July 1, 2024
The ESG Proxy Advisor Game Starts to Crack
For many years “proxy advisory” services have been provided by a duopoly comprising two companies, Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, with a combined market share of 97 percent engendered by blatant political favoritism. “Proxy advice” means recommendations to investors, retirement funds and large asset managers holding major stakes in public companies on how to vote on…
July 1, 2024
The Haphazard Road to Rural Broadband
I recently got a message asking me what I thought about this Washington Times article by Susan Ferrechio on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. As part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed in November 2021, Congress set aside $42.45 billion to fund BEAD, whose goal was to help close the broadband gap. But Ferrechio’s article…
July 1, 2024
Competition in AI Regulation: Essential for an Emerging Industry
Competition is beneficial in many areas of life. It can lead to lower prices, higher quality goods and services, more innovation, and greater variety. When companies compete for workers, they may also improve working conditions and increase compensation. Healthy competition can also lead to good relationships between businesses, which can result in mutual benefits like networking and…
June 28, 2024
Securing the Web with Route Origin Authorizations
As part of the initiative to bolster cybersecurity defenses, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is championing the widespread adoption of Route Origin Authorizations (ROAs), a security mechanism to prevent cyber-attacks on the internet’s routing system. ROAs prevent unauthorized parties from hijacking IP prefixes or re-routing legitimate network traffic to malicious destinations. On June…
June 27, 2024
AI Regulation Increases Certainty—but for Whom?
Benjamin Franklin’s reputed last great quote, in his November 1789 letter to French scientist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, opined: Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable, but in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes. One of these certainties pertains to the realities of the physical world; the…
June 26, 2024
Challenging China’s Electric Vehicle Export Surge: US and Europe Diverge
China’s move to dominate the world electric vehicle (EV) market poses major challenges to the world trading system and, the US argues, to national security. While the policy responses are still unfolding, two models are emerging: a European response of economic retaliation mixed with offset accommodation and a US hardline reaction underpinned by both economic and security…
June 25, 2024
The Constitutional Problems with Social Media Warning Labels
Last week, United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthycalled for a “warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.” He contends it “would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe.” While Murthy’s desire to help minors and parents undoubtedly is sincere,…
June 24, 2024
The Lurking Dangers in State-Level AI Regulation
An ordinary bill signing became extraordinary last month when Colorado Gov. Jared Polis used the occasion to deliver a detailed critique of the bill he was signing, Senate Bill 24-205. The bill is one of the first pieces of legislation that regulates cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Still, Polis isn’t totally convinced that it’s ready for prime time:…
June 23, 2024
AI Regulation, Preemption, and Democracy
Sometimes a hearing about transparency ends up being about free speech. A recent meeting of the House’s bipartisan task force on artificial intelligence ended up being about democracy, for me. In tech and in general, I believe our country needs to slow or stop the aggrandizement of federal power that is eating away at our wonderful…
June 21, 2024
Overregulation Threatens the Digital Economy
America has a vibrant history of innovation and entrepreneurship. This heritage laid the foundation for today’s bustling e-marketplace and its unparalleled successes. Ninety-five percent of Americans participate, creating over 10 percent of US gross domestic product. Nearly three-fourths of small businesses credit ecommerce for their survival through the pandemic. Fifty-three percent reported in 2023 that most of their sales growth…