Comments on: Beware the Era of Financial Regulation and its Spillover onto Tech Companies

By: Limbaugh on the Fairness Doctrine | The Technology Liberation Front

Limbaugh on the Fairness Doctrine | The Technology Liberation Front — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:31:33 +0000

[...] at TLF we often worry about government encroachment on the latest and greatest technologies. It seems that federal regulators [...]

By: bradencox

bradencox — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:52:56 +0000

Jules, thanks for your comment. I welcome the work that the FoPF (will you be calling yourself by this acronym?) will bring to the table to further a "best practices" approach toward the market for online ads and other data collection practices. I hope that you'll promote prescriptive regulatory intervention as a last resort (an end to which we're far from, IMO).

Steve, I wouldn't go as far to equate "innovation" as code for abusive business practices but the gist of your comment is spot on.

By: bradencox

bradencox — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:52:56 +0000

By: bradencox

bradencox — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:52:56 +0000

By: Jules Polonetsky

Jules Polonetsky — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:14:46 +0000

Cool! Jeff Chester says that the Future of Privacy Forum is promoting self-regulation to avoid legislative opt-in mandates and you have us promoting opt-in mandates as our main goal. The reality is that we are advocating for responsible behavior and consumer-centric data practices. We will be pointing out the many places where this particular eco-system isn't functioning in a way that is in the best interests of responsible business or consumers. The needed fixes are technical, self-regulatory and perhaps there will be gaps that need legal intervention. You and others in the policy world will have stronger opinions than I about the wisdom of the right mix of solutions, our focus will be helping provide some transparency about the actual practices in the field and to propose business practical steps that can be taken to advance trustworthy uses of data. We look forward to continuing to benefit from your ideas.

Jules Polonetsky
futureofprivacy.org

By: Steve R.

Steve R. — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:18:13 +0000

Braden, great summary: "Remember being in grade school when a classmate’s rabble rousing would ruin it for everybody, and the teacher would hold back the class from going to recess?" The financial industry abused it's freedom to act without regulation. Soon the proverbial axe will fall and the financial industry will suffer greater regulation. If the tech industry wants to avoid regulation, act responsibly even if that means somewhat less "flexibility" or "innovation", which have evolved to become code words for abusive opaque business practices.