joined by Katie McAuliffe, Executive Director of Digital Liberty. They discuss the Internet tax hostage crisis, the problems with online sales taxes, and what the FCC’s “net neutrality” rules have to do with broadband fees.

#13: Space Law! (Part 1)

TechFreedom — Mon, 1 Feb 2016 19:29:16 +0000

In this episode, space law! -- yes, it's a thing. Berin is joined by long-time space lawyer Jim Dunstan. They discuss the history of space law, the first opening pitch of a baseball game in space, and the future of NASA.

#12: Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things

TechFreedom — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 23:12:41 +0000

The hot topic at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show was connected devices: our cars, our refrigerators, and even our coffee makers having Internet connections. This presents a unique challenge to cybersecurity, as criminals and foreign governments will have even more ways to hack into our information. Evan is joined by Shane Tews, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. They discuss the “Internet of Things,” the “year of the hack,” and what 2016 will mean for cybersecurity.

#11: Uber and the Future of Work

TechFreedom — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 17:36:11 +0000

Uber, Lyft, and other sharing-economy companies are facing lawsuits all over the world, especially over the way they classify their workers. While the independent contractor model has driven much of their early success, it may not be the way of the future. Evan is joined by Jared Meyer, a research fellow at the Manhattan Institute. They discuss Lyft’s recent court settlement, a “third way” labor model, and ongoing efforts to unionize the sharing economy.

#10: Internet Coupons

TechFreedom — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 17:39:55 +0000

Companies have many ways of enticing and incentivizing customers, including through coupons. At the grocery store, this practice is uncontroversial. But in the digital world, zero-rating, sponsored data, and “Internet coupons” have caused an uproar, as critics say they violate net neutrality. Evan is joined by Roslyn Layton, a Ph.D fellow at Aalborg University in Copenhagen. They discuss the debate over zero-rating, its impact on the world, and the prospects for regulation.

#9: Binge On & Zero-Rating

TechFreedom — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:53:36 +0000

You might think that a company giving stuff away for free would be a cause for everyone to celebrate. But that isn’t the case with TMobile’s new unlimited video offering, “Binge On.” Evan and Berin discuss whether Binge On passes the “net neutrality” test, how TMobile landed in hot water with activists, and how this case will impact the future of sponsored data plans.

#8: Privacy Reform — or Digital Trade War?

TechFreedom — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 18:53:21 +0000

Since Snowden’s revelations about US surveillance in 2013, not much has changed — at least, for Europeans. Europeans are rightly outraged. Late last year, Europe’s highest court struck down a key 2000 agreement that allows tech companies to send consumer data across the Atlantic. Evan and Berin discuss how American can avoid a digital trade war with Europe by better protecting the privacy of Europeans — starting with the Judicial Redress Act, which stalled in the Senate yesterday.

#7: Uber Wars

TechFreedom — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 22:37:46 +0000

Uber is at war with regulators all over the country, especially in New York City. Evan is joined by Jared Meyer, a research fellow at the Manhattan Institute. They discuss Uber's spat with NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, how ridesharing relates to progressive values, and the changing nature of work.

#6: Democratic Debate

TechFreedom — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:09:52 +0000

What did the Democratic candidates have to say about tech policy in the most recent debate? Not much, but that didn’t stop us from giving some cheers and jeers! Evan and Berin discuss O’Malley’s defense of privacy, Bernie’s jab at tech companies for data collection, and Hillary’s common ground with Jeb! on encryption.

#5: GOP Debate

TechFreedom — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 23:34:41 +0000

Last night’s debate featured a major rift between Sens. Marco Rubio (FL) and Ted Cruz (TX) on the issue of government snooping on Americans. Evan and Berin discuss the Edward Snowden leaks, the election flare-up on surveillance, Jeb!’s chances of convincing Apple to break encryption, and the balance between cyber- and national security.

#4: DraftKings and FanDuel

TechFreedom — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 18:59:33 +0000

In Episode #4, we discuss FanDuel, DraftKings, and the somehow controversial world of fantasy sports. We examine the hodgepodge of local, state, and federal laws that govern online gambling, games of skill vs. game of chance, and what’s behind all the controversy. Evan is joined by Chris Koopman, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center. For more information on the latest developments in fantasy sports, check out http://fantasysports.mercatus.org/.

#3: SOTU Reaction & the Big Picture of Tech Policy

TechFreedom — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 21:49:57 +0000

In Episode 2, we discussed what President Obama SHOULD have said in his State of the Union Address—
In Episode #3 we examine what he ACTUALLY said, and the implications. We discuss mandates to report “terrorist activities” online, net neutrality, “universal service” subsidies and taxes for telecommunications services, whether America is really in decline, innovation as reason for optimism, the technocratic mentality of the Apollo program, the stagnation thesis, and specific opportunities for bipartisan compromise.

#2: State of the Union

TechFreedom — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 22:56:52 +0000

What SHOULD President Obama say tonight in his final State of the Union address? And what is he likely to say instead? Berin Szoka offers TechFreedom’s take.

He and Evan discuss encryption, the rise of tech policy in the presidential campaign, the good and bad news on surveillance reform, a coming clash with Europe over data flows, the first amendment, fourth amendment, and mass surveillance, making broadband deployment easier, the perils of regulating the Internet, and big data.

Along the way, Berin casually compares Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin.

#1: Introduction

TechFreedom — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 19:40:05 +0000

Who is TechFreedom? What do they do? Why should anyone care? In Tech Policy Podcast’s inaugural episode, host Evan Swarztrauber interviews President of TechFreedom, Berin Szoka. They discuss TechFreedom’s accomplishments, its history, and why TechFreedom is launching the only podcast focused on tech policy.