Keeping politicians' hands off the Net & everything else related to technology
This amazing video gives a few incredible statistics: 70% of Facebook users live outside the U.S. 550,000 Android devices get activated daily Twitter registers 300,000 new users daily — Lady Gaga is by far the most popular human being And my favorite: 35 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute; that’s 2100 days [...]
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended yesterday that states ban all non-emergency use of portable electronic devices while driving, except for devices that assist the driver in driving (such as GPS). The recommendation followed the NTSB’s investigation of a tragic accident in Missouri triggered by a driver who was texting. Personally I don’t see how [...]
I’ve reviewed many tech policy books here over the years, but have only found myself in agreement with a couple of titles. One of my favorites is “The Laws of Disruption” by fellow TLF co-blogger Larry Downes. [My short review is here] Larry does a terrific job documenting the technological forces (or “laws” as he [...]
Have you heard about 3D printing yet? Bre Pettis, founder of Makerbot, a company that sells a $1300 home 3D printer, was Wednesday night’s guest on the The Colbert Report. And back in April, Public Knowledge kicked off what’s sure to be a long public debate over the legal and policy questions raised by 3D [...]
Last week’s blockbuster LinkedIn IPO valued the company at nearly $9 billion, surprising many investors, especially given the company’s initial valuation of about $4 billion. While some analysts have pointed to LinkedIn’s valuation as evidence that we may be headed into another tech bubble (a la 2000), it’s important to remember that major tech IPOs [...]
There’s a nice piece of reporting from Ian Shapira in today’s Washington Post entitled, “Once the Hobby of Tech Geeks, iPhone Jailbreaking Now a Lucrative Industry.” In the article, Shapira documents the rise of independent, unauthorized Apple apps (especially tethering apps) and points out that what was once a small black market has now turned [...]
Venture capitalist Bill Gurley asked a good question in a Tweet late last night when he was “wondering if Apple’s 30% rake isn’t a foolish act of hubris. Why drive Amazon, Facebook, and others to different platforms?” As most of you know, Gurley is referring to Apple’s announcement in February that it would require a [...]
[Cross-posted at Truth on the Market] [UPDATE: Josh links to a WSJ article telling us that EU antitrust enforcers raided several (unnamed) e-book publishers as part of an apparent antitrust investigation into the agency model and whether it is "improperly restrictive." Whatever that means. Key grafs: At issue for antitrust regulators is whether agency models are improperly [...]
To believe some of the worrywarts around Washington, we find ourselves in the midst of a miserable mobile marketplace experience. Regulatory advocates like New America Foundation, Free Press, Public Knowledge and others routinely claim that the sky is falling on consumers and that far-reaching regulation of the wireless sector is needed to save the day. [...]
February 14, 2012
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
