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December 2015

China defends new anti-terror cyber law

China’s state-run news agency fired back at US officials and other critics for denouncing a recently passed anti-terrorism law that requires technology companies to help Beijing authorities decrypt customer data. In an editorial, the publication Xinhua called the backlash “hypocritical,” arguing it “revealed double standards.”

China’s legislature approved the new law after months of debate over its draft form. While the law will force companies to help the government decrypt data, it does not include a controversial provision that would have required tech firms to submit all encryption codes for government approval. Still, the legislation drew criticism from the tech community and US officials. State Department spokesman Mark Toner expressed fears the law may “overreach.”

How the Internet of Things Limits Consumer Choice

[Commentary] In theory, the Internet of Things -- the connected network of tiny computers inside home appliances, household objects, even clothing -- promises to make your life easier and your work more efficient. Except when the companies that make these connected objects act in a way that runs counter to the consumer’s best interests -- as the technology company Philips did recently with its smart ambient-lighting system, Hue, which consists of a central controller that can remotely communicate with light bulbs. In mid-December, the company pushed out a software update that made the system incompatible with some other manufacturers’ light bulbs, including bulbs that had previously been supported.

The story of the Hue debacle -- the story of a company using copy-protection technology to lock out competitors -- isn’t a new one. Plenty of companies set up proprietary standards to ensure that their customers don't use someone else's products with theirs. To stop competitors just reverse-engineering the proprietary standard and making compatible peripherals (for example, another coffee manufacturer putting Keurig’s codes on their own pods), these companies rely on a 1998 law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA). For the Internet of Things to provide any value, what we need is a world that looks like the automotive industry, where you can go to a store and buy replacement parts made by a wide variety of different manufacturers. Instead, the Internet of Things is on track to become a battleground of competing standards, as companies try to build monopolies by locking each other out.

Verizon Chairman to FCC: LTE-U, Wi-Fi Can Coexist Now

Earlier in Nov, Verizon chairman Lowell McAdam met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to assure him that the company is committed to peaceful coexistence with Wi-Fi. Verizon has been part of a group that includes T-Mobile and Qualcomm -- pushing for deployment of LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U), which would be mobile broadband's answer to the Wi-Fi broadband hot spots that have become wired broadband's mobile play of choice.

In the meeting, according to an ex parte filing with the FCC, McAdam and other Verizon executives talked up their "strong commitment" to Wi-Fi and said that they continued to collaborate to ensure that LTE-U coexists successfully with Wi-Fi. Verizon does not need the FCC's permission to deploy the technology, but will need the FCC to sign off on the new Smart Phones that will be needed to receive it. Cable operators have told the FCC that, while they are not opposed to LTE-U, they are not convinced that it can be deployed without interfering with Wi-Fi.

Google is tracking students as it sells more products to schools, privacy advocates warn

In public classrooms across the country, the corporate name that is fast becoming as common as pencils and erasers is Google. But Google is also tracking what those students are doing on its services and using some of that information to sell targeted ads, according to a complaint filed with federal officials by a leading privacy advocacy group. And because of the arrangement between Google and many public schools, parents often can’t keep the company from collecting their children’s data, privacy experts say.

“In some of the schools we’ve talked to parents about, there’s literally no ability to say, ‘no,’” said Nate Cardozo, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Google, whose parent company is called Alphabet, pushed back against the criticism, saying its education apps comply with the law. But it acknowledged it collects data about some student activities to improve its products. "We have always been firmly committed to keeping student information private and secure," Jonathan Rochelle, director of Google Apps for Education, wrote defending its practices. Google declined to comment further. But privacy advocates warn that many school administrators may not realize just how much information Google is collecting or how it may be used beyond providing educational services. And for some parents, the arrangement is concerning.

The Obamanet Overreach

[Commentary] For the first 20 years of the Internet, entrepreneurs were free to focus on their computer code that changed everyone’s life. Now regulators are forcing technologists to cope with a different kind of code -- the legal system. Unlike the disciplined operation of digital software, the legal code depends on human willingness to obey its rules.

In Dec, the federal appeals court in Washington heard make-or-break arguments against new regulations micromanaging the Internet. The rules issued earlier in 2015 for the first time gave bureaucrats power to block new Internet products, services, pricing and technologies. These regulations violate the bipartisan congressional consensus retained since the Clinton administration to keep the Internet free of regulation. Ever since the Telecommunications Act of 1996, congressional policy has been to “preserve the vibrant and competitive free market” for the Internet “unfettered by federal or state regulation.” Federal judges are now deciding what to do about the Obama Administration’s scheme to get around Congress by pressuring the supposedly independent Federal Communications Commission to fetter the Internet through regulations designed more than a century ago for railroads and the telephone monopoly. Judges are hard to predict, so there is no guarantee that the appeals court, when it rules, will have the courage of Federal Judge David Tatel's conviction that agencies must operate independently. But by overturning the Obamanet regulations, judges would protect both the law and the Internet.

The 5 most important turning points for technology in 2015

[Commentary] Looking back, 2015 was filled with major moments in technology and media. Recapping the year this way -- looking back in order to look forward -- seems more fruitful than reviewing big news moments for their own sake.

1) Apple's support for ad-blocking: When Apple rolled out iOS 9 in 2015, it came with a notable new feature: A setting that lets users take greater advantage of mobile ad blockers.
2) Tesla's autopilot: The fact that some Tesla drivers were actually whipping down the freeway with their hands off the wheel in 2015 was an important milestone for driver automation.
3) Network neutrality: The Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules, which were approved in February and took effect months later, opened up a new chapter in Internet history.
4) The Paris attacks: The deadly terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015 prompted many security officials to call for greater powers to track suspects' digital activity.
5) The status of Uber drivers: You could pick any number of events in 2015 as turning points in what has become a wide-ranging fight over whether Uber drivers -- and other contract workers -- deserve the same workplace benefits as people who are employed full-time.

The biggest lobbying fights to watch in 2016

[Commentary] 2016 might not provide the same levels of legislative and leadership drama on Capitol Hill -- no House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to kick around anymore, spending caps to argue over (for now), or shutdowns in the offing (at least until September). But lobbyists are gearing up for some tough fights, nonetheless, the contours of which are already taking shape:

  • TPP, the sweeping trade deal reached in October between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations, is expected to be hotly contested, both from members of Congress and from a wide swath of interest groups. It will be the biggest showdown among lawmakers, interest groups and the White House in 2016.
  • Mega-mergers: Merger and acquisition activity reached a record high in 2015, with a number of industry leaders announcing proposed combinations, including health insurers Aetna and Humana, and Anthem and Cigna; beer giants Anheuser Busch InBev and SABMiller; and Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications.

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