Keeping politicians' hands off the Net & everything else related to technology
So I finally had a chance to read Beth Simone Noveck’s article on wiki-government about which Jim has previously posted. The idea is to take tools of mass collaboration that have given us Wikipedia and Linux and apply them to the development of policy. Like the encyclopedias and operating systems of the past, policy development [...]
This week I’m guest-blogging for Megan McArdle at the Atlantic. Here I take John McCain to task for his nonsensical position on warrantless wiretapping, and here I talk about the economics of free. Check it out at Megan’s blog, which you should really be reading whether I’m there or not.
I was hoping to comment on a UK Libertarian Party blog post called “Car Crash Cato,” but the blogger.com comment function has never worked for me: The CAPTCHA doesn’t display and/or I’m supposed to sign up for and log in to something. Thanks – I’ve got enough logins. The next first solution is to send [...]
Over at Ars, I discuss the implications of this week’s Autodesk decision: In a 21-page decision, Judge Jones sided with Vernor. Citing the 1977 case of United States v. Wise, which involved the sale of used films obtained under dubious circumstances, Jones found that the Ninth Circuit’s precedents suggested that the circumstances surrounding the sale [...]
As a result of New York’s new sales tax law, Overstock.com announced that it will bid adieu to its New York-based affiliates. 3,400 New York-based affiliate advertisers will no longer provide advertising for the company. In a previous blog post, I talked about how the New York legislature in April passed a law designed to [...]
From an interesting collection of economists, including L. Vernon Smith and Cass Sunstein, a paper calling for changes to facilitate the growth of prediction markets. Another paper on happiness research and cost-benefit analysis. “Opportunity cost, Opportunity Cost!” shrieks Ludwig von Lachman from beyong the grave. Here is a more questionable contribution from the more mainstream Herbert Hovenkamp. [...]
With Microsoft-Yahoo! going by the wayside, replaced by rumor and talk of a major transaction between Google and Yahoo!, it’s a good time to review some of the best industry analysis I’ve ever come across.
Twice in two days now, I’ve come across news articles using the term “Big Brother” to refer to private sector information practices that affect privacy. Big Brother is not an appropriate shorthand here. In his book 1984, George Orwell gave the name “Big Brother” to the oppressive government that observed and controlled the lives of [...]
Is it anticompetitive for Google to let Yahoo use some of its technology to earn more money in the search ad business if Google had 61.6 percent of the search market in April while Yahoo had 20.4 percent and Microsoft, 9.1 percent? It’s only anticompetitive if you believe search ad revenue is—and always will be—the [...]
May 16, 2012
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
