October 9, 2024
Transparently Unconstitutional: California Strikes Out Again with Compelled-Speech Mandates
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit delivered an important First Amendment victory last month in X Corp. v. Bonta, ruling that Elon Musk’s company would likely win its free-speech challenge against California’s content-moderation disclosure statute. Ostensibly designed as “a pure transparency measure,” the law compels platforms to biannually report whether and how they define and moderate controversial forms of expression…
October 8, 2024
How to Get the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program Back on Track
The Biden administration’s flagship broadband initiative, the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, is facing mounting criticism. Launched with the promise of bridging America’s digital divide, BEAD has yet to connect a single household or business three years in. Many point to the program’s design and the bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the National Telecommunications…
October 7, 2024
Are Hurricanes Getting Worse?
That “climate change” — undefined and usually unquantified — is making weather patterns more adverse is a given among the chattering classes, but it always is useful to examine the actual underlying data. A prominent example appeared in a recent column in The Hill, in which reporter Rachel Frazin argues that “Climate change is making hurricanes like Hurricane Helene more…
October 4, 2024
DuckDuckGo’s Bold Play to Weaken Competition
Give DuckDuckGo (DDG) credit for its spirit. After 15 years of trying, the search engine ranks fifth globally. But it has stagnated and even DDG admits it isn’t on par with Google. Now, rather than innovating to surpass its competitors, DDG is asking the government to force Google to hand over the secret sauce that made Google the market…
October 3, 2024
The Future of Small Business Financing (with Anthony Matos)
How is technology revolutionizing access to capital for small businesses? What challenges do these businesses face in securing funding? And what broader role does technology play in improving their access to capital? On the latest episode of Explain to Shane, Shane interviews Anthony Matos, CEO and cofounder of Shubox, a platform designed to help small businesses access capital…
October 2, 2024
Online Platforms and the Wall of Separation Between Government and Private Action
The US Supreme Court’s 2024 opinions in Moody v. NetChoice, Murthy v. Missouri, and National Rifle Association v. Vullo collectively should make it harder for plaintiffs to treat social media platforms as state-actor defendants for removing content the government dislikes. As previously explained, these decisions were important in recent appellate court rulings rejecting claims by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his Children’s Health Defense organization that YouTube and…
October 1, 2024
Legislative Patent Reform Efforts Come Up Short—Yet Again
“The definition of insanity,” Albert Einstein supposedly said, “is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” If true, then the advocates of legislative patent reform must be certifiable. As I’ve detailed in this space, the thus-far quixotic efforts of lawmakers—led chiefly by the bipartisan tag-team of Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Thom Tillis…
September 30, 2024
The Central Trump and Harris Dangers Are Monstrous
Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris presidencies would engender political and policy outcomes monstrous in very different ways. Donald Trump is a thoroughly despicable man, a narcissist, and abject liar devoid of dignity and incapable of consistent behavior worthy of the presidency. Even now when a George Costanza-type “opposite” suppression of his instincts would advance…
September 30, 2024
Extending Years of Life Through Innovations in Drug Therapy
This summer I experienced a cruelty I hope no one should have to endure. On Saturday my mother passed away, just three months and two days after my dad did the same. I was in my office cubicle working on this newsletter when I got the news about my dad. He was a cancer survivor…
September 30, 2024
The Broadband Dilemma
Broadband accessibility has rapidly transformed into a modern-day essential, integral to our nation’s economy. However, some still do not have access to basic internet connectivity, which became more evident during COVID-19. As a result, government programs like the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program were created to expand internet connectivity to unserved…