December 11, 2024
Why Encryption Matters More Than Ever
In a remarkable shift that underscores the critical state of digital privacy, US officials are now actively encouraging Americans to use encrypted messaging apps for their communications. This recommendation comes after the “Volt Typhoon” attacks—attributed to a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group targeting US critical infrastructure, including communications, energy, and transportation sectors—and the “Salt Typhoon” attacks….
December 10, 2024
A Dangerous Trump CHIPS Challenge
The Biden administration has launched a crash effort to push out as much of the $39 billion in semiconductor manufacturing funds—appropriated under the CHIPS and Science Act—as possible before it leaves office. The reason? Donald Trump vowed to kill the program. On November 14, the Commerce Department announced details for a $6.6 billion grant to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing…
December 9, 2024
The DOJ’s Antitrust Remedies Aren’t Keeping Pace With the Market
There’s an image that haunts me, in a good way, because it visualizes a tendency that I want to avoid. It comes from a group of researchers at the University of South Australia that asked 1,036 people in the United States how they felt about music from across various decades. The people varied in age from 18…
December 9, 2024
America’s Two Singaporean Futures Under President Trump
“Tech” could push our society in two different directions in the forthcoming Trump administration. They could both be called the Singaporean model. But one could be an embrace of Singapore’s authoritarianism, while the other is an embrace of Singapore’s openness to real technological change. You could guess which I prefer. The inspiration for the instant…
December 6, 2024
Our Digital Future Went Off-Course Under Biden; Can Trump Put Antitrust Back in Line?
President-elect Trump faces a pivotal choice: continue the Biden administration’s ill-advised antitrust crusade against America’s leading tech companies, or chart a more balanced course that lets customer choice foster invention and growth. The stakes are high. If the campaign against digital companies creating uniquely valuable products, sometimes by acquisition, is successful, it will do…
December 5, 2024
Assessing the Rosenworcel Era: Lessons for Incoming FCC Chairman Carr
Blair Levin is one of telecommunications policy’s most respected elder statesmen. He served as chief of staff to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Reed Hundt, executive director of the National Broadband Plan, and played a key role for the Barak Obama transition team. His insightful commentary on tech issues, offered from his current perches at the…
December 5, 2024
Navigating India’s Digital Competition Landscape (with Shruti Rajagopalan and Shreyas Narla)
As India’s economic landscape evolves amid population growth, crafting regulations that foster progress is critical. But how can India leverage its advanced digital infrastructure and young workforce to drive innovation and create sustainable job opportunities? What regulatory reforms could help create an environment that encourages start-up growth and technological entrepreneurship? And how do proposed reforms…
December 4, 2024
Privacy and Property Smackdown
Can treating information as a form of property empower people to protect privacy using their property rights? Consider the following two quotes: Consumers and businesses—each in their way and for their purposes—withhold or hoard personal information, trade it, process it, profit from it, and enjoy other rights to personal information in the “bundle of sticks”…
December 3, 2024
Trump’s Misguided Battles Against CBS and 60 Minutes
Leading up to the presidential election, it was a spectator sport to watch media coverage trigger Donald Trump, provoking him to lash out in ways pandering to his political base. Prominent among the Trump-versus-media dustups was Bill Whitaker’s interview with Kamala Harris that aired in early October on 60 Minutes. Trump dubbed the interview a “giant fake news scam,” claiming CBS engaged…
December 3, 2024
The Price of Keeping Promises to Keep Australian Children Safe Online
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government made good on his September 10 threat to make Australia the first country to legislatively enforce a minimum age for social media access. In November, the communications minister Michelle Rowland introduced the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 to the House of Representatives in Canberra. Rowland stated that for too many…