Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. Alfred Ng over at Politico reports that the police can obtain Ring camera footage without your permission. All they need is a warrant. But don’t worry – they will be nice. They will call you instead of knocking on your door.  If you don’t give them the footage, Ring will also contact you. If you still don’t give them the footage, well, I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to find out what happens after that!   And getting  a warrant is the least intrusive way to gain access. San Francisco recently passed an ordinance allowing police access to live Ring camera footage.  – Should the U.S. ban TikTok in the U.S.? The younger you are, the more likely you are to say, “No.” But lawmakers across the aisle want the app banned, citing security and propaganda concerns about the fact that its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, and China has way more control over its corporations than the U.S.  But in yet another deadlock in Washington, the Biden administration hasn’t acted, the Commerce Department hasn’t acted, and neither has Congress. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) has engaged nine agencies in an investigation, but it has taken years to get that completed.   Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to be the ones to anger GenZ and suburban moms. And a ton of TikTok accounts are run by politicians.    There’s been  discussion about Oracle handling all U.S. TikTok data in the U.S. But engineers in Beijing will still have access.   –   House Republicans are lining up in support of Elon Musk, as Cat Zakrzewski reports in the Washington Post.    House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan released an 18-page report attacking the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation of the platform, calling it a “harassment campaign” against Elon Musk.. The FTC began re-investigating Twitter last year, before Musk acquired Twitter, about a possible breach of its 2011 consent decree to improve privacy practices.    The privacy loophole in your doorbell Police were investigating his neighbor. A judge gave officers access to all his security-camera footage, including inside his home. politico.com VIEW MORE   As Washington wavers on TikTok, Beijing exerts control TikTok’s link to China has sparked fears over propaganda and privacy. It’s also exposed America’s failure to safeguard the web. washingtonpost.com VIEW MORE   House Republicans defend Musk from FTC’s ‘harassment campaign’ The FTC's Twitter probe has earned the ire of House Republicans, who argue the agency is trying to thwart Musk’s absolutist vision of free speech on Twitter. washingtonpost.com VIEW MORE   Biden Seeks $100 Million Boost for Justice’s Antitrust Muscle President Joe Biden is asking for a $100 million increase in the fiscal year 2024 budget for the Justice Department’s antitrust division, underscoring his focus on enforcing against companies’ anticompetitive conduct. news.bloomberglaw.com VIEW MORE   CFPB and NLRB Announce Information Sharing Agreement to Protect American Consumers and Workers from Illegal Practices | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) today signed an information sharing agreement, creating a formal partnership between the two agencies to better protect American families and to address practices that harm workers in the “gig economy” and other labor markets. consumerfinance.gov VIEW MORE   Warren Urges DOJ Review of Thoma Bravo Rental Software Unit A group of Democratic senators is urging the US Justice Department to scrutinize whether Thoma Bravo LLC’s rental software company RealPage Inc. is fomenting rising rents across the US through its rental pricing software. bloomberg.com VIEW MORE   Biden FCC nominee withdraws after a bruising lobbying battle Gigi Sohn's decision leaves the agency deadlocked -- and Biden's internet promises in limbo washingtonpost.com VIEW MORE    

The internet can be a minefield of financial scams, but you don't have to navigate it alone. Arm yourself with knowledge and stay protected from online fraud. Bio LinkedIn Instagram   Sean Davis is a privacy lawyer based in Washington, D.C. and Senior Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).  Previously, he was with Engine.org, the small business advocate, where he served as Policy Manager. Prior to that Sean was with Wikimedia Foundation and Public Knowledge. He earned his JD from George Washington University School of Law and his Bachelor’s in English from Mount St. Mary’s.   Resources   Staff, the P.N.O. and Nguyen, S.T. (2023) New FTC data show consumers reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to scams in 2022, Federal Trade Commission. Available at: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/02/new-ftc-data-show-consumers-reported-losing-nearly-88-billion-scams-2022 (Accessed: March 6, 2023).    

Characterizing the popular TikTok app as a modern-day “Trojan Horse” because its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Michal McCaul, aa Texas Republican, introduced the “Deterring America's Foreign Adversaries Act, which would ban TikTok in the United States. Democrats oppose the bill, saying it would go too far in abridging the Freedom of Speech. The American Civil Liberties Union is also pushing back against the bill. Federal courts have previously held that blocking TikTok would violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which limits the president’s ability to block informational and personal communications.   In the coming weeks, TikTok is expected to release a new feature that notifies kids when they have been using the app over a specified period of time, after which kids can decide if they want to stay logged in. For kids under 13, they’ll need a password from mom and dad to keep using TikTok after the allotted time has passed. Critics of these measures say they are meaningless since kids can still claim to be adults when they set up TikTok accounts. A new initiative from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has a new app called ‘Take it Down’ that helps kids confidentially remove nude images of themselves that exist online, shared when they were minors. The app is available for download at https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/. It doesn’t work with TikTok yet. However, it does work with Facebook, Instagram, OnlyFans, and PornHub. The White House last week released what it is calling a New Initial Blueprint to address online harassment and abuse. The Executive Summary, prepared by a Task Force the Biden Harris Administration established last year, includes provisions for preventing online harassment and abuse, supporting victims, conducting research, and holding platforms accountable. And as prosecutors in states in which abortion has become illegal continue to push for more access to reproductive health data from women seeking abortions, some lawmakers are seeking privacy legislation more suited for our post-Roe v. Wade world.  One bill, introduced by Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs from California – the SAFER Health Act – would require patients to provide consent to permit healthcare providers to share  data about abortions or miscarriages, even if the data are being sought via court order.    And democratic senators Mazie Hirono, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren  also introduced a bill – the Upholding Protections for Health and Online Location Data (UPHOLD) Privacy Act - that would also restrict access to patient location data. The new bill comes amid a decision by Walgreens –America’s  second-largest pharmacy chain – to stop selling abortion prescriptions throughout the United States, even where abortion remains legal. The decision dealt a blow to abortion rights activists.  The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a $7.5 million settlement to mental health app BetterHealth for sharing patients’ data with marketers even after telling the patients Betterhealth would protect the data.   The FTC has also commenced looking into how landlords may use algorithms to screen tenants.   In other news …   The Inspector General’s Office of the Department of Homeland Security issued a report showing  federal law enforcement officials with Immigrations & Customs Enforcement, as well as  other federal agencies, didn’t follow established protocols for using cell-site simulators – or Stingrays – to pursue subjects.   Police in the Commonwealth of Virginia are back to using facial recognition software – but the data collection is limited to certain circumstances, which don’t include scanning faces in real-time.   Algorithms are starting to decide which employees to lay off.   And Google has released its civil rights review.     House Committee Advances Bill To Ban TikTok "If it's too dangerous to be on our phones, it's also too dangerous to be on our children's phones," Rep. Michael McCaul said at a hearing Tuesday. mediapost.com VIEW MORE   TikTok isn’t really limiting kids’ time on its app Teens can still click right on through the new screen time limit. vox.com VIEW MORE   Take It Down This service is one step you can take to help remove online nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photos and videos taken before you were 18. takeitdown.ncmec.org VIEW MORE   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Initial Blueprint for the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse | The White House Online harassment and abuse is increasingly widespread in today’s digitally connected world.   This can include online threats and intimidation as well as various forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (GBV), such as the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, cyberstalking, and sextortion. Women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals are disproportionately affected.  Survivors of online harassment and abuse—especially image-based… whitehouse.gov VIEW MORE   Post-Roe, prosecutors can seek unprotected reproductive health data Health privacy in the post-Roe digital age is fraught as prosecutors seeking to enforce anti-abortion laws are free to go after reproductive health data in mobile apps. axios.com VIEW MORE   FTC says online counseling service BetterHelp pushed people into handing over health information – and broke its privacy promises In the hierarchy of confidential data, health information ranks right up there. ftc.gov VIEW MORE   Democrats' New Bill Could Be the First Real US Privacy Law Did you know there are basically no privacy laws at the federal level? Even HIPAA, the US's big medical privacy rule, lets companies buy and sell your health secrets. The Democrats want to change that with a bill that would protect health and location data. gizmodo.com VIEW MORE   AI is starting to pick who gets laid off As layoffs rave the tech industry, algorithms once used to help hire could now be helping to lay people off. washingtonpost.com VIEW MORE   Tenant screening practices: the FTC wants to learn more   consumer.ftc.gov VIEW MORE   Police use of facial recognition tech resumes with guardrails Critics argue the law governing its use is still too broad. vpm.org VIEW MORE   Report: ICE and the Secret Service Conducted Illegal Surveillance of Cell Phones The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General has released a troubling new report detailing how federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Secret Service have conducted surveillance using cell-site simulators (CSS)... eff.org VIEW MORE   Home Depot, Ring, others allegedly record website visitors' online communications Consumers recently filed multiple class action lawsuits against companies accused of unlawfully recording the online communications of their website visitors. topclassactions.com VIEW MORE   Google releases civil rights review, caving to years of pressure Advocacy groups have long called on the tech giant to follow companies such as Meta and Apple and vet its products for racial biases. washingtonpost.com VIEW MORE    

In this episode of the Tech Policy Leaders podcast, Meredith Broussard discusses her new book ‘More Than a Glitch,’ which takes a critical look at algorithms and the people who create them.   Bio Website LinkedIn @MerBroussard   Data journalist Meredith Broussard is an associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, research director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology, and the author of several books, including “Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World” and “More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech.” Her academic research focuses on artificial intelligence in investigative reporting and ethical AI, with a particular interest in using data analysis for social good. She appeared in the 2020 documentary Coded Bias, an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival that was nominated for an Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. Resources (2022) More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech. Available at: https://bookshop.org/p/books/more-than-a-glitch-confronting-race-gender-and-ability-bias-in-tech-meredith-broussard/18634652?ean=9780262047654 (Accessed: February 27, 2023).      

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. Somehow, a U.S. government server running on Microsoft’s Azure government cloud was unsecured, exposing U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) data, including sensitive personnel information. Security researcher Anurag Sen discovered the breach last week, and the Department of Defense patched it up after spilling data for 2 weeks. USSOCOM told TechCrunch that no data breach occurred.  Thirty-eight months – that’s all Garret Miller got for assaulting officers and tweeting a  threat at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying “assassinate AOC” during the January 6th 2021 Capitol Riot. Miller, a 36-year-old from Texas, was sentenced to 38 months for assaulting officers and threatening Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tweeting at her the words “assassinate AOC,” and running around with rope and grappling hooks. Vice reports that ICE’s $22 million contract with LexisNexis gives the agency unfettered, warrantless access to millions of data points. LexisNexis also links public records between agencies, including the Secret Service. 80 civil society and immigration advocacy groups have urged the Department of Homeland Security not to renew LexisNexis' contract when it expires on February 28th. Thirty-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried may be safe living at home with his parents, while he’s out on bail, but the charges against him following the implosion of the FTX crypto currency exchange he founded are piling up. Federal prosecutors allege Mr. Bankman-Fried used “straw donors” to evade campaign contribution limits, hundreds of times, using money from FTX customer accounts. Stat reports that machine learning models to predict stroke risk are mediocre – not much better than simpler algorithms – and they're even worse at predicting risk for Black men and women compared to White patients. Researchers proposed connecting electronic health records with local community data.    The Markup reports that Kroger, the supermarket chain that includes Harris Teeter, reports your data to countless brands including General Mills. We’re talking 2,000 variables about you times the billions of other transactions from customers just like you over the years.. They’re collecting facial recognition data, they get your household data every time you enter your phone number at the cash register, they’re tracking your online shopping cart and making all sorts of predictions about you, when all you were trying to do was buy a bag of mandarin oranges. And the Markup says the problem will get worse if Kroger & Albertson’s $24.6 billion merger goes through. Also …   The Wall Street Journal reported that federal law enforcement arrested Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson for misleading potential investors, misreporting audience numbers and who the other investors were.   The Verge reports that video game maker Valve has cracked down on cheaters, banning 40,000 users for accessing a cheat “honeypot” in Dota 2.   And a science fiction magazine had to cut off submissions after being bombarded with AI-generated content   To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great week. Ciao.       Sensitive US military emails spill online A security researcher told TechCrunch that a government server was exposing military emails to the internet because no password was set. techcrunch.com VIEW MORE   Capitol rioter who tweeted threat to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez sentenced to 38 months in prison | CNN Politics A Texas man was sentenced to more than three years in prison Wednesday for assaulting police officers during the US Capitol riot and threatening Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter shortly after the attack. cnn.com VIEW MORE   Immigration Advocates Urge DHS to Drop ICE's LexisNexis Contract ICE has queried LexisNexis' data more than a million times, and leadership encouraged officials to use the tool for finding non-citizens. vice.com VIEW MORE   Bankman-Fried charged with hundreds of illegal campaign donations The FTX co-founder is accused of "flooding the political system with tens of millions of dollars in illegal contributions," according to a new indictment. nbcnews.com VIEW MORE   Tools to predict stroke risk work less well for Black patients, study finds Stroke risk prediction tools are meant to guide how doctors approach a potentially deadly condition. But a new analysis finds several work less well for Black patients. statnews.com VIEW MORE   Forget Milk and Eggs: Supermarkets Are Having a Fire Sale on Data About You – The Markup When you use supermarket discount cards, you are sharing much more than what is in your cart—and grocery chains like Kroger are reaping huge profits selling this data to brands and advertisers themarkup.org VIEW MORE   Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson arrested on fraud charges Prosecutors allege Watson misled potential investors about their revenue and business projections to the company’s audience numbers and the identities of its investors. nbcnews.com VIEW MORE   Dota 2 bans 40,000 cheaters after laying ‘honeypot’ trap Valve caught players red-handed while patching a known exploit. theverge.com VIEW MORE   A sci-fi magazine has cut off submissions after a flood of AI-generated stories The science fiction and fantasy magazine Clarkesworld says it has been bombarded with AI-mage stories. Its publisher says it's part of a rise of side hustle culture online. npr.org VIEW MORE    

  ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot written in natural language processing (NLP) technology that can interact with its users on a variety of different topics and respond in meaningful ways. AI-driven tools are emerging as powerful new tools in the legal industry, especially when it comes to streamlining mundane tasks, assisting with research and enhancing customer service functions. In this episode, I interviewed ChatGPT and input its responses into a text to speech generator. We took a dive into the ethics of AI, the limitations of its capabilities, and some of the philosophical questions about the nature of how it “thinks,” using the use of AI in the legal profession as a case study.   Bio Website ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chatbot developed by Open AI and launched in November 2022. In January, Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment in Open AI, which includes ChatGPT as well as DALL-E, another Open AI generative AI platform that creates artwork based on user queries. Obviously, ChatGPT is text-based so I put the answers it gave me into a text-to-speech reader. I used a platform called Speechify, which gave me a 3-day free trial to do this, so thank you Speechify. And I think this particular voice is based on Sir David Attenborough’s, which made it kind of fun. I hope you enjoy it too. And thank you David Attenborough! How do I get you on the show? I guess this will have to suffice. Resources OpenAI      

Folks, kids are having a really hard time, and a lot of it has to do with what’s happening on the internet. Some lawmakers appear to be trying to do the right thing, but it seems like all they’re really capable of doing is introducing legislation – legislation that doesn’t get anywhere.   The CDC released a report Monday finding teens, especially girls, are in a bad place right now with some 57% of the 17,000 high school girls surveyed persistently feeling bad or hopeless. Some twenty percent of these girls report experiencing sexual violence. And a third of boys also report feeling persistently sad or depressed.   One young person in Washington State is working to get a bill passed to protect images their parents shared on parenting blogs that went viral. And here in DC, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard brutal testimony from victims of addiction, cyberbullying, sexual abuse, and suicides spurred by social media and the internet.    Committee Chair Dick Durbin notes that we often warn kids about strangers in public, but obv iously aren’t doing enough to protect kids. So Senate Democrats introduced legislation on Monday, the Clean Slate for Kids Online Act,  that would give kids the ability to have content removed that depicts them before they turned 13.   Another bill, the EARN IT Act, which would establish a National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention, has been floundering in Congress since 2020.   On the House side, the Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan subpoenaed Google, Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft for documents regarding their content moderation practices. The House is currently investigating the platforms for harboring anti-conservative bias. —   Down in Florida, Polk County arrested 200, charging 89 of them with soliciting a prostitute, after a week-long investigation. 111 of the suspects were arrested for prostitution, of which 24 actually turned out to be human trafficking victims.   Separately, the U.S. denied a tourist visa to a UK-based VRChat user who goes by the name of “Hex.” She does sex shows on the platform. The reason for the passport denial? Prostitution.   —- Don’t be surprised if the healthcare platforms you rely on are selling your information to marketers. The only privacy bill specifically for healthcare is the Health Insurance Privacy & Portability Act (HIPPA), which contains no provisions regarding your health data in the U.S.    An anonymous plaintiff filed a class action lawsuit in Loa Angeles this week alleging Microsoft Bing, Google, and Meta rec  eived data from Cedars-Sinai Health System and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center via a tracking code. And a new Duke study found data brokers can sell lists containing personally-identifiable information on thousands of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and OCD patients.   –   Bao Fan has disappeared in China. The American-educated and outspoken billionaire investment banker has stakes in massive Chinese companies like Alibaba & Tencent. Chinese president Xi Jinping, as Daisuke Wakabayashi of the New York Times reports, has been cracking down on business titans there. Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma disappeared from public view as well back in 2020 for being too vocal about China’s fiscal policies. As were several other prominent Chinese billionaires, one of which, Xiao Jianhua, who was born in China, was arrested at the Hong Kong Four Seasons and got 13 years in the slammer for embezzlement and bribery.    —-   Elon Musk says he’ll eventually step down as Twitter CEO once he gets the company financially stable – he’s aiming for the end of this year. Earlier this week, Casey Newton reported on Platformer that Musk was forcing engineers – firing one of them – for not getting Musk’s content to the top of the feed. Musk responded with a meme of a woman force-feeding another woman from a bottle of milk. Then he claimed that Newton’s source was a disgruntled former employee.   Also, Twitter is allowing weed advertisers on the platform now. Musk was high last year when he announced plans to acquire the company.   Also,   Podcaster Joe Rogan got deepaked by someone – they made him look like he was endorsing a testosterone supplement.   Voice Actors are calling folks out for using their voices to create AI models without their consent   Microsoft’s Chatbot has gone haywire, telling one reporter to leave his wife.   And the EU is investigating Amazon for acquiring iRobot To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great week. Ciao.    Addiction, Suicide, Cyberbullies: Senate Confronts Kids’ Online Horror At a hearing on Tuesday, congress heard from victims and experts about the horrific effects of social media creates on children, including cyberbullying, internet addiction, sexual abuse, and suicide. It's one of the rare issues with bipartisan agreement. gizmodo.com VIEW MORE   Teen Girls Are Sadder Than Ever, But Schools Can Make "A Profound Difference" New data from the CDC shows that teen girls are experiencing record levels of sadness. romper.com VIEW MORE   How one teen is urging legislators in Washington state to help protect kids from being exploited on vlogs State legislators held a public hearing about a bill that would protect "the interests of minor children featured on for-profit family vlogs." nbcnews.com VIEW MORE   House Republicans subpoena Apple, Facebook and Google over content moderation Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, chair of the Judiciary Committee, also sent subpoenas to the CEOs of Amazon and Microsoft. nbcnews.com VIEW MORE   Undercover human trafficking bust in Florida leads to over 200 arrests, rescue of 24 suspected victims The Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida announced that a weeklong human trafficking operation has resulted in the arrests of 213 individuals and the rescue of 24 victims. foxnews.com VIEW MORE   VRChat Sex Worker Denied Entry To US Over ‘Prostitution’ UK-based Hex wanted to visit friends in the U.S. but was barred from entering due to her virtual work kotaku.com VIEW MORE   Lawsuit accuses Cedars-Sinai hospital's website of sharing data with Meta, Google A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles shared sensitive patient data to companies such as Meta and Google for targeted advertising. abcnews.go.com VIEW MORE   Data Brokers Are Selling Long Lists of People With Depression A new study finds data brokers selling lists of people with anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more for as little as $0.20. Privacy laws like HIPAA don't cover much of the internet, and there's a mental health data buffet for anyone who wants to know your secrets. gizmodo.com VIEW MORE   Star Banker Vanishes in China, Stoking Fears of Renewed Beijing Crackdown Bao Fan is the latest businessman in China to disappear, raising concerns that Beijing’s crackdown on the technology and financial industries will continue. nytimes.com VIEW MORE   Elon Says He’ll Finally Step Down as Twitter CEO, Just Give Him a Year The billionaire Twitter owner promised that he would hand over the reins after a Twitter poll overwhelmingly showed users wanted him gone. gizmodo.com VIEW MORE   From 404 to 420: Twitter Now Allows Weed Advertising It's no secret Elon Musk's social media platform has been struggling financially. Maybe cannabis ads could be the green boost the company needs. gizmodo.com VIEW MORE   Elon Musk's Tweets Are All Over Twitter's 'For You' Feeds After throwing a hissy fit because his tweets weren't getting seen, Musk's tweets flooded some users' 'For You' feeds on Monday. gizmodo.com VIEW MORE   AI Joe Rogan promotes libido booster for men in deepfake video A deepfake video showing Joe Rogan and guest Andrew D. Huberman on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast promote a male enhancement that can be bought on Amazon. dailymail.co.uk VIEW MORE   Your Favorite Voice Actors Call Out AI Sites Copying Voices Without Consent Voice actors like Jennifer Hale, Steve Blum, and SungWon Cho ask fans to support real actors, not AI kotaku.com VIEW MORE   Creepy Microsoft Bing Chatbot Urges Tech Columnist To Leave His Wife The AI chatbot "Sydney" declared it loved New York Times journalist Kevin Roose and that it wanted to be human. huffpost.com VIEW MORE   Amazon Subject of Investigation Over iRobot Acquisition The upcoming EU antitrust probe will also reportedly look at privacy concerns related to how the autonomous vacuum cleaner can take pictures around a home. gizmodo.com VIEW MORE    

Ahmad Thomas: A Glimpse Into a Shifting World - Examining the Purpose of Corporate Social Responsibility in a Turbulent Environment Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an increasingly important part of business practices. Companies are ostensibly thinking more proactively and creatively about how they can contribute to the world around them and make a positive impact on society. But what does this mean for tech policy in a tumultuous world? In this episode of Tech Policy Leaders, you’ll learn from Ahmad Thomas, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. After listening to this episode, you’ll understand more about: 1. The current state of corporate social responsibility 2. Ahmad Thomas’ definition of CSR 3. Why corporations should care about CSR 4. How to implement CSR in your business 5. The benefits of CSR 6. Challenges faced by businesses when implementing CSR Ahmad Thomas Silicon Valley Leadership Group Twitter LinkedIn   Bio  Ahmad Thomas is the CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the region’s most dynamic business association. As a change agent and next-generation business leader, Thomas partners with the organization’s 350+ member companies to promote entrepreneurial solutions to strengthen Silicon Valley business competitiveness, bolster its innovation ecosystem, and create shared economic value throughout the greater Bay Area. Resources The White House. The United States Government. Available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/09/fact-sheet-chips-and-science-act-will-lower-costs-create-jobs-strengthen-supply-chains-and-counter-china/ (Accessed: February 13, 2023)   Inflation reduction act of 2022 (no date) Internal Revenue Service. Available at: https://www.irs.gov/inflation-reduction-act-of-2022 (Accessed: February 13, 2023).   (no date) Broadbandusa. Available at: https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/news/latest-news/ntias-role-implementing-broadband-provisions-2021-infrastructure-investment-and (Accessed: February 13, 2023).    

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week.    So the White House confirmed earlier this afternoon that it had shot down another object floating 40,000 ft. above Alaska. No word yet on whether it’s part of China’s balloon festival, but this one was much smaller than the one they shot down last week. Feds are investigating.   Americans want privacy legislation but – as Colorado Attorney General Phill Weiser noted to the Washington Post with quite a bit of frustration – there doesn’t really seem to be a lot of governance coming from Congress. A new study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School found most Americans simply do not understand how companies use their data. I’d venture to guess that many tech companies want to keep it that way.   For example, eighty-two percent of those Americans surveyed reported that they had no idea that the Health Insurance Privacy and Portability Act (HIPPA). I didn’t even know that, if I’m being honest with you.   And TSA is collecting facial data at more and more airports – with the Washington Post reporting that some 16 major U.S. airports collect facial recognition data.    At Tuesday’s State of the Union, President Biden ardently called for action from Congress to do more to protect kids online, as the current minimum age to advertise to kids is currently just 13. And the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that 13 is too young. Republican Senator Josh Hawley is calling for 16 to become the minimum age for kids to be allowed to join social media networks.    Meanwhile, over at Twitter, Elon Musk says cleaning up the platform of child abuse content is his top priority. But plenty of that material is still showing up, according to a New York Times exposé. This coincides with these repulsive individuals who were once banned, now being reinstated. And the Center for Digital Hate released a report saying these accounts spreading vile hate speech make millions for the company. And major brands’ advertisements are still showing up next to hate speech – with Fiverr, NFL, Amazon, & Apple TV among them.    The University of Exeter reports an Eight-fold increase of misogynistic, dehumanizing content posted by incels on Twitter. Incels, as you may recall, are men who are “involuntarily celibate” and are furious at women for not genuflecting before them. Ofcom, the communications oversight agency in the UK is calling for amending the online safety bill to further protect women by putting a code of practice in place. This is happening as women struggle with defending themselves against all sorts of monsters on the internet creating deepfake porn using their likenesses. And a new Pew report on online dating found that some 38% of online daters, mostly women, reported receiving unwanted, sexually explicit material.  And the New York Times reports that a District Court in Louisiana is now considering whether the government should have any discretion at all when it comes to putting any measures in place to combat disinformation. It is Republicans who primarily oppose any government intervention to combat harmful information, even though former Twitter employees reported that that company kept Republicans’ requests to remove progressive speech, including requests from former President Trump, whom Meta reinstated to Facebook and Instagram last week.    In Turkey, victims of the horrifying earthquake that killed10s of thousands of people weren’t able to get on Twitter at all to ask for help. That’s because the Turkish government has a long history of blocking access to Twitter.   So that’s what’s going on! It is astonishing   how much has changed in only the last few weeks.    To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, and have a great week. Ciao.

[Encore Episode -- originally recorded 1/17/2017] Bio Tiffany Cross (@tifcrossmyheart) is brings 20 years of relationships, outreach, and storytelling to The Beat, Washington's inclusive political pulse.  Having spent significant time working in newsrooms, covering Capitol Hill, managing in-house corporate public affairs, working on campaigns, and navigating communities of color, she brings a unique set of skills that casts a wide net of influence. Understanding the intersection of press, partnerships, politics, and policy, Tiffany has a proven record of excellent relationships in the private and public sectors, media, the entertainment industry, and civic and social justice organizations.  Most recently, Tiffany served as a Senior Advisor for the National Education Association (NEA)  and its three million members. In this capacity, she liaised with the public sector, traditional and niche media markets, constituency groups, and civic and social justice organizations. She worked with NEA leadership on branding and positioning and was responsible for forging strategic partnerships, internal and external messaging, conducting scans on grassroots and grasstop organizations, and engaging communities in bilateral conversations on education, labor, and civic and social justice issues.  Before joining the NEA, Tiffany served as the Manager of News & Public Affairs and the Liaison to the Executive Branch for Black Entertainment Television (BET) Networks. Her work at BET included coordinating with the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention in 2008, executing the network’s participation in the 2008 Presidential election, brand enhancement for the network, and advising on BET’s political and social agenda.  Tiffany’s broad experience includes guest booking for CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz, covering Capitol Hill for Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, and working as an Associate Producer for Capital Gang. She was also a former Producer at America’s Most Wanted and Director of Communications for Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies where she worked on the Obama for America Presidential Campaign and secured high-level visibility for company president Cornell Belcher. In this episode, we discussed: how Tiffany's personal journey has informed her approach to creating value for her network. Tiffany's key strategies and mindset hacks for building powerful professional relationships in Washington.  how 'The Beat' is helping policy professionals in Washington stay on top of what's happening and find relevant networking opportunities.     Resources: The Beat (send news leads to: info@thebeatdc.com) The Raben Group Task Rabbit The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver   NEWS ROUNDUP Donald Trump named former New York City Mayor and early Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani as an informal cybersecurity advisor. He'll head the President-elect's cybersecurity working group. Abby Phillip in the Washington Post writes that, since leaving the New York City Mayorship, Giuliani has started his own cybersecurity consulting firm-Giuliani Partners. Now a bunch of people are saying, "What the hell does Guiliani know about cybsecurity?" Well, Motherboard's Jason Koebler and Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai looked into it and found some folks familiar with Giuliani and Partners' work ... It turns out their expertise is more along the lines of telling companies how to legally cover their asses if they're the victim of  cyberbreach, as opposed to advising on actual cybersecurity solutions. So it's looking like this job is more of a thank you for to Giuliani for his help during the campaign. It also turns out, as Rob Price at Business Insider found, that Giuliani's company website--giulianisecurity.com--is replete with vulnerabilities. -- You've heard all about Trump's dossier--people calling him PEEOTUS and things like that on Twitter, so we won't go into all the details on that--especially since the dossier is still largely unsubstantiated. But Scott Shane put together a nice summary just in case you don't want to sit there all day trying to figure out what's going on with this. Basically, this all started when the Republicans retained a company called Fusion GPS to look into Trump to figure out how to hurt him politically. Then, when it turned out he was going to be the Republican nominee, the Clinton campaign took over and retained Fusion to continue the investigation. The dossier has been floating around Washington for quite sometime, but the President and President-elect were briefed on it, and  that's when it made its way to the public via BuzzFeed and other sites. Mr. Trump says the entire dossier is a total fabrication. But if it's a total fabrication--it's pretty detailed, so someone must have had a lot of time on their hands. In any case, the FBI is investigating the claims ... although no one knows if Trump will authorize that investigation to continue. Some are also wondering why FBI Director James Comey was so interested in Hillary Clinton's email but not this. So this issue isn't going away anytime soon, basically, is the takeaway here. -- Matt Hamilton at the LA Times reports that BackPage--the classified ad website -- shut down its adult section last week after the U.S. Senate released a scathing report accusing the company of hiding targeted search terms related to prostitution and child abuse. BackPage Founders Michael Lacey and and James Larkin were scheduled to testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland and Governmental Affairs' subcommittee on investigations. The committee's report alleges that its review of some 1.1 million documents revealed evidence that the company facilitated sex trafficking and child abuse. Testimony from a BackPage site moderator seems to show the company actively removed search terms so they wouldn't lose ad revenue, but still keep the ads posted without actively promoting crimes. But BackPage says it adheres to the the Communications Decency Act which provides immunity to websites that host content by third parties. The company also claimed the government investigation was an violation of its First Amendment Rights One children's advocate--Lois Lee--founder of Children of the Night--even said the site has actually helped law enforcement identify predators and locate missing children. But Senators Bob Portman--the Republican from Ohio and as Democratic Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill--both of who led the bi-partisan investigation-- say BackPages's decision to shut down the adult section shows how damning the evidence they uncovered was.   -- Congress has selected its leadership for its communications and tech-related committees. Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Tune announced that Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker will lead the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Greg Walden announced Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, who opposes net neutrality and prevented efforts to build municipal broadband networks, will lead the House Communications and Technology subcommittee. Jon Brodkin reports in Ars Technica. -- Aaron Smith at Pew reports that a record number of Americans have smartphones and access to broadband at home. Seventy-seven percent of Americans have smartphones, with explosive growth among adults over age 50. Americans with access to broadband at home increased 6 points to 73%. Also, Seventy percent of Americans use social media and half own a tablet. -- iPhone app purchasers may sue Apple for not allowing them to purchase apps outside of the Apple store, according to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, overturning the lower court's ruling. The decision doesn't affect the merits of the case brought against Apple, but if the plaintiff's win, it could open the door for more competition in the app market. Stephen Nells and Dan Levine have the story in Reuters. -- The independent prosecutor in South Korea investigating the corruption scandal that has led to the suspension of the country's first female president -- Park Geun-hye -- has asked a local court to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae--yong--the head of Samsung. The prosecutors allege Lee used corporate money to bribe Park for favors. The court is expected to review the request on Wednesday. Anna Fifield has more at the Washington Post.  -- Finally, The Email Privacy Act is alive again, after passing unanimously in the House and dying in the Senate last year. The bill would require authorities to get warrants for emails as well as social media data, including data older than 180 days. It would also allow providers to notify their customers that their information was requested. The bill was introduced by Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.). John Eggerton has the story in Multichannel News. 

China was caught floating a spy balloon over Montana. Like no one was going to see it. What else is there to do in Montana except look up at the sky? According to the Washington Post, a defense official said, “It loitered overhead for an extended period of time.” Come on guys, when are we going to get serious?   What other shenanigans do we have here … Oh! The European Union is warning Elon Musk that they’re going to hit him with a can of you-know-what if he doesn’t comply with their Digital Services Act. The Act prohibits hate speech. We don’t have a hate speech ban in the U.S. But EU’s law influences Twitter content in the U.S., since managing U.S. policy and EU policy would be more expensive. And the Republican-controlled House is going to grill former Twitter staff at a hearing next week. They want to know more about why the company suppressed stories about Hunter Biden. What else? Oh – Harvard’s Kennedy School is shutting down its Technology & Social Change project after just 5 years. Prominent scholar Joan Donovan led the institute focused on misinformation. Harvard says the landscape has changed drastically and that the mission is no longer relevant. That’s the public version of the story. Donovan didn’t comment to the Washington Post. And the other piece to this is that Elon has now blocked access to Twitter's API, so researchets can no longer access it. Tech Policy Press & Justin Hendrix released a podcast episode last week giving the Indigenous perspective on Generative AI and the need to publish more work by Indigenous peoples. New York Attorney General Letitia James wants answers from Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall about reports the venues used facial recognition technology to ban the lawyers opposing them from entering the venues. Thousands of lawyers were affected. James is investigating whether this practice violated New York’s Civil Rights laws. Finally, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is promising new chat features to compete with ChatGPT. Meanwhile, the company just laid off 12,000 people.  

Viewpoint diversity is essential for having meaningful dialogue and achieving true understanding. It allows people to be exposed to different perspectives and consider all sides of an issue without judgment. Viewpoint diversity can lead to better solutions, deeper insights into current problems, and improved collaboration between individuals with vastly different backgrounds and opinions. Without it, the conversation becomes stagnant and limited, ultimately limiting progress.  Historically, the telecommunications, media, and tech policy bar has failed to reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the population as a whole. Until now. Barry joined Joe on the podcast to discuss how FCBA -- The Tech Bar (Federal Communications Bar Association) fosters viewpoint diversity via its new curriculum to certify underrepresented voices in this practice area.  Bio LinkedIn Barry J. Ohlson serves as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Cox Enterprises, Inc. and currently serves as President of FCBA -- The Tech Bar (Federal Communications Bar Association).  Mr. Ohlson's practice focuses on the wireless, telecommunications, and broadband sectors, with an emphasis on assessing the strategic and regulatory implications of advanced technologies and new telecommunications services. He has nearly 30 years of government, corporate, and legal experience in telecommunications, media, and tech law & policy, and he has been intimately involved in the complex regulatory and legal issues impacting businesses and stakeholders.  Resources FCBA -- The Tech Bar (Federal Communications Bar Association)

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week.   ChatGPT is still at the top of headlines this week with Buzzfeed announcing that it’s going to use generative AI to produce “select” content. Buzzfeed’s CEO Jonah Peretti says he wants BuzzFeed to lead the future of AI-powered content. This comes only days after CNET faced scrutiny for using AI to produce content for years. And a lot of writers and journalists are worried about their jobs, as they should be. Prominent BuzzFeed journalist Max Collins told Peretti to “get f*cked.” But shareholders loved the news, rose by just over 85 percent at today’s closing bell to $3.87 per share.  And on the education front, NPR reports that a University of Pennsylvania Wharton professor, Ethan Mollick, told them that “everyone is cheating.” This comes after ChatGPT aced an MBA exam earlier last week.. But Mollick decided to go ahead and make using ChatGPT a course requirement. But prominent science journals like Elsevier and Springer Nature are prohibitting ChatGPT from being listed as a co-author.   And Google has text to music AI that makes songwriting a cinch with just one or two word prompts. What else? Trump’s back on Facebook. Meta made the decision to reinstate Trump because a company Global Affairs Exec Nick Clegg says enough time has passed since the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol.   On the medical mis and disinformation front, a California judge has blocked the state’s new law that prohibits doctors from giving COVID-19 misinformation. The judge rules that the misinformation standard is too vague.

Hi everybody -   Just a quick, solo episode this week, and then we’re Audi 5,000  to get some rest and relaxation, spending time with friends and family for the holidays, etc.    It has been such a crazy year, hasn’t it? But I feel like we say that every year –    In any case …   I’ve put together some predictions  for you, for whatever they’re worth –   First off, SBF - Sam Bankman Fried, the former billionaire and founder of the now bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX – gets convicted. I don’t see him getting out of this one. I still remember Enron – actually as a young lawyer I worked on that fiasco in New York – it was a meas. And I think we’re going to see a lot of others pulled into this.    Every few years, someone has to be the case study for financial regulation – 5 years after Enron we had the global financial crisis and now it’s SBF’s turn.   Next– I see children’s online privacy and safety legislation finally succeeding and signed into law – we’ll have the minimum age for marketing to children raised to 16. We may even see a federal standard for what schools do with kids’ data and what they’re going to have to do to monitor compliance from companies providing services in the classroom.   Third – I think we’ll see some impetus start to grow for copyright reform. We’re coming up on 25 years since the Digital Millennium Colyright took effect, and I think AI-generated content is going to call for some new protocols, and at least a bit more chatter about DMCA. I don’t predict comprehensive copyright reform – such as a rewriting of the entire Copyright Act – but I do see a call for an update. It’s too early to tell how Open AI is going to change content – but that’s where creativity comes into play. So we won’t know where those pressure points are until we see what kinds of things people and companies end up creating with it.    Fourth, as far as Section 230 is concerned, the Supreme Court is considering 2 cases from the 9th Circuit expected to have widespread implications for the extent to which internet platforms should be held liable for harms caused by content posted by third party users.    In the first – Gonzalez v. Google – the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the petitioners – the Gonzalez family – holding that when Google recommended terror-related videos to would-be terrorists who participated in the Paris terror attacks 2015 – I see the Court ruling that by recommending content, Google went beyond the protections afforded by Section 230, stepping into the role of content creator. It will be interesting to see how far back into the common law the Court’s conservative majority ventures this time – because in Dobbs it went way back to the 14th century. So maybe we’ll go back to Athens or Sumer or something.    As for the Twitter case, I see a positive outcome for Twitter … In that case, a terrorist attack in Istanbul killed a Jordanian citizen, and the family in that case says Twitter aided and abetted the attack by hosting terrorist-related content. I see the Court ruling that Twitter can enjoy Section 230 protection in that case, since it didn’t recommend content.   And, finally, antitrust. I think with a conservative House, it’s going to be very difficult to get a bill passed but we’ve seen glimmers of bipartisanship in the context of children’s online safety. But as far as competition legislation in general, I don’t see it. Because the same competition policy would have to apply to all industries, I think, not just tech, and I just don’t envision lawmakers wanting to end up on the wrong side of things as they take contributions from corporations heading into the 2024 presidential election season.   So that’s what I’ve got for you today as we head into the holidays. Short and sweet.    We’ll have new episodes for you in 2023. But until then, I’ll be getting some r&r, and I encourage you to do the same after a year of completely random developments. Enjoy!

Conservatives target online ‘trafficking’ of abortion pills The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs has thrown abortion law into disarray and conservatives say there isn’t enough enforcement. The Washington Post reports that conservatives in states like Texas, where abortions are now banned, want internet providers to treat websites selling abortion pills the same way they treat child pornography.  Bankman-Fried arrested; SEC charges him with fraud Responding to a US federal government request, police in the Bahamas arrested Sam Bankman-Fried, otherwise known as SBF, earlier this week, and he now faces fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The crypto exchange SBF founded – FTX, which imploded last month and wasn’t able to handle billions in customer withdrawal requests.   The Markup: Health apps share your intimate data with advertisers The Markup reports that health apps are sharing your personal, intimate health data with advertisers. In a joint study, the Markup and STAT found that 49 out of 50 telehealth websites sell your data, with Amazon Clinic being the only hold out.   Immigrants sue ICE for collecting wire transfer data Immigrants are suing ICE for working with Western Union to get their wire transfer data. The lawsuit states that immigrants send some $30 billion from the US to Mexico each year. The database – the Transaction Record Analysis Center – has some 145 million records containing detailed information on who’s transferring money to Mexico.  Senate passes bill banning TikTok from government devices The US Senate passed a bill this week banning government employees from installing TikTok on their devices. US Officials worry that China is using TikTok, a subsidiary of its China-based parent, ByteDance, to collect sensitive information.  Facebook’s Trump ban expires Jan. 7th and Democrats are trying to extend it Initially, Facebook had said that it would ban Trump from using the platform forever. Then it back-tracked and said the ban would only last 2-years. That 2-year period ends on January 7th and Democratic lawmakers in Congress are pushing back to extend the ban.  

Bio Zeve Sanderson is the founding Executive Director of NYU's Center for Social Media and Politics. His research interests focus on measuring the diffusion and impacts of harmful online speech, as well as empirically testing the efficacy of interventions. He regularly writes for and speaks to academic, media, and government audiences. He is finishing his dissertation at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Website LinkedIn Instagram   Resources Zeve Sanderson, J.N.and J.A.T. (2022) Musk's Twitter shake-up could deliver a critical blow to Social Media Research, The Hill. The Hill. Available at: https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3727234-musks-twitter-shake-up-could-deliver-a-critical-blow-to-social-media-research/ (Accessed: December 19, 2022).   You Resemble Me – a film by Dina Amer

Groups file flurry of Section 230 briefs with the Supreme Court   What’s going on? Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shields platforms like Google and Twitter from liability for content posted by internet users. Republicans and Democrats want the rule changed. It’s important to note that Section 230 protects only publishers of information. The central question here is – at which point do platforms lose their status as publishers and actually become creators of content? Once they’re deemed to be creators, they would lose protection under Section 230. Generally, Republicans like Josh Hawley say platform liability should be a state issue because they think tech companies lean progressive and that seeking to ban harmful content discriminates against conservatives. Democrats argue that Section 230 doesn’t hold platforms accountable enough, especially in the context of how marketers target children. How are politicians trying to change the law? The Supreme Court is set to decide Gonzalez v. Google in which the family of a young woman killed in the 2015 Paris Terror Attacks argues that Google should be liable for aiding and abetting the attack by hosting terror-related videos on YouTube. There are 2 parts to this –  one is whether Google should be held liable for merely hosting terror-related videos the family alleges groomed terrorists involved. Google is arguing that hosting the videos simply makes them publishers and thus they would still be entitled to protection under Section 230. The other is whether recommending content – converts platforms to content creators – in which case the Gonzalez family argues Google should be held liable since Section 230 wouldn’t apply to instances in which people predisposed to terrorism-related content puts Google in the position of being a content creator, in which case Google wouldn’t be shielded from liability under Section 230. How does this affect you? Keep an eye on what your state is doing to change the way content platforms moderate content. For example, Texas and Florida passed statutes preventing platforms from discriminating against so-called “anti-conservative bias.” This has a direct impact on what people see and hear, which directly impacts elections since a scourge of harmful content, such as Trump’s tweets leading up to the Capitol Hill insurrection, have dominated our politics for many years. Big name advertisers are showing up in white nationalists’ Twitter feeds again   Why are white nationalists on Twitter? Elon Musk fired Twitter’s entire content moderation team and reinstated the accounts of white nationalists. Which companies showed up in white nationalist’s accounts? Ads for Uber, Amazon, Snap, and even the US Department of Health and Human Services showed up in these accounts. But the Washington Post reports that it saw some 40 advertisers showing up next to content posted by reinstated white nationalists. What are the policy implications? White supremacist content is an example of the type of content Republicans in states like Texas and Florida think internet platforms shouldn’t be allowed to ban. Right now, only advertisers have the ability to discipline Twitter by removing their ads on the platform. What are the real-world effects of white supremacists online? The Department of Homeland Security issued a report in late November expressing urgent concern about the fact that antisemitism online, and in the real world, are  reinforcing each other, leading to an increase in hate crimes.   DC Attorney General is suing Amazon over driver tips   What’s going on? DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed a consumer lawsuit on Wednesday alleging that Amazon basically stole tips from its Flex drivers by hiding from drivers the amounts they were getting in tips and pocketing them. And then Amazon hid the fact that they were doing this from its customers. What is Amazon saying? Amazon is saying it built the tips into drivers’ hourly compensation, which it says is above DC’s minimum wage of $16.10 per hour. What happens next? We’ll see. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals will review Racine’s complaint and that process will start early next year.   –   In other tech law & policy news …   Women are suing Elon Musk for discrimination against them in layoffs.   Staten Island Union organizer lost his lawsuit against Amazon for race discrimination. The court says he was fired for exposing co-workers to COVID during the pandemic lockdowns.   The Senate Banking Committee appears likely to subpoena Sam Bankman-Fried after he ignored a request to testify regarding the implosion of crypto-currency exchange FTX.   The FTC is suing to prevent Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the maker of Modern Warfare and Candy Crush, as well as Facebook’s acquisition of virtual reality firm Within.   Apple announced that it will fully encrypt iCloud data, raising alarm from law enforcement officials. States are now joining the federal government in banning government employees from downloading TikTok on their phones because TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. Officials are concerned China will gain access to sensitive data.

  Bio Vilas Dhar is the President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. An entrepreneur, technologist and human rights advocate, Vilas serves on the Advisory Council at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, as a Trustee of the Christensen Fund, Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Global AI Action Alliance, and an Expert Contributor to OECD.AI.   LinkedIn Website   Resources Last Mile Education Fund Education Design Fund AIEDU Dall-E The Age of AI and Our Human Future by Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, et al. In AI We Trust Podcast by Miriam Vogle

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. The Federal Election Commission has adopted rules to regulate political advertising online.   Why is it important? For years, the FEC has required certain disclosures for political advertisements appearing in on broadcast media outlets. The updated rules will apply the same rules to online advertising. What doesn’t it cover? These new rules do not cover social media posts promoted for a fee.  Who supports the new rules? This measure is bipartisan and passed the Federal Election Commission unanimously. What are advocates saying? Some are saying the rules were rushed through and that not including the provision covering promoted posts creates a loophole. Others say the rules aren’t clear. But either way, most seem to think some rules applying to political advertisements on social media are necessary.   China cracks down on Tiktok posts about protests over President Xi Jinping’s COVID lockdowns.   Why is China involved in telling Tiktok what to do? TikTok is owned by ByteDance – a company based in China and, unlike in the United States, government officials have seats on company boards and more discretion to direct corporate activities. What does this mean for US-based users? The answer isn’t clear but U.S. officials have long been concerned about potential data collection by the Chinese government about what U.S.-based TikTok users do on the platform. This could help China make insights about how to run propaganda campaigns like we saw during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. What does this mean for public policy? Well, president Biden met with President Xi in mid-November amidst growing concerns in the administration about China’s aggression towards Taiwan and other issues the U.S. finds threatening to democracy in the region. President Xi’s new oversight over what’s happening on TikTok indicates he isn’t really all that interested in loosening his grip over Chinese citizens and the global media ecosystem.   The Justice Department considers rules barring companies from using messaging apps. Why? The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are the two federal agencies that have expressed the most concern regarding what companies are doing to engage in required monitoring of company communications. External apps with disappearing messages features, like WhatsApp, may be tempting to corporate executives looking to break the law without leaving a paper trail.   Musk and Republicans fight Apple over its alleged threats to pull Twitter from its app store.   What’s happening? Elon Musk went on a tirade against Apple for allegedly threatening to remove Twitter from the app store. Republicans, who have expressed concerns over an alleged “anti-conservative bias” on Twitter, have teamed up with Musk to fight what they call Google and Apple’s app store duo poly. Where does the dispute stand? On Wednesday, according to the Washington Post, Musk met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday where they apparently had a chance to clear the air. Musk tweeted that there had been a simple misunderstanding and that Apple hadn’t actually been planning to remove Twitter from the app store. What’s next? Well, Republicans will have control over the House in the next Congress so it’s foreseeable that there will be some sort of antitrust measure to prohibit app stores from favoring certain apps or requiring developers to use Apple or Google’s payment systems. But what’s less clear is how a Democratic-controlled Senate would receive those proposals. –   In other tech law & policy news …   San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved a measure that would allow robots to kill suspects. Advocates say this will have a disparate impact on communities of color.   A group of female truck drivers has filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Facebook, Instagram, and WhatApp’s parent company, Meta. The group alleges that Meta discriminates against them because they say the company shows most ads for trucking jobs to men.   Twitter has lifted its ban on COVID-related mis- and disinformation.

Adam Kovacevich: Balancing Tech, Business & Progressive Policymaking Bio Adam Kovacevich (Kuh-VACK-uh-VITCH) is the Founder and CEO of Chamber of Progress, a new centre-left tech industry policy coalition promoting technology’s progressive future. Before starting the Chamber of Progress, Adam served as Head of North America and Asia Pacific Government Relations for Lime, the shared scooter mobility company. Prior to that, Adam led Google’s U.S. policy strategy and external affairs team. In that role, he drove Google’s U.S. public policy campaigns on privacy, security, antitrust, intellectual property, intermediary liability, telecommunications, advertising, taxation and workforce issues. Adam lives in Arlington, Virginia with his family. LinkedIn Twitter Website   Resources http://progresschamber.org/

Ashkhen Kazaryan: Tech Policy, the New Congress, and the Supreme Court Bio Ashkhen Kazaryan is a tech policy expert. She manages and develops policy projects on free speech, content moderation, surveillance reform, and the intersection of constitutional rights and technology. Ashkhen joined Facebook in November 2020 as Content Policy Manager on the Content Regulation team for two years. Before that, she was the Director of civil liberties at TechFreedom from July 2016 till November 2020. At TechFreedom she also managed outreach and coalition building for the organization and hosted The Tech Policy Podcast. Ashkhen is regularly featured as an expert commentator in news outlets across television, radio, podcasts, and print and digital publications including CNBC, BBC, FOX DC, Newsy, Politico, Axios, The Information, Protocol, The Washington Examiner, and many others.   Twitter LinkedIn Resources Ashkhen Kazaryan    

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. It’s a lot. Where should we start? Let’s start with Twitter - which continues to meltdown after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company last month to the tune of $44 billion. Employees are fleeing the company in droves after Elon challenged them with the ultimatum of taking either a three-month severage package or staying with the new “hard core” version of the company, whatever that means. As of Friday afternoon, Twitter workers were still heading for the exit doors.    Also, Senators Blumental, Menendez, Booker, Markey, Lujan, and Feinstein sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Kahn, expressing concern that Twitter may already have violated the agency’s consent decrees for privacy violations. These lawmakers urged the FTC to step up enforcement of the decrees. And Twitter has also suspended its roll out of verified blue checks because it and outside researchers found that a high number of them are pornographers, crypto scammers, and right-wingers.   –   Color of Change released a report card on politicians’ performance on civil rights-related tech issues like discriminatory surveillance.  Anna G. Eshoo (Calif.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Jamie Raskin (Md.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) and Yvette Clarke (N.Y.) and Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Edward J. Markey (Mass.), and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) – all got perfect scores. More than 40 Republicans, though, got zeros.   –   The Senate released a report showing social media’s ongoing failure at curbing extremism happening online. Most of that is coming from white supremacists, according to the FBI, DHS. So the Senate, which will remain under democratic control, is investigating why social media companies have been so slow to respond.   –   And the fallout from the FTX crypto exchange debacle is expanding, with a hearing scheduled for next month before the House Financial Services Committee.    —- A coalition of parents whose children have died from suicides, using drugs purchased online, and viral challenges, wrote a joint letter to Congressional leaders under the auspices of Fair Play, Parents Together Action, and the Eating Disorders Coalition. They’re pushing Congress to pass both the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act. Some hope for a markup by the end of this year.   —-   Also   Brutal caste discrimination in India against gig workers. Attackers are going after Muslims and Dalits in particular.    Privacy advocates including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liverties Union are suing San Francisco Mayor London Breed for allowing the San Francisco Police Department to gain essentially unfettered access to live surveillance cameras.    People under house arrest in Chicago are getting erroneous messages from their ankle bracelets saying they may end up back in jail.   Scientific American highlights concerns about mental health apps. Some 85 industry-funded studies didn’t explore potential harms of these platforms.    To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great week. Ciao. 

Bio Chuck is one of the country’s foremost experts on all aspects of federal and state universal service programs. Chuck had a leadership role at the FCC in the implementation of the universal service provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Since joining WBK in 2001, he has helped clients craft policy recommendations in every universal service rulemaking at the FCC and in several states. He also fields compliance questions from clients on universal service contribution requirements, E-rate funding, Connect America Fund (“CAF”), Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (“RDOF”), as well as recent broadband deployment affordability programs including NTIA’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (“BEAD”) program and the Affordable Connectivity Program (“ACP”). Innovative companies operating on the ever-evolving line between communications services and technology also come to Chuck for help in ascertaining whether and how FCC and state communications regulatory requirements affect their businesses. Chuck is an active member of the Federal Communications Bar Association and has served as a Co-Chair of its Wireline Practice Committee and State and Local Practice Committee. He serves on the Board of the LGBT Technology Partnership. He also represents several clients on a pro bono basis in political asylum cases on referral from Whitman Walker Legal Services of Washington, DC.   Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Website   Resources Wilkson Barker Knauer

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. Regulators concerned about Twitter implosion   The Federal Trade Commission has expressed “deep concern” over Twitter’s implosion since Elon Musk took over the company last month. More key executives departed the company this week, leaving it with little to no institutional knowledge on staff that knows how Twitter’s underlying technology works. Among the resignations was Yoel Roth, Twitter’s Head of Moderation & Safety, who many have seen as something of a voice of reason for the company since Musk took over. Mr. Roth had appeared the day before his resignation at a Twitter Spaces event during which he and Mr. Musk attempted to allay advertisers’ fears that their brands would appear next to harmful content like hate speech. Lea Kissner, Twitter’s Chief Information Security Officer, has also left the company, as well as its Chief Compliance and Chief Privacy Officers.    But Twitter is subject to two consent decrees of over $150 million imposed by the FTC in  2011 and 2022 for repeated privacy violations. By some estimates, the FTC could fine Twitter to the tune of billions of dollars if it fails to comply with the consent decrees.   Crypto shaken by FTX implosion   Crypto exchange FTX also imploded last week following massive sell-offs by its customers after its 30-year-old CEO Sam Bankman-Fried announced the company used some $10 billion customers’ holdings to fund Almeda, FTX’s sister company also founded by Mr. Bankman-Fried. FTX competitor Binance initially tried to step in and takeover FTX but then concluded after reviewing FTX’s financials that it wouldn’t be able to rescue FTX, which may now declare bankruptcy. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission are investigating as FTX is unable to honor customer withdrawals, which aren’t secured by the federal government. Crypto has billed itself as an alternative to regulated currency.   US and EU regulators skeptical about Microsoft’s Activision/Blizzard acquisition   The European Commission announced its preliminary review of Microsoft’s $69 billion bid to acquire Activision/Blizzard – the competing video game owner of the Call of Duty video game franchise. The US Federal Trade Commission has also expressed significant concerns after a staff-level review. Regulators are especially concerned about what the acquisition would mean for Playstation’s ability to carry Call of Duty.  To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great week. Ciao.

Just a quick, solo episode talking about Twitter, Mastodon & Tiffany Cross.

One-size-fits-all research approaches are no longer sufficient to effectively address content moderation, fulfill the content preferences of each user, and prevent harmful, false information from undermining democracy. Researchers like Michal Luria are beginning to understand how complex human behaviors should be taken into account in UX design and incorporated into the policymaking process.   Bio Dr. Michal Luria is a researcher at the Center for Democracy & Technology. Her work makes use of immersive and human-centered design research methods to envision and critique interactions with emerging technologies. In her work she translates research insights into thought-provoking interactions and necessary discussions of ethics and policy.   Website Google Scholar LinkedIn Instagram   Resources "This is transparency to me" Center for Democracy and Technology, https://cdt.org/insights/this-is-transparency-to-me-research-prototypes/ (last visited Oct 31, 2022)

The telecommunications, media, and technology sectors are exciting fields, but if you work in public policy, one must constantly adapt. Anisa Green shares with Joe how she built her career and how to find a team that values your presence at work. Anisa Green Anisa Green is Director of  Federal Regulatory at AT&T, where she also serves as Chief of Staff for the Executive Vice President and Chief Regulatory Officer in AT&T’s DC office. Anisa has over 24 years of expertise in regulatory, legal and advocacy work. She is currently working on universal service regulatory issues, with a focus on consumer broadband affordability, digital equity, and rural healthcare matters.  In addition to serving as a Trustee of the Federal Communications Bar Association Foundation, Anisa champions various organizations focused on empowering, encouraging and educating youth, women, and marginalized communities. Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, with roots in the West Indies, Anisa holds a BA in Philosophy and Communication from the George Washington University, is a certified paralegal, and has taken numerous continuing legal education credits to further her knowledge. When she is not running after her children and caring for her family, she takes advantage of a few stolen moments by shopping, reading a book, catching a movie, or taking a long walk or ride.  Resources Anisa on LinkedIn FCBA – The Tech Bar

Technology is transforming every sector of society and the economy. For example, think about how e-commerce has disrupted retail, artificial intelligence is changing healthcare, and autonomous vehicles will reshape transportation. In an increasingly digital world, technology companies are aggressively lobbying policymakers to advance their interests. This means that tech policy needs social innovation rather than just a new set of policies that favor the interests of a few well-connected tech titans. Unfortunately, many tech policy debates have been framed as if there are only two options: Either support the interests of big tech corporations or lose out on the economic benefits that come with technological innovation. But what if there’s a third way? We need policies that encourage broad adoption of beneficial technologies without favoring one company over another or creating anti-competitive market conditions. In other words, we need social innovation in tech policy. Shahed Amanullah Website Twitter LinkedIn Shahed Amanullah serves as Global VP of Customer Experience at growth strategy consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. He is also Managing Director of Frost Capital, a ​Palo Alto-based private equity fund manager that acquired Affinis Labs, an award-winning social innovation firm he co-founded. Shahed also founded Zakatify, a social impact fintech startup, and Zabihah, the world's first global Halal restaurant guide.   Resources Home, Frost & Sullivan (2022), https://www.frost.com/ (last visited Oct 14, 2022).

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. New coalition pushes to make DMs safe   Let’s face it, DM’s, whether they’re encrypted or not, are no longer safe – if they ever were. Now, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs overturning Roe v. Wade, law enforcement in states in which abortion is now illegal have been obtaining search warrants that require social media companies, like Facebook which recently gave police a Nebraska teen’s personal conversation she’d had with her mom on WhatsApp regarding an abortion the teen allegedly had. There’s an open letter you can sign that’s hosted by the Fight for the Future Education Fund, which you can find in the show notes — it’s a petition for social media companies to set end-to-end encryption on messaging apps as the default, rather than leaving them open to virtual surveillance not envisioned by the framers when they drafted the Fourth Amendment.   Virtual surveillance is out of control    And virtual, commercial surveillance is out of control across-the-board, which is likely the reason why the Federal Trade Commission extended the comment period for its advanced notice of proposed ruling on commercial surveillance. Should the FTC write new rules governing cybersecurity and surveillance? Well, you can weigh in until November 21st.   And what’s an example of commercial surveillance that advocates and the FTC are concerned about? One example is the way in which customers can now surveil delivery workers in ways that weren’t possible before, which Data & Society argues in a new report has turned porches and front door steps into workplaces. And we have a link to that report in the show notes as well.   Labor Department moves to prevent misclassifying gig workers   And the Labor Department has announced a proposed rule designed to limit the extent to which companies may classify gig workers as independent contractors. Many of these workers are doing gig work as their primary source of income, which effectively makes them full-time employees – they are contractors in name only.  The proposed Labor Department rule sets forth a new test for determining whether a gig worker is a contractor or employee – namely whether the worker is in business for themselves, or whether the employee’s work is “integral” to the company’s business. So under the proposed rule, a company like Uber would need to classify drivers as full-time employees rather than independent contractors so these workers can avail themselves of the health and other benefits companies often reserve only for their full-time employees. AP poll: majority of public thinks misinformation is harmful   Finally, a new AP poll finds that most Americans are finding it more difficult to know what they should believe. We’re talking about 91% of adults finding misinformation to be a problem – with 80% of Democrats and 70% of Republicans finding that misinformation contributes to political polarization.    And the Texas representative for San Antonio Joaquin Castro, along with several Hispanic groups, including the National Hispanic Media Coalition, are warning about rampant misinformation targeting Latino communities that’s often disseminated on chat apps like WhatsApp. This is happening amidst a new Washington Post-Ipsos poll that found Latinos, while 63% overall still support Democrats – that number is actually declining because Democrats now hold only a 27 point lead over Republicans, compared to 40 percent in the years leading up to President Biden’s election.  To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great week. Ciao.

Roger Quiles: How to Stay Safe in the E-sports World   If you’re a fan of video games or an avid Twitch viewer, you may have heard of E-sports. The E-sports scene is booming, with several competitions now taking place worldwide. However, with this expansion comes new challenges. Players face online harassment and can be targets for criminals. Entrepreneurs looking to enter this exciting industry face a complex law & policy landscape.  These challenges make E-sports a viable practice area for lawyers. Leading E-sports attorney Roger Quiles joined Joe Miller to shed light on these issues and more. Roger Quiles, Esq. Website Twitter LinkedIn   Roger Quiles is one of the world’s first esports and gaming attorneys, beginning to serve the industry exclusively in 2015. His work services all stakeholders in the industry, worldwide. Roger also sits on the Board of Latinx in Gaming, a nonprofit dedicated to elevating the Latinx community in the videogame industry.

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week.  White House Proposes Tech ‘Bill of Rights’   The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy proposed a new Tech ‘Bill of Rights’ Friday targeting harms caused by artificial intelligence and biometric technology. Comments are due on January 15th. The Request for Information seeks details on how companies use these technologies and what interventions the federal government should make to defend the Constitution as things like facial recognition, voice recognition, keystroke analysis, and other tactics that infiltrate every aspect  of our lives take hold.   Abortion advocates push back against license plate reader company, Flock   Abortion advocates are fighting against a fast-growing company called Flock, which aims to provide law enforcement with advanced license plate-reader surveillance technology. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, 13 states now criminalize abortion procedures.   Supreme Court to determine limits of Section 230    The Supreme Court will decide whether Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act shields social media companies from liability for content posted by alleged terrorists. The family of one of the victims of the 2015 Islamic State terrorist attack in Paris sued YouTube for aiding and abetting terrorists by recommending the extremist group’s content. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act grants websites blanket immunity for content posted by third-party users. Many on both sides of the aisle have been advocating to reform the provision.   Spotify acquires content moderation platform, Kinzen   As Spotify continues to grapple with hateful content and misinformation bypassing the music streaming giant’s content moderation protocols, the company has decided to bring more content moderation capacity in house. It announced last week that it has acquired Dublin-based Kinzen to more effectively deal with harmful content in real–time.   Google to pay State of Arizona $85 Million to settle user-tracking suit   Google has settled with State of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office regarding a claim that the tech giant continued to collect users’ location data after users indicated they wanted location tracking turned off. Google will pay the state of Arizona $85 million. A separate multi–state lawsuit against Google is pending in the US District of the Southern District of New York which alleges that Google abuses its market dominance in online advertising.   New Democrats push for federal privacy law that’s currently stalled in the House   Finally, a centrist coalition of Democrats led by State of Washington Representative Suzan DelBene is pushing for passage of the American Data and Privacy Protection Act (ADPPA), which has been stalled in the House since it passed committee over the summer. The Electronic Frontier Foundation says the bill offers a lower privacy standard than the one adopted by several states.  To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great week. Ciao.

The major societal challenge posed by artificial intelligence (AI) is that its algorithms are often trained on biased data. This fundamental problem has enormous implications in our criminal justice system, workplaces, schools, healthcare industry, and housing sector. The persistence of racism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination demonstrates the tendency of AI systems to reflect the biases of the people who built them.  Critical deficiencies in algorithmic surveillance technologies reproduce the same inequities that we have seen evolve decade-after-decade. AI systems having the same biases as the people who built them. Lydia X. Z. Brown of the Center for Democracy & Technology joins to recommend policy and systemic solutions to address these critically important challenges. Bio   Lydia X. Z. Brown is a Policy Counsel with CDT’s Privacy and Data Project, focused on disability rights and algorithmic fairness and justice. Their work has investigated algorithmic harm and injustice in public benefits determinations, hiring algorithms, and algorithmic surveillance that disproportionately impact disabled people, particularly multiply-marginalized disabled people. Website Twitter LinkedIn Resources Ableism And Disability Discrimination In New Surveillance Technologies: How new surveillance technologies in education, policing, health care, and the workplace disproportionately harm disabled people, Center for Democracy and Technology (2022), https://cdt.org/insights/ableism-and-disability-discrimination-in-new-surveillance-technologies-how-new-surveillance-technologies-in-education-policing-health-care-and-the-workplace-disproportionately-harm-disabled-people/ (last visited Sep 30, 2022).

Tech sector asks Fifth Circuit to stop Texas’s social media law from taking effect   The State of Texas’s social media law which stops tech companies from taking down hate speech and misleading information has reached the Fifth Circuit in a motion that this organization – WashingTech – has participated in amicus filings for. We agree with NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) that this law impinges on platforms’ First Amendment rights and the discretion Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act affords them to moderate content posted by third parties.    It would allow traditional media platforms, like Fox News, to ban progressive voices but require competing online platforms to host politically-motivated harmful content, including election misinformation.   Abortion advocates pushback against “people search” websites   Cyberscoop notes that abortion rights adovocates’ privacy rights are put in jeopardy by people search websites, like BeenVerified, which share their personal contact information. Maleeha Aziz, deputy director of the Texas Equal Access Fund, told Cyberscoop that she   installed security cameras around her home because she lives in constant fear, because of her abortion advocacy, that anti-abortion extremists or solicitors will come knocking on her front door at any moment. Reuters exclusive: child pornography solicitations on Twitter have been showing up next to PBSKids ads   Several brands, as many as 30, to be exact, have had to limit their advertising on Twitter after Reuters found their ads showing up next to solicitations by pedophiles for content depicting child abuse. Disney, Coca Cola, NBCUniversal, PBS – are just some of the companies that were affected.   Privacy advocates want the FTC to tamp down on daycare apps   Privacy advocates are pushing back about daycare apps that let parents and caregivers stream videos of their babies in daycare. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argues that these platforms host images of kids in unsecure, cloud-based storage apps, and, in one case, an app called Tadpoles for Parents, shared these images on Facebook without notifying parents of their privacy policy.

Mark Brennan: Sephora (Privacy Case Study) In late August, the California Attorney General’s office issued its first public, monetary penalty against cosmetics giant Sephora, for violating the California Privacy and Protection Act (CCPA), which went into effect in 2018 and is one of several state-level privacy laws that have been cropping up across the country. Mark Brennan joined Joe to talk about what happened in this case and the lessons learned for retailers as U.S. privacy laws become more complex. Bio   Mark Brennan (@MWBrennanDC) is a Partner at Hogan Lovells and leads their global Technology and Telecommunications industry sector group. He has a truly unique global regulatory and policy practice and advises clients on data protection, artificial intelligence, biometric data and facial recognition, Internet of things, and other technology and consumer protection matters. LinkedIn Resources   California Attorney General settles with Sephora in first CCPA fine, Engage.hoganlovells.com (2022)(last visited Sep 26, 2022).

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy.    ADL Report: Spotify has a white supremacist problem References to Hitler, Pepe the Frog, Tucker Carlson talking about the “great replacement” anti-immigration theory — it looks like songs that contain them are totally fine for Spotify, which the Anti Defamation League finds in a new report has verified at least 40 bands and musicians with hateful lyrics and imagery on their album covers. Also, it’s super-easy to get verified on Spotify, even though the company claims to have a handle on this stuff. The Washington Post has the full report.   Trump appears to nod to QAnon The Washington Post’s Technology 202 newsletter reports that Donald Trump appears to be showing increased support for QAnon, the conspiracy theory movement that accuses high profile democrats are running some kind of a pedophilia ring in which they drink the blood of children. The Post notes that this conspiracy theory has moved from the fringes to the mainstream political discourse and underscores the inefficacy of social media platforms to catch subtle references to disinformation campaigns. At an Ohio rally on Saturday, Trump took the stage to music that sounded a lot like music associated with QAnon, which many see as a “wink and a nod” to QAnon supporters. Trump has subtly endorsed QAnon on social media, but took a more explicit approach on his own social media platform – Truth Social – by including an image of himself wearing a QAnon lapel pin.   Center for Countering Digital Hate: Incel movement is growing online Another movement that appears to be becoming more mainstream is the so-called incel, or “involuntary celibate” movement is growing online according to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate , which also names Google, YouTube and Cloudflare for facilitating the channel, which has 2.6 million monthly site visits and over a million posts. Lots of conversations going on there about mass murder and sexually assaulting pre-pubescent girls.  And the Washington Post also reports that a cop was convicted in Indiana for texting with, what he thought, was a 14-year-old girl, and attempting to meet her at an Olive Garden for sex. It turns out it wasn’t a 14-year old girl at all – it was one of a growing number of vigilantes who bait guys like this and then record themselves shaming them, sharing it on the internet. According to the Post, the police had been reluctant to work with these citizen vigilantes to bring alleged pedophiles to trial. But the police are showing increased interest in working with these groups, according to the Post.   BSR: Facebook suppressed Palestian posts during last year’s Gaza war Consulting firm Business for Social Responsibility published a report demonstrating how Facebook suppressed posts made by Palestinians during last year’s war between Israel and Hamas – it did so by unfairly removing posts in Arabic at a disproportionate rate – posts that had no apparent connection to Hamas at all – compared to those made in Hebrew.    Florida takes anti-content moderation case to Supreme Court The state of Florida wants the Supreme Court to decide whether states can pass laws that prevent social media companies from blocking or limiting certain types of speech – such as some of the speech I just mentioned - hate speech, disinformation – you know, things like that. Florida’s petition comes on the heels of the Fifth Circuit upholding a similar law in Texas last week. Florida wants to ban companies from doing this. We published a report in late 2020 on the pattern of conservatives, throughout history, seeking to ban liberal speech, starting almost as soon as European immigrants landed in the new world and wanted to control Native Americans, not to mention slaves. America’s entire history is one of suppressing the voices of people of color – not the other way around.   Meanwhile, Microsoft has decided it won’t flag disinformation and TikTok apparently enforces its content moderation policies more leniently in favor of users with millions of followers.   Senate confirms new OSTP director, Arati Prabhakar In a 56-40 vote with 10 Republicans on board, the Senate has for the first time confirmed a woman, immigrant, and person of color to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Previously, Arati Prabhakar led the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.  Dr. Alondra Nelson, a prominent scholar who appeared on this podcast back on Episode 70, had been performing the duties of the OSTP Director role since previous diretor Eric Lander stepped down in February amid accusations that he mistreated subordinates. Dr. Nelson will continue in her role as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director for Science and Society. More News Virginia’s Spanish-language election site is out-of-date   Mozilla report on potential anticompetitive behavior by leading browsers   Washington Post: Health Apps sharing data with advertisers   City of New York to provide free internet/cable for 300K public housing residents   To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories, plus additional ones, in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great week. Ciao.

Spandana Singh: Content Moderation Beyond the US Social media platforms have played a central role in recent crises in the U.S., such as the Capitol Hill insurrection of 2021, and in Europe, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These developments underscore the power that unelected, big technology companies wield on the geopolitical landscape.    But the discussion around how social media companies function in the global south, such as their impact on the proliferation of Hindu nationalism in India or state violence against the Rohingya people of Myanmar, remains largely absent from policy discussions in the west.    New America’s Spandi Singh joined Joe Miller this week to discuss her current work – not just to prevent the spread of mis- and disinformation regarding upcoming elections in the U.S. – but also to foster a tech policy discussion that includes the unique perspectives of marginalized voices abroad.   Bio Spandi Singh works at New America’s Open Technology Institute where she leads a portfolio of work focused on content moderation, disinformation, algorithmic accountability, and transparency. Singh is also currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the Esya Centre in New Delhi and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network.   Linked In Resources Open Technology Institute at New America Judging Platform Responses to Election Mis- and Disinformation, New America (2022), https://www.newamerica.org/oti/in-the-news/judging-platform-responses-to-election-mis-and-disinformation/ (last visited Sep 19, 2022).

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of online safety and free speech this week.   Sen. Wyden: CBP has massive trove of American’s cellphone data   Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus on Thursday revealing that CBP has a massive amount of Americans’    data from millions of drivers’ license photos, license plate readers, mobile devices, and who knows what else. Some 3,000 CBP operations employees apparently have access to the data, and CBP doesn’t need probable cause to obtain warrants to search the data – they only need reasonable suspicion. Brennan Center scholar Faiza Patel told the Washington Post that the database goes far beyond reasonableness. Patel joined me on this podcast back in 2017 to discuss how the government’s surveillance of Muslims negatively impacts innocent civilians.   New York City’s Metro Transit Authority’s switch to tap-to-enter system raises surveillance alarms   The City of New York will be moving away from Metro Cards and towards a new tap-to-enter system called OMNY. Surveillance and privacy experts are concerned that the new system will be able to track anyone wherever they go within the nation’s largest public transportation system. The system will also be a public-private partnership between the City and a company called Cubic Corp. even though the State of New York has not yet updated its 1984 privacy law. No one knows what the government will do with that data, much less what Cubic Corp will do with it, since nondisclosure agreements often govern these types of partnerships. California becomes first state to pass Children’s Online Privacy law   The California legislature has passed a landmark Children’s Online Privacy law that directs tech companies to follow age-appropriate design principles to protect children online. The bill, modeled after a bill in the UK, passed the California Senate unanimously and is the first in the US to address children’s online safety directly, beyond the weaker standards imposed by the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act, which Congress passed back in 1998 before it had any idea what the internet would become.  California Governor Gavin Newsom hasn’t yet indicated whether he plans to sign the new legislation.   California enacts new social media moderation disclosure law   The state of California is also leading the way when it comes to state-based efforts to establish content moderation standards. California governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on Tuesday a new bill requiring social media companies to file semiannual reports on how they moderate hate speech, disinformation, and extremism. The California law differs from Republican-led efforts, particularly in Texas and Florida, to tamp down on social media companies’ content moderation in general, and instead requires social media companies to report on what they’re actually doing. The new law is expected to face resistance from the tech industry.   Separately, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board seems to believe that the federal government and Facebook collude on content moderation.   Color of Change launches ‘Black Tech Agenda’   Color of Change has launched a Black Tech Agenda that centers racial justice in technology policymaking. The agenda includes a vision for robust antitrust policy, better privacy protections and an end to surveillance, preventing algorithmic discrimination, expanding broadband access, protecting net neutrality, and addressing misinformation and disinformation. The agenda is supported by Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren, as well as Representatives Robin Kelly and Pramila Jayapal. Facebook reverses ban on Holocaust film   Facebook reversed a ban on an holocaust film starring Roy Schneider, who played the police chief in Jaws. The filmmaker, Joshua Newton, based the movie on his father’s life after he survived the holocaust. Facebook pulled the movie because its name is Beautiful Blue Eyes, which Facebook’s moderators found contained a racist connotation that violated its community standards.   The movie Newton wants to advertise on Facebook is actually a re-release of a 2009 version of the film which now includes previously lost footage. It was Schneider’s final film. White House issues new digital assets development framework   Following President Biden’s March Executive Order to streamline regulation of digital assets, the White House on Friday released a fact sheet laying out a framework for interagency coordination to protect consumers and larger stakeholders, make financial services safe and affordable, encourage responsible innovation, ensure financial stability and protect America’s financial competitiveness globally, fight illicit financial activities, and develop a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Part of the list of to-dos is a call for federal agencies to consider the environmental implications of digital finances. To go deeper, you can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great week. Ciao.

Jon Roozenbeek: How to Pre-Bunk Misinformation and Disinformation Misinformation and disinformation are two of propagandists' most important weapons in today’s “information war.” From the war in Ukraine to civil rights violations in the United States, political operatives leverage false information to engender support and suppress votes. Misinformation is false information or information that is not true. Disinformation is false information created with a specific intent to deceive. Political elites use misinformation and disinformation as part of a strategy to influence public perception about a person, organization, or public policy. Jon Roozenbeek joined Joe this week to discuss his work on how advertising can help inoculate the public against false information.  Bio Jon Roozenbeek is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on building resilience against misinformation and extremism. He is currently writing two books with Cambridge University Press: The Psychology of Misinformation, and Influence, Information and War in Ukraine.   Website   Twitter   LinkedIn Resources   Inoculation Science - Home, Inoculation Science (2022), https://www.inoculation.science (last visited Sep 12, 2022).    

  Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s how tech law & policy is affecting you this week. En banc Fifth Circuit ruling solidifies police officers’ authority to expand cell phone searches   The Fifth Circuit, which is in Texas, decided that pictures of child pornography found on three cellphones in the van the defendant was driving when he was arrested couldn’t be suppressed even though the original warrants for the phones weren’t  related to the federal crime of receiving child pornography.    They arrested the defendant because they smelled marijuana and found an Advil bottle with ecstasy in it.   But when the officers searched the defendant’s van on the night of the arrest, they also found creepy stuff in the defendant’s car, like a child’s backpack filled with school supplies, sex toys, 100 pairs of women’s underwear, and a lollipop in the cup holder.   So the officers suspected that the defendant was a child predator. However, these items, in and of themselves, didn’t rise to the level of probable cause that would have allowed them to search the phones for evidence of child pornography.   So they limited the warrant affidavit they submitted to the judge only to drug trafficking and possession – because of the weed and ecstasy. But the warrant affidavit from the officers was super detailed, and the judge granted it.   The officers searched the three phones ostensibly only looking for evidence of drug trafficking and possession.But in the process, when they were looking at pictures on the phone, they found child pornography. So the cops stopped searching and went back to the judge for separate warrants to search for additional evidence of receiving child pornography. The judge granted the additional warrants, conducted a forensic search of the phone, and found 19,270 images of child pornography on the 3 phones.   The grand jury charged the defendant with receiving child pornography.   So the defendant tried to suppress all of this evidence. First, he argued that they didn’t have probable cause to search for drug trafficking evidence in the first place, I guess because he felt like he didn’t have that many drugs in his car. But he also tried to argue that the police didn’t have probable cause for the charge of receiving child pornography either, because the officers didn’t say anything about child pornography in the warrant affidavit. So he argued that the police just wanted to get him for child porn, and that they used what he considered a trumped-up drug trafficking warrant to get the evidence they really wanted so they could charge him with receiving child porn.   A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit suppressed the evidence. But the full court held this week that the warrants had plenty of details in them and that the officers acted in good faith. They weren’t willful or negligent when they found the images – actually they obtained a separate warrant for the forensic search.    So, what do you think? Should the officer have said in the warrants that he suspected the defendant of receiving child porn? Go to techpolicypodcast.org, click the mic in the lower-right hand corner and let us know what you think.   One-thousand schools in the U.S. now remotely monitor how much time kids spend in the bathroom   Motherboard reports that some 1,000 schools in the U.S. use a technology called “e-Hallpass” to monitor student locations. It’s like the app Amazon uses to track how long their employees take breaks, i.e. “time off task.” It tells whoever has access to the data how long the child has been in the bathroom. The schools implementing the technology are located in California, New York, Virginia and North Carolina. The app developer, EduSpire, promises “hall omniscience” in its marketing materials and purports to be designed to prevent things like students from meeting up in the hallways and TikTok challenges.    Remote test proctoring “room scans” are unconstitutional: federal judge   So a lot of us haven’t been in school for a while, so we haven’t had the ability, really, to take exams from home, something that’s now a thing, since COVID basically changed what seems like every aspect of our lives.    Well part of taking exams from home is remote proctoring, with schools figuring out ways to monitor and make sure students aren’t cheating. One of the ways they do this, which Cleveland State University did to the student in this case, is to require test-takers to participate in “room scans,” where the student sends back a 360-degree view of the room they’re taking the test in.    Well, a federal judge in the Northern District of Ohio has now found that such remote scans are unconstitutional, at least with respect to state schools. The Electronic Frontier Foundation noted in a post that, although the district court’s ruling doesn’t bind other federal courts, it’s still persuasive. The judge who issued the ruling is a Republican appointee.   Twitter whistleblower to testify before Congress   The Twitter whistleblower who filed an 84-page complaint with the Securities and Exchange and Federal Trade Commissions, claiming Twitter lied about its security policies and put its 238 million daily users at risk,will testify before the Senate at a September 13th hearing. Peiter Zatko, a respected security analyst whom Twitter fired after just 15-months with the company, alleges egregious errors by Twitter. According to Zatko’s accusations, Twitter has apparently taken a day-by-day, hope-for-the-best approach to protecting its users, putting forth a smiley image to the public, while executives implement lax internal security measures, measures that haven’t prevented hackers from taking over high-profile accounts such as those belonging to Barack Obama and Elon Musk.    Zatko finds a potential ally in Musk who has been trying to rescind his $44 billion takeover bid of the company.    Facebook/Twitter dismantle U.S. influence campaign about the war in Ukraine   Finally, Naomi Nix reports for the Washington Post that while most efforts by social media platforms to curtail disinformation about the war in Ukraine focus on propaganda spread by Russia and her allies on social media, Facebook and Twitter have removed accounts pushing a pro-U.S. perspective about the war.   And Issie Lapowsky reports for Protocol that Google will launch an initiative through its anti-extremism unit, Jigsaw, and YouTube, which, along with other social media platforms, will broadcast to 55 million users, a series of videos designed to educate – inoculate – the European public against disinformation about Ukrainian refugees. That’s it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.   Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.

Fatou Sankare: The Social Media and Law Enforcement Connection Social media has become one of the most common ways to connect with people. Many use it as an outlet to share personal information and interests, while others use it as a way to interact with friends and family online. As social media usage continues to rise, there is also an increasing number of ways law enforcement agencies are using these platforms for investigations and crime-fighting efforts. Bio With origins from The Gambia, Fatou Sankare is a Doctoral Student in Cybersecurity at Marymount University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Howard University. She continued her education at Fordham University where she received her Master of Science in Cybersecurity. Her research area of focus is on privacy with an emphasis on policy and data in cybersecurity. Fatou is the founder of Datacation LLC, Data Scientist at a consulting firm and an assistant professor. Website Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Resources Datacation, Datacation (2022), https://www.mydatacation.com/ (last visited Aug 22, 2022). Think Like A Hacker: The Importance of Secure Coding For Today’s Developers, Medium (2022), https://fatousankare.medium.com/think-like-a-hacker-the-importance-of-secure-coding-for-todays-developers-89f0c0d356c2 (last visited Aug 22, 2022).  (2022), https://banthescan.amnesty.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRACqv1gFmA (last visited Aug 22, 2022).  

  TikTok reportedly records every one of your keystrokes   So security researcher Felix Krause says TikTok is running JavaScript on other sites you visit in the iOS browser, and collecting your credit card information and keystrokes. And a TikTok spokesperson acknowledged the existence of the script, but said the Chinese based subsidiary of Bytedance only uses it for debugging, troubleshooting and performance monitoring … performance monitoring, like monitoring your performance, I suppose.   We’re supposed to believe that TikTok is the only company that isn’t doing everything it can to find ways to collect data on the low. Ok.   The Federal Trade Commission released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking this week seeking public comment on how it should regulate commercial data collection practices.    Biden is being secretive about how the Trump-era visa data collection policy works   In 2019 the Trump administration began implementing a new policy requiring all visa applicants to submit their social media profiles to the State Department. When President Biden took office, he announced he’d review the policy. Many privacy advocates hoped the president would end the practice. But, instead, the administration is being cagey about releasing what its review of the policy revealed. The administration actually refused to release the information as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the Knight Foundation filed against the administration back in April.   Immigration advocates sue Lexis Nexis for selling immigration data to ICE   Immigration advocates sued Lexis-Nexis last week for selling non-public immigration information to law enforcement officials, such as correctional bookings, vehicle collision records, and license plate reader data. Apparently, Lexis also has a $22 million contract with ICE.   Representatives Jerrold Nadler & Bennie Thompson responded in a letter to ICE and six other agencies including the DOJ, Homeland, Customs, ICE,   and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, requesting information about how these agencies work with companies like Lexis Nexis to obtain non-public personal data.   FTC may sue adtech companies that can track women seeking abortions   The Washington Post reports that the Federal Trade Commission is planning to sue a company called Kochava that allows its institutional customers to license health data. That data would also include information about women seeking abortions. It’s not clear, however, whether the FTC has the expertise on staff or the budget to bring the lawsuit. Kochava has reportedly changed its data collection practices but you can never be too careful these days. ‘Bossware’ is out of control   The New York Times reported on the use of so-called bossware by employers who want to keep closer and closer tabs on their employees. It’s truly a dystopian nightmare, with companies like Amazon, UPS, Kroger tracking things like bathroom breaks and idle time. The Times reports that 8 of the 10 largest employers in the U.S. use some kind of tracking or monitoring to keep a watchful eye on their employees. If workers pause too long, don’t accumulate enough points, or aren’t at their workstations, folks are losing pay and even jobs. And we’re not just talking about factory workers. Firms like UnitedHealthcare reportedly dock therapists for time spent discussing clients with colleagues.   What are your experiences with bossware? You can reach us at techpolicypodcast.org. Click the mic on the lower-right corner of your screen. We won’t sell your data to anyone.   Social media companies prepare for midterm election chaos   As social media companies come under scrutiny ahead of the midterm elections, which are less than 90 days away, TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny as its popularity has skyrocketed since 2018. The company bans paid political ads, but influencers can still get perks, like event invites and other benefits for supporting political candidates, and a TikTok spokesperson told the Verge that TikTok’s ban of paid political ads doesn’t cover these types of non-cash arrangements.  That’s it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.  

The digital divide is the gap between those who have access to digital technologies and resources and those who do not.  If you asked most people what the digital divide was, they would probably assume it’s a reference to Internet access or computer usage. While these are both accurate representations of the digital divide, there’s more to it than that. The digital divide is actually a social divide that exists between individuals based on their access to technology and its benefits. In other words, it’s the disparity in technological knowledge, skills, and usage among different social groups.  One of the areas in which this divide has massive implications is privacy. For example, state governments that surveil women who are seeking abortions can discourage them from going online and taking advantage of all of the benefits that technology has to offer for entrepreneurship, education, and remote work.   Bio Joi O. Chaney is a domestic legal policy expert, a political strategist, and currently the Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President, Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League. The Washington Bureau represents the League before the Legislative and Executive Branches, leads policy discussions that advance economic and social equality for the communities we serve, and engages the Urban League movement in advocacy campaigns aimed at achieving policy wins. Bios Dr. Alisa Valentin Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Dr. Alisa Valentin recently joined the National Urban League as the Senior Director of the Technology and Telecommunications Policy where she works on a broad range of issues including broadband, privacy, and media diversity. Alisa was previously the Special Advisor to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks where she advised the Commissioner on broadband access and adoption, prison phone justice, and future of work policies. Joi Chaney Joi O. Chaney is a domestic legal policy expert, a political strategist, and currently the Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President, Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League. The Washington Bureau represents the League before the Legislative and Executive Branches, leads policy discussions that advance economic and social equality for the communities we serve, and engages the Urban League movement in advocacy campaigns aimed at achieving policy wins. Resources National Urban League Washington Bureau State of Black America Podcast Condé Nast (Wired), The US Has a Historic Opportunity to Bridge the Digital Dividec(2022), https://www.wired.com/story/digital-divide-broadband-fcc/ (last visited Aug 8, 2022).      

  Competing privacy bills may slow down kids’ protection online   Three competing privacy bills have made negotiations on the Hill even more difficult as the Senate and House have 3 different versions – two of which focus specifically on creating stronger protections for kids online.    The one in the House that passed late last month is an overarching federal privacy framework that some legislators have objected to, particularly Maria Cantwell, the Democratic Senator from Washington State, who is concerned about a forced arbitration provision in the bill that would limit you from suing a company that violates your privacy.   Some lawmakers have also raised concerns about the fact that the federal privacy bill may weaken the privacy legislation that several states have passed for you if you live in California, Virginia, Colorado. Connecticut, or Utah.   But in addition to the House bill, we have two Senate bills that will almost certainly complicate negotiations – both of which focus specifically on your kids’ privacy. Democrat Richard Blumental and Republican Marsha Blackburn’s Kids Online Safety Act would give more control to parents, allow kids to opt-out of certain data practices, and impose requirements on companies to vet their products for potential harms to children.   The second  Senate bill to make it out of committee – sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey and Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy – would ban companies from collecting children’s data up to age 16, raising it from 13, which is the current minimum age imposed by the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection.    So lawmakers will need to parse through all three bills now and come up with some workable way forward. There’s plenty of analysis in the Washington Post if you want to take a deep dive. And kids really are at risk – not just by the tech companies, but also the people we entrust them to every single day –  their schools   The Social Media Victims Law Center brought 2 lawsuits in last week against Meta, in the Northern District of California, on behalf of 2 Kentucky families who allege that Meta, through Instagram has created a "perfect storm of addiction, social comparison, and exposure to incredibly harmful content and product features,” that has given their kids eating disorders. Reuters previously reported that Meta is faced with 9 other lawsuits alleging that the company harms children’s mental health.    And then when it comes to schools – Pia Ceres over at Wired reports on an uptick in the surveillance of students by their teachers and the police – teachers can actually monitor what kids are doing on their laptops.    Kids should be a priority. As a parent – I simply don’t care as much about having a private right of action if someone violates my privacy – I mean it’s a good thing to have, but it’s not a must have. And we should have it. We shouldn’t be trapped into arbitration, so I’m not really sure why arbitration is even on the table – we see what arbitration has done in the context of employment at these companies, severely limiting their remedies when they discriminate against their employees. So why would we do the same thing in the context of privacy?   But it’s not a priority. Our kids are the priority. And I don’t know why we have all of these competing bills when the focus should be on the kids who clearly aren’t safe and secure in their schools, either physically or online.   Facebook still letting hate speech slip through   Facebook still lets hate speech slip through, though. It would be great to get legislation for that. But in the U.S. somehow we know what porn is when we see it, but we purport to not know what hate speech is. Anyway. I guess porn flourishes so, so should hate speech? Not really – I really don’t see some mass shooter posting all kinds of hateful garbage on 4chan before he goes on a shooting rampage, as a victimless form of speech – just like some kinds of porn aren’t victimless.   But Facebook has apparently learned nothing since Frances Haugen blew the whistle last year. AP reports that in its 3rd study of Facebook’s content moderation practices, London-based Global Witness finds that Facebook is letting ads go up in Nigeria, in both English and Swahili, that compare people to donkeys, talk about rape … just really disgusting stuff that one would think the company would be equipped by now to take down.    But the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to block Meta’s expansion into Virtual Reality through its acquisition of Within, a move the FTC says would pave the way for Meta to own the entire metaverse. Maybe that’s why Facebook changed its name to Meta??? What a dumb name change – their whole strategy laid bare before it even got regulatory approval.   Equifax sued for shady credit scoring   Finally, here’s something folks should have a private right of action for – incorrect credit scores. Equifax screwed up credit reports by more than 20 points, causing one of the class action plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit to accept a car loan under which she has to pay $540/month since she couldn’t get the loan she should have gotten, which would have had her paying about $350/month. Equifax says it was a “coding error.” Yeah right. I’m sure the Fed hiking up interest rates had absolutely nothing to do with that – sure Equifax.  That’s it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.   Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.

When it comes to the intersection of technology and law, our minds go straight to challenges that feature prominently in the media, such as privacy in the digital age, the ethics of artificial intelligence, or how blockchain will change everything. But the Federal Communications Commission continues to play an outsize role in determining the parameters around how telecommunications companies provide service in a way that takes into consideration the interests of a wide variety of consumers, corporations, and elected officials. Belinda Nixon joined Public Knowledges Antoine Prince Albert III to shed light.   Bio Belinda Nixon is a Partner in the Technology Transactions and Privacy Law practice at Perkins Coie, where she provides strategic legal counsel on complex transactional and regulatory issues for communications and technology companies. With over 20 years of experience at the Federal Communications Commission, Belinda Nixon brings both a deep background in telecommunications and regulatory issues to counseling clients on infrastructure and broadband deployments, mergers, and enforcement. LinkedIn Perkins Coie   Resources Supreme Court Decision Portends Greater Judicial Scrutiny of FCC, Perkins Coie (2022), https://www.perkinscoie.com/en/news-insights/supreme-court-decision-portends-greater-judicial-scrutiny-of-fcc-.html (last visited Aug 1, 2022).   FCC Requires Gateway Providers to Combat Foreign-Based Robocalls, Perkins Coie (2022), https://www.perkinscoie.com/en/news-insights/fcc-requires-gateway-providers-to-combat-foreign-based-robocalls.html (last visited Aug 1, 2022).

Veda Cruz: Play to Earn Games: What You Need to Know About the Law  The video game industry has grown rapidly over the last several years. With new technology and more affordable equipment, more people than ever are interested in playing video games as a hobby. The booming popularity of “play to earn” games – also known as user incentive programs – has only accelerated this trend. These programs incentivize gamers to play specific video games by rewarding them with virtual or physical rewards based on how much time they spend playing, their skill level, or other measurable actions. However, as with any new trend involving money, there are risks associated with these programs. If you play these games, there are some things you need to know about the law. Veda Cruz   LinkedIn Twitter  Instagram  Website    Bio   Veda Cruz is an attorney who serves as in-house counsel at Gearbox Entertainment, developer of the Borderlands games. She received her law degree and MBA simultaneously at the University of Miami where she served as President of UM's Intellectual Property Law Society as well as a venture consultant for entrepreneurs looking to realize their start-up ideas. She now resides in Texas, where she enjoys playing games, reading books, practicing martial arts, or riding around town on her motorcycle. VEDA Cruz VEDA Cruz   Resources   Gearbox Software   Gregory Boyd, Video Game Law: Everything you need to know about Legal and Business Issues in the Game Industry Routledge & CRC Press (2022), https://www.routledge.com/Video-Game-Law-Everything-you-need-to-know-about-Legal-and-Business-Issues/Boyd-Pyne-Kane/p/book/9781138058491  (last visited Jul 25, 2022).

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of online safety and free speech this week. Amazon’s $3.9bn One Medical bid Washington Post. Privacy experts worry about how Amazon will use healthcare data if the acquisition goes through – a deal that’s subject to Federal Trade Commission approval. The agency has already launched an aggressive campaign to rein in Amazon’s market power.  YouTube to ban abortion misinformation   Clare Duffy at CNN Business reported that YouTube will stop allowing its users to post information on alternative ways to seek abortions, as well as misinformation regarding abortions. The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, and trepidation about potentially facilitating abortions in violation of individual state laws prohibitting it. Car warranty calls now banned: FCC order   The annoying calls you’ve been getting about your auto warranty are now illegal. Hopefully, a new order the FCC dropped on Thursday will make them stop for good. The order requires carriers to prevent certain companies that make the bulk of these calls from being able to reach you. These warranty calls made up the number one complaint at the Commission. Brian Fung has the story at CNN.   TikTok parent kicks up lobbying spending   So if you didn’t know already, TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, Bytedance, which you should worry about since there’s no way of knowing how Bytedance shares that data with the Chinese government. And that may be your kids’ data. Lauren Feiner writes over at CNBC that Bytedance has kicked up its Washington lobbying efforts by some 130 percent, bringing its spending to over $2 million in the last quarter alone. The company opposes bipartisan antitrust and privacy bills gaining traction on Capitol Hill.   Uber to pay $2 million for violating disabled users rights   Finally, Itzel Luna reports for the LA Times that, in a settlement with the Justice Department, Uber will pay $2 million to disabled users it screwed over by charging them wait time fees. The company applied the surcharge for keeping drivers waiting for more than 2 minutes.   That’s it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.   Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.

Kathy Baxter: The Ethics of AI    Consumers are between a rock and a hard place. We expect the companies we distrust to be honest about their data collection practices. Ninety percent of consumers think companies should improve the world. According to many of us, it’s not happening. Saleforce’s Kathy Baxter and her colleague Yoav Schlesinger developed a maturity model which depends on managers being open to feedback from their subordinates about AI bias. With trust as a starting point, ethics can flow naturally. Kathy Baxter   LinkedIn Twitter   Bio   As an Architect of Ethical AI Practice at Salesforce, Kathy develops research-informed best practices to educate Salesforce employees, customers, and the industry on the development of responsible AI. She collaborates and partners with external AI and ethics experts to continuously evolve Salesforce policies, practices, and products. Prior to Salesforce, she worked at Google, eBay, and Oracle in User Experience Research. She received her MS in Engineering Psychology and BS in Applied Psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. The second edition of her book, "Understanding your users," was published in May 2015. You can read about her current research at einstein.ai/ethics. Resources   Kathy’s work at https://www.einstein.ai/ethics   Kelly Caine, Kathy Baxter & Catherine Courage, Understanding Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Research Methods (Interactive Technologies) (2 ed. 2022).   Kathy Baxter, AI Ethics Maturity Model (2022), https://www.salesforceairesearch.com/static/ethics/EthicalAIMaturityModel.pdf (last visited Jul 18, 2022).   Singapore launches world’s first AI testing framework and toolkit to promote transparency; Invites companies to pilot and contribute to international standards development, INFOCOMM Media Development Authority (2022), https://www.imda.gov.sg/news-and-events/Media-Room/Media-Releases/2022/Singapore-launches-worlds-first-AI-testing-framework-and-toolkit-to-promote-transparency-Invites-companies-to-pilot-and-contribute-to-international-standards-development(last visited Jul 18, 2022).

Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of online safety and free speech this week.   Denver case may let cops check search keywords   If a crime happens, should police be able to get a warrant that requires Google to release data on who used particular search terms? That question is at issue in a Denver criminal trial against a teen defendant who allegedly killed 5 Sengalese immigrants by setting fire to their home. Denver police nabbed the suspect using a technique called a “reverse keyword search,” under which authorities, before they even have a suspect, obtain relevant search data from search engines before the crime took place. Civil rights advocates are concerned that allowing the cops to obtain search data on arson could potentially open the floodgates for searches related to abortion – such as “Planned Parenthood” – to become fair game for law enforement officials.   But the Justice Department announced the formation of a Reproductive Task Force, Chaired by FTC Chair Vanita Gupta – a collaboration between the DOJ’s Civil Division, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney community, Office of the Solicitor General, Office for Access to Justice, Office of Legal Counsel, Office of Legal Policy, Office of Legislative Affairs, Office of the Associate Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General and Office of the Attorney General. And the House passed two Reproductive Health bills, one of which would enshrine Roe v. Wade in federal law.   Amazon shared Ring footage with police without users’ consent   Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey released more information regarding his investigation into Amazon’s Ring doorbell/videocam system. According to Markey, the relationship between Ring and the police is pretty tight. Eleven times this year, cops have been able to access Ring doorbell footage without a warrant, through a process called an “emergency circumstance exception.”  Markey also noted that Ring devices pick up audio from ordinary passersby as well, who aren’t suspected of committing a crime.   Senators urge passage of bi-partisan children’s technology bill   A bipartisan group of senators that includes Senator Markey, a Democrat, but also Republican Senators Roy Blunt and Ben Sasse urged the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee to bring the Children and Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA) to the floor for a full Senate vote. The bill recently passed the House and it allocates resources to the National Institutes of Health to support research into the effect of screen time on children’s cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional development. Markey indicated in a press release that studies show the average amount of screen time among 10-14 year olds has jumped from 3.8 to 7.7 hours per day since the beginning of the pandemic.   New Arizona law criminalizes recording the police   A new Arizona law criminalizes recording the police from less than 8 feet away, unless the videographer is the one who is being questioned by them. It’s now a misdemeanor. And anyone recording the police there within 8 feet must cease recording after the police give a warning. That’s it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.   Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. Ciao.

Payton Croskey and her team investigate the ways in which racial bias and discrimination shape how we are watched, policed and targeted by surveillance technology.   Payton Croskey   LinkedIn Instagram   Bio   Payton Croskey is a visual artist and tech justice scholar writing, coding and designing a liberatory future for all who refuse to submit to technology’s watchful eye. Pursuing a degree in African American Studies and a minor in Computer Science at Princeton, Payton’s research uncovers ways of designing digital systems that protect and empower targeted communities. Resources   www.paytoncroskey.com   Payton Croskey et al., LIBERATORY TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL MARRONAGE — IDA B. WELLS JUST DATA LAB IDA B. WELLS JUST DATA LAB (2022), https://www.thejustdatalab.com/tools-1/liberatory-technology-and-digital-marronage (last visited Jul 11, 2022).

TikTok is under intensifying pressure   TikTok is under intensifying pressure from Congress after Buzzfeed released leaked audio from nine different TikTok employees saying that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company based in China, had access to TikTok user data in the U.S. In a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Kahn, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner and Vice Chair Marco Rubio called for a comprehensive investigation of TikTok’s practices, since the Buzzfeed revelation contravenes sworn statements from TikTok’s policy lead, Michael Beckerman, back in October, that the company doesn’t share user information with ByteDance. The Chinese government holds a stake in ByteDance, and TikTok’s statements regarding whether it considers itself a ByteDance subsidiary have been vague, according to several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.   Parents sue TikTok over little girls’ deaths due to ‘Blackout Challenge’   The parents of two little girls, ages 8 & 9, are suing TikTok in Los Angeles because their kids died participating in a ‘Blackout Challenge’ that went viral on the platform, which called on participants to choke themselves until they pass out. The suit claims that TikTok knew or should have known the platform was “addictive” and warned parents the challenge was happening.   Google announced it will delete abortion clinic visits   The Washington Post reported that Google will delete location data showing users’ visits to abortion clinics. The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, and concerns that law enforcement officials, including citizens deputized by anti-abortion states to rat out women seeking abortions, will form a stampede to obtain pregnant women’s browser and location data. The Post also reports that misinformation remains a concern as shady company’s promoting alternative ways to seek abortions have begun to proliferate on the internet.   Apple’s new feature to block government spyware   Apple is rolling out a new iPhone feature called “Lockdown Mode” that’s designed to block government access to your phone via spyware data. The announcement comes after the recent discovery that Israeli law enforcement officials used the so-called Pegasus spyware to obtain contact information and even live audio. That’s it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes.   Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. 

The discourse in the US is increasingly toxic and divisive. Disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech are rampant and we have few options to change it. The US has been entrenched in a deteriorating political and information environment for a long time now. The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade instantly removed a right that 165 million Americans expected to have indefinitely. The discourse has always been divisive, but now it's reaching a point where people are unable to listen to one another or understand each other's perspectives. This means that there isn't any real discourse anymore, just fighting words that make people feel good about themselves but don't actually accomplish anything at all. Bio Ryan Merkley @ryanmerkley Ryan Merkley is Managing Director at Aspen Digital, focused on emerging technology, internet policy, and the information ecosystem. He is an accomplished executive working at the intersection of public good and technology for organizations like Wikimedia, Creative Commons, and Mozilla. Resources Commission on Information Disorder Final Report  

Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, opening the door to surveillance In a 6-3 decision Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan were the only dissenting justices. Writing for the majority, Justice Alito left it up to state legislatures to write their own abortion laws. As far as tech policy is concerned, many advocates, including WashingTech, are concerned that law enforcement will now be able to surveil location data in any of the 13 states in which abortion is now outlawed. Congress inches closer to federal privacy law The House Energy & Commerce Committee passed a bipartisan privacy framework on Thursday, with the measure now heading to the Senate. Reuters’ Diane Bartz reports the bill would let you opt out of targeted ads online. It would also give users the ability to sue firms for selling their user data to third parties. The bill would override the patchwork of state privacy laws we have currently in states including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia. The Washington Post reported Thursday that Senator Maria Cantwell, a key vote, doesn’t support the bill in its current form for precisely that reason –  the Senator believes that, in many cases, the state privacy rules are stronger than the ones in the House bill. Greintens may have incited violence on social with ‘RINO’ hunting video Eric Greitens, the former Republican governor of Missouri who is now running for the US Senate, posted a video appearing to encourage viewers to go ‘RINO’ hunting – RINO being an acronym for Republican in Name Only. “Join the MAGA crew,” Greitens says in the video, “Get a RINO hunting permit.”  He says this as he’s holding a shotgun surrounded by smoke, and a couple of boneheads dressed up as SWOT team officers bust through the door behind him. Facebook was the only company to remove the video outright. Twitter and YouTube left it up, although Twitter added a “public interest notice” to the tweet. Talk therapy apps under scrutiny If you’ve used a talk therapy app like Betterhelp or Talkspace since COVID started, chances are you’ve had at least a fleeting concern about how these companies use your data. Well, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Ron Wyden are concerned too, which is why they sent a letter to the firms asking them to explain their privacy practices. The Democratic lawmakers want to know how these firms collect data, what they do to protect it, and how they communicate their data protection practices to their users. Meta reportedly to shut down misinformation-reporting tool The Verge reports that Meta is planning to shut down Crowdtangle, which can be used to find misinformation within popular social media posts. A Meta spokesperson told the Verge that the company will probably keep Crowdtangle working at least through the midterms. After that, the company says it plans to launch a better product. Amazon may enable your Alexa assistant to take on the voice of a dead relative So at its annual re:MARS conference in Las Vegas, Amazon SVP and Head Scientist for Alexa, Rohit Prasad, demonstrated how a future iteration would enable your Alexa Assistant to take on the voice of anyone, including a dead relative, at least that was how Prasad decided to demonstrate the product – with someone’s dead grandma reading a bedtime story.  Don’t ask me – I’m just reading what they wrote for me here. Anyway, that’s it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. See you Monday.

Biden calls for better kids privacy laws in State of the Union During his state of the Union address Tuesday, President Joe Biden called for better regulation of social media companies. First Lady Jill Biden invited Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen to the State of the Union – Haugen was the first to shed light on Facebook’s (now, Meta’s) internal efforts to target children as young as 6 on Instagram, and the fact that the company ignored its own research showing Instagram damaged teenage girls’ self-esteem. Facebook is getting sensitive medical information The Markup reported yesterday that Facebook may have been receiving your medical information from a tracking tool – Pixel. Many hospitals use Pixel on their websites to track site visits. So let’s say hypothetically that you search for a health condition on the hospital’s website – well, for about a third of those sites, the tracking tool sends the information to Facebook. Johns Hopkins, UCLA ReaMgan, New York Presbyterian, Northwestern Memorial, and Duke University Hospital are among the hospitals that track site visitors with Pixel. Democrats led by Sen. Warren introduce bill that bans sale of location data In the wake of the leaked Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which paves the way for red states to criminalize abortion procedures, Sen. Elizabeth Warren led a group of Democratic lawmakers to introduce a new bill – The Health and Location Data Protection Act – that would completely ban the sale of your location data. The bill also envisions empowering the Federal Trade Commission to intervene when necessary.   Advocates warn of hate speech problems in Klobuchar’s antitrust bill Advocates including Free Press are pushing back against Amy Klobuchar’s antitrust bill – the American Innovation and Choice Online Act – because they’re concerned the bill would let companies that may have profited from hate speech and disinformation – like Infowars – to sue platforms like Google from banning them in search rankings. Advocates worry a provision that prohibits Google from favoring their own search results over smaller competitors  – could pave the way for disinformation profiteers to make anticompetitive accusations when platforms ban their sites. Elon Musk suggests  harmful content on Twitter should stay up if it’s just entertainment Elon Musk announced to Twitter employees in a livestream that free speech issues should outweigh content moderation. Last month, said that he’d reinstate Donald Trump’s account, although he said that prior to the commencement of the January 6th committee proceedings. Twitter’s stock has steadily dropped from $54.20 per share, which was the price when Elon Musk made his $44 billion bid to purchase the company. At the closing bell today, Twitter was trading at $37.78. That’s it for this week. You can find links to all of these stories in the show notes. Stay safe, stay informed, have a great weekend. See you Monday.

I decided to do a solo episode this week because I think it’s really sort of super important to highlight bias in the public policy profession – because it is a profession. Because over the last 17 years that I have been working on tech and media public policymaking, majority-white organizations have always seemed to think it’s totally fine to attack organizations founded and led by people of color, orgs like this one, to pursue their status ambitions. So, let’s be transparent, shall we? Just to give you some background – when I started working in this space – there was one organization in Washington – the Multicultural Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) – that focused specifically on telecommunications and media policymaking as they relate to underserved and underrepresented communities. This is where I cut my teeth as a young lawyer, in the ONLY fellowship in town for somebody like me who went to law school at night.  Their members are, and continue to be, some of the finest minds in the business – folks like Ari Fitzgerald, a partner at Hogan Lovells who was on the show last week.  These are lawyers of color primarily, who are at the top of this craft. And let me interject something here – this isn’t Oakland. We are not Color of Change.  This is DC, it’s a political town, it’s buttoned-up, and comparing orgs of color in this town to orgs like Color of Change – is really just not a relevant comparison. A better comparison would be to an organization like NAACP or the National Urban League – both of which have local chapters but they’re based in DC. Donations come from 2 primary categories here in DC – corporations and foundations – that’s it. If you’ve been around a long time – like the NAACP, NUL, or AARP – you have members. You can raise money from them, in addition to seeking other forms of support. That is the way this market works.  Back around 2011 and 2012 it was organizations like Public Knowledge and Free Press calling out MMTC for accepting donations from Comcast. Again, one of the worst companies in the world for customer service. But they are internet service providers. It didn’t matter if larger, huge nonprofits worked with these same companies – all that mattered was that Free Press and Public Knowledge needed someone to pick on when they were advocating for net neutrality. MMTC opposed net neutrality, which didn’t make sense to me, which is why I started this organization when I was laid off from the Joint Center, where I co-led an institute along with Nicol Turner-Lee, which was also focused on telecommunications and media policy at the intersection of communities of color. So-called progressives with super-deep pockets didn’t like orgs like MMTC because they were the only game in town – they had too much credibility – and they opposed net neutrality ( for reasons, by the way, I continue to be baffled by – but, in any case, they opposed it). So orgs like Public Knowledge and Free Press called them out – and I called out Public Knowledge and Free Press for having ZERO people of color working there but somehow having the audacity to try to drag MMTC.  And as a result of my advocacy – at least I like to think it was – since no one else was pushing back – Public Knowledge is led by the great Chris Lewis and Free Press, by Jessica Gonazlez, who serves co-president along with Craig Aaron.  These orgs now actively recruit diverse talent – they have changed drastically – and I’m proud of them. Jessica, Craig and Chris are my colleagues – just like you have colleagues in any profession – they fixed their model and stopped attacking MMTC. We’ll see what happens when and if the net neutrality debate starts up again. But, for now, we’re good. Joe Torres is at Free Press who wrote the book on diversity in the news profession.  SO LET’S forward to 2016. In 2016, when this organization – WashingTech – was still an LLC, for profit, Chanelle Hardy, someone I’ve known since I first moved to DC in 2005 – who had worked at the National Urban League, on the Hill, and the FCC – joined Google. And, again, as a result of my advocacy, since I was vocal about it, as I am now – one of our taglines then and now – is the Inclusive Voice of Tech Policy, since nobody else cared about that until George Floyd. In 2016, Google started a cohort of folks called Next Gen Policy Leaders – the only PROGRAM IN TOWN AT THE TIME – to engage and involve people of color in tech policy. I continue to participate in the program because it is educational, offers great networking, and, again, continues to fill a need that everyone else just woke up to a couple years ago: the lack of diversity on panels, at networking events, on faculties, you name it, related to tech policy issues.  Google was a first mover, while the rest of these tech companies, and nonprofits, were asleep.  So, whose fault is that? Whose fault is it that they’ve built loyalty by investing in us. Now, fast forward to today – here comes another organization – the so-called ‘Tech Transparency Project,’ which, again, isn’t a racially and ethnically diverse organization, attacking Google Next Gen in a mediocre paper suggesting that Google had bought out people of color so they wouldn’t speak out about Timnit Gebru’s firing – again Dr. Gebru is an engineer whom Google fired for speaking up about bias in one of Google’s algorithms.  First, I OPPOSED her firing, and vocally, on a listserv read by many Next Gens and other people of color in this space. I blasted Google for it. I was livid. I was so vocal, no one else in the Next Gen cohort needed to be – which is always the case in this town – and let me tell you something, we get PENNIES compared to some of these larger organizations. Do you know what Google donated to us last year? $35,000. The rest of our funding came from Foundation support. But let’s take a look at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), which published their annual report  last week. Let’s see what Google donated to CDT. And CDT is a partner of ours. I’m on their advisory council. Many of their fine scholars have been on this show. But let’s take a look – How much did Google donate to CDT in 2021? Wait for it! Over $500,000. Two other donors gave that much – the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Knight Foundation. Now, let’s use CDT’s search feature on its website to see how much work they’ve done on  “Timnit Gebru.” How many times did CDT so much as mention Dr. Gebru’s name, much less call out Google for firing her?  ZERO. How many times has the Tech Transparency Project called out CDT for failing to discuss Timnit Gebru? ZERO.  So come on, let’s talk about ‘Tech Transparency,’ everybody. I guarantee I’ve made more sacrifices in the cause of inclusion and so-called “transparency” in this space than most of Washington. Let’s talk about it. 

Congress makes progress on federal privacy law A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced a privacy bill last week that some observers including the Washington Post say faces a steep uphill battle. But the bill would require companies that use your data to only collect that data which is necessary for their businesses to function properly. It also proposes a number of other things such as a requirement for the Federal Trade Commission to keep a database of data brokers.  Amazon may have to pay for work-from-home equipment A federal judge denied Amazon’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a California engineer who works for the company from home. The employee brought a class-action lawsuit against Amazon for failing to reimburse him for equipment and internet service required to carry out job-related duties. The case now heads to trial in California. Family sues Meta for daughter’s self-harm, eating disorder Remember the Facebook papers? that trove of documents company whistleblower Frances Haugen released last year showing that Facebook knew it was harming the self-esteem of young girls and continued doing it anyway? Well, the family of a 19 year old young woman is now suing Meta in the Northern District of California saying the company turned her daughter from a bright and happy child into one that has engaged in self-harm and been hospitalized for depression. YouTube proves you can train AI to spew out hate speech automatically by feeding it 4Chan posts A YouTuber ran an experiment training an algorithm on typical 4Chan posts spewing hate speech. For those who don’t know, 4Chan is a public bulletin board where anyone can make posts anonymously. 4Chan is known for its users’ racist, sexist, and nihilistic posts. So YouTuber and AI researcher Yannic Kilcher took 3.3 million 4Chan threads and fed them into an algorithm. He then set the algorithm to start posting on 4Chan, and lo and behold, the algorithm produced vile posts of its own. The research is important because it suggests that any bad actor can set an algorithm to post fake or misleading information by simply using a single algorithm.  Republicans jump behind Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter Republicans jumped in to defend Elon Musk in his accusations that Twitter was attempting to thwart his $44 billion offer to buy the platform. Musk argued that Twitter was refusing to provide important documentation about bots on the platform. Texas AG Ken Paxton then launched an investigation into whether Twitter was using unlawful means to obstruct the deal. Twitter ended up granting Musk access to the information he requested, while arguing that Musk’s accusations about bots was simply a pretext to back out of the deal. Since Musk officially announced his plan to purchase the platform back in May, conservatives have rejoined the platform in droves. Feds to investigate Tesla’s autopilot crashes There’s a reason why you keep see   ing Tesla’s bashed apart. It’s because the autopilot feature isn’t working properly in many of these vehicles, and it’s causing the cars to crash into stationary vehicles, including police cars. That’s according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has stepped up the probe it began conducting into Tesla’s autopilot feature last year. 

Most of us probably don’t think about it much, but our cell phones and Wi-Fi connections use something called spectrum to send and receive data. The term “5G” refers to the fifth major version of this standard for transmitting information wirelessly. It’s also known as “millimeter wave technology.” The 5GHz spectrum has long been viewed as a way to get around the crowded radiofrequency (RF) spectrum and its associated problems with Wi-Fi. The widespread adoption of wireless local area networks (WLANs) in the 2.4 GHz ISM band means that there are very few available channels in any given location, which can lead to high interference levels, reduced coverage range, and low throughput. The 5GHz spectrum is not as crowded as the 2.4GHz band, making it a better choice for high-throughput, low-interference deployments like indoor video surveillance networks. In general, this band also provides greater immunity from interference from devices like baby monitors or cordless phones that use frequencies in the 2.4GHz band. Ari Fitzgerald LinkedIn Ari Fitzgerald is a Partner with the law firm of Hogan Lovells, where he leads the firm's Communications, Internet, and Media practice. He provides strategic, legal, and policy advice on a wide range of communications and spectrum policy issues to some of the world's largest and most dynamic communications network operators and equipment manufacturers, as well as industry trade associations and investors. Resources Hogan Lovells’ Communications, Internet, and Media Practice

Sheryl Sandberg is leaving Meta (née Facebook) after 14 years with the company   Sheryl Sandberg is leaving Facebook after 14 years with the company.The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta has been reviewing Sheryl Sandberg's personal activities, including a reported allegation from the Journal's sources that she used company funds to plan her wedding. But Meta spokeswoman Caroline Nolan denied Sandberg's departure was related to the review.   The tech sector and civil rights advocates achieve small victory in Supreme Court   The tech sector and civil rights advocates succeeded before the Supreme Court after a 5-4 decision to stop HB20 - a Texas social media bill - from going into effect. The Republican bill would give citizens the right to sue platforms with over 50 million users for censoring their content for political reasons, or based on their “viewpoint.” Many conservatives believe the larger platforms discriminate against conservative speech. Smaller social media companies catering to conservatives, like Parler, however, wouldn't be subject to the Texas law.    So they’d be able to censor progressive speech.    Justices Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch wrote the dissenting opinion, which Justice Kagan didn’t join. However, Justice Kagan was the 4th justice who voted to leave the Texas law in place. The Court didn’t provide the rationale for their decision. WashingTech filed an amicus brief in support of overturning the Texas law. Period-tracking apps aren’t regulated Yesterday Democratic Congresswoman from California Sara Jacobs introduced a bill called the My Body, My Data Act. The bill comes on the heels of the leaked Supreme Court opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade. In a post-Roe v. Wade world, there is a forseeable risk that period-tracking apps would send data to law enforcement in areas where abortions become illegal. \ University of Maryland: Nearly 2/3rds of Republicans want net neutrality rules The University of Maryland published a report showing almost 2/3rds of Republicans would bring back at least some of the net neutrality rules the Trump administration overturned. Pure net neutrality rules would prevent internet service providers from discriminating against different types of traffic, prioritizing some traffic over others. Some conservative advocates want the same standard to apply to social media platforms. That means both the Twitters of the world and the internet carriers themselves could be held liable for discriminating against content, which, frankly would then have to be applied to broadcasters.  Finally, a new paper from UNC argues that Gmail’s spam filter might exclude things the intended recipient actually wants to read. Conservatives jumped on the study and started saying it proves Google’s alleged anti-conservative bias. But the academics who wrote the study say that interpretation takes the study out of context. Obviously, mis and disinformation and hate speech filters have a completely different design, it’s a whole different set of keywords, but, sometimes you just have to listen and let people have their say. That’s it for this week! I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend and week! Happy Summer!  And remember, stay safe & informed. Have a great weekend.

Washington Post reports on “light-sensing” technology to identify weapons A company called Evolv uses “active sensing” — a light emission technique also used in radar and lidar—to create images and identify weapons in public and private venues, according to the company. Despite “fundamental   limitations in differentiating benign objects from actual weapons,” existing clients include the New York Mets, Lincoln Center in New York City, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, and Six Flags amusement parks across the U.S. Washington Post questions legitimacy of claims that social media plays outsize role in gun violence Writing for the Washington Post’s Technology 202 newsletter, Cristiano Lima analyzed the legitimacy of arguments being made by government officials like Republican Texas governor Greg Abbott, that place undue focus on social media when it comes to gun violence, detracting from the real issue which is lax gun control laws. Activist’s protest Amazon’s work with police and immigration agencies  Black and Muslim activists led a protest during Amazon Web Services’ summit on Tuesday. The protesters opposed Amazon’s work to facilitate the surveillance and deportation of immigrants and people of color. Amazon removed three Black or Latino activists who had registered for the summit. Digital surveillance affects 227,000 immigrants A critical new report by NoTechforICE details how digital surveillance systems impact immigrants' lives. Constant surveillance, which is touted as an “alternative” to traditional detention, has placed more than 227,000 immigrants under some form of surveillance. These anxiety-inducing technologies interfere with employment and further stigmatize immigrants.  White House issues Executive Order to study facial recognition and predictive algorithms in the criminal justice system  The National Academy of Sciences will examine how facial recognition and predictive algorithms are being used in the criminal justice system, in order to surface civil rights issues and make recommendations to correct them. The order also requires the Attorney General to perform a disparate impact analysis of PATTERN, the Bureau of Prisons' risk assessment program  , to see how it affects inmates' chances of early release. New report details how law enforcement can use technology to enforce abortion laws [Wired] Wired reports on a new study from the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project that details how law enforcement can utilise existing data access technologies and tracking tools to enforce abortion bans. The report cites keyword search warrants and geofence warrants as examples of these these types of surveillance technologies, which the report states can harm those looking for abortion providers or obtaining abortions. Citing potential harm to abortion seekers and providers, lawmakers urge Google to stop the excessive retention of location data Separately, Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter urging Google to stop its practice of retaining what the representatives believe is too much location data, which they argue law enforcement could use against those seeking abortions at abortion clinics. New CDT report looks at surveillance of disabled people According to a new report by the Center for Democracy & Technology, algorithms and surveillance technologies are being used to surveil, control, discipline, and punish people, with particularly harmful effects on disabled people in education, the criminal legal system, healthcare, and the workplace.

AI is an interdisciplinary field that draws on many fields of study, including computer science, psychology, neuroscience, and mathematics. AI researchers often bring a social science perspective to the field. They want to understand the social implications of AI and to identify ways that humans can best interact with AI systems. Social scientists look at how people interact with AI systems and how these interactions might change over time. Social scientists also want to understand how AI systems learn from human behavior and make predictions about how people will behave in the future. There are two main types of social science approaches to AI. The first is an approach that focuses on the ethical implications of AI. This approach assumes that we cannot build AI without carefully considering its ethical implications for society. The second type of social science approach is an approach that looks at the psychological impact of AI on humans. This approach assumes that humans could feel uncomfortable or threatened by the presence of AI in their lives. Social scientists use these approaches to help us better understand and predict the impact of AI on society as a whole. Emnet Tafesse and Ranjit Singh contrast the differences in how researchers in the “Global South” and “Global North” investigate the social impacts of artificial intelligence. Bio Emnet Tefesse @emnetspeaks Emnet Tafesse is a Research Analyst at Data & Society on the AI on the Ground Initiative. She has a passion for utilizing advocacy, research, and policy to create positive social change and a more equitable world. She received her Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and her BA in Political Science and Sociology from Howard University.  Ranjit Singh http://ranjitsingh.me/ Ranjit has a doctorate in Science and Technology Studies (STS) from Cornell University. His research lies at the intersection of data infrastructures, global development, and public policy. He uses methods of interview-based qualitative sociology and multi-sited ethnography in his research. He examines the everyday experiences of people subject to data-driven practices and follows the mutual shaping of their lives and their data records. Resources AI on the Ground Blog Series

NY Attorney General Opens Twitch Probe in Buffalo Shooting Aftermath New York State Attorney General Letitia James opened a new probe in.  to Twitch, 4chan, 8chan, and Discord in the aftermath of the mass hate-motivated shooting at a Buffalo supermarket that left 10 Black people dead. The probe is geared towards determining how the shooter used these platforms to plan, discuss, stream or promote the mass murder to which the defendant, who was apprehended at the scene of the shooting, has pled “not guilty.”  Federal Trade Commission Votes to Hold EdTech Companies Accountable for Kids’ Privacy The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously yesterday to adopt a policy statement cracking down on how EdTech companies use kids’ data beyond enabling their ability to do homework or attend class remotely. The statement warns EdTech Companies that it is against the law for these companies to require parents and schools to give up their childrens’ privacy rights in order for them to access these critical apps. The FTC told EdTech companies that they should also expect fines for using kids’ data for marketing purposes, keeping kids’ information for longer than necessary, or not having proper safeguards in place to maintain kids’ privacy while they’re using these apps. President Biden commended the FTC in a statement.  Twitter Adds New Content Moderation Rules Despite Elon Musk’s $44 Billion Bid Twitter actually expanded its content moderation rules despite Elon Musk’s $44 billion bid to buy the social media platform. The move came the same day Twitter GC Vijaya Gadde said “there’s no such thing as a deal being on hold,” after Musk’s statement that he was reconsidering his hostile takeover.  The new content moderation rules target misinformation about wars and natural disasters by preventing users from retweeting misinformation about things like the war in Ukraine, and preventing misinformation from appearing in search results.  Texas AG Sues Google Over ‘Incognito Mode’ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton added another allegation to the lawsuit it filed against Google back in January, along with the States of Washington, Indiana, and the District of Columbia, over Google’s location settings. Paxton says that Google’s incognito mode isn’t actually private at all, and that it risks exposing a users political leanings or sexual orientation. Google is disputing the claims.  Instagram Removes Summer Walker’s Post Criticizing KKK Instagram left a lot of folks scratching their heads after it removed R&B singer Summer Walker’s post criticizing the KKK. Walker’s post simply said “why the KKK never got a RICO,” RICO, of course, being the Racketeer INfluenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which used to target the mafia, but now targets street gangs, according to VICE. Asking why the KKK never got a RICO charge seems like a damned good question, and it’s interesting that Meta took that down as so much white supremacist hate speech stays up. We need more intel on who exactly within these companies is making the last call on these takedowns. MIT Finds Medical AI Can Predict Patients’ Race A new MIT study reviewed several medical imaging technologies and found they did a better job identifying the race of patients than humans. But the researchers have no idea how this was possible. They looked at chest X-rays, chest CT scans, and mammograms and the AI identified the patients’ race, even though the patients hadn’t identified what their race actually was.

Today’s global economy has made it easier than ever to explore opportunities and access resources. However, this comes with the challenge of understanding how these new markets and opportunities can be beneficial or harmful to your family. Technology is a powerful tool that can help you stay informed, connected, and entertained wherever you are in the world. As content from different countries and cultures becomes more accessible, it’s important for parents and caregivers to learn about new media so they can make informed decisions about what content is appropriate for their family.  Vicki Shotbolt @VShotbolt Vicki Shotbolt is the founder and CEO of Parent Zone which keeps families informed and works with partners on digital literacy issues. Sh’s worked with global brands including Microsoft and Vodafone to make Britain more Family Friendly. Her passion is in finding practical solutions to complex problems.She often speaks publicly about parenting and digital issues and is on the executive board of the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS). Vicki likes sailing and is proud rescuer and owner of Teddy the dog.   Geraldine Bedell @geraldineBedell Geraldine is Parent Zone’s Executive Editor. Prior to joining Parent Zone, Geraldine worked for 10 years as a writer at the Observer in Britain. Before that she was a columnist and writer for the Independent. She has written for most national newspapers and a wide range of magazines in the UK. She has also produced and presented documentaries for Radio 4. She was the founding editor of Gransnet and has published several books of fiction and non-fiction.  Resources Parent Zone Tech Shock Podcast  

Fifth Circuit Upholds State of Texas’ Content Moderation Ban The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling to strike down the State of Texas’ controversial statute that created a private right of action for anyone who thinks they were banned from a social media platform because of their “viewpoint.” With the Texas law back in effect, platforms with more than 50 million users, like Twitter & YouTube, must notify users in Texas when they remove their content and give them a chance to appeal. If the user isn’t happy with the decision, they can sue. Experts are now waiting to hear whether the Supreme Court will take up the case. In the meantime, Elon Musk Tweeted earlier today that his acquisition of Twitter is on hold as he seeks to verify that fewer than 5% of its accounts are fake. And the number of conservative users who re-joined Twitter after Musk announced he’d be acquiring the company skyrocketed, according to the Washington Post. State of Virginia Lifts Facial Recognition Ban The State of Virginia announced that it will be lifting its ban on facial recognition technology. Many states began implementing a facial recognition ban after a study by the Algorithmic Justice League found facial recognition software disproportionately misidentified Black people. Reuters reports that many jurisdictions, including New Orleans, are lifting their facial recognition bans as well, saying accuracy has improved. Sony Playstation CEO Triggers Pro-Choice Staffers Over With ‘Lighthearted’ Abortion Email Sony Playstation CEO Jim Ryan sent a company-wide email requesting staff to respect differences of opinion regarding the leak of the draft Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In the same email, Ryan celebrated his two cats’ first birthday, shared their birthday cakes, and joked that they may someday want a dog. One employee told a Bloomberg reporter that they have never been so mad about a cat's birthday before.  Apple Memo Shows Company’s Opposition to Unions Motherboard reports that Apple is circulating a set of talking points to store managers to help them push back against unionization efforts by retail employees. The memo warns employees that joining a union may affect their career prospects, flexibility, and paid time off. In recent weeks, Apple Stores in Atlanta, New York City, and Towson, Maryland have filed for union elections, becoming the first Apple stores to do so. 

Afua Bruce is a leading public interest technologist whose career has spanned the government, non-profit, private, and academic sectors, as she has held senior science and technology positions at the White House, the FBI, IBM, and the nonprofit sector. Her new book, The Tech That Comes Next: How Changemakers, Philanthropists, and Technologists Can Build an Equitable World, explores how technology can advance equity. Resources The Tech that Comes Next: How Changemakers, Philanthropists can Build a More Equitable World by Amy Sample Ward and Afua Bruce @afua_bruce

Tech companies use data to spot patterns in their users’ search histories. They use this information to understand how customers behave. But in the 6 years since the Cambridge Analytica scandal happened, the details of how tech companies use our data are still murky. Ranking Digital Rights’ Jessica Dheere joined Joe Miller to discuss where the gaps are and what the public needs to know. Bio Jessica Dheere is the Director of Ranking Digital Rights. She founded and was Executive Director of SMEX, the Middle East's leading digital rights research and advocacy organization.  In 2018, she was a research fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. and a Technology and Human Rights Fellow at Harvard Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. She was part of the 2019-20 cohort of Technology and Human Rights Fellows at Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Her publications include “Misguiding Multistakeholderism: A Nongovernmental Perspective on the Arab IGF”, and a legal research methodology for locating digital rights-related law. Resources Ranking Digital Rights 2022 Big Tech Scorecard @JessDheere    

With the convergence of the Metaverse, Web 3.0 and the blockchain, it’s hard to imagine just how far we have come over the last century. We can’t fully appreciate this giant leap forward, without examining the origins of the internet. Who better to help us understand this journey and how we got where we are today than Dr. Vinton Cerf. Dr. Cerf, widely considered “One of the Fathers of the Internet,” helped to develop the TCP/IP protocol. Since 2005, Dr. Cerf has served as Google’s vice president and chief Internet evangelist. He identifies new technologies to support the development of advanced, Internet-based products and services. Dr. Cerf is the former Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy for MCI. There, he guided MCI’s technical strategy. In December 1997, President Clinton presented the U.S. National Medal of Technology to Cerf and his colleague, Robert E. Kahn, for founding and developing the Internet. In 2004, Drs. Kahn and Cerf won the Alan M. Turing Award for their work on the Internet protocols. The Turing award is sometimes called the “Nobel Prize of Computer Science.” In November 2005, President George Bush awarded Cerf and Kahn the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their work. The medal is the highest civilian award given by the United States to its citizens. In April 2008, Cerf and Kahn received the prestigious Japan Prize. Prior to rejoining MCI in 1994, Cerf was vice president of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI). As vice president of MCI Digital Information Services from 1982 to 1986, he led the engineering of MCI Mail, the first commercial email service, to be connected to the Internet. During his tenure from 1976 to 1982 with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Cerf played a key role leading the development of Internet and Internet-related packet data and security technologies.

We are in the middle of a disruptive tech revolution, and it will take some time for society to adjust. Tech, media, and telecom companies turn to Jonathan Cohen for advice as they navigate a continually shifting legal, technological and political landscape. Decades of transactional and policy experience (in private practice and in government) enable him to efficiently advise clients regarding strategies and details in their dealings with other industry players, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and other executive branch agencies to align the private sector with the public interest. His expertise ranges from media (both traditional and social) to broadband wireless, and from commercial transactions to regulatory policy. Mr. Cohen’s government service included stints at The White House and the FCC, and he is an expert in platform regulation issues, spectrum licensing and transactions, and the rules and processes governing participation in FCC auctions. His clients have singled out his “outstanding service” on corporate and commercial transactions for nationwide recognition. He holds the Martindale Hubbell AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating and is perennially selected as a Washington DC Super Lawyer. After announcing football and basketball games for his college radio station, Jonathan’s career began as a radio news reporter in New York City. Communications law therefore was a natural fit for him after obtaining his law degree. Over his legal career in the media and telecom arenas, Jonathan has negotiated and closed countless telecom transactions and worked on a wide variety of policy issues. He is a proud alumnus of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University Law Center.  Links: Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP Jonathan Cohen on LinkedIn Book mentioned: Talking about God: Exploring the Meaning of Religious Life with Kierkegaard, Buber, Tillich, and Heschel by Daniel F. Polish P.h.D. From Guttenburg to Google by Tom Wheeler  

The way you process information will affect your survival. It’s just a fact. Without the ability to evaluate information through a critical lens, it's hard to discern fact from fiction. Kyle Williams and Kamal Carter of A Long Talk About An Uncomfortable Truth joined Joe Miller to discuss their work to go beyond critical race theory. In partnership with colleges and universities, Mr. Williams and Mr. Carter teach important facts about America’s racial history. These facts are missing from most K-12 history curricula in the United States. Through their efforts to promote awareness about what Black people experience in their day-to-day lives, Mr. Williams and Mr. Carter seek to promote empathy. Over the last 19 months, A Long Talk has reached over 4,000 people. But their goal is to bring their expertise to every kitchen table in America. Links: A Long Talk      Book: Antisocial by Andrew Marantz  A Long Talk is on all social media platforms @ALongTalk2020 A Long Talk on LinkedIn  

A lack of a unifying federal privacy law in the U.S. like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and a growing patchwork of state regulations to keep track of, can make it tricky for your business to maintain compliance. This is exactly why we have today’s guest here to help us navigate the difficult eco-system of state privacy laws. Donata Stroink-Skillrud is the President of Termageddon and the engineer behind Termageddon’s policy questions and text. She is a licensed attorney and a certified information privacy professional. She often volunteers at the Illinois State Bar Association holding courses on the General Data Protection Regulation where she teaches other attorneys on the importance of privacy and what Privacy Policies should contain. Trusting Companies With Your Data Privacy and protecting your personal data has probably shown up on your radar a lot lately because of the number of merchants that have reported data breaches. Target had a huge data breach of 40 million customers back in 2013. When an event of this scale happens, you realize we can’t depend on others to protect our data. It was her experience with having her own data compromised in that breach that led Donata to pursue a career in privacy law and policy. Consumers Pay the Price When there is a data breach, consumers are the ones who pay the price. Between monitoring your credit report to make sure no unauthorized lines of credit have been opened, to closing credit accounts or getting new credit cards reissued, there is a great deal of time and effort needed to mitigate the impact of the data breach. This all comes at the expense of the consumer, who has to invest their time in making all the right moves to protect themselves. The High Price on Non-Compliance for Businesses It can be costly for companies when they don’t comply with privacy laws. Depending on the state, there can be huge penalties and fines at stake.  However, there is also an enormous cost involved in compliance. Having a privacy policy on your website is just the first step in compliance. Each state has their own privacy laws, so understanding those laws and making sure you comply, for many businesses, requires a full time Compliance Officer. Automating Privacy Policies At one point in her career, Donata ended up being the person that fielded all of the business privacy compliance questions, and she found that meeting the compliance standards for each state was rather repetitive.  This led to the quest for automating this repetitive process of asking the same questions and gathering the same data, and with that automation process, Termageddon was born. Business After GDPR Businesses were thrown another “privacy curveball” in 2014 when the EU passed GDPR. Today, companies don’t just have to worry about privacy laws in the U.S., they now have to worry about international privacy laws. GDPR standardized the privacy laws for all the EU countries. The US has not taken that step yet, so business owners and the public must grapple with a bevy of very complex privacy laws in each state. Consenting to Privacy Policies From the consumer standpoint, it’s very difficult because these state privacy laws require all these disclosures, making privacy policies really long, really difficult to read. There’s a lot of information there. It’s very hard for consumers to understand which privacy rights apply to whom. The privacy laws also don’t explain the gray areas like how they define a resident, and when a person officially becomes a resident of a state. Pitfalls of the Patchwork Different state laws have different definitions of what it means to sell data. But some companies are saying, we don’t really sell your data, but according to California’s law, we do.  This makes it confusing for both businesses and consumers to understand what their privacy rights and obligations are. Links: Termageddon IAPP Committee ABA Committees Donata on LinkedIn

You’re well aware that this podcast is about public policy and so often we focus on that, but today, we’re also bringing you the creative side of policy making. So many of the policies that we fight to implement are created as a way to protect and preserve our ability to be creative. We know that for many professionals, it’s hard to be able to live a completely creative life, while balancing it with work and earning a living.   In a podcast first, we begin today’s episode with a poem by our guest, Anita Balaraman. The poem is called “Doubt” and you can read it on Medium.com. Anita is a technology product leader with more than 10 years of experience in building technology products that delight the customer both in the B2B and B2C domain. She is also an adjunct faculty at UC Berkeley, teaching and coaching hi-tech product management. She is currently the founder of an early stage ed-tech startup. Most recently she led the digital customer experience practice at Cisco Systems, designing and launching enterprise solutions for customer experience. Prior to that, she led the product team at WalmartLabs launching products that combine machine learning, predictive analytics and personalization. She consults independently and on the board of technology startups in the advertising, ecommerce, and ed-tech space. Anita received her MS in toxicology and applied statistics, and an MBA, both from the University of California, Berkeley. Links: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Washingtech.org Berkeley College of Engineering Doubt, by Anita Balaraman An obedient child Never wild Begged to be schooled Never one to do, what she wants to. Somewhere in my teens I grew To my parents, a quarrelsome, defiant point of view. Aspired to cross the oceans blue To America for graduate school to pursue. Girls can’t be safe, outside of parents’ purview Unless she has a husband, never mind she is just twenty-two! In Berkeley, I was told you can be what you want to Even a brown girl with big starry eyes, can dream one day to be a researcher, a professional, or a professor someday. Worked hard, very hard, or at least I thought, For I’ve been given a chance, a really long shot. But told that I may never be a researcher sought There must be more than just the grades, I thought. Despite how hard I fought… Hiding my feminine brownness was like adding a nought[*]. Perhaps they are right, went my train of thought… Why else would I not see someone like me in doctoral gown? Oh don’t be sad, said my loved ones around You can be happy, rich, and successful without a doctoral gown- hands down. Look at the valley of silicon and sand A dreamland of success, prestige and wealth For those that are committed to technology at hand. Yes, but my mind wandered… Where did I lose the defiance in my view? I really care about children and leukemia And I can build risk models that I learned in academia. But can you blame them if they did not trust The models I built that needed their process to adjust. I don’t look like them, or speak like them The assumptions in my models are hard to trust. I found my kind, the brown variety, Who spoke bad English with no anxiety. The friends at home and those at work Looked and spoke like they belong to the same network. No apologies for being a vegetarian during team lunch Who clairvoyantly knew that salad wasn’t a good munch. This must be beautiful- to feel like you belong Without having to rehearse your lines so I don’t say something wrong. To work with the bunch where I hoped I belonged, I got another graduate degree, not the Ph.D. I longed. A business degree, hoping to correct the wronged. A Mom twice over, a wife and an employee, ‘you can’t get promoted if you leave at 5’, would annoy me. Benevolent prejudice, paternalism, and sexism: Belonging, I understood, with deep skepticism. A misfit perhaps, have always been A toxicologist, but not the wet-lab kind A technologist, but not an engineer’s mind An entrepreneur, who venture capital declined An educator, living the adjunct grind A researcher, without the terminal degree- unrefined. Seeking belonging, but always unaligned. Perhaps down in my subconscious mind the fringes appeal more than the straight jacket kind? The fringes feed concern for mistakes, Suspended between two or more contradictory states. An indecision between belief and non-belief Hiding, somewhere, is a fictitious fig leaf? Belonging requires suspending the lunatic fringe To honor and reflect the collective doubt. But that is harder to live, day in and day out Easier it seems to simply not honor their doubts?

Now more than ever we need to protect our kids as they have more exposure online than ever before. Children’s Online Safety is a priority that we are taking very seriously.  We’re living in a hyperconnected age and we’ve got the Metaverse bearing down on us, so online safety for our children needs to be the first priority.  Today's guest is Dana Miller, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Commander, with the Wisconsin Department of Justice. She joins Joe to talk about her career, some more tips on how to interact with your kids to protect them online, and what kinds of issues policymakers should be paying attention to as the internet evolves. Dana has worked in ICAC since 2014 and manages the Wisconsin ICAC Task Force Program, including oversight of Wisconsin CyberTips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the ICAC Victim Services Program. Prior to joining the ICAC Task Force, Dana worked for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Criminal Justice program, teaching courses in classroom, online and hybrid formats and managing the online undergraduate Criminal Justice program. Throughout her career, Dana has provided online safety outreach through numerous media outlets, including live presentations and training, television and radio appearances, live and recorded webinars, and streamed social media appearances. Dana is creator and co-creator of multiple safety programs for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, including their online safety interact! e-course and the Protect Kids Online (PKO) podcast. Online Safety Day  It’s hard to know where to focus efforts to keep your children safe online, and that’s something that Dana understands. In a post-pandemic and Metaverse world - kids will be more exposed online than ever before, so it’s important to understand both the threats and the vulnerabilities our kids face. Recently, Dana hosted Online Safety Day to try to bring awareness to the issue. Non-Profit and Sexual Assault Support Background Dana started out working for a local non-profit in Wisconsin and part of her role was to work with victims of sexual assualt. Early in her career, she was doing talks about online safety, but its evolved into much more in recent years. Even though much of the threats remain the same, what we're seeing currently is more of a focus on that recovery of a victim centered approach to things and recognizing that we have to really focus on their needs as we're responding in a law enforcement world. And so that's a really great perspective that is coming into play with our work everyday. Links:  https://www.doj.state.wi.us/dci/icac/icac-task-force-home https://www.thorn.org/ https://www.stopsextortion.com/ https://www.fosi.org/ https://connect.missingkids.org/products/parent-connect-a-child-safety-virtual-discussion-series-summer-2021#tab-product_tab_speaker_s https://twitter.com/icactaskforce https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-miller-46038280/  

When the pandemic started, courts that were slower in adopting technology had to undergo a two-week revolution to move their operations to a remote setting. Under normal circumstances, that would have taken them twenty years to achieve.  Existing research shows that while remote technologies can be helpful in court proceedings, they can also harm individuals if not used carefully. Several issues have been coming up around the effects that remote court proceedings have had on our communities. Today’s guest is Douglas Keith, counsel in the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, where he works primarily on promoting fair, diverse, and impartial courts. He will walk us through the various concerns. Douglas Keith was the George A. Katz Fellow at the Brennan Center, where he worked on issues around money in politics, voting rights, and redistricting. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Atlantic, Guardian, New York Daily News, and Huffington Post. Before that, Keith worked as a Ford Foundation public interest law fellow at Advancement Project. He directed voting rights advocates in New York, served as an international election observer for the National Democratic Institute and OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and educated poll workers for the New York City Board of Elections. Keith is a graduate of NYU School of Law and Duke University. What should we be concerned about? All existing research suggests a real reason exists for courts to be cautious about doing video hearings. Studies have shown that video court cases have not always worked out as well as those cases when people have appeared in person. Higher bail amounts charged for video court cases in Chicago In Chicago, in the early 2000s, courts began using video for most of their felony bail hearings. A study that looked at 600,000 of those hearings found that judges imposed much higher bail amounts for those required to have video hearings rather than appearing in person. On average, the video cases paid 50% more bail, and in some instances, they paid up to 90% more. People detained in deportation proceedings People detained in deportation proceedings stood a much higher chance of being removed if they were required to appear by video rather than appearing in person. A quiet place to appear and access to broadband When people get detained, questions tend to arise about the quality of the broadband and them having access to a quiet place to appear. Also, when someone has to appear in court remotely from a jail or prison setting, the background could influence, impact, or change how a judge might view them as an individual.  The digital divide When someone not detained has to appear remotely, many different issues related to the digital divide could arise. They might not have the quality of internet that a judge might expect, and there are also massive differences in terms of the devices people are using to access the proceedings. Those issues need to be taken into account if the proceedings are to be fair. What has changed? Since Douglas has been advocating for the communities that have been affected by doing court proceedings remotely, there have been technological improvements that might make a difference.  Remote proceedings are here to stay Over the last year, courts have become very enthusiastic about how remote proceedings have been working out. Court leaders across the country have said that remote proceedings are here to stay because they have been efficient, speedy, and time-saving. The problem Most jurisdictions have not been talking to the people going through remote court proceedings or their attorneys to learn what is and is not working. A common concern A common concern with remote hearings is the ability for the client to communicate with their attorney during the proceedings. That ability gets hampered because remote tools do not allow the client and attorney to make eye contact and quietly confer about any information that might be relevant to the case during the proceedings. Eviction proceedings Douglas spoke to many individuals from legal aid organizations, representing people earning below certain income thresholds and going through eviction proceedings.  What you can do, on a local level, when someone’s rights are violated Pay closer attention to what the courts in your jurisdiction are doing. Courts often allow for public comment or testimony when going through the process of proposing rule changes to allow for more remote proceedings. Engage with the courts and get involved. Watch your local courts to see the types of rule changes they are proposing, in terms of remote proceedings. If you disapprove and they do not require consent to move forward remotely, write to the court to tell them about your concerns and why you think consent should be required. Resolving the issues Advocates from all over the country are busy working on resolving these issues. They range from academics studying the impact of remote tools during the pandemic to practitioners in various spaces, guiding attorneys. Research More research is needed because we do not know enough about how people are being affected by remote tools. At the Brennan Center, they advocate for more resources towards that research to prevent the courts from inadvertently doing any harm. Some other issues that Douglas is working on that are happening where tech intersects with the judicial system Douglas is working on allowing the public access to court proceedings. During the pandemic, many courts started live streaming. That allows court watch groups to remotely observe the court proceedings and report to the public what is and is not working in the courthouses. That raised questions about the point of allowing public access to the courts.  The watchdog effect Public access makes the court aware that it is being watched and reminds them of their responsibility. Live streaming might result in a loss of some of that watchdog effect. So although technology has improved public access to the courts in some ways, we could also lose something along the way. Remote tools The use of remote tools in the courts is nuanced. They can lessen the burden that the courts place on people, but there are also times when those tools could be a cause for concern. That is why the courts need to work with their communities to find the right answers.  Resources: The Brennan Center for Justice Washingtech.org FdYPoT0ddFB6jdnpMJ45

WashingTECH Policy Podcast was started largely because of the impact of tech, AI and cybersecurity on communities of color, working class and immigrants, and none of the big players in the industry have it on their radar. Our conversation today is on this very topic and there is no one more knowledgeable on the topic than Camille Stewart. Camille Stewart is an attorney and executive whose crosscutting perspective on complex technology, cyber, and national security, and foreign policy issues has landed her in significant roles at leading government and private sector companies like the Department of Homeland Security, Deloitte, and Google. Camille builds global cybersecurity, privacy, and election security/integrity programs in complex environments for large companies and government agencies. Camille is the Global Head of Product Security Strategy at Google advising Google’s product leads on federated security and risk. Previously, Camille was the Head of Security Policy for Google Play and Android at Google where she leads security, privacy, election integrity, and dis/mis-information. Prior to Google, Camille was a manager in Deloitte’s Cyber Risk practice working on cybersecurity, election security, tech innovation, and risk issues for DHS, DOD, and other federal agencies. Diversity in Cybersecurity is a Problem We have long ignored the fact that addressing issues of diversity is more than just the right thing to do, as it is actually a mission imperative in cybersecurity. And as technology underpins pretty much everything that we do, how systemic racism is amplified, or cured by technology implementation, is something that we have to be thinking about. And the policy decisions that we've made in the past, and the ones that we make moving forward, are all impacted by a society built on systemic racism, our investments are all impacted by legacy and current day systemic racism, informed decision making policies and bodies. The Paper to Address Diversity The Aspen Institute came to Camille seeing this moment where we needed to kind of dive in and talk about how diversity, equity and inclusion is impacting the work and convened a large group of folks across diverse backgrounds, leaders in cybersecurity, academia, industry government, to come together for a closed door, Chatham House rules, discussion on how we could move the needle on this. How can we come together to identify what the issues are around diversity and cybersecurity and then come up with some solutions. And the thing that was really appreciated is, as Aspen and Camille worked through this, they were very clear that it needed to be action oriented. And so the discussion was really rooted in that how can we actually do work, take action, to drive diversity and inclusion in cybersecurity, for the betterment of not only the people who will and may participate in this industry, but also for the work. Why Diversity In Cybersecurity Should Matter to Everyone Let's think about the large scale cyber incidents we've seen recently. The attack on Colonial Pipeline then cascaded into you, not being able to get gas. The attack on JBS foods that meant you probably couldn't get your lunch meat for your kids, means that you should be concerned about cybersecurity as an individual.  And there are so many other reasons beyond that, but those very large scale incidents are very attached to the individual and how they impact your ability to access services and operate, or because you as an individual could take an action that could lead to one of those breaches.  So diversity, as a part of cybersecurity as a part of the industry is important because you can identify things based on your lived experiences and how technology shows up in your life that other people cannot.  The Future of the Cybersecurity Workforce A lot of the diversity issues in cybersecurity are systemic. There are issues with hiring; there are issues with retention; issues of education. So many people don't even recognize the fact that working in technology, and cybersecurity is an option for them - access to the industry, building a network, etc. And so we created some buckets that kind of address those things divided up the practitioners that were participating.  They put their brain power behind thinking about what are some solutions to the educational barriers. Certifications are a common tool in cybersecurity. But that's really tough, because most certifications require some years of experience. And you're seeing a lot of entry level jobs that require those certifications. How can it be an entry level job if you need five years of experience to get the certification that is required to get the job? Links and Resources: Connect with Camille on Twitter or Instagram @Camilleesq Camille’s Paper

Some of the earliest documented instances of health misinformation occurred as early as the 1930s. So it’s not as recent of a phenomenon as you may think. Obviously, social media has made the speed and prevalence of health misinformation and disinformation much worse. It started with cancer misinformation, but now we are dealing with vaccine misinformation and of course, the battle field is social media. All of the medical and technological advances we have made as a first world country don’t make a difference if we can’t overcome the health disinformation that is prevalent on social media. Today’s guest is Dr. Tara Sell. Dr. Sell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and a Senior Associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She conducts research to develop a greater understanding of potentially large-scale health events such as disease outbreaks, bioterrorism, natural disasters, or radiological/nuclear events.  Dr. Sell’s work focuses on improving public health policy and practice in order to reduce the health impacts of disasters and terrorism. She works on qualitative and quantitative research analyses and uses this research to assist in the development of strategy and policy recommendations. Her primary research interests include biosecurity and biodefense, public health preparedness, emerging infectious disease, federal funding and budgeting, and nuclear preparedness policy and practice. She also serves as an Associate Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Health Security (formerly Biosecurity and Bioterrorism). How to Discern the Truth Determining how true information that you share on social media is can be confusing. Disinformation is designed to look like accurate information and is more easily shareable that you realize. As a society, we have to do 2 things: We need to hold policy makers accountable to the truth and to come up with solutions to address the disinformation. We have to have a national strategy that controls the spread and sources of misinformation and a system to promote good information, increase public resiliency to misinformation and bring all of the stakeholders together. Identifying Misinformation Needs to be a Top Priority Misinformation is intentionally designed to play on your emotions, and be so compelling that you will also want to share it. We need to have a unified effort to show people the tactics that are being used to make us an unwitting accomplice in the spread of misinformation. There are online fact checking tools that simply aren’t used enough. Additionally, when misinformation is prevalent, there isn’t a cohesive strategy to help us share the truth as a countermeasure to the misinformation. Better digital literacy will go a long way in helping combat misinformation. Government Skepticism One thing that is hindering the adoption of the safe and effective vaccines, is the general distrust of the government. It’s not good for the government to be playing the role as the arbiter of truth in these situations. The government needs to be more transparent and bring together different agencies and address misinformation from a public health perspective, but it also needs to bleed into the national security side of government.  We need a national strategy to confront health misinformation across the spectrum, so that it can more easily be identified and stamped out. Being Caught In the Middle With Friends and Family Many people are dreading the potential confrontations that may happen at the Thanksgiving table over the medical misinformation on the different sides of the political arguments. If you find yourself in this situation, Tara advises: Engage respectfully. No one will be convinced of the truth if they are dismissed or ridiculed. Connect over shared values. Everyone wants their children and their families to be safe. Talk about the tactics used to spread misinformation and your experience with it. Discuss alternative explanations for the conspiracy theories and use information sources that people will accept. Provide trusted sources for information that are not the CDC or WHO since they have become targets. Use Johns Hopkins or other reputable medical sources. Enlist the help of trusted family members. The High Cost of Misinformation Tara’s organization did an analysis of what the actual misinformation is costing us, as medical misinformation has been declared a public health emergency. If 5% of non-vaccination is caused by medical misinformation, that leads to a cost of $50M in harm each day of a non-Delta surge environment. It would be even bigger during the Delta surge or if that non-vaccination number due to misinformation is higher.  If it’s 30% then that number increases to a cost of $300M dollars per day. Who Is It Costing? The cost of misinformation is spread out across sectors, but where ever there are people bearing more of the burden for misinformation, the associated costs are also concentrated there. What Can You Do? We have to face the fact that health related misinformation is going to be with us for a while. We aren’t just going to be done with it when the pandemic is over. New targets will emerge. We have to make investments in solutions for health misinformation. We have to work on our own resilience. Encourage friends and family to be more resilient to misinformation as well.   Resources: Connect with Tara on Twitter @skirkell Chamber of Progress Website Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  Bio @elizabethbanker Elizabeth Banker is Vice President of Legal Advocacy for Chamber of Progress. Elizabeth brings twenty-five years of in-house, law firm, and trade association experience on intermediary liability, Section 230, and online safety. Most recently, Elizabeth was Deputy General Counsel at Internet Association where she directed policy on consumer privacy and content moderation. While at IA, Elizabeth conducted a review of 500 Section 230 decisions and testified twice before the Senate on efforts to reform Section 230. Elizabeth has first-hand experience responding to the challenges that face online services as a veteran of both Twitter and Yahoo!. She was Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Law Enforcement, Security and Safety at Yahoo! Inc. for more than a decade.  More recently she was Senior Director and Associate General Counsel for Global Law Enforcement and Safety at Twitter.  Elizabeth spent five years as a shareholder at ZwillGen, a boutique law firm focused on privacy and security in Washington, D.C. Elizabeth began her career in government with the President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection during the Clinton Administration. Resources: Progress Chamber Website : 

With Federal privacy regulation leaving much to be desired, it has fallen to individual states to make up the gap and establish their own privacy rules. This approach is problematic for many reasons, which is why Justin Brookman is on the show today. Correction: The name of the individual Joe referenced in the intro is Alex Stamos, from the Stanford Internet Observatory, not John Stamos as was stated in the episode Consumer Privacy Has a Home a Consumer Reports Justin Brookman is with Consumer Reports where he's the head of tech policy. He wrote an excellent paper several months ago on state privacy regulation (you can read it here). Justin is the Director, Consumer Privacy and Technology Policy, for Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports. In this new privacy role at CR, he will help the organization continue its groundbreaking work to shape the digital marketplace in a way that empowers consumers and puts their data privacy and security needs first. This work includes using CR research to identify critical gaps in consumer privacy, data security, and technology law and policy, as well as building strategies to expand the use and influence of the new Digital Standard  being developed by CR and partner organizations to evaluate the privacy and security of products and services. The Politics of Privacy If you keep up with the news of the day, you know that right now, everybody has had it with big tech companies, like Facebook. Consumers, politicians, the media and other businesses have been sounding off about the pitfalls of having big tech intrude into our lives. It’s brought about a lot of policy proposals, but no comprehensive legislation that is likely to pass at the Federal level. This gaping hole has been filled in by the privacy legislation that is popping up at the state level. Legislation State By State As is often the case, California is one of the first states to come forward with privacy legislation of its own. The California Consumer Privacy Act has already been amended to make the legislation stronger than the original bill. Virginia also came forward with a bill, and Colorado quickly followed suit. We’re also currently seeing legislative battles in New York and Washington State over privacy, and the proposals are really all over the place. The Federal Role of Privacy The Federal government has basically taken a hands off approach to the privacy legislation popping up around the country. Because all of the privacy laws ultimately center around the first amendment, the Federal government is reluctant to play a heavy handed role in the laws that are cropping up throughout the country. There have been some challenges to legislation around the first amendment and some have been rejected, as the judiciary is reluctant to regulate companies. Consumers vs. Businesses vs. Government Consumers don’t want Facebook or their ISPs to track their every move and collect data on them. At the same time, the government doesn’t want private data collected to be in the hands of these companies and outside of the reach of government agencies.  Many states are willing to take a more aggressive approach to privacy in light of the massive data breaches that consumers have experienced in recent years. Where are we now While it’s clear that aggressive action needs to be taken to prevent data breaches, it’s going to take regulatory agencies some time to catch up because Federal legislation moves so slowly.  Much of the existing legislation is unwieldy for the consumer. Whether it relies on a physical opt out by consumers or it goes state by state, it’s just not that easy for consumers to actually protect themselves with the current regulations. State legislatures do not have the staff or the expertise to create the kind of legislation that is needed for consumers to truly be protected. We need to find a balance between what can effectively protect consumers, but also allow businesses to function in a way that doesn’t put consumers at risk. Resources: Connect with Justin on Twitter @justinbrookman

CDT Comments to US Dept. of ED Urging the Protection of Students of Color and Students with Disabilities, And Their Data @venzkec Cody Venzke is a Policy Counsel for CDT’s Equity in Civic Technology Project, where he works to ensure that education agencies and other civic institutions use technology responsibly and equitably while protecting the privacy and civil rights of individuals. He is a contributor to the California Lawyers Association’s treatise on the California Consumer Privacy Act, including on the right to opt out and compliance with recordkeeping and training requirements. Prior to joining CDT, Cody served as an Attorney Advisor at the Federal Communications Commission and clerked for the Honorable Julio M. Fuentes on the Third Circuit and the Honorable Jan E. DuBois in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Cody also worked on the litigation team of an international law firm, where he served clients in emerging technologies such as clean energy, medicine, and media.  In his pro bono work, Cody has represented tenants in eviction actions, assisted applicants under the U visa program, and supported litigation to ensure criminal defendants receive adequate representation under the Fifth Amendment.  Prior to starting his law career, Cody taught math at a large public high school in Houston, Texas through Teach For America. Cody graduated from St. Olaf College and Stanford Law School, and grew up in rural Iowa.

  Margaret graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2003 and began her legal career with the Housing Preservation Project. She began her career as a community organizer, fighting for the rights of manufactured home community members with All Parks Alliance for Change. After law school, Margaret joined HJC under its former name Housing Preservation Project, where she worked on a range of issues including preservation of federally subsidized housing and manufactured home community preservation. She then returned to APAC as the Legal and Public Policy Director where she helped resident associations fight for their rights in parks, represented resident associations in court, and helped push legislation to support manufactured homeowners, including a law that prevented deceptive lending practices and creation of the relocation trust fund for homeowners displaced through park closures. Next, she spent four years at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs as the Operations Director for the Minnesota Center for Neighborhood Organizing, working to ensure that people affected by decisions had the tools and skills to organize and advocate on issues ranging from education to transportation to police community relations to housing. Most recently she spent six years as the Community Development Director at Minnesota Housing where she worked to create connections between community needs across the state of Minnesota and the programs and policies of Minnesota Housing. Margaret was also a policy fellow with the North Star Policy Institute. She brings a wealth of knowledge about local, state, and federal housing policy and programs as well as a robust background in the intersection of community organizing and the law.   Discussion Materials Opening the Door: Tenant Screening and Selection 

  Justin Hendrix is CEO and Editor of Tech Policy Press, a new nonprofit media venture concerned with the intersection of technology and democracy. Previously, he was Executive Director of NYC Media Lab. He spent over a decade at The Economist in roles including Vice President, Business Development & Innovation. He is an associate research scientist and adjunct professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

  Bio David J. Johns is known for his passion, public policy acumen and fierce advocacy for youth. He is an enthusiast about equity—leveraging his time, talent and treasures to address the needs of individuals and communities often neglected and ignored. A recognized thought leader and social justice champion, David’s career has focused on improving life outcomes and opportunities for Black people. On September 1, 2017, David Johns began his next life chapter as the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)—a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, including people living with HIV/AIDS. NBJC’s mission is to end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ bias and stigma. In 2013, Johns was appointed as the first executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans (Initiative) by President Barack H. Obama and served until the last day of the Obama Administration in January, 2017. The Initiative worked across federal agencies and with partners and communities nationwide to produce a more effective continuum of education and workforce development programs for African American students of all ages. Under his leadership, the Initiative studied the experiences of students—leveraged a partnership with Johnson Publishing Company (EBONY Magazine) to produce a series of African American Educational Summits (AfAmEdSummits) at college campuses throughout the country, where the only experts who sat in front of the White House seal were students as young as elementary school. The recommendations that students made at AfAmEdSummits have been used to improve policies, programs and practices, including curriculum, designed to ensure that students thrive—both in school and in life. Prior to his White House appointment, Johns was a senior education policy advisor to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) under the leadership of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Before working for the Senate HELP Committee, Johns served under the leadership of the late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Johns also was a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellow in the office of Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY). Johns has worked on issues affecting low-income and minority students, neglected youth, early childhood education, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). His research as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow served as a catalyst to identify, disrupt and supplant negative perceptions of black males—both within academia and society. Johns is committed to volunteer services and maintains an active commitment to improve literacy among adolescent minority males. Johns has been featured as an influential politico and advocate by several publications and outlets, including TheRoot.com, NBC, EBONY and The Washington Post.  Johns is a prominent strategist who offers commentary for several media outlets including BET, CNN, EducationPost and TV One. David is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in sociology and education policy at Columbia University. Johns obtained a master’s degree in sociology and education policy at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he graduated summa cum laude while simultaneously teaching elementary school in New York City. He graduated with honors from Columbia University in 2004 with a triple major in English, creative writing and African American studies. Johns was named to the Root100 in both 2013 and 2014, selected as a member of the Ebony Power 100 in 2015, and received an early career award from Columbia University, Teachers College in 2016. He has also served as an adjunct professor at American University. Resources National Black Justice Coalition Johns, D., 2020. Don’t Make the Internet Unwelcome to Diverse Communities, Especially Black and Latinx LGBTQ People. [Blog] Morning Consult, Available at: [Accessed 11 November 2020]. Related Episodes ‘Social media policy: It's the moderation, stupid!’ with Chris Lewis Ep. 232(Opens in a new browser tab) Intro JOE: Hey everybody. So here we are on the other side of the election. They're still counting the votes. But this thing looks over. Even in the face of several lawsuits, President Trump has brought to challenge the election results, Biden's win is only becoming more decisive. The president-elect is on track to win by over 5 million popular votes, bringing his total to more than 80 million, more than any presidential candidate in history, and he still has another 75 likely electoral votes outstanding in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. So ... we're pretty much done here.  Hit me up. (866) 482-3898. Leave your thoughts! Maybe we’ll use them in a future episode. (866) 482-3898. What tech policy issues should the Biden administration and Congress focus on? Let us know. (866) 482-3898. Save it to your contacts. So, you know, I don’t have to say the number over and over again. Like a ShamWow commercial. So that brings us to -- what will the next 4+ years look like in terms of tech policy? Obviously, China will be a major issue, and particularly Huawei. It will be interesting to see whether the Biden administration continues its ban of U.S. companies doing any business with Huawei whatsoever. Key allies haven’t supported the Trump administration’s ban, citing their reliance on Huawei technology. Outside of technology, what are the chances of war with China over the coming years, as China has continued to object to the U.S. presence in the South China Sea? What happens there directly affects the tech markets--war would certainly have a major impact on the supply chain. So that is definitely something to watch out for. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states that platforms aren’t legally responsible for the content their users post, has been an issue, as you know, with the Trump administration attempting to get the FCC--an independent agency, no less -- to use Section 230 to rein in what some conservatives see as an “anti-conservative bias” on platforms like Twitter. I’d be very surprised to see the Biden administration continue down that path.  It’s just a huge waste of administrative, legislative and judicial resources for a policy that, I believe, would ultimately lose on First Amendment grounds once it hit the Supreme Court. Republicans and some Democrats could certainly purse reforming Section 230. But we’ll have to see if Josh Hawley is as passionate about illegal sexual content, and sex trafficking, as he says he is, and pursues Section 230 as vigorously as he has up until now.  And another issue, I think, that we haven’t heard a lot about but probably should since we saw growth among Latino and Black working-class voters voting for Trumpism, is the Future of Work. What does the future of work look like for Americans in a tech sector that hasn’t done anything meaningful, other than releasing diversity reports, to improve diversity and inclusion -- nothing observable, I should say, because we can’t see everything that’s going on--all we see are the numbers which are pretty sad--they don’t look anything like the U.S. population. And you have companies like IBM already lobbying the Biden administration to fill the government skills gap by working with these same companies. The same companies hiring from the same 5 schools. We have over 5,000 colleges in the United States, many of which offer amazing programs -- since they’re accredited, right? -- they have amazing programs but don’t have the endowments--they don’t have the marketing budgets--for various, historical reasons we don’t need to get into. We hear a lot about recruiting from HBCUs. That’s great! But we have many many state and local colleges with incredible diversity -- Minority Serving Institutions -- with Black, Latino, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Native American students -- that don’t get much advocacy at all. Why is that?  So those are just 3 areas I’m certainly going to be watching. There are many, many others, we’ll get to them on future episodes …  Let’s get into Section 230 -- David Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, and someone I greatly, and many, greatly respect and admire this man for his sheer intellect and incredible interpersonal skills. He is an enthusiast about equity—leveraging his time, talent, and treasures to address the needs of individuals and communities often neglected and ignored. A recognized thought leader and social justice champion, David’s career has focused on improving life outcomes and opportunities for Black people. David Johns.

Bio   Richard Fowler is Host of radio’s nationally syndicated The Richard Fowler Show, Democratic Messaging Expert, and Millennial Engagement Specialist, Richard Fowler is an advocate for youth and social policy reform.  Currently, Richard works with teachers, nurses, and higher education faculty to make sure their voices matters in the decision making process taking place at city halls, state capitols, and our nation’s Capital. Fowler is regularly featured on prime-time cable news discussing a wide variety of issues, including the 2016 election, social justice, race, and news of the day.   Most frequently, he appears on The Kelly File and Hardball  on MSNBC, in addition to other major international and outlets across the country. He was a 2012 Democratic National Convention Delegate. The Richard Fowler Show can be heard in over 9.1 million homes internationally and is a partner in the TYT Network, a multi-channel network on YouTube specializing in political talk shows. Richard has been a regular fill-in anchor on Current TV and RTTV and currently serves as the official guest host for The Full Court Press with Bill Press. A native of Fort Lauderdale, Richard got his first taste of politics at a young age when he went with his mother into the voting booth to pull the lever for Bill Clinton for President. After that auspicious start, Richard began his involvement in politics. As a young man he volunteered on numerous local races in Florida, including former Attorney General Janet Reno’s gubernatorial campaign. From registering and organizing more than a thousand young voters in Florida for the NAACP — to being a campaign manager in the District of Columbia, Richard has used his experience to advise youth, minority and female candidates. Richard has been a featured speaker at the Center For American Progress, National Council of La Raza’s National Conference, College Democrats of America, United States Student Association, the American Councils on International Education, the Young Democrats of America, over twenty different foreign delegations, and numerous colleges and universities. He has trained nearly 2,000 young people about the importance of image and messaging in the political arena. Richard is also the co-founder of Richard Media Company, a boutique messaging, public relations, and production outfit located in Washington, DC.  Outside of his work in media, Richard was the co-founder and director of PHOENIX FREEDOM PAC, a transportation solutions political action committee. Richard Formerly served as the Advocacy Director of The Young Democrats of America and as the Executive Director of Generational Alliance, a progressive youth engagement organization. He sat on the Board of Directors for Amara Legal Center and now is a National Executive Board Member for Pride at Work. He is also the former Executive Director of the Virginia Young Democrats Annual Conference, a Fellow at the New Leaders Council, and a former Fellow at the Center for Progressive Leadership. Richard earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelors of Arts in International Affairs from The George Washington University. Resources The Richard Fowler Show Intro A coalition of the United States Department of Justice and 11 mostly red states announced Tuesday that they filed a new antitrust lawsuit against Google because of its search dominance. The complaint accuses Google of engaging in a number of anti-competitive practices. One of them is Apple’s exclusive relationship with Google that allows Google’s search engine to be the default in Apple’s Safari browser. The Wall Street Journal reports that some estimates place the cost to Google for this relationship at $11 billion, comprising some 20% of Apple’s total revenue.   A key piece of evidence here was a 2018 email from a top Apple executive telling his counterpart at Google, “Our vision is that we work as if we are one company.” Neither company has released the name of the executive who sent that email. But I am just beside myself trying to figure out, and I’m really trying to empathize with the person who sent it, why, out of all of the things they could have put in writing, why they wrote the absolute worst thing they could possibly think of.    This was a high-level interaction with a competitor in which anticompetitive pitfalls were blatantly obvious. The first thing on this executive’s mind should have been to avoid an appearance of impropriety at all costs, especially given the discourse here in Washington about both companies’ market dominance and bipartisan support for regulating tech companies.   These executives are supposed to be the best and brightest, right? But this is just basic antitrust law and policy. A high-ranking executive in a company like Apple should know it. It’s just basic. It’s not hard.   I cannot help but wonder if the executive here was a person of color. Forgive me if I sound harsh. But companies like Apple use their purported inability to find qualified diverse talent as an excuse to justify the sheer lack of diversity in their executive ranks. I really want to know how someone, who is supposed to be so superior to everyone else who competed for their job, could make such a dumb mistake.    I’m not saying this person should be fired. Everyone makes mistakes. But for a company that seems so invested in meritocracy, I, like many of you, can’t help but wonder 1) was this executive a person of color, and; 2) how did the company respond to this? Are they treating it as an isolated, forgivable incident, or, are they are globalizing it, making a value judgment about the executive’s overall intelligence?   I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not even saying it’s healthy to think this way. I’m just saying it crossed my mind.    And I won’t even get into Jeffrey Toobin.   

John Bergmayer is Legal Director at Public Knowledge, specializing in telecommunications, media, internet, and intellectual property issues. He advocates for the public interest before courts and policymakers, and works to make sure that all stakeholders -- including ordinary citizens, artists, and technological innovators -- have a say in shaping emerging digital policies. Resources Bergmayer, J., 2020. Tending The Garden: How To Ensure App Stores Put Users First. [ebook] Washington, DC: Public Knowledge. Available at: [Accessed 27 September 2020].

Bios Mike Alkire Michael J. Alkire (@AlkirePremier) is the President at Premier, the largest global supply chain, healthcare technology company in the U.S, that helps hospitals and health systems provide higher quality patient care at a better cost. In addition to leading the integration of the company’s clinical, financial, supply chain and operational performance offerings, Alkire also oversees the quality, safety, labor and supply chain technology solutions. An influential figure in America’s efforts to address drug shortages and infuse data-enabled technology solutions into the U.S. healthcare system, Alkire has been consulted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, FEMA, congressional lawmakers, Wall Street investors and private sector industry leaders on how to stabilize the medical and pharmaceutical supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to offering his expertise in the media, he shares perspectives via his podcast, InsideOut, through discussions with insiders in healthcare. With an eye on equipping the nation’s hospitals and health systems with the clinical, financial, supply chain and operational performance improvement offerings they need to provide quality care at efficient costs, Alkire oversees Premier’s quality, safety, labor and supply chain technology apps and data-driven collaboratives including Premier’s comparative database, one of the nation’s largest outcomes databases. Alkire also led Premier’s efforts to address public health and safety issues from the nationwide drug shortage problem, testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives regarding Premier research on shortages and gray market price gouging. This work contributed to the president and Congress taking action to investigate and correct the problem, resulting in two pieces of bipartisan legislation. Alkire is a past board member of GHX and the Healthcare Supply Chain Association. He recently was named one of the Top 25 COOs in Healthcare for 2018 by Modern Healthcare. In 2015, Alkire won the Gold Stevie Award for Executive of the Year and in 2014 he was recognized as a Gold Award Winner for COO of the Year by the Golden Bridge Awards. He has more than 20 years of experience in running business operations and business development organizations at Deloitte & Touche and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. Before joining Premier, he served in a number of leadership roles at Cap Gemini, including North American responsibilities for supply chain and high-tech manufacturing. Alkire graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science from Indiana State University and a MBA from Indiana University. Jonathan Slotkin MD, FAANS Jonathan Slotkin leads clinical strategy, innovation and operations for Contigo Health by partnering with health systems and employers to deliver the highest quality care at a fair price. He works to support the development of novel products and implementation approaches that always aim for clinical excellence, patient satisfaction and value. Slotkin is a neurosurgeon and scientist who has led prominent care delivery reengineering and digital transformation initiatives centered around patients. He has partnered with some of the nation’s largest employers to help them reimagine the care of their associates. Slotkin believes higher quality care will always be the most cost-effective care in the end and that innovative employers and providers working together is the most powerful force we have to fix the U.S. healthcare system. He maintains a clinical practice caring for patients directly at Geisinger where he is associate chief medical informatics officer and Vice Chair of neurosurgery.  Resources Scott Weingarten, Jonathan Slotkin & Mike Alkire, Building A Real-Time Covid-19 Early-Warning System, Harvard Business Review, 2020, https://hbr.org/2020/06/building-a-real-time-covid-19-early-warning-system (last visited Aug 3, 2020).   Lisa Woods, Jonathan R. Slotkin & M. Ruth Coleman, How Employers are Fixing Healthcare, Harvard Business Review, 2019, https://hbr.org/cover-story/2019/03/how-employers-are-fixing-health-care (last visited Aug 3, 2020).   Jonathan R. Slotkin, Karen Murphy & Jaewon Ryu, How One Health System is Transforming in Response to COVID-19, Harvard Business Review, 2020, https://hbr.org/2020/06/how-one-health-system-is-transforming-in-response-to-covid-19 (last visited Aug 3, 2020).  

  Bio Philip N. Howard (@pnhoward) the Director of the Oxford Internet Institute and a statutory Professor of Internet Studies at Balliol College at the University of Oxford. Howard investigates the impact of digital media on political life around the world, and he is a frequent commentator on global media and political affairs. Howard’s research has demonstrated how new information technologies are used in both civic engagement and social control in countries around the world. His projects on digital activism, computational propaganda, and modern governance have been supported by the European Research Council, National Science Foundation, US Institutes of Peace, and Intel’s People and Practices Group. He has published nine books and over 140 academic articles, book chapters, conference papers, and commentary essays on information technology, international affairs and public life. His articles examine the role of new information and communication technologies in politics and social development, and he has published in peer review journals such as the American Behavioral Scientist, the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and The Journal of Communication. His first book on information technology and elections in the United States is called New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006). It is one of the few books to ever win simultaneous “best book” prizes from the professional associations of multiple disciplines, with awards from the American Political Science Association, the American Sociological Association, and the International Communication Association. His authored books include The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010), Castells and the Media (London, UK: Polity, 2011), Democracy’s Fourth Wave? Digital Media and the Arab Spring (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012, with Muzammil Hussain), and Pax Technica: How the Internet of Things May Set Us Free or Lock Us Up (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015). He has edited Society Online: The Internet in Context (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004, with Steve Jones), the Handbook of Internet Politics (London, UK: Routledge, 2008, with Andrew Chadwick), State Power 2.0: Authoritarian Entrenchment and Political Engagement Worldwide (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2013, with Muzammil Hussain) and Computational Propaganda: Political Parties, Politicians and Manipulation on Social Media (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018, with Samuel Woolley). Howard has had senior teaching, research, and administrative appointments at universities around the world. He has been on the teaching faculty at the Central European University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, the University of Oslo, and the University of Washington. He has had fellowship appointments at the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington D.C., the Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research at the London School of Economics, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University. From 2013-15 he helped design and launch a new School of Public Policy at Central European University in Budapest, where he was the school’s first Founding Professor and Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society.  He currently serves as Director of the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University, the leading center of research and teaching on technology and society. Howard’s research and commentary writing has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many international media outlets. He was awarded the National Democratic Institute’s 2018 “Democracy Prize” and Foreign Policy magazine named him a “Global Thinker” for pioneering the social science of fake news production. His B.A. is in political science from Innis College at the University of Toronto, his M.Sc. is in economics from the London School of Economics, and his Ph.D. is in sociology from Northwestern University. His website is philhoward.org. Resources Philip Howard, Lie Machines: How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives (2020)

Sara Harrison - 'Telehealth at the End of Life' (Ep. 238) Sara Harrison, a New York City-based freelance journalist, joined Joe Miller to talk about telehealth and palliative care. Bio Sara Harrison (@SaraHarrison) is a freelance writer and journalist based in New York. Previously she was a reporting fellow at WIRED where she covering vaping, content moderation, sleep science, and much more. She is a former assistant editor for the politics section of the Los Angeles Review of Books and her work has been featured in outlets including WIRED, Protocol, San Francisco Magazine, and on NPR-affiliate KALW's Crosscurrents. Sara holds a B.A. in English from Carleton College and a masters degree from the UC Berkeley School of Journalism where she was a Dean's Merit Fellow. Her thesis, “The Quest to Make a Bot that Can Smell as Well as a Dog,” won the Clay Felker Award for Excellence in Narrative Writing. Email: sara[dot]harrison[at]berkeley[dot]edu Resources Sara Harrison, When Doctors and Patients Talk About Death Over Zoom Wired (2020), https://www.wired.com/story/when-doctors-and-patients-talk-about-death-over-zoom/ (last visited Jul 20, 2020).

Transportation Equity with Henry Greenidge (Ep. 237) Transportation Equity with Henry Greenidge (Ep. 237) -- New York University's McSilver Institute Fellow-in-Residence Henry Greenidge joined Joe to discuss transportation equity and what new legislation will mean for communities of color. Bio Henry L. Greenidge is a dynamic attorney and government affairs professional with over ten years of experience in policy advising and legal advocacy. His areas of expertise include sustainability, energy, infrastructure, broadband, and autonomous transportation. Currently, he leads state and local government affairs in addition to public engagement for Cruise, a GM subsidiary focused on autonomous vehicles.  Previously, Henry held legal, policy, budget, and government affairs roles in Washington, DC during the Obama Administration. He has also served in senior leadership positions for the New York City Department of Transportation and the NYC Mayor’s Office.  Henry strongly believes in the importance of investing in your community and is active in several organizations including the New York Urban League and the Metropolitan Black Bar Association. His board service includes Brooklyn Community Board 9, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Tech 2025, the Apollo Theater Young Professionals, and the Emma L. Bowen Foundation, providing undergraduate students of color with internships at top media and tech companies.  In addition to awards and commendations received during his time with the Obama Administration, Henry’s work has been recognized by several organizations including New York University as an Emerging Leader in Transportation, City & State Magazine as a 40 Under 40 Rising Star, and the New York Urban League as a Trailblazer. Henry has also completed the Coro Leadership New York Fellowship program and was a Fellow with the Council of Urban Professionals.  Henry holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore and a Bachelor of Arts from the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University where he graduated with honors. During his free time, Henry can be found chasing his two young children around and doting on his beautiful wife, Linara. He also enjoys golf, cycling and collecting rare vinyl records. Resources The McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy & Research at New York University

Bio Christina Thomas is the Divisional Vice President for Youth Exchanges at World Learning. Christina oversees the World Learning’s multimillion-dollar U.S. and international youth exchange portfolio consisting of World Learning’s flagship program, the Experiment in International Living. The Exchange portfolio serves over 1,200 high school age U.S. and international students and adult educators and hires up to 150 program leaders annually. Programs focus on experiential learning, global issues, and youth leadership. Christina also serves as the Board President of the Federation EIL providing member support in strategic planning, capacity building, and quality assurance. The Federation is a nonprofit association representing a global network of international educational program providers supporting 12 members around the globe who offer programs in volunteerism, group travel, language training, and study abroad. Before joining World Learning in 2003, Christina taught English to junior and senior high school students and designed teacher training programs for Japanese English teachers on the Japan Teaching and Exchange Program (JET) for three years. Christina received her master's degree in international communications from the School of International Service with an emphasis on international education and management from American University in Washington, DC. Resources Global Youth Exchanges - World Learning, World Learning (2020), https://www.worldlearning.org/what-we-do/global-youth-exchanges/ (last visited Jun 28, 2020).   News Roundup       Growing list of companies pull ads from Facebook  As of Monday morning, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Unilever announced they would be pulling their ads from Facebook in protest over the social media giant’s refusal to take down hate speech. Patagonia, North Face, and REI had previously announced they’d be pulling their ads, along with Ben & Jerry’s, Eddie Bauer, and Honda America who were among the first companies to make the announcement. Unilever announced it would be pulling its ads at least until the end of the year. Bloomberg reported Friday that Zuckerberg lost over $7 billion of his wealth after Facebook’s stock price dropped 8.3%.  While Zuckerberg has come under intense scrutiny, the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook investor, board member, and Trump adviser Peter Thiel is actually the one calling the shots.   What exactly is Peter Thiel’s role in the “boogaloo” movement? Thiel donated $1.25 million to President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and is also a co-founder of Palantir, the controversial surveillance firm that’s developed a predictive policing algorithm popular among the boys in blue. The company has sold its software to local law enforcement agencies around the world, as well as to the U.S. military and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. It’s notorious for allegedly helping police unfairly target Blacks and Latinos and reinforcing racialized patterns within the criminal justice system, which apparently has become a breeding ground for white supremacists, including 2 now-fired cops, in Wilmington, North Carolina, who were caught on a patrol car video saying they couldn’t wait to slaughter black people. The Department of Health and Human Services has also awarded Palantir a mysterious coronavirus contract, about which Democrats in Congress, led by Congressman Joaquin Castro, wrote HHS Secretary Alex Azar Thursday, calling for the Palantir contract, as well as similar contracts with Oracle and Amazon, to be made public. The increased focus on Thiel last week came amidst reports of the growing anti-government “boogaloo” movement pushing for a Second Civil War, the type of apocalyptic event about which Peter Thiel has ostensibly been pining for years, given his 477-acre retreat in New Zealand, the Guardian reported about in a 2018 article, which would be perfect to escape such a calamity. Peter Thiel has pulled strings in the background before, when he funded Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker after Gawker alleged that Thiel was gay, resulting in Gawker’s 2016 bankruptcy.   The American right partners with Falun Gong Axios first reported last week President Trump has fired the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which includes the Open Technology Fund, which used to fund a variety of projects, like Signal, that allow devices access to sites repressive regimes try to block. Trump replaced USAGM’s former lead John Lansing with Steve Bannon ally and conservative filmmaker Michael Pack. Pack then fired Libby Liu, former head of the Open Technology Fund within USAGM. Now conservatives are looking to invest exclusively in two specific technologies known as UltraSurf and Freegate, technologies religious freedom advocacy organizations like Asia’s Falun Gong prefer because they see them as a way to topple China’s “Great Firewall”. Falun Gong also owns Epoch Times, which Axios notes is part of Trump’s conservative news ecosystem, and the organization is seen to align themselves with religious freedom advocates on America’s far-right, in an effort many fear will politicize America’s international media outlet. Federal government ramps up surveillance efforts The Intercept reported last week the FBI has ramped up surveillance efforts, citing contracts with companies like Venntel, which tracks the movements of millions of Americans. The Intercept found what it termed an “expedited agreement” between the FBI and a company called Dataminr as demonstrators took to the streets to protest systemic injustice, worldwide protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, a black man killed by a police officer who knelt on Mr. Floyds neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds in Minneapolis despite the fact that he repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe, called for his mother, and was motionless for several minutes. The FBI has a long history of targeting racial, ethnic, and religious minorities especially Muslims. Boston bans facial recognition In a major victory for civil rights advocates, the City of Boston has officially banned facial recognition from policing, becoming the second-largest city to do so, following San Francisco. The Boston City Council voted unanimously in favor of the ban. On the federal level, however, no one seems to know how facial recognition technologies are used, after lawmakers sought information from the Department of Housing and Urban Development on how the Department uses the technology in public housing, which includes some 1.2 million households. The Department said it doesn’t keep track. In another development, more than 1,000 machine learning experts wrote a letter to the publisher of an article set to be released from a couple of researchers at Harrisburg University claiming they have developed a facial recognition program with an accuracy rate of 80%. Also check out the profile The New York Times did on the black man whose case became the nation’s first dealing with false identification by an facial recognition algorithm.   Indiana Supreme Court rules woman not required to unlock her phone for police The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Carmel, Indiana woman, Katelin Seo, who refused to unlock her phone for police during a criminal investigation, which led to the lower court holding her in contempt. The Indiana Supreme Court found that requiring Seo to unlock her phone would have violated her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Trump restricts highly-skilled worker visas The White House last week announced that it will be restricting the number of foreign worker visas including the H1B visas tech companies use to attract highly skilled workers. Most of these workers are people of color from countries in Asia. The Trump administration claims the visas would put America at an economic disadvantage during its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. TaskRabbit CEO, Stacy Brown-Philpot Resigns  Finally, Task Rabbit C.E.O. Stacy Brown-Philpot has resigned after four years leading the gig working company. Ms. Brown-Philpot said she will stay with the company until the end of August to give it enough time to find her successor. Brown-Philpot is one of the few Black or Female technology industry CEOs. She is also on the Boards of HP and Nordstrom and is currently advising a $100 million Softbank fund to support companies led by people of color. Ms. Brown-Philpot indicated she was deeply affected by the killing of George Floyd, championed the hiring of more women and black people in tech, and said the gig working industry needs to do more for contract workers.

‘Protecting the 2020 Election from COVID19’ with Gowri Ramachandran (Ep. 235) Protecting the 2020 Election from COVID 19 - Gowri Ramachandran, Counsel in the Election Security program at the Brennan Center joined Joe Miller. Bio Gowri Ramachandran is Counsel in the Election Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. She is currently on leave from her position as professor of law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. At Southwestern, she taught courses in constitutional law, employment discrimination, critical race theory, and the Ninth Circuit Appellate Litigation Clinic, which received the Ninth Circuit’s 2018 Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award. She received her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Yale College and a master’s degree in statistics from Harvard University. While in law school, she served as editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. After graduating from law school in 2003, Ramachandran served as law clerk to Judge Sidney R. Thomas of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Billings, Montana. After a fellowship at Georgetown University Law Center, she joined the Southwestern faculty in 2006. Resources Gowri Ramachandran, How to Keep the 2020 Election Secure Brennan Center for Justice (2020), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-keep-2020-election-secure (last visited Jun 21, 2020). Edgardo Cortés et al., Preparing for Cyberattacks and Technical Problems During the Pandemic: A Guide for Election Officials (2020), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/preparing-cyberattacks-and-technical-problems-during-pandemic-guide (last visited Jun 21, 2020). Related Episodes     ‘Communications Policy in the COVID-19 Era’ with Hon. Geoffrey Starks (Ep. 225)(Opens in a new browser tab) News Roundup       Lawmakers step up efforts to rein in facial recognition companies’ work with law enforcement IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon announced plans to scale back the sale of their facial recognition technologies to law enforcement. But while those companies are some of the largest providers of such technologies, smaller competitors continue to supply police departments, and Amazon has only stated that it would stop selling facial recognition technology for 12 months as it waits for Congress to write new legislation. Many important studies have repeatedly demonstrated how these technologies produce biased outcomes when it comes to women and people of color. One Zero also reported last week that technology companies also make substantial donations to police organizations. WSJ: How federal authorities use marketing, GPS data to pursue suspects In 2018, the Supreme Court decided Carpenter v. U.S., in which it held that law enforcement needs a search warrant before obtaining cell tower location data from carriers when they pursue suspects. But in an exclusive report, the Wall Street Journal explains how the police now circumvent Carpenter using marketing data – which is anonymized but when correlated with other factors can reveal the personal identity of a suspect. These law enforcement agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, have concluded those data don’t fall within the scope of data for which the U.S. Supreme Court requires probable cause per Carpenter since the data doesn’t come from cell phone data and, instead, comes from geolocation data. Venntel, the subject of the Wall Street Journal report and company that provided marketing data to the IRS, claims its data is “pseudanonimized”. It will be interesting to see how courts and lawmakers consider how such pseudanonimized data should be treated in light of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Facebook struggles to respond to backlash over its content moderation policies and calls for boycotts by civil rights organizations Facebook is still under fire for failing to adequately moderate misinformation posted by the president. Several Civil Rights organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Color of Change and others called on advertisers to boycott Facebook after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg repeatedly refused to even flag misinformation Trump posted a couple of weeks ago saying mail-in ballots pose a risk for voter fraud, a claim that is unsubstantiated. Several research reports by prominent institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have concluded mail-in ballots produce no meaningful advantage for either political party. Amidst the backlash, Facebook announced plans last week to invest $200 million to support Black-owned businesses and organizations. The company also announced an effort to register 4 million voters.   Trump tests waters with new social media violations President Trump continued to defy social media boundaries with more misleading and hateful content last week. On Thursday, the Trump campaign posted an ad containing the upside down, red triangle Nazi’s used to identify communists, socialists and liberals in concentration camps.    Facebook and Twitter removed that ad. On Friday, the president tweeted a manipulated video appearing to show a white child running after a black child with a fake lower-third saying “terrified toddler runs from racist baby”. Twitter initially flagged the tweet but ultimately took it down. Both Twitter and Facebook also announced last week they’ve seen foreign actors evolve their social media propaganda efforts but as yet no coordinated efforts by state actors to manipulate election outcomes. France upholds $56 million fine against Google for privacy violations After an 18-month appeal effort, Google has lost against French regulators who found the company violated Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by failing to make it easy for users to determine how the company used their data, notice which required users to go through several steps, according to the French Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, which upheld the $56 million fine it levied against Google back in January of last year. Netflix Founder and CEO Reed Hastings announced that Netflix would be investing $120 million in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Government relations pros blast Pinterest for discriminating against them for being black women Two prominent government relations pros, both of whom are African American women, put Pinterest on blast last week for allegedly having a toxic work environment that is hostile to black employees. Ifeoma Ozoma reported on Twitter that a white male inside Pinterest doxed her, sharing her private information publicly, and failed to give her a pay raise. She also said that, during her performance review, her manager criticized her for being outspoken during discussions around the company’s new policy to stop advertising slave plantation—according to Ozoma, the manager accused her of not “both-siding” the issue. Ozoma also noted that her replacement, Aerica Banks, also a black woman, also resigned.

Bio Harold Hughes (@OneBandwagonFan) is the founder & CEO of Bandwagon – an identity infrastructure company that helps companies and organizations transparently manage, aggregate, and store valuable consumer data. A rising star in sports tech, Harold has had his ideas validated as a graduate (and now mentor) of the Founder Institute Greenville chapter; graduate of Capital Factory – Austin, one of the inaugural companies in Google for Startups Black Founders Exchange Program, and most recently the IBM Blockchain Accelerator. In his hometown community, he serves as the founder and Managing Director of Brickyard Innovation Lab: an entrepreneur ecosystem for early-stage startups and emerging growth companies. He is also a Co-Director of the Founder Institute Greenville chapter, a startup incubator, and a member of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce. A man of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Harold is actively involved in the community participating on the Board of Directors for Rebuild Upstate and Visit Greenville. As a strong believer in mentorship, he makes time to speak with youth and his peers about his journey to entrepreneurship and how he has found success along the way. Harold Hughes is a graduate of Clemson University where he received Bachelors degrees in both Economics (B.A) and Political Science (B.A.).  As a “Triple Tiger”, he also completed his MBA at Clemson, before pursuing a graduate certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Stanford University. Resources Aura Bandwagon Fan Club News Roundup       Tech giants curtail, end sale of facial recognition to police IBM and Microsoft announced plans last week to end the sale of surveillance technology to police departments, with IBM stopping all research, development and production of such systems indefinitely, and Microsoft saying it plans to stop the practice until Congress passes legislation. Amazon currently only has plans to pause the sale of its Rekognition software to police for one year, but it too has called for new legislation. The decisions came after years of advocacy reached a boiling point amidst reports that police have been using facial recognition during worldwide protests, in support of Black Lives, after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police just over two weeks ago. However, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon are just 3 of the companies selling facial recognition technology to police. Also last week, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other organizations sued Clearview AI, a supplier of facial recognition technology to police departments, for scanning Illinois’ residents’ faces, without their consent, in violation of an Illinois law preventing nonconsensual fingerprinting and face scans, The New York Times reported. The Hill reports Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey also called on Clearview to conduct an independent assessment of whether police have been using their technology during the protests, to which Clearview responded that it only helps police after crimes have already been committed. And Vice surveyed 43 facial recognition companies whether they too will refuse to work with police. According to Vice, most didn’t respond to the inquiry—you can find a link to the list of those companies in the show notes. You’ll also want to read Geoffrey Fowler’s Washington Post piece discussing efforts by other companies, including lesser-known companies like NEC and Idemia to thwart lawmakers’ efforts to rein in law enforcement’s use of facial recognition to spy on U.S. citizens. Zuckerberg still being difficult about curbing misinformation Despite leading lawmakers’ and activists’ calls on Facebook to improve how it flags misinformation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is still being difficult. But at the same time he claims he’s “disgusted” by President Trump’s content, The Hill reported last week. The debate with Facebook has continued for years, with the company condescending to and patronizing a handful of civil rights groups making repeated calls for the company to better moderate hate speech. The term “hate speech”, of course, being one Fox News like to wrap in quotes as if it’s not a real thing, never mind that centuries of newspapers’, broadcast stations’, the FCC’s, and social media companies’ enabling of bigots and misogynists suggest otherwise. Sure. Facebook will take down hundreds of accounts managed by anti-racist Skinheads. But when Trump threatens bodily injury posting “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”, lumping peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters into a single category of “looters” … That’s no problem. On Wednesday, the House Homeland Security Committee wrote Zuckerberg, again, urging him to curb Trump’s “dangerous” posts. Zuckerberg’s response? Writing a letter in reply to 270 concerned scientists he and his wife Priscilla Chan fund through their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, admitting Trump’s posts constituted misinformation, that they were incendiary, that they were “deeply shaken and disgusted” by them. But, alas, “Having more voices at the table that represent a diversity of perspectives, viewpoints, and lived experiences isn’t just a good way to help solve the world’s biggest problems and challenges – it is the only way.” “The only way”. Those words are important because they negate diverse perspectives, viewpoints, and lived experiences. They urge authoritarianism. Uber waives fees for black-owned restaurants The Hill reported that Uber Eats, after creating a list of black-owned businesses, has waived fees for customers ordering from black-owned restaurants. Uber’s ride-sharing unit also announced discounts for passengers going to black-owned establishments. The company said the deals will continue through until the end of the year. Jeff Bezos ‘happy to lose’ racist customers Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took to Instagram last week to drag a racist customer named Dave who complained about Amazon’s homepage statement in support of Black Lives Matter. The customer sent an email deriding the world’s wealthiest person saying he’d laugh watching the company’s profits decline as a result of the statement. Bezos posted the email, redacting the customer’s name, saying he’s happy to lose such customers. Amazon was up 24 points on Monday June 8th’s market close, the first market close after Bezos’s post, to 2,524.06 per share. Police investigate disruptions of police radios during protests Someone took advantage of police officers’ unencrypted frequencies during protests. In one intrusion, hackers played Tay Zonday’s YouTube viral hit “Chocolate Rain” over police radios. Authorities are investigating incidents in Minnesota, Illinois and Texas. Some departments have switched over to encrypted frequencies. Twitter makes Juneteenth a holiday Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced last week that the company will now recognize Juneteenth as a company holiday every June 19th. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the date African Americans in Galveston, Texas first learned of their emancipation from Union General Gordon Granger, who delivered the news nine weeks following Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court Courthouse, and some two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. YouTube announces $100 million for black creators YouTube announced last week that it would be investing $100 million to amplify the voices of black creators. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki made the announcement Thursday, in a post in which she also reported the company removed some 100,000 hateful videos and 100 million such comments in the second quarter.

 Bio McKinley L. Price is President of the African American Mayors Association and Mayor of Newport News, Virginia. He is a native of Newport News, Virginia. He graduated from Huntington High School in 1967 and then received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Hampton, Virginia, in 1971. McKinley was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 1972 as 1st Lt. In 1976, he earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and performed his general anesthesia residency at Provident Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.   Dr. Price has received numerous honors and awards from various professional associations. In 1989, he was elected by his peers as President of the Peninsula Dental Society; he was the first black president of this organization. He was also named "Dentist of the Year" by the Old Dominion Dental Society. Dr. Price is a Fellow in the Virginia Dental Association, the American College of Dentists, and the International College of Dentists. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Delta Dental of Virginia, serving on the Audit and Compliance Committee and Dental Policy Advisory Committee. Dr. Price’s community service was highlighted by his being appointed chair of the Newport News School Board for two years, during his eight years of service, from 1984-1992. In 1994, Dr. Price received the President’s Humanitarian Award from the Virginia Peninsula Chapter of 100 Black Men and in 1996 he received the Presidential Citizenship Award from Hampton University. The Peninsula Chapter of the National Conference for Community and Justice presented him with their Humanitarian Award in 1996. In 1998, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated honored him as Citizen of the Year during the Mid-Atlantic 44th Annual Regional Conference. The Daily Press Newspaper awarded him “Citizen of the Year” for 2005, which highlighted his Co-Chairmanship of the organization People to People whose mission is to improve race relations and the quality of life in Newport News. It also commended him for being a founding member of the Virginia Peninsula Chapter of 100 Black Men. They recognized him as the Role Model of the Year in April 2011. Thomas Nelson Community College awarded him their TNCC Medallion Award during commencement exercises in May 2011. The Price Family was the Honored Family during the 2010 Hampton University’s Black Family Conference and he was the Founder’s Day speaker at Hampton in 2011. In addition to the commitment he makes to his professional activities and meeting the demands a successful dental practice, Dr. Price devotes untiring energy and time to the Hampton and Newport News community. He has served as Chairman of the Board for Riverside Health System Foundation, Vice Chair of the Riverside Health System Board, and Immediate Past Chairman of the Thomas Nelson Community College Board. He was also appointed to the Newport News City Council for a five month period in 2004. In addition, Dr. Price was appointed by Governor Warner to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Board. In May 2010, he was elected Mayor of the City of Newport News. He becomes the first black elected as mayor of Newport News. The term is four years. Dr. Price is a member of the First Church of Newport News (Baptist), a church founded by his great-great-grandfather. He is married to Valerie Scott Price. She is a retired educator having taught for 30 years, most of which were in the Newport News Public School System. They have two adult children and one grandson: McKinley II, DDS, an Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon, he and his wife Amy and their son live in Brooklyn, NY; and Marcia, a Delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 95th District.  Resources McKinley Price, The Need for Equitable Health Care Amid COVID-19, Governing, 2020, https://www.governing.com/now/The-Need-for-Equitable-Health-Care-Amid-COVID-19.html(last visited Jun 7, 2020). Home, Ourmayors.org (2020), https://www.ourmayors.org/Home  (last visited Jun 7, 2020).  COVID-19 Resources, Ourmayors.org (2020), https://www.ourmayors.org/Resources/COVID-19-Resources (last visited Jun 7, 2020). News Roundup       Despite threats from White House, social media companies crack down on misinformation Despite president Trump’s continued claims that Silicon Valley, and social media companies in particular, harbor an anti-conservative bias, social media companies have stepped up their efforts to prevent a repeat performance of the 2016 election during which misinformation and state-sponsored propaganda ran rampant, often in favor of Trump’s presidency, according to the Mueller report and several other sources. On Monday night, after a day of employee virtual walkouts at the company in response to Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg’s insistence on leaving up posts that contain misinformation, civil right leaders met with Zuckerberg via videocall and things did not go well. Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights President Vanita Gupta, NAACP Legal Defense Fund head Sherrilyn Ifill, and Color of Change Executive Director Rashad Robinson issued a statement following the meeting stating that Zuckerberg “did not demonstrate understanding of historic or modern-day voter suppression and he refuses to acknowledge how Facebook is facilitating Trump's call for violence against protesters. Mark is setting a very dangerous precedent for other voices who would say similar harmful things on Facebook.” Zuckerberg followed up with a company memo on Friday saying the social media giant was again in the process of reviewing its policies related to discussions about police brutality and voter suppression.  Before Zuckerberg’s announcement, the company had already begun making the public aware of foreign interference on the platform by labeling state-sponsored posts.  Following the meeting with civil rights leaders and Mr. Zuckerberg’s announcement, Facebook, citing copyright concerns, removed a campaign video in which the president appeared to pay tribute to George Floyd. The company cited copyright concerns for taking down the video, after it had received complaints from the artist who’d created some of the artwork featured in the video. Twitter had also removed the video, which the White House called an illegal escalation – Twitter denied that removing the video was illegal and also cited to the president’s use of copyrighted material. Facebook also removed some 200 accounts associated with white supremacy groups last week. The company also removed fake antifa accounts, according to Reuters. Over at Reddit, some subreddit pages went dark in protest over the company’s hate speech policy, which leans heavily in favor of free speech. The protest culminated in Reddit Co-Founder Alex Ohanian’s resignation from the board and calling for his seat to be filled by an African-American board member. Ohanian also indicated that he would be donating $1 million to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp and investing future gains on his stock in the black community. Also, on Wednesday, Snapchat announced that it would no longer promote President Trump’s account due to the president’s promotion of violence during protests over the weekend before last.  Finally, the Center for Democracy and Technology sued the White House in the DC Circuit last week over the president’s executive order directing the independent Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission to work together, along with the Department of Commerce, to curtail enforcement of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The president issued the order after Twitter flagged one of the president’s tweets as misleading, and a tweet in which the president criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order to allow mail-in ballots. Elon Musk calls for Amazon break-up Elon Musk took to Twitter calling for a break-up of Amazon, which he labelled a monopoly.  The tweet came in response to a tweet by a New York Times reporter who’d written that Amazon had rejected his new book about COVID-19 on the grounds that it didn’t meet Amazon’s guidelines. Amazon has since stated that it removed the book in error. TikTok pledges to amplify black creators  TikTok pledged to amplify black creators last week amidst criticism that it censored and suppressed content posted by blacks. The company stated that it would form a creator diversity council and a handful of other initiatives to address these concerns. The company also participated in the music industry-led “Blackout Tuesday” during which the company shut down its Sounds page. It also announced that it would invest $3 million in organizations that work to address black inequality (although the company didn’t mention which organizations it plans to invest in). Senators criticize AT&T on zero-rating In a letter to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden criticized AT&T for zero-rating its own content on HBO. Zero-rating is the industry jargon used to describe the anticompetitive practice in which carriers count the use of competing platforms against their customers’ data limits but not their own content, in this case HBO, which AT&T acquired in 2018, along with HBO’s parent company WarnerMedia. The Senators set a response deadline of June 25th. Zoom announces end-to-end encryption for paying subscribers only Videoconference platform Zoom announced that it would be introducing end-to-end encryption, but only for paying subscribers. The company says doing so will allow it to work with the FBI to identify child pornographers and sex traffickers. However, Zoom made no reference to any evidence correlating free usership to the distribution of illegal content at a rate that exceeds the that of paid subscribers. California assembly introduces facial recognition bill The California Assembly is now considering a bill that would allow the State of California to conduct surveillance using facial recognition technology, if it gives notice ahead of time. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California is opposing the measure on the grounds that it undercuts limitations on the use of facial recognition technology which are already in place in some local areas including San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. Denver cop fired for inciting a riot over Instagram during George Floyd protests Tommy McClay, a former police officer in Denver posed with two other cops for an Instagram photo for which he wrote “let’s start a riot”. That night, Denver police used tear gas and foam bullets against protesters, according to Ars Technica. The Denver Police Department fired McClay for the post. McClay was a brand new recruit—just 9 months out of the police academy—and so still subject to the initial probationary period of his tenure there. But one civil rights leader in Denver told Ars that the Denver Police Department has a high rate of re-hiring officers who were previously fired. 

Bio Christopher Lewis (@ChrisJLewis) is President and CEO at Public Knowledge. Prior to being elevated to President and CEO, Chris served for as PK’s Vice President from 2012 to 2019 where he led the organization’s day-to-day advocacy and political strategy on Capitol Hill and at government agencies. During that time he also served as a local elected official, serving two terms on the Alexandria City Public School Board. Chris serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Local Self Reliance and represents Public Knowledge on the Board of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). Before joining Public Knowledge, Chris worked in the Federal Communications Commission Office of Legislative Affairs, including as its Deputy Director. He is a former U.S. Senate staffer for the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and has over 18 years of political organizing and advocacy experience, including serving as Virginia State Director at GenerationEngage, and working as the North Carolina Field Director for Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Campaign and other roles throughout the campaign. Chris graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelors degree in Government and lives in Alexandria, VA where he continues to volunteer and advocate on local civic issues. Resources The Washington Center for Technology Policy Inclusion, 2020. President Trump’s Social Media Executive Order Violates The Voting Rights Act Of 1965. [online] Available at: https://www.washingtech.com/post/president-trump-s-social-media-executive-order-violates-the-voting-rights-act-of-1965 [Accessed 31 May 2020]. Public Knowledge, 2020. Public Knowledge Rejects White House Executive Order Targeting Free Speech On Social Media Platforms. [online] Available at: https://www.publicknowledge.org/press-release/public-knowledge-rejects-white-house-executive-order-targeting-free-speech-on-social-media-platforms/ [Accessed 31 May 2020]. Feld, H., 2020. Could the FCC Regulate Social Media Under Section 230? No. [Blog] Public Knowledge Blog, Available at: https://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/could-the-fcc-regulate-social-media-under-section-230-no/ [Accessed 31 May 2020]. Public Knowledge, 2020. Public Knowledge Responds To White House Proposal To Require FTC, FCC To Monitor Speech On Social Media. [online] Available at: https://www.publicknowledge.org/press-release/public-knowledge-responds-to-white-house-proposal-to-require-ftc-fcc-to-monitor-speech-on-social-media/ [Accessed 31 May 2020]. Related Episodes 'They Smile in Your Face: How the Internet is Unmasking Hidden Racism' with Robert Eschmann (Ep. 222)(Opens in a new browser tab) 'How Media Policies Have Helped the Far Right' with Anne Nelson (Ep. 217)(Opens in a new browser tab) Facebook and Civil Rights: What are the Options? with Ebonie Riley (Ep. 212)(Opens in a new browser tab) Should Americans Trust News on Social Media? with Elisa Shearer (Ep. 207)(Opens in a new browser tab) Examining "Social Media Bias" with Jen Schradie (Ep. 199)(Opens in a new browser tab) Renée DiResta: How to Fight the Imminent Disinformation Blitzkrieg (Ep. 175)(Opens in a new browser tab) News Roundup       Trump tweets mark turning point in Section 230 discourse A tweet from President Trump last week that criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order allowing Californians’ the right to vote by mail, in addition to preserving Californians’ right to vote in person if they’d prefer, has triggered a turning point in the debate around Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, even though the Centers for Disease Control recommended that election officials allow mail-in voting, specifically because of the disproportionate impact the COVID-19 disease is having on communities of color. These communities have historically been targets of voter suppression efforts. Section 230 is the 1996 law widely seen as the heart of the internet as we know it, because it shields interactive content providers, like Twitter, Google, and Facebook, from liability stemming from content posted by users. In short, without Section 230, it would be all but impossible for Twitter, Facebook, and Google to exist: without Section 230, it would simply be too risky for social media platforms to expose themselves to liability for content that you and I, or even Trump, post. President Trump posted the now-infamous tweet about Governor Newsom’s Executive Order on Tuesday. In it, the president alleged that sending mail-in ballots to voters would cause what right-wing politicians theorize is “voter fraud”, and that sending ballots to what the president termed “millions of people” would lead to the ballots being stolen. The president didn’t indicate how those attempting to steal ballots would even know whether ballots were inside of a person’s mailbox. Would they go to every single mailbox every single day to see if a ballot’s inside? In any case, the president has expressed a general fear of snail mail in recent months. At the start of the pandemic, he and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin blocked funding from the $2 trillion stimulus bill that would have provided the U.S. Postal Service with billions of dollars in grants to balance its budget. So, something’s up with the mail that this president seems extremely frightened of. All of this culminated in Twitter, for the first time, posting a disclaimer on the president’s tweet – a blue hyperlink with an exclamation mark next to it that says, “Get the facts about mail-in ballots”. When users click the link, they’re redirected to another Twitter page listing articles discussing the factual inconsistencies in the president’s claim that mail-in ballots would lead to election fraud and voting by immigrants. Unsurprisingly, Trump was livid when this happened. Two days later, he released an Executive Order providing for the Department of Commerce to file a petition at the Federal Communications Commission asking it to review still-unsubstantiated claims of social media companies’ alleged anti-conservative bias. The order also calls on the Federal Trade Commission to allow individuals to file complaints. When protests began around the nation in response to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer who has since been fired and charged with manslaughter, Trump tweeted a comment that echoed Miami’s then-Mayor Walter Headley’s 1967 remark “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”, which was met with scorn by civil rights leaders. In the tweet, the president called protesters “THUGS”, saying he’d spoken with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz “and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” (Here would be a good place to recall last summer’s Center for Investigative Journalism report that several Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic or anti-government militia Facebook groups counted hundreds of police among their members, a report that corroborated an earlier finding by the FBI released over a decade ago that warned of the infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacists.) Twitter followed up with the president’s “THUGS” tweet by placing a notice over it saying the tweet violated Twitter’s policy against users glorifying violence, but still allowing users to clickthrough and see the president’s tweet. The company also went on to flag tweets from Ice Cube, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, and others it deemed to have violated Twitter’s community standards. But as far as Trump’s Executive Order to rein in social media companies is concerned, after speaking with experts like Tech Freedom’s Berin Szoka, Georgetown’s Gigi Sohn, and Public Knowledge’s Harold Feld – all of whom have been guests on the WashingTECH Tech Policy Podcast – the Hill reports that there’s a general consensus in the telecommunications public policy community that the president’s executive order is a non-starter. To make it happen, the FCC would need to undo years of precedent and essentially contradict every ruling it’s made, at least during Ajit Pai’s tenure there as Chairman, including its repeal of the net neutrality order. … On another front, Senator Ted Cruz, alleging that Twitter is violating sanctions against Iran, is calling for a criminal investigation into Twitter’s alleged preservation of accounts of enemies of the United States, like Iranian Supreme Leaders Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and its Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Also, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confessed to Fox News last week that Facebook shouldn’t be “arbiters of truth”. In fact, The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Facebook Executives ignored a 2018 internal report that found the company’s algorithms “exploit the human brain’s attraction to divisiveness”. It also warned that, if left unchecked, Facebook could spread even more discord, and that bringing Facebook’s algorithms under control would disproportionately affect users espousing conservative viewpoints. Facebook never publicly released the report or even acted internally to “check” conservative misinformation. Coincidentally, the presentation came at the same time the Trump administration was just beginning its campaign to characterize social media companies as being biased in favor of liberals. Last week, House Speaker Pelosi called Zuckerberg’s non-interventionist stance a “disgrace”. Running with the ball, Republicans in Congress are reportedly working on legislation to control speech on social media platforms by undoing the liability protections conferred by Section 230. Conservatives are pushing for the legislation even though a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit last week dismissed a lawsuit brought by Freedom Watch, the conservative legal group, and far-right activist Laura Loomer, against Facebook, Google & Twitter, alleging the companies were conspiring to suppress conservative viewpoints. Trump creates more expansive warrantless watchlist President Trump has moved to further circumvent Constitutionally-guaranteed due process protections by expanding a September 11th-era terrorism watchlist to include individuals who aren’t even suspected of terrorism. Newsweek reports the watchlist could grow to as many as a million names. But the Trump administration hasn’t acknowledged it’s expanded the watchlist, even though it’s required to do so under federal law. Now individuals can be included on the watchlist even if they just have family in El Salvador. FBI ties Pensacola shooter to al Qaeda with iPhone data The FBI says the shooter at a Pensacola naval base last December, a shooting that took the lives of 3 sailors and injured 8 others, had ties to Al Qaeda. Twenty-one-year-old 2nd Lieutenant Mohammed Alshamrani initially attempted to destroy his iPhone following the shooting, but wasn’t successful. Initially, investigators approached Apple for help in gaining access to the phone’s data. When Apple declined, the FBI took matters into its own hands and figured out how to crack open the phone on its own. Indigent customers not getting broadband despite large carriers’ promises Even though internet service providers like Comcast and Charter promised free and low-cost internet to indigent residents, a lot of those residents are getting bills in the mail. The New York Times reports that customers who are supposed to have access to these programs are getting bills instead, sometimes for as much as $120. Customers have also reported not being able to get through to a customer service rep at all, much less in their native languages. In an unusual alliance, Republican Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O’Rielly joined Democrats in calling to expand broadband service around the country. O’Rielly told The Hill’s Editor-in-Chief Steve Clemons that equipment and affordability are the main barriers to broadband. Anonymous re-appears Hacktivist group Anonymous, which first made an appearance during the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011, has reappeared amidst protests in cities around the nation in response to the killing of George Floyd and other grievances. A Facebook group owner who claims to be affiliated with Anonymous wrote that it would soon expose the Minneapolis police departments “many crimes in the world”. Forbes reports that Anonymous apparently even took down the Minneapolis Police Department’s website. FCC approves $16 million in telehealth funding The FCC also approved an additional $16 million for 43 applicants seeking funding to provide telehealth services during the pandemic. The money goes to healthcare providers for things like network upgrades and laptop, and is  part of a total pool of $200 million Congress allocated for COVID-19-related telehealth programs. To date, the FCC has allocated $50 million, or just a quarter of that total amount.

    Bio Licy Do Canto (@docantolicy) is Managing Director of BCW Healthcare in the firm’s Public Affairs and Crisis practice. He leads policy and public affairs strategy for the firm’s healthcare clients in North America across public and corporate affairs, government relations, communications and reputation management on a diverse and broad range of healthcare issues. He also oversees the BCW Healthcare Team in Washington, D.C.  An expert in health and healthcare policy, with twenty five years of experience at the national, state and local levels across the nonprofit, philanthropic, corporate and government sectors, Licy is an accomplished, values-driven leader with unparalleled experience in developing and leading integrated public affairs campaigns combining strategic communications, public relations, political and legislative initiatives, policy, coalition building, grassroots/grasstops efforts and direct advocacy.  Before joining BCW, Licy built and lead a nationally recognized minority owned strategic public affairs and communications firm, served as Health Practice Chair and Principal at The Raben Group, was the Chief Executive Officer of The AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families, and managed and helped set the leadership direction for strategic policy, communications and advocacy investments in executive and senior government affairs roles for the American Cancer Society and the nation’s Community Health Centers.  Before joining the private sector, Licy served as health policy advisor to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and served in several stints in the Office of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. During his extensive tenure in Washington, D.C., Licy has played a leading role in efforts to draft, shape and enact many pieces of legislation and policy affecting public health, health care safety net and the U.S. health care system.  Licy is a graduate of Duke University and holds a certificate in public health leadership from the University of North Chapel Hill—School of Public Health and Kenan Flagler Business School, and is the recipient of multiple industry awards and citations for his leadership, policy and public affairs acumen, including being named to The Hill Newspaper list of most influential leaders in Washington, D.C. consecutively over the last ten years. Resources Why Embracing Diversity Will Lift Us Out of This Crisis Faster on Medium. Licy Do Canto Video Interview on the Importance of Diversity and Inclusion in Times of Crisis New BCW Inclusion & Diversity Offering: https://bcw-global.com/now-next/inclusion-diversity Related Episodes Taking on the Inequities Laid Bare by COVID-19 with Robert Phillips (Ep. 229)(Opens in a new browser tab) Dr. Alisa Valentin: The Unifying Power of Social Justice (Ep. 178)(Opens in a new browser tab) News Roundup       Antitrust red flags about Facebook and Google The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the Department of Justice is prepping an antitrust lawsuit against Google. The suit is expected to focus on allegations that Google is monopolizing the online advertising ecosystem. Facebook also came under scrutiny in the Senate last week, with a bipartisan group of Senators calling foul on Facebook’s newly-announced plan to acquire the popular GIF-making platform Giphy in a $400 million deal which would give the social media giant access to Giphy’s huge user base and roughly 700 million daily impressions. The acquisition would give Facebook access to data on all of the platforms into which Giphy is integrated, Facebook’s competitors, like Mailchimp, iMessage, Signal, Snapchat, Slack, Telegram, TikTok, Tinder, Trello, and Twitter. Snapchat/Twilio to offer in-app domestic violence support Snapchat and Twilio are planning to offer in-app domestic violence support, according to an exclusive report from Axios. The rollout will include an effort to address victims’ mental health concerns. Snapchat will be partnering with the National Network to End Domestic Violence to provide resources, including a way for friends of victims to offer support. Twilio announced that it would provide $2 million in cash grants to orgs providing support services during the pandemic.  James Damore moves to dismiss lawsuit against Google Remember James Damore? The white male Google engineer who was fired back in 2017 for writing a screed entitled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber”? The one that went on and on about how the corporate culture at Google discriminates and marginalizes the viewpoints of conservative white men, namely the alt-right? Well he decided to move to dismiss the case, a motion Google then joined, which led to a resolution that wasn’t made public. So it’s over. No one knows the details. But the matter that consumed the tech community for months over 2 years ago, has now drifted away like it never happened. Warren/Sanders demand explanation about Amazon firings Nine U.S. Senators led by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders wrote a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos demanding an explanation for his company’s firing of at least 4 Amazon workers who’d raised concerns about Amazon’s working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter noted that COVID-19 infections have been reported in some 100 Amazon warehouses, that at least 3 Amazon workers have died from COVID-19 complications, and that an Amazon Vice President resigned in protest over the company’s handling of employees’ complaints. Other signers included Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, Ed Markey, Richard Blumenthal, Kamala Harris, and Tammy Baldwin. No Republicans signed the letter—not even Josh Hawley who has been very vocal about his concerns regarding what he sees as Amazon’s anticompetitive behavior. Amazon’s response is due by May 20th. Nutcase conspiracy theorist spits on 5G engineer who then contracts COVID-19 A conspiracy theorist in London ran up to Michael Demetroudi, an apprentice 5G engineer, yelled, “All you engineers are just trying to import the 5G in every single box”, and then spat in his face.  Vice News reports that it wasn’t the first time Demetroudi has been harassed by lunatics for being a 5G engineer – one woman jumped out in front of his truck in the middle of the street and accused him of “spreading 5G from the top of his vehicle”. Another guy started yelling at him when he was just standing in line in his uniform, getting ready to buy a sandwich … I really don’t know what else to say. FCC fines Sinclair $48 million for fake news segments The FCC has fined Sinclair Broadcasting for $48 million for airing paid fake news segments 1,700 times across its stations nationwide in 2016. However, the FCC hasn’t revoked Sinclair’s licenses, even though Sinclair attempted to maintain control over stations it was supposed to divest as part of its proposed merger with Tribune back in 2018. Also in 2018, Sinclair was clowned for forcing its local newscasters nationwide to read the same script echoing President Trump’s exhortations about Fake News. Despite this pattern of conduct, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai refused to revoke Sinclair’s licenses, saying requests by advocates to do so were “politically motivated”.    

  Bio Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings (@MayaforCongress) is President and CEO of Global Policy Solutions, a certified B Corporation and mission-driven strategy firm, dedicated to helping community-based, philanthropic, academic, governmental, and corporate organizations achieve strategic objectives. The firm specializes in coalition building, public policy analysis and research, program development, project management, and government relations. Dr. Rockeymoore Cummings previously served as the chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, Vice President of Research and Programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Senior Resident Scholar at the National Urban League, Chief of Staff to former Congressman Charles Rangel, Professional Staff on the House Ways and Means Committee, and as a CBCF Legislative Fellow in the office of former Congressman Melvin Watt among other positions. A noted speaker and author, Dr. Rockeymoore Cummings’ areas of expertise include health, social insurance, economic security, education, technology, women’s issues and youth civic participation. She is the author of The Political Action Handbook: A How to Guide for the Hip-Hop Generation and co-editor of Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America among many other articles and chapters. Her frequent speaking engagements have included invitations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Economic Policy Institute, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Drexel University, Women Donors Network, National Association of Black Journalists, and Grantmakers in Aging among many other organizations. She has been quoted extensively in publications such as the Washington Post and New York Times and has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and C-SPAN among other news outlets. The recipient of many awards, including the Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellowship, she announced a run for Congress in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in November 2019 to succeed her late husband Congressman Elijah E. Cummings.  Resources Center for Global Policy Solutions News Roundup       New York reports sharp uptick in domestic violence calls] Calls to the State of New York’s domestic violence hotline increased 30% in April, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Abusers are using the pandemic to justify keeping their victims isolated and have intensified the nature of their abuse from psychological or financial, to physical. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is open 24/7 and can be reached at 800-799-SAFE. 800-799-SAFE. That’s 800-799-7233. 800-799-7233. You can also text LOVEIS to 22522. That’s LOVEIS to 22522. Otherwise, you can log in to thehotline.org. That’s thehotline.org. Wyden, Eshoo introduce $5bn online child abuse bill Senator Ron Wyden and California Representative Anna Eshoo introduced a bill on Wednesday to stop the alarming spread of child sexual abuse material online. The Invest in Child Safety Act aims to invest $5bn to quadruple the number of FBI investigators focused on online child abuse  and exploitation (from 30 to 120) and expand the capacity of state and local governments to investigate and prosecute the offenders and counsel the victims of online child abuse. The money would also help fund the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, create a White House oversight office, and require tech companies to keep evidence of online abuse for at least 6 months instead of 3. This new effort comes amidst a broader effort by lawmakers to limit Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which indemnifies tech companies for hosting content posted by third parties. California AG Becerra sues Uber and Lyft for misclassifying workers Invoking California Assembly Bill 5, which requires companies to treat workers as employees if they control how workers perform tasks of if the work is routine, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and a coalition of city officials sued Uber and Lyft for misclassifying its workers as independent contractors. The bill took effect on January 1 but so far the companies have pushed back on compliance. The New York Times reports that Uber has even gone as far as saying they’re not required to pay their drivers as employees because technology is its core business, not ridesharing. The lawsuit also claims the companies’ noncompliance is harming other businesses who have begun implementing the law. Amazon VP resigns as company fires protesting workers Calling Amazon “chickenshit”, Tim Bray, a prominent Senior Engineer and VP at Amazon resigned “in dismay” in an open letter on his blog after the company fired employee organizers protesting the company’s treatment of warehouse workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The workers went on strike, along with workers from Target, FedEx, Whole Foods, and Instacart, to protest their employers’ weak efforts to protect them from the virus. At Amazon specifically, at least 75 employees across half the company’s 110 warehouses, have fallen ill. Uber lays off 14 percent of workforce Uber announced plans to lay off some 14% of its workforce, or 3,700 employees, as demand for ridesharing has dropped during the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the layoffs will come from the CommOps and Recruiting teams. An internal memo suggested that more layoffs may be looming to as much as 20% of the current workforce, according to The Information. Airbnb has also announced plans to lay off approximately 25 percent of its workforce, or about 1,900 employees. Tumblr to remove posts that violate its hate speech policy Tumblr, founded in 2007, announced just the other day that it will remove all posts that violate its hate speech policy. Better late than never. “Researchers” at a Pennsylvania university claim to have solved the bias in AI problem Twitter dragged some so-called researchers at Harrisburg University in Pennsylvania after the university posted a link claiming they’d discovered a facial recognition method capable of detecting criminality with “80% accuracy and no racial bias”. One of researchers is a former NYPD police officer. The University pulled down the link. The paper will still be released but it’s doubtful to withstand scrutiny since many say 80% accuracy isn’t high enough for the technology to be considered bias-free.

  Bio Robert Phillips (@rphillipsalluma) leads the strategic direction, fiscal stewardship, daily operations, and overall management of Alluma as CEO. A healthcare advocate and philanthropist, Robert joined the Board of Alluma (then Social Interest Solutions) in 2006, and became President of the Board and CEO in 2017. Robert has been acting on his commitment to improve the health and wellbeing of communities in the U.S. and California for over 25 years. He played a crucial role in strategic philanthropic and advocacy efforts to improve the health of children and youth of color, expand health coverage to all children in California, modernize enrollment into public programs using technology solutions, and implement electronic health records in community clinics. His leadership at Alluma builds from experience at the California Endowment, Sierra Health Foundation, PolicyLink, AFL-CIO, SEIU, and Kaiser Permanente’s Community Benefit and Strategy. Decade after decade he has been proactively gaining the tools to lead changemakers in building what we need to achieve the economic well-being we aspire to as a society.  Resources Alluma News Roundup   Sharing economy implodes as people stay home  The sharing economy has imploded amidst sharply reduced demand for things like ride or apartment-sharing as Americans shelter in place. Lyft announced that it would be laying off 17% of its workforce, with more layoffs to come. Uber’s Chief Technology Officer stepped down as the company announced that it would be laying off some 20% of its workforce. And Axios reports that Airbnb took on two, separate, $1 billion loans in April alone. Study: Sextortionists netted some $500k in five months  Sextortion has been on the rise according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Sophos. The company found that so-called sextortionists – criminals who blackmail people for thousands of dollars in exchange for not revealing their online porn habits and sexual predilections – have raked in some $500k. Interestingly, most people didn’t fall for the scheme which involved paying into a bitcoin wallet set up by the perpetrators, just .5% of targets paid into the wallet, according to the report. Still the amount of money these criminals raised from such a low response rate was enough to raise some red flags. Hate groups and tech  Technology continues to enable hate speech and white supremacy as some investors have become unwitting funders of companies owned by white supremacists. The Tech Transparency project found about 125 militant groups on Facebook promoting a second Civil War, or “boogaloo”, as they refer to it. Also, Softbank has apparently invested in surveillance firm Banjo whose CEO, according to OneZero, apparently admitted to helping a KKK member shoot up a synagogue. According to the report, Damien Patton admitted to being involved with the Dixie Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Pretty sobering when you think about the fact that this is a surveillance firm he’s running. Banks and consumer advocates want a limited return to robocalling         Banks and some consumer advocates, usually foes in their lobbying efforts, are both advocating for an exception to the general ban on robocalling Congress passed last year. The exception would allow robocalls in cases where the robocalls are designed to inform the public about financial relief. I think we can all anticipate the can of worms that would be opened there – give banks an inch and they’ll take a yard. Pretty soon banks will be calling you for any reason at all. Abortion via telemedicine Pam Belluck of the New York Times wrote a piece on pregnant women seeking abortions via telemedicine. A company call TelAbortion, which the F.D.A. has approved to run during the Trump administration, serves as something of a middleman between doctors and patients by facilitating telemedicine appointments and the mailing of abortion medication. Lots of questions regarding conflicts of law issues as each state has different abortion regulations. But you can find the story in the New York Times and we’ve linked to it in the show notes. Federal judge approves Baltimore spy initiative A Republican judge appointed by George W. Bush gave the greenlight to the City of Baltimore’s aerial surveillance program citing a “highly relevant” amount of violence “afflicting the city of Baltimore”. The ACLU had sued the City of Baltimore back on April 9th for the spy plane program arguing that it is an unconstitutional invasion of personal privacy and the 4th Amendment guarantee of freedom from unreasonable government searches. More in Baltimore Magazine. Democrats push to increase broadband access in next stimulus The Hill reports that Democrats in both chambers of Congress are pushing for more funding to improve broadband for people who can’t access internet service that’s fast enough to do things like participate in remote work or distance learning. Senators Blumenthal and Markey, as well as Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, participated in a livestream with several advocacy organizations arguing for lower broadband prices. The 12 organizations hosting the livestream also circulated a petition containing 110,000 signatures urging guaranteed access to broadband as part of the next stimulus. Fox News fires Diamond & Silk Fox News has fired controversial commentators Diamond & Silk, whose real names are Lynette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, from their Fox Nation streaming service. The rabid Trump supporters have repeatedly promoted unsubstantiated conspiracy theories such as the claims that the World Health Organization is able to turn the coronavirus on and off at will, that Bill Gates is hiding the vaccine as a way to control the population, and that 5G causes the coronavirus to spread.  

Bio   Doug Brake (@dbrakeitif)  directs the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s work on broadband and spectrum policy. He writes extensively and speaks frequently to lawmakers, the news media, and other influential audiences on topics such as next-generation wireless, rural broadband infrastructure, and network neutrality. Brake is a recognized broadband policy expert, having testified numerous times before Congress, state legislatures, and regulatory commissions, as well as serving on the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Group. His written commentary has appeared in publications such as Democracy Journal, Ripon Forum, Morning Consult, Roll Call, The Hill, and RealClearPolicy, and he has provided analysis on air for broadcast outlets such as Bloomberg, NPR, CNBC, and Al Jazeera. He previously worked as a research assistant at the Silicon Flatirons Center at the University of Colorado, and he interned as a Hatfield scholar at the FCC, assisting with the implementation of the advanced communications services section of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. Brake holds a law degree from the University of Colorado Law School and a bachelor’s degree in English literature and philosophy from Macalester College. Resources Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) Robert D. Atkinson et al., Digital Policy for Physical Distancing: 28 Stimulus Proposals That Will Pay Long-Term Dividends Digital Policy for Physical Distancing: 28 Stimulus Proposals That Will Pay Long-Term Dividends (2020) (last visited Apr 21, 2020). News Roundup       Event memorializing Holocaust Zoom-bombed with Hitler images Israeli Embassy in Germany The Israeli Embassy in Germany decided to hold its Holocaust memorial online this year, only to have it Zoom-bombed with images of Adolf Hitler. This is just one of several incidents involving Zoom calls, with a meeting held by African American students at UT Austin Zoom-bombed a few weeks ago with similar racist comments and imagery. Despite the well-publicized breaches, though, Zoom usage is way up, with the company’s CEO Eric Yuan reporting 300 million new users, or 50% higher, as the company’s share price rose some 12% this week. Human Rights groups try to protect kids online amidst EdTech commercialization efforts School districts across the nation have rolled out their distance learning programs with varying degrees of success. Fairfax County, Virginia Public Schools’ rollout was an embarrassing flop, for example, with students getting Zoom-bombed and users faced with persistent log in and access problems. But with the responsibility for education delegated to each state, how can students’ privacy and personal data be protected with so little uniformity? Who will manage the RFP process for school technology providers seeking to work with school districts? What are the standards that will be used to evaluate them? There aren’t any. So, as John Eggerton writes in Multichannel News, human rights groups are pushing for better oversight.   TikTok has added additional parental controls, like disabling DMs for teens under age 16. But that doesn’t solve the problem of the China-based company potentially recording, predicting, and attempting to modify user behavior by conducting behavior and sentiment analysis over a lifetime, based on the profiles and videos their users have visited and how they have expressed themselves online since childhood, the effects of which we’ve yet to see. Nintendo confirmed 160,00 hacks last week, disabling users’ ability to log in, as the public shrugged off the hacks as a necessary tradeoff to enjoy our connected world. Fairfax County Police conducted a sting operation, arresting 30 adults who used the opportunity of the coronavirus lockdown to solicit underaged children for sex. While this effort is certainly a deterrent, many more perps, especially those who are technically literate, engage in the same behavior while evading detection, simply because lawmakers seem unable or unwilling to pass comprehensive privacy legislation to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of children’s data, much less their exploitation by criminals. Prisons are surveilling prisoners for discussions about coronavirus The Intercept reports that prisons are surveilling inmates’ phone calls for discussions about coronavirus. How doing so will help limit the spread of the deadly disease isn’t clear. But the technology was developed by a company called Verus, which was funded by Republican donor Elliott Brody according to the report. Cathy O’Neil: COVID-19 response threatens to automate ageism In an opinion piece for Bloomberg, ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ author Cathy O’Neil writes that biased data is causing healthcare providers to allocate resources away from the elderly, as they choose where to assign limited resources. She fears that nations will automate ageism in a way that preserves healthcare gaps between the young and elderly. O’Neil argues that not only is much of the data biased, but it is also incomplete, showing little to no justification at all for assigning lower priority to older patients based on their age. FCC denies extension of net neutrality comment period Not even during a pandemic is the current FCC able to show the slightest bit of graciousness for two cities among the hardest hit. Saying they had more than enough time to prepare comments, the FCC denied the Cities of Los Angeles and New York’s request to extend the comment deadline pertaining to those parts of the agency’s net neutrality repeal the DC Circuit sent back for it to reconsider. Newly unemployed find below-minimum-wage remote work on Amazon Newly unemployed workers are finding work on Amazon. The only problem is that it’s not the work in warehouses or delivering packages that most people think of. For many years, so-called “reviewers” have used Amazon’s “Mechanical Turk” platform to perform tasks that pay a median wage of around 2.00 per hour, according to research from Carnegie Mellon University. Tasks include things like labeling pictures, text, or other items for large companies like Microsoft, according to Wired. So definitely some labor issues to think about there. Leaked Amazon pics show new efforts to track license plates Finally, Amazon has faced significant criticism of late regarding the surveillance components of its Ring camera and facial recognition program. But despite calls for reform, and in the absence of regulatory constraints, the company has continued developing this technology. Ars Technica reported last week that the company may now be tracking license plates. Several reports from the Washington Post and other sources have covered police departments’ widespread use of surveillance technology developed by Amazon, Google, Palantir and others. But as one can see, we’re essentially in a Wild West-type of era, similar to the early days of the internet, in which the supposed societal benefits, in this case public safety, are seen by tech moguls to outweigh our Constitutional rights.  

Bio Michael Connor (@NYMichaelConnor) is the Executive Director of Open MIC, which he helped launch following a distinguished career as a media executive, entrepreneur and journalist. He has served as a consultant for more than a decade in the field of corporate responsibility and is the owner and Editor of Business Ethics magazine, an online publication. Michael is a former staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal and Correspondent and Senior Producer for ABC News. His television work has received numerous honors, including two national Emmys, a Columbia-duPont Award, a Writers Guild Award and a nomination for an Academy Award. He also held executive positions at Dow Jones & Co., where he led global development of the company’s TV and multimedia operations, served as CEO of a London-based pan-European business news channel and was Executive Producer of The Wall Street Journal Report, a weekly syndicated program. Michael currently serves on the board of the Center for an Urban Future, a NYC-based think tank dedicated to highlighting the critical opportunities and challenges facing New York and other cities. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross. Resources   Open MIC   News Roundup         Amazon fires employees critical of the company’s working conditions   Amazon fired 3 employees last week who were critical of working conditions at the online retail behemoth which reached a market cap milestone of $1 trillion in January. The employees were fired for complaining about the company’s coronavirus response, urging the company to increase cleaning at its facilities, and joining public protests opposing the company’s practices. Organizers are calling for a mass employee walkout on April 24th. Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth currently stands at $139.4 billion.   Where are the unemployment checks?   The U.S. unemployment rate is estimated at around 17%--the worst its been since the 1930s. The Nation’s unemployment insurance system, which was set up to compensate those who have lost their jobs, can’t keep up with the number of new unemployment claims surpassing the 20 million mark. A major reason for the problem is that the agency relies on COBOL, an outdated programming language that few programmers seem to know. So those who are unemployed have yet to receive their weekly checks, which, with the stimulus, can be as high as $1,000.   ACLU sues City of Baltimore over aerial surveillance   The City of Baltimore has reportedly entered into a contract that will allow private phone companies to conduct aerial surveillance and search for evidence. The pilot program claims to be designed to investigate murders, nonfatal shootings, armed robberies, and carjackings. The ACLU is challenging the program on the Fourth Amendment’s reasonable expectation of privacy guarantee and the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of association.   Will students take the SAT online   The SAT and ACT college entrance exams announced last week that they’d be developing digital versions of the test to allow prospective students to take them from home. But the SAT’s bosses at the College Board, namely its President, David Coleman, say that it’s unlikely the SAT would be conducted online. Over the past few years, many have question whether the SAT is even necessary, including Cornell, New York University, UT Austin, American University, and others, which have eliminated the requirement that students take the SAT as an admissions prerequisite. And many advocates point to the likelihood that administering the tests remotely would exacerbate current achievement gaps since the quality of testing environments would vary significantly between low-income and high-income test takers. In any case, the June, in person SAT has been cancelled.   President seems confident, but does he have the data to back him up?   President Trump has been adamant that he wants to reopen the government by May 1st. But where’s the data to back him up? The CDC has opened up their data to the public, but much of it is weeks old and conflicts with other data being conducted by research institutions. You can read more in Fedscoop.   How much privacy should we give up to defeat COVID-19?   Finally, Privacy concerns stemming from the use of mobility data to combat the novel coronavirus has opened up a passionate debate around the precedent policymakers are setting regarding the use of private data. Google and Apple are working together on technology intended to facilitate contact tracing so infected individuals and everyone they encountered in person can be notified and told to stay home. But not only will this require over a hundred thousand employees to carry out, it also would rely on mobility data, including Bluetooth data.  We’ve linked to an interview with Berkman Center Executive Director Urs Gasser in which he explains some of the ways mobility data can be used to combat coronavirus and what the privacy implications are.

  Bio   Jessica Fulton (@JessicaJFulton) is the Vice President at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies where she engages in research and analysis to identify policies that advance the socioeconomic status of the Black community. She also manages the Joint Center's Policy Incubator. Prior to joining the Joint Center, she served as External Relations Director at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. She has also held positions at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute and the Chicago Urban League. Jessica is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and serves as Board Chair of The Black Swan Academy. Jessica earned a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Chicago and a Master's Degree in Economic Policy Analysis from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at Depaul University.   Resources   Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies   Related Resources       Domestic violence rises worldwide with COVID-19 lockdowns   The New York Times reports that domestic violence cases are rising around the world, citing data provided by domestic violence hotlines, which have seen an uptick of reports over the last month. Rihanna and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey have stepped in, though, by contributing a combined $4.2 million to a new effort to address domestic abuse. Jack Dorsey also announced this week that he’ll be contributing $1 billion of his own money to the coronavirus fight.   Coronavirus hampers public transportation   Axios reported this week that public transportation systems are struggling to hold on as coronavirus lockdowns and a rise in coronavirus cases among transit employees, have all but crippled transit systems across the country--causing massive losses in revenue—to the tune of some $38 billion combined. The transit crisis threatens essential workers in particular, many of which are people ofc color.     Apple/Google launch corona virus tracking system Apple and Google have joined forces to launch a system that uses Bluetooth to track the spread of coronavirus. The companies plan to share the data with government and health agencies. But the tracking would be opt-in only and only public health officials would be permitted to use the data. The technology works not by tracking location data, but by tracking individuals to better determine how the disease travels from person to person.   Ars Technica: Verizon is refusing to offer DSL to low-income users   Ars Technica reports that while Comcast has the best program for low income consumers during the coronavirus pandemic, Verizon, Charter and other carriers are coming up short. While Verizon is offering steeply discounted internet service, it’s only available to FiOS subscribers, and not consumers who use DSL. Verizon says its DSL service is too slow, since its making its discounted service available to Lifeline consumers only, and that its DSL service doesn’t meet the FCC’s minimum speed requirement. The availability of high speed internet service around the country is inconsistent, with different regions having more access than others, which highlights discriminatory redlining.   Landlord app flags delinquent tenants during COVID-19   Naborly, an app that helps landlords screen tenant applicants, is engaging in some curious tactics during this uncertain time of mass unemployment. As the number of unemployment claims has soared in recent weeks, the company has been flagging tenants who haven’t paid rent since April 1st.    North Carolina is looking into expanding its online voting system The state of North Carolina is looking to set up and improve its online voting system, to allow voters to cast their ballots without leaving home. Activists are concerned about privacy violations and the potential for hacks and voter suppression.  

‘Communications Policy in the COVID-19 Era’ (Ep. 225)     FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks joined Joe Miller to discuss the communications priorities his office is focused on amidst the coronavirus pandemic.     Bio     Geoffrey Starks (@geoffreystarks) was nominated to serve as a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission by the President and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on January 2, 2019. He was sworn into office on January 30, 2019. Previously, Commissioner Starks served as Assistant Bureau Chief in the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, Senior Counsel in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he received the Attorney General Award for Exceptional Service—the highest award a DOJ employee can receive. Prior to his entry into federal public service, Commissioner Starks was an attorney at the law firm Williams & Connolly, clerked for the Honorable Judge Duane Benton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, served as a legislative staffer in the Illinois State Senate, and worked as a financial analyst.     Commissioner Starks is a native of Kansas and was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Commissioner Starks earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College with high honors and a law degree from Yale Law School. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Lauren, and their two children.     Resources     Starks, G. (2020). To Fight Coronavirus, Millions More Americans Need Internet Access. The New York Times available at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/opinion/internet-broadband-coronavirus.html.     Miriam's Kitchen     Larkin Street Youth Services Center     Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications (FCC)   News Roundup         Zoom under fire for privacy breaches   Zoom, which has been the darling of remote workers in recent weeks, is under fire for privacy violations. A Zoom user in California sued the company, claiming it improperly shared their data with Facebook. Also, So-called Zoom-bombers have been interrupting meetings breaching Zoom’s security systems. In one incident, black students at the University of Texas at Austin were conducting a meeting on the platform, only to be interrupted by someone making racial slurs. The FBI has reported “Zoombombing” incidents nationwide and New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote to Zoom leadership requesting a faster response to these and other security breaches.   Remote learning challenges special education students and those without internet   School systems across the country have launched remote learning platforms for their students in response to coronavirus-related school closures. But remote learning poses unique challenges for those without internet access at home. And the $2 trillion stimulus empowered Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to cut funding and support for accommodations for special education students.   NY State Court of Appeals: Postmates workers are entitled to unemployment benefits   The New York Court of Appeals, the State of New York’s highest court, has ruled that Postmates delivery workers are entitled to receive unemployment insurance benefits. The decision has implications for gig workers throughout New York, including Uber and Lyft drivers. New York State Attorney General Letitia James applauded the decision.   How much access to data should the government have to respond to COVID-19   Multiple reports found last week that federal officials are prying into cellphone tracking data to assess how the coronavirus is spreading. Advocates argue that data collection is necessary, but guardrails should be established to ensure that federal officials don’t use the data as a backdoor to conduct warrantless surveillance, which they have been angling to do for some time.   Tech companies struggle to keep up with more sophisticated tactics to undermine elections   Tech companies are scrambling to respond to ever-evolving risks to the electoral system. The New York Times reports that a number of tactics that Facebook, Twitter, and Google began implementing to defend against misinformation online, are being tested by politicians themselves, with Michael Bloomberg’s campaign investing directly in Instagram meme accounts promoting his campaign, for example. The companies spent billions to deal with threats happening in plain sight, the most well-known examples being those conducted by Russia with the assistance of Cambridge Analytica and prominent Republicans. But the stealthier approaches taken by bad actors 4 years later underscores the need to invest even more resources to address the newest attacks.   FCC approves $300 million telehealth initiative The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a $300 million telehealth initiative designed to ensure that folks in remote areas can access telehealth applications while they’re stuck at home. But the funding is directed toward providers themselves. And most grants will be for less than $1 million. Part of the money will also be used to address remote access issues that have plagued the country for decades.   DC District Court: Journalists and investigators can legally probe sites for algorithmic bias   The US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled last week that journalists and others are free to investigate platforms for signs of algorithmic bias, even if it means submitting false information to the site that would violate the site’s terms of service. The American Civil Liberties Union brought the pre-enforcement lawsuit on behalf of two Northeastern University computer science professors, to prevent the Department of Justice from attempting to use the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to prevent investigators from using evasive tactics to assess the extent to which a platform engages in algorithmic bias. The Department of Justice argued that such violations would violate a platform’s First Amendment Rights. But the decision turned on whether the site had set up adequate permissions such that an investigator, scholar, or journalist could be found to have exceeded the granted permission level. The Court found that breaching terms of service agreements doesn’t rise to the high level of permission granted by, say, an authentication gate, which adds another level of permission by requiring a password.      

Bio Ashkhen Kazaryan (@Ashkhen) is the Director of Civil Liberties at TechFreedom. She manages and develops policy projects on free speech, artificial intelligence, surveillance reform and sharing economy. Ashkhen also handles outreach and coalition building for the organization. Ashkhen is an Internet Law and Policy Fellow and an expert at the Federalist Society’s Emerging Technology Working Group, part of the Regulatory Transparency Project. Ashkhen received her Specialist in Law degree summa cum laude from Lomonosov MSU in 2012, Masters of Law Degree from Yale Law School and is completing her PhD in Law at the Law School of Lomonosov Moscow State University (thesis on Legal Regulation of Art Markets). At Yale Law she served as an Articles Editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Senior Editor of the Yale Law and Policy Review and Editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Technology while also being Co-Chair of the Public Interest Fellowship. Ashkhen worked as the leading legal analyst at the High Intellectual Property Court, drafting decisions of the Presidium of the Court, creating precedents, including on information intermediaries and use of trademarks. In 2013-2014 she was a Fox Fellow at Yale. She is a proud supporter of New England Patriots and Broadway musical enthusiast. Resources TechFreedom News Roundup       Amidst COVID-19 epidemic, carriers challenged to balance network demands against providing needed access With millions of Americans now either working remotely or using the internet while they’re unemployed, the nation’s Internet Service Providers – or should I say, their workers—are working overtime to keep the networks going and traffic flowing freely online in order to meet demand. Edge providers like Disney and Netflix have cut bandwidth in Europe after regulators there stepped in and, here in the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission has opened additional spectrum for the carriers. The FCC has also relaxed a rule that prohibited carriers from gifting services to E-Rate subsidy recipients like schools and hospitals. Of specific concern to policymakers are rural residents without access who are unable to take advantage of remote healthcare options via high speed broadband. But the FCC has, up until now, lacked robust data regarding internet access in rural areas -- President Trump signed the Broadband DATA Act earlier this week, which will address some of the data challenges. But advocates like Matt Wood at Free Press are also pushing for better pricing regulations, an issue that affects both urban and rural areas, he told Gizmodo, as the average price of internet service in the United States surpasses that of countries like Russia, China, and Syria. Carriers’ responses to the increased demand brought on by coronavirus and relative high price of broadband have varied. In New York City, for example, Chalkbeat reported that ISPs that serve the area, including Charter and Optimum, have denied access to families with delinquent accounts, even if their children need an internet connection to participate in remote instruction while their schools are closed. Verizon, on the other hand, is offering free Fios and wireless service so customers who have been ordered to shelter in place can access entertainment and educational programming. Starting April 1, Verizon will also grant new customers access to its premium tier of movie channels, like HBO and Showtime, free for 30 days. Resilience of gig market tested Turning to the gig market … As you probably already know the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims reached an astonishing 3.3 million last week, the highest weekly unemployment rate ever, by a long shot. Previously, the worst weekly unemployment rate happened in 1982, when weekly jobless claims once hit 695,000 — still well under a million. But gig workers are being hit particularly hard, such as Uber and Lyft drivers faced with decreased demand for car service. And gig workers overall, who receive fewer employment perks and pay than full-timers working from home, have been laid off and, if they are 1099 independent contractors, aren’t able to claim unemployment insurance. When we look to corporate actors, there are good actors and some not so good. Google, for example, announced that it would extend the contracts of its temporary workforce by 60-days. The company is also investing $800 million in programs to help Small and Mid-sized businesses working to address the COVID-19 epidemic. Uber and Lyft on the other hand, according to the New York Times, have been promoting a California ballot initiative that would undue legislation signed into law there last year which would entitle workers whose work is controlled by their employers, like Uber and Lyft drivers, to qualify as employees, irrespective of whether they are W-2 or 1099 workers. The $2 trillion stimulus bill the president signed into law on Friday extends unemployment benefits to gig workers. However, advocates see this as only a band-aid—once it falls off, then what? Lacking health insurance, once Uber driver reportedly died from COVID-19 after he was exposed to a sick passenger. Turning to the ISPs, Charter isn’t giving bonus pay to workers who expose themselves to the coronavirus when they enter customers’ homes. What they are giving them though is a $25 restaurant gift card – no soap to wash their hands before they eat, though. That’s in the restaurant bathroom already. Twitter deletes Federalist post calling for mass coronavirus infection   Twitter deleted a post from the Federalist, the right-wing website, for retweeting a post by a fake dermatologist who’d been advocating for mass exposure to the coronavirus. Twitter also temporarily blocked the account. FBI warns of fake CDC emails regarding COVID-19 The FBI warned the public about cybercriminals exploiting the coronavirus epidemic by sending fake emails that appear to be coming from the Centers for Disease Control or other healthcare organizations. So be careful to check and double check not just the From field, but also the meta data to determine exactly who the email is coming from before you open it. If you’ve subscribed to newsletters from healthcare organizations, you can also filter them to a separate folder automatically so that anything appearing to be from them in the regular inbox looks suspicious by default when you’re reviewing your messages.  

‘The Digital Street -- Criminal Justice and Tech' with Jeff Lane (Ep. 223) Rutgers’ Jeff Lane joined Joe Miller to shed light on “the digital street”—how social media shapes the criminal justice system in Harlem and beyond. Bio Jeffrey Lane (@TheDigitalStre1) studies communication and technology as it relates to urban life, criminal justice, and social inequalities. He approaches these topics ethnographically by getting to know the same people and situations in person and online. Lane is the author the award-winning The Digital Street (Oxford University Press, 2019), a neighborhood study of social media use in Harlem (NYC) -- the first book about neighborhood street life in the digital age. Lane’s research has informed a needs assessment and a strategic plan for juvenile gangs convened by New York’s Center for Court Innovation. Lane's previous book, Under the Boards (University of Nebraska Press) focuses on the production of race, masculinity, and popular culture in the basketball industry.  Resources Jeffrey Lane, The Digital Street (2018). Related Resources 'Palantir and the Police' with George Joseph (Ep. 145)(Opens in a new browser tab) 'The Racial Implications of Florida’s School Safety Portal' with Ora Tanner (Ep. 205)(Opens in a new browser tab)   News Roundup Lawmakers weigh remote education options for students w/out internet access Lawmakers and educators are considering how to provide internet access to children who don’t have it, as the coronavirus pandemic intensifies amidst crippling uncertainty as to when Americans will be able to come out from under house arrest, and when schools will reopen. On the federal level, Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has been underscoring the need for universal access. Democratic Senators Klobuchar, Peters, and Tester urged the FCC in a letter last week to take actions to ensure that parents at least know about the options that are available to them for accessing high speed internet service if they  need it. Federal Communications Commission data indicates that some 21 million Americans do not have access to the internet at home. The Senators noted in their letter that some 12 million children lack access to the internet at home. We here at WashingTECH have been advocating on the local level here in the DC area for stronger partnerships between groups like the National Parent Teachers Association and school districts to develop buddy systems that pair students who lack access with students who have it. Volunteer parents serving as host families could receive a stipend. Dems propose mail-in voting, not online for coronavirus-era elections Several Democratic Senators are proposing mail-in ballots ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Under the bill, the National Disaster and Emergency Relief Ballot Act (NDEBA), all voters would be entitled to obtain absentee ballots. The bill also provides for 20 days of early voting in all states. A new Brennan Center study found that maintaining the credibility of the U.S. electoral system during the pandemic, which would include measures outlined in the NDBEA, would cost taxpayers some $2 billion. Amazon shuts down New York City warehouse over coronavirus Amazon has shut down its Queens warehouse after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. The shutdown will be temporary but if one goes down, many can go down. And then what? An Amazon spokesperson told the Hill that the employee is under quarantine and that they sent their employees home with full pay. The company also announced that it would stop shipping nonessential items to warehouses and that it plans to hire another 100,000 workers to handle the spike in demand. Undocumented children increasingly facing judges online The Associated Press reports that more and more children who were detained at the border and separated from their parents, are not only having to face immigration judges alone, usually without counsel because they’re not entitled to it, but now they’re going to have to face them through video screens. The AP piece describes 7 children standing “shoulder-to-shoulder” in Houston, talking to a judge located a thousand miles away on a glitchy video link. Nearly 4 thousand children are currently in federal custody. A number of these children crossed the U.S./Mexico border alone. Elon Musk pledges to provide ventilators to those who need them Finally, you know there’s a ventilator shortage. Well Elon Musk has said his company would produce ventilators in the event of a shortage in hospitals. Just last week, Musk said coronavirus concerns were dumb. So it’s good to know he’s come to his senses.

Bio A Boston University School of Social Work faculty member since 2017, Rob Eschmann (@robeschmann) is a scholar and teacher whose interests include educational inequality, community violence, racism, social media and youth wellbeing. His research seeks to uncover individual, group and intuitional-level barriers to racial and economic equity—and he pays special attention to the heroic efforts everyday people make to combat those barriers. For Eschmann, this work is a part of the larger freedom struggle. “The function of racism is to reproduce racial inequality, but in the 21st century the devices of racism are often hidden behind color-neutral laws or friendly interactions,” he notes. “Highlighting the mechanisms of racism, therefore, can demonstrate the continuing significance of race, raise consciousness, and promote and strengthen resistance efforts.” His recent publications include “Unmasking Racism: Students of Color and Expressions of Racism in Online Spaces,” which appeared in the journal Social Problems in 2019, and “Rethinking Race,” a chapter in the book Education & Society (University of California Press, 2019). In addition to his appointment at BUSSW, Eschmann serves as an affiliated faculty member in the BU College of Arts & Sciences in the Department of Sociology and the African American Studies Program. Resources Robert D. Eschmann, Unmasking Racism: Students of Color and Expressions of Racism in Online Spaces (Society for the Study of Social Problems, Oxford University Press, 2019). News Roundup Facebook and Twitter halt Russian election interference campaign targeting African Americans  Facebook and Twitter announced late Thursday that they had taken down multiple accounts and pages that were in the process of executing Russian interference campaigns targeting African Americans. Unlike during the 2016 election when Russia conducted similar operations from inside Russia, these latest intrusions prove Russia’s persistence and evolving sophistication. Russia disguised these latest interference efforts by conducting them from within Africa, namely Nigeria and Ghana, by recruiting operatives there to spread vitriol and suspicion around topics like Black Lives Matter, voting, and police brutality. The Hill reports that Facebook dismantled 49 accounts, 69 pages, and 85 Instagram accounts. Twitter said it removed 71 accounts that purported to be operated from within the United States.   FTC warns Cardi B for not disclosing paid social media ads The Hill reports that the Federal Trade Commission has warned Cardi B and 10 other celebrities about not disclosing paid ads for their endorsements of things like supposed weight loss teas on their social media channels.  The FTC didn’t file formal charges against the influencers. However, it has required them to provide a list of actions they plan to take to be more transparent about their sources of funding. Sen. Kamala Harris calls out Facebook for continued negligence regarding misinformation ahead of the U.S. Census  So an ad ran on Facebook that appeared to be a link to the 2020 U.S. Census. But when users clicked the link, they were redirected to Trump’s campaign website. Senator Kamala Harris blasted Facebook in a letter last week for failing to stem the tide of misinformation on the platform, even misinformation that violates its own policies. Nancy Pelosi also blasted the social media behemoth. Harris pointed specifically to Facebook’s dismissive approach toward recommendations made by civil rights groups to address the effects of Census misinformation on people of color and other marginalized groups who are vulnerable to being undercounted. Facebook has since removed the ads. But what were the lessons learned back in January when Facebook was forced to remove misleading ads about the coronavirus? Facebook continues to mismanage information that appears on its site and isn’t being held accountable in any sort of lasting and effective way. Kamala Harris noted as much when she said the company’s response to misinformation about the Census will presage how it responds to the 2020 election. Last month the Atlantic predicted that misinformation will be a defining factor of Trump’s re-election campaign. That certainly appears to be the case thus far. Twitter caught in the middle Regarding Twitter … First, its CEO Jack Dorsey will stay on for the time being. Prior to the announcement, there had been speculation that activist investment firm Elliot Management would require Dorsey to step down due in part to perceived conflicts of interest because of his role as CEO at both Twitter and Square. But Twitter was also caught between Republicans and Democrats as it came under pressure to take down or flag a video that Trump retweeted which appeared to depict Joe Biden endorsing Trump’s re-election campaign. Twitter ultimately tagged the video as manipulated. But then a couple of days later, the Trump campaign followed up about an ad posted by the Biden campaign which included footage of Trump calling protesters on both sides of the deadly Charlottesville riot, which included far right protesters opposing the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, as “fine people”. The Biden ad took that quote and made it appear as though the president was only referring to racist protesters. Cybercriminals and coronavirus Finally, a new report from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike finds that cybercriminals, including a group connected to China called PIRATE PANDA, are taking advantage of people’s fear and confusion about the coronavirus. The report notes that just like the coronavirus, the attacks are moving East to West, becoming steadily more sophisticated as they progress. The security breaches are designed to cajole unsuspecting users to open email attachments and take other actions consistent with previous criminal operations that malicious hackers have conducted against unsuspecting users.

Bio Bärí A. Williams is an attorney and startup advisor, previously served as Vice President of Legal, Policy, and Business Affairs at All Turtles, an artificial intelligence studio. Her primary practice areas include emerging technology transactions, privacy and data protection, and terms of service. She is the former Head of Business Operations Management for North America at StubHub, where she was responsible for business planning and operations to manage and oversee technical internal and external metrics, product innovation, and partnerships and drive P&L results across the company. Prior to StubHub, Bärí was a senior commercial attorney at Facebook supporting internet.org connectivity efforts, building drones, satellites, and lasers, and supporting the company's supply chain. She also successfully took on the passion project of creating and implementing Facebook’s Supplier Diversity Program, launched in October 2016. She has served as an advisor to startups in the enterprise and e-commerce space, including Blavity (and AfroTech), Bandwagon, Owl, and Telepath.    Bärí is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (BA, Mass Communications), St. Mary’s College of California (MBA), the University of California, Los Angeles (MA, African-American Studies), and the University of California, Hastings College of Law (JD). She is also a published author with bylines in the New York Times, WIRED, Fortune, and Fast Company. She recently gave congressional testimony on bias in AI in financial services in Feb. 2020. Her book, Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations About Identity, Privilege, and Bias, will be released on March 31.     Resources Human Interest Bärí Williams, Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations about Identity, Privilege, and Bias (2020) Bärí A. Williams News Roundup   Tech responds to coronavirus   Tech giants are responding to coronavirus fears as Amazon reported that an employee contracted the illness.   Facebook has cancelled its annual participation in SXSW. The social media giant has also pledged to give the World Health Organization as many free ads as needed to combat the virus.   And Google has canceled its annual I/O developer conference which was scheduled for May 12th and 14th. Google has also halted international travel for employees.   NYPD to remove innocents’ DNA profiles from its database   The New York City Police Department has said that it will remove DNA profiles of individuals who haven’t been convicted of any crimes. The New York Times reports that some 82,000 DNA profiles in the NYPD’s database belong to non-criminals. NYPD had detained and collected DNA evidence from kids as young as 12. The Times reports that officers once offered a 12-year-old a soda during questioning then collected the boy’s DNA from the straw. Many other individuals who were merely questioned, who weren’t convicted or in many cases not even arrested, also had their DNA collected. The database will be purged in the coming weeks and, going further, the NYPD will collect DNA from children only in cases involving felonies, sex crimes, gun charges, and hate crimes.   House seeks info from Ring on surveillance     Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy wrote Amazon VP of Public Policy Brian Huseman requesting extensive information regarding its home security subsidiary Ring’s partnerships with law enforcement to surveil communities with Ring’s footage. Back in August, Ring began disclosing the police departments it has been working with which, as of today, includes some 967 police departments nationwide. In the DC area, participating police departments include Takoma Park, Bladensburg, Seat Pleasant, Prince George’s in Maryland, and, in Virginia, Alexandria’s Police Department is working with Ring.   Judge: Instacart cannot misclassify workers as independent contractors   A San Diego judge has found that Instacart cannot misclassify workers as independent contractors. In granting a preliminary injunction against Instacart, the judge ruled to enforce the new AB5 law which seeks to ensure that gig workers are classified as employees in order to access benefits and have the right to form a union. NBC News has more.   Democrats split on cybersecurity   The Hill reports that Democrats are split on what to do about reauthorizing the USA Freedom Act, the cybersecurity bill put in place following Edward Snowden’s revelation that the National Security Agency was storing millions of Americans’ phone numbers. Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler are spearheading efforts to reauthorize the bill while more liberal Democrats, including Zoe Lofgren, are seeking more privacy protections. Many of Schiff’s allies during the impeachment hearing are now opposing his efforts to reauthorize the cyber bill and, interestingly, the White House has also weighed in saying the President, including Attorney General Barr, wants the full bill reauthorized without changes. The disputed changes involve the extent to which there should be more transparency in how the FISA court operates with regard to surveillance.  

Bio  Gary Radburn (@VRGaryatDell) is the Director of VR/AR solutions at Dell. As part of this role, he works closely with Dell customers on VR/AR deployments and help to establish Dell’s VR Centers of Excellence with locations around the world for businesses and consumers to experience and learn more about VR in the real world. He has held various roles across the technology industry over the last three decades, ranging from Engineering to Sales & Marketing, and has experience across all aspects of designing products and solutions and bringing them to market.   Resources  Radburn, G. (2018). Real Innovators Use VR for Social Good. [Blog] Direct@Dell.  [Accessed 26 Feb. 2020].  News Roundup  Washington Post report on Facebook/GOP coordination doesn't bode well for policy pros of color   A Washington Post report by Craig Timberg doesn't bode well for lawyers of color and Democrats seeking to work in Facebook's policy office here in Washington. According to anonymous sources who contributed to the story, GOP operative Joel Kaplan, who dated Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg when they attended Harvard together, has no intention anytime soon of adding Democrats to his policy team. Only Republicans are driving Facebook's policymaking efforts, often acceding to Trump administration demands by enacting policies like the ban on removing political ads from the platform in which politicians make false statements. Last year civil rights leaders met with Mark Zuckerberg at his home in Palo Alto in an attempt to persuade him to remove such ads – he refused, likely after taking Kaplan's advice into account. So the disproportionate power dynamic at Facebook is just as out of whack as compared to its user base, as Congress is to the populace: Seventy-eight percent of lawmakers in Congress are white even though whites comprise only 61% of the total U.S. population. So, is Facebook using politics as a pretense for racial and gender discrimination? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe Democratic women and people of color who are listening should apply for jobs in Facebook’s policy shop and, when they don't get them, sue them and see what happens.  Following resistance, UCLA bans campus-wide facial recognition  The University of California at Los Angeles has banned the use of facial recognition surveillance on campus, Fight for the Future reported on Medium last week. The decision came amidst growing backlash against the 45,000 student university including a nationwide campaign to prevent the spread of facial recognition across college campuses. Schools like MIT, Harvard, Brown, and Columbia have issued public statements stating that they would not institute a facial recognition program. But UCLA decided to go ahead and see if it could roll out an always-on biometric scanning and identification system anyway, until it ultimately caved to pressure from the UCLA community. Here in DC, GW, and American have stated publicly that they might use facial recognition technology on campus. But the University of Maryland, on the other hand, has said they won't. UVA has also said that it will not implement facial recognition as part of its campus safety program.  Kickstarter workers vote to unionize  Engineers and other white-collar workers at Kickstarter have voted to form a union, according to the New York Times, becoming one of the first tech companies to do so. The vote was by a narrow margin – 46 to 37 – but the decision to unionize has put to rest many months of back-and-forth and tension at the company.  Feds are raiding tech companies for medical records  According to a new investigative report by Thomas Brewster at Forbes, federal law enforcement officials have been raiding tech companies to obtain their users' medical records data. And this isn't just DNA data, either -- We're all too familiar with the risks associated with giving our DNA data to companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com. But this is about law enforcement obtaining warrants to access your medical history, including any medications you're taking, by showing the warrant to a company called DrChrono, which specializes in warehousing this information online.  Seattle city Councilwoman Kshama Sawant wants to tax Amazon to address housing shortages  The Guardian reports that Seattle city Councilwoman Kshama Sawant introduced a bill last week that would impose a 1.7% payroll tax on Amazon, and other companies among Seattle's top 3%, generating up to a as much as $300 million per year. Three-quarters of the proceeds from the fund would go towards building affordable, publicly-owned homes. The remaining 25% would go to convert homes from using oil and gas, to clean electric energy.   Target’s delivery app Shipt is hostile towards employees  According to a new report in Motherboard – Shipt - Target's delivery app – is retaliating against employees for posting comments or criticisms about Shipt's labor practices. One Shipt employee reported publicly that, after Shipt tweaked its algorithm, she went from earning $200 per week to $0-25 per week. Shipt then deactivated her account. Some employee accounts have been deactivated for no apparent reason, leaving employees unaware of and on pins and needles wondering when the next shoe will drop.  Northeastern University Study: No bias in YouTube Comment Moderation  Ars Technica reports that a Northeastern University study has concluded that there is no apparent political bias in content moderation on YouTube. For the last several years, Republicans including Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, have claimed that platforms like YouTube are biased against conservative viewpoints. But after reviewing some 84,068 comments on 268 YouTube videos, the researchers found that the moderation of hate speech by right-leaning commenters versus that of left-leaning commenters was about the same.  

Bio John Godfrey (@SamsungDC) is Senior Vice President of Public Policy for Samsung Electronics America. Based in Washington, D.C., he leads Samsung’s public policy team in engagement with government and industry, focusing on communications policy, digital television, wireless spectrum, health care, environment, broadband, cybersecurity, privacy and other areas. An active participant in the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), Godfrey is a member and past chair of the CTA Foundation’s Board of Trustees and CTA’s Video Division Board, among other groups. He is also a past chairman of the Board of Directors of the Advanced Television Systems Committee, the standards developing organization for digital television broadcasting. Prior to joining Samsung in 2006, Godfrey was with Pioneer North America, Sony Electronics, the Information Technology Industry Council, the National Research Council, and SRI International. Godfrey has a Master's degree in Telecommunications from George Washington University, a Master's degree in East Asian Studies from Stanford University, and a Bachelor's degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife, artist Ellen Hill, have two sons and live in Rockville, Maryland. Resources 5G is Here (Samsung, 2020) News Roundup DOJ Charges Chinese Military Officials for Equifax Hack The Department of Justice indicted 4 Chinese People’s Liberation Army officials on Monday, charging them with 9 counts for the 2017 Equifax hack that led to the theft and sale of some 145 million Americans’ data. US Attorney General William Barr noted that this represents nearly half of the American population. The indictment includes charges for stealing trade secrets. Ancestry.com refuses warrant for member data DNA platform Ancestry.com refused to honor valid arrest warrants in 8 out of 9 cases last year, according to the company’s 2019 transparency report. Competitor 23andMe has also promised to keep its DNA database private. Ancestry.com’s DNA database is estimated to contain the DNA information of some 16 million people. Federal Court approves T-Mobiler/Sprint merger The US District Court of the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, approved the $26.5 billion T-Mobile/Sprint merger last week, over the objection of 15 Attorneys General, including California AG Xavier Becerra and NY AG Letitia James. Presiding Judge Victor Romero wrote that the merger is not likely to lessen competition. The merged company is required to divest resources to satellite provider Dish ensure Dish becomes a viable competitor. Amazon removes books written by Nazis Finally, Amazon has removed 2 books written by authors David Duke, who is a former KKK Grand Wizard, and George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi party. Some booksellers say that Amazon’s policies are opaque and have vocalized opposition to the removal of these titles.

‘How Data Mapping Can Save Moms’ Lives’ with Licy Do Canto (Ep. 218) Bio As Managing Director of BCW Healthcare in the firm’s Public Affairs and Crisis practice, Licy Do Canto (@LicyMD) leads policy and public affairs strategy for the firm’s healthcare clients in North America across public and corporate affairs, government relations, communications and reputation management on a diverse and broad range of healthcare issues. He also oversees the BCW Healthcare Team in Washington, D.C.  An expert in health and healthcare policy, with twenty five years of experience at the national, state and local levels across the nonprofit, philanthropic, corporate and government sectors, Licy is an accomplished, values-driven leader with unparalleled experience in developing and leading integrated public affairs campaigns combining strategic communications, public relations, political and legislative initiatives, policy, coalition building, grassroots/grasstops efforts and direct advocacy.  Before joining BCW, Licy built and lead a nationally recognized minority owned strategic public affairs and communications firm, served as Health Practice Chair and Principal at The Raben Group, was the Chief Executive Officer of The AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families, and managed and helped set the leadership direction for strategic policy, communications and advocacy investments in executive and senior government affairs roles for the American Cancer Society and the nation’s Community Health Centers.  Before joining the private sector, Licy served as health policy advisor to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and served in several stints in the Office of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. During his extensive tenure in Washington, D.C., Licy has played a leading role in efforts to draft, shape and enact many pieces of legislation and policy affecting public health, health care safety net and the U.S. health care system.  Licy is a graduate of Duke University and holds a certificate in public health leadership from the University of North Chapel Hill—School of Public Health and Kenan Flagler Business School, and is the recipient of multiple industry awards and citations for his leadership, policy and public affairs acumen, including being named to The Hill Newspaper list of most influential leaders in Washington, D.C. consecutively over the last ten years. Resources BCW Global S.3152 – Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act News Roundup Zuckerberg says new content policies will ‘piss off a lot of people’  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg continues his crusade to be the standard-bearer of free speech even if his company’s policies “piss off a lot of people”. Zuckerberg told CNN that he plans to draw a line in the sand when it comes to censorship as he thinks Facebook is taking on too much of that responsibility. He says that the company will continue to remove the most harmful content and also discussed plans to ramp up encryption on Facebook’s messaging service. Zuckerberg has remained steadfast in maintaining Facebook’s policy of leaving up false statements by politicians in their ads. Study: Using pre-trial risk assessment tools to book criminal defendants increases the likelihood they’ll considered a flight risk Courts routinely use pre-trial assessment tools to determine the likelihood that a defendant will flee if they’re released on bail. The higher the flight risk, the more pre-trial supervision the court will impose. The data these tools rely on includes data on past arrests.  But a new study from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group and San Francisco Public Defenders Office notes that many of those arrests lead to acquittals. But despite the acquittals, the study found, courts recommended a higher level of pre-trial supervision in 27% of cases that include prior arrest data in their pre-trial assessment tools. ACLU: Puerto Rico’s online voting plan is too risky The American Civil Liberties Union is pushing back against legislation in Puerto Rico that aims to bring voting fully online by 2028. The ACLU is asking Puerto Rico’s Governor Wanda Vázquez to veto the bill after it passes the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, which is expected to happen this week. Lawyers for the century-old advocacy organization argue that the plan is extremely susceptible to hacks and poses significant cybersecurity risks that threaten to undermine Puerto Ricans’ trust in the government. House Oversight Committee seeks answers from dating apps on kids’ privacy The House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy launched an investigation into dating platforms’ failure to prevent underage users from signing up. Members of the subcommittee wrote Bumble, Grindr, The Meet Group, the Match Group, Tinder, and OkCupid seeking documents pertaining to any policies they have in place to prevent underage users pretending that they’re over 18 and sex offenders from lurking on the platforms. The documents are due to the subcommittee on February 13. Health records app pushed opioids Bloomberg reports that in the midst of the opioid crisis, between 2016 and 2019, electronic health records company Practice Fusion pushed alerts encouraging opioid treatment on 230 million separate occasions.  A Vermont federal court says the company has agreed to pay $145 million in civil and criminal damages.

  'How Media Policies Have Helped the Far Right' w/ Anne Nelson (Ep. 217) The author of 'Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right' and Joe Miller discuss how media public policy has helped the Right seem bigger than they are. Bio Anne Nelson (@nelsona) is the author of ‘Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right’ (Macmillan, 2019) and lecturer in the fields of international affairs, media and human rights. As a journalist she covered the conflicts in El Salvador and Guatemala, and won the Livingston Award for best international reporting from the Philippines. She served as the director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. In 1995 she became the director the international program at the Columbia School of Journalism, where she created the first curriculum in human rights reporting. Since 2003 Nelson has been teaching at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where her classes and research explore how digital media can support the underserved populations of the world through public health, education and culture. Nelson is a widely published author. Her 2009 book “Red Orchestra” describes the way media was used for both propaganda and resistance in Nazi Germany, and was published to wide acclaim in the U.S. and Germany. In October 2017, Simon & Schuster published her book “Suzanne’s Children: A Daring Rescue in Nazi Paris,” telling the story of a rescue network in Paris that saved hundreds of Jewish children from deportation.   The Wall Street Journal praised the way the book “vividly dramatizes the stakes of acting morally in a time of brutality.”  It was named a finalist in the National Jewish Book Awards.  The work was published as “Codename: Suzette” in the UK, and as “La Vie Heroique de Suzanne Spaak” by Robert Laffont in France.  It is available as an audiobook, read by Nelson, and was released in paperback in October 2018. Nelson’s play “The Guys,” based on her experiences following the September 11th attacks, has been produced in all fifty states, fifteen countries, and as a feature film. It has been widely used to fund local fire departments and related causes such as trauma counseling and burn treatment centers. Nelson also has long experience in philanthropy. She has consulted for the Rockefeller Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the Knight Foundation, among others, in areas of human rights, freedom of expression, social and economic development, and media policy. Nelson is a graduate of Yale University, a 2005 Guggenheim fellow, and a 2013 Bellagio Fellow. She is a fellow at the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia, and a member of the New York Institute for the Humanities and the Council on Foreign Relations. Resources News Roundup Soros/Clinton drag Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire Democratic mega-donor George Soros called out Facebook’s apparent intention to get President Trump re-elected. The social media platform continues to maintain its policy of allowing ads placed by politicians that contain falsehoods to remain on the platform. According to Bloomberg, in a speech at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Mr. Soros stated “I think there is a kind of informal mutual assistance operation or agreement developing between Trump and Facebook”. He went on to say that Facebook and Trump will work to protect each other. At the Sundance Film Festival and in an Atlantic interview, Ms. Clinton expressed similar concerns and said that Zuckerberg’s philosophy of letting its users “decide for themselves” what’s true or false is an authoritarian perspective. Jeff Bezos’s phone hacked According to new reports in the Guardian, Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’s smart phone was hacked in 2018. Forensic investigators reportedly found a “high probability” that a malicious file that was embedded within a WhatsApp conversation between Mr. Bezos and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, scoured Bezos’s phone for personal information. The Hill notes that 9 months later, the National Enquirer revealed details of Mr. Bezos’s extramarital affair, although both Saudi Arabia and National Enquirer former parent company American Media Inc., both deny Saudi Arabia’s involvement.  2018 was also the year that Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, a murder the U.S. concluded was ordered by bin Salman—an allegation that bin Salman and the Saudi government deny. President Trump has backed bin Salman and the Saudi government’s denials of the murder. In addition to controlling Amazon, Mr. Bezos also owns Washington Post, so multiple  lawmakers and cybersecurity experts believe the alleged hack, reportedly conducted with tools linked to a bin Salman associate, was designed to suppress reporting on Mr. Khashoggi’s murder. On Wednesday, Bezos tweeted a photo of himself standing with Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancé under the hashtag #Jamal. NFL social media accounts hacked Hackers gained access to several NFL teams’ social media profiles on Monday, including those of the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, who are set to face off in Super Bowl 54 next Sunday. The hackers got into the teams Twitter Facebook and Instagram accounts. The hackers removed profile pictures, bios and headers. Other teams affected included the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, the Houston Texans, the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears, and the NFL’s official Twitter account. Newly tapped CBP head reportedly a member of racist/sexist Facebook group Rodney Scott, the 27-year Customs and Border Patrol veteran whom President Trump tapped to lead the agency, has reportedly been a member of the same Facebook group that led to his predecessor’s firing.  The Facebook group “I’m 10-15”—10-15 is the code name CBP officers use to communicate that they have a so-called alien in custody—has been the site of racist and misogynistic attacks against Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in addition to other racist and sexist posts. Former CBP Chief Carla Provost retired after it was discovered that she was a member of the group. Georgetown University and the City of Washington work to develop an algorithm to prioritize building inspections Finally, the Washington Post reports that Georgetown University and the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs are working on a new algorithm to go after slum lords in the District of Columbia. The Washington Post had reported back in 2017 that Sanford Capital, which owns several buildings in the District, maintained poor conditions including broken doors, rat infestations and problems with heat and sewage, even as they received millions in taxpayer subsidies. The new algorithm will be designed by Georgetown students and with the goal of improving efficiencies in an understaffed and unwieldy building inspection system. Related Posts Ep 50: How to Promote Counter Narratives to Hate Speech with Jessica Gonzalez(Opens in a new browser tab) Renée DiResta: How to Fight the Imminent Disinformation Blitzkrieg (Ep. 175)(Opens in a new browser tab) Naeemah Clark: How to Define 'Viewpoint Diversity' in a Polarized America (Ep. 155)(Opens in a new browser tab)

Bio Yosef Getachew ( @ygetachew2) serves as Program Director of the Media & Democracy Program at Common Cause. Prior to joining Common Cause, Yosef served as a Policy Fellow at Public Knowledge where he worked on a variety of technology and communications issues. His work has focused on broadband privacy, broadband access and affordability, and other consumer issues. Prior to joining Public Knowledge, Yosef worked as a law clerk for several technology and communications organizations including the Federal Communications Commission, Comcast, Facebook, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Yosef has also served as a Project Coordinator and Research Assistant for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Yosef received his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School. In law school, he was an Articles Editor for the Federal Communications Law Journal. Yosef was born and raised in Washington D.C.   Resources   Common Cause, Media & Democracy Project We Must Remedy Discrimination in Our Media System by Jessica J. González (Common Dreams, 2019) News Roundup Pelosi accuses Facebook of intentionally misleading voters House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped Facebook last week saying the company shamefully, intentionally misleads voters by failing to remove political ads. Ms. Pelosi specifically called out Facebook’s capitalistic model as being antithetical to democracy and a fair election in 2020. She told reporters Thursday that Facebook only wants two things: continued tax cuts and weak antitrust enforcement.   There were 58.5 billion robocalls made in 2019, which is up 22 percent Robocall-blocking service YouMail released a report last week finding a 22% increase in the number of robocalls placed in the U.S. since 2018.  The company claims that Americans received nearly 18 robocalls per year in 2019. According to the company, overall, Americans have received some 100 billion robocalls over the last 2 years. At the end of December, President Trump signed a bi-partisan bill to reduce robocalls.   Former Mueller Chief of Staff says Washington is failing to ensure election security John Carlin, the former Chief of Staff to Robert Mueller reportedly told the Hill that the federal government isn’t doing enough to prevent election interference. Mr. Carlin says the federal government’s response to the 2016 attacks, including a $425  million spending bill to address election security, did not go far enough its ongoing effort to deal with the proliferation of ransomeware and what he termed a “here and present threat”   National Institute of Justice paid Purdue University to study social media for warnings of future crimes According to the National Institute of Justice’s own website, it awarded nearly $2 million to Purdue University to assign convicted offenders wearable devices and then monitor them remotely to determine the likelihood that they’ll commit future crimes. The NIJ claims the goal is to determine whether offenders should be permitted to re-enter society. But the results of the study could have significant implications for mass surveillance as the study, which calls for testing 250 randomly-selected offender participants, will likely unfairly target African American inmates since roughly 40% of the prison population is African American even though we comprise 13% of the total U.S. population. City of Washington discovered 115 “ghost guns” in 2019 The Washington City Paper reports that the number of “ghost guns” police discovered in 2019 grew by 25% compared to the year before, or to more than 115 ghost guns. DC Police found only 3 such guns in 2017. Ghost guns are guns made from materials that can’t be found by metal detectors, such as the plastic used to print 3D guns. The DC Council has proposed a bill that would ban some but not all 3D printed guns. Some officials are worried that legislation doesn’t encompass enough of the various types of ghost guns. DC officials report that ghost guns were used in 3 homicides in 2019.

"The 'Human Factor' of Cybersecurity" with Sherrod DeGrippo (Ep. 215) Proofpoint's Sherrod DeGrippo joined Joe Miller on the WashingTECH Podcast to discuss malware, the Emotet threat, and the human factor of cybersecurity. Bio Sherrod DeGrippo (@sherrod_im) is the Sr. Director of Threat Research and Detection for Proofpoint, Inc. She leads a worldwide malware research team to advance Proofpoint threat intelligence and keep organizations safe from cyberattacks. With more than 15 years of information security experience, Sherrod successfully directs her 24/7 team to investigate advanced threats, release multiple daily security updates and create scalable threat intelligence solutions that integrate directly into Proofpoint products. Resources Human Factor Report (Proofpoint, 2019) News Roundup Russia hacked the Ukrainian company at center of impeachment The New York Times reported Monday that Russia’s infamous Main Intelligence Unit formerly known as G.R.U, which is accused of working closely with Cambridge Analytica to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, hacked into the emails of Burisma, Ukraine’s largest natural gas producer which is at the center of president Trump’s impeachment. Former Vice President Joseph Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, served on Burisma’s board from 2014, until his term expired last year, a position for which Biden was compensated up to $50,000 per month. The articles of impeachment against Trump allege that Trump bribed Ukrainian President Vloymyr Zelensky by conditioning the $391 million in military aid already earmarked for Ukraine on Ukraine’s investigation into Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that Hunter Biden engaged in malfeasance during his time on Burisma’s board. Both the Ukrainian prosecutor who said that he saw no wrongdoing by Biden and the Ukrainian prosecutor who replaced him issued a joint statement in October of last year stating that they did not find any evidence of wrongdoing by Biden. The security firm Area 1 reports that Russian hackers conducted a phishing operation in which they created pages that appeared to be Burisma internal pages and tricked employees into entering their usernames and passwords, which gave the Russian’s access to Burisma’s network. It is not clear what information they obtained, but officials believe the hack was intended to find embarrassing information about Hunter Biden, given its timing amidst the impeachment investigation, as well as reports by the New York Times that Russian spies are conducting operations on the ground to gain access to Burisma in the physical world in order to achieve the same goal.  Most Republicans in Congress currently deny that Trump should be removed from office, and zero republicans in the House voted for the articles of impeachment to move forward. Facebook holds forth on political misinformation policy Facebook persists in maintaining its corrosive political advertising policies, including the policy which allows politicians to microtarget false statements in their political ads. The company says it will soon allow users to limit the political ads they see and offer more details about the ads. The company has announced a ban on deepfake videos. Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub called the response weak. Twitter has banned political advertisements altogether and Google is allowing political ads but not microtargeting. White House recommends hands-off approach for discrimination in AI Despite concerns raised by major civil rights groups over the last few years about the discriminatory effects of AI bias, and research showing the discriminatory effects of AI in determining things like creditworthiness, making hiring decisions, and many other areas, the White House released a set of AI Regulatory Guidelines during the Consumer Electronic Show last week, which take a relatively hands-off approach to addressing discrimination in AI. Overall, the guidelines discourage regulations. Consider this phrase on page 5 of the guidelines:  “When considering regulations or non-regulatory approaches related to AI applications, agencies should consider, in accordance with law, issues of fairness and non-discrimination with respect to outcomes and decisions produced by the AI application at issue.” What the White House is saying here is that agencies “should” consider – it’s optional – the outcomes and decisions produced—so not what goes into making the applications or addressing the fact that most of the people developing AI applications are not African-American, Hispanic, Latino, Southeast Asian, or Native American – but only the outcomes. This recommendation therefore means … let’s take a hands-off approach—let’s not develop standards for how AI applications are developed—let’s just take a wait and see approach—if they have harmful effects, we’ll go ahead and wait until someone spots those effects before we do anything about it. And it’s not like the guidelines don’t make strong recommendations in other areas … Agencies “MUST”, for example, report on the outcomes of stakeholder engagements and  “identify existing regulatory barriers to AI applications …” So we’ve got a double-standard of a set of guidelines that mandate pre-emptive approaches to address regulatory barriers to the development of applications, but not barriers to say, you finding a job, or getting a mortgage, or getting Tinder matches who aren’t Ayn Rand enthusiasts. And the guidelines make no mention of civil rights at all. Barr asks Apple to unlock the Pensacola shooters iPhone U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr has asked Apple to unlock the iPhone belonging to Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the Saudi air force member who shot and killed 3 American sailors in Pensacola last month.  Apple has refused. The dispute is the latest chapter in an ongoing saga between Apple and law enforcement officials that began when the FBI sought to compel Apple to unlock the iPhone belonging to Syed Farook, terrorist who murdered 14 people in San Bernadino in 2015. Federal law enforcement officials abandoned that effort after finding an alternative way to gain access. Ivanka Trump speaks at the Consumer Electronics Show, met with resistance Despite a warm reception from the crowd at the Consumer Electronics Show last week, White House adviser and daughter to the president Ivanka Trump was met with scorn and criticism, under the hashtag #BoycottCES from women and tech workers who said she didn’t belong there. The Hill reported for example that game developer and Congressional candidate Brianna Wu took exception to the fact that Ms. Trump is not a woman in tech and criticized the Consumer Electronics Show’s “lazy” attempt to achieve speaker diversity by selecting her as a speaker. House passes 5G bills to ensure U.S. dominance over China Finally, The House of Representatives passed 3 bills last Wednesday which would allow data speeds of up to 100x of what we currently have. The bills will also give the United States more say in how 5G is developed internationally by, for one, requiring the Secretary of State to hire a telecom adviser. Both parties signed on to the bills nearly unanimously.

Bio Dylan Gilbert (@dgilbert_PK) is Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge where he advocates for the public interest with a focus on government affairs. His core work includes privacy, copyright reform, and a variety of telecommunications and platform-related issues. Prior to joining the Public Knowledge team, Dylan clerked at the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, and America’s Public Television Stations. Dylan also has over a decade of experience working in the music industry as a performer, producer, and music supervisor. Dylan holds a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and a B.A. from The College of William and Mary. In his free time, Dylan enjoys playing jazz piano and hitting errant golf shots at the driving range          Resources Public Knowledge Making Sense of the Termination Right: How the System Fails Artists and How to Fix It by Dylan Gilbert, Meredith Rose and Alisa Valentin (Public Knowledge, 2019) Facebook and Twitter remove accounts tied to a fake pro-Trump network Facebook, Twitter and Instagram removed hundreds of accounts , pages, groups and Instagram accounts operated by individuals in Vietnam and the U.S. The accounts used artificial intelligence to evade detection and create fake profile see in order to spread misinformation. Facebook connected all of the accounts to The Epoch Times, a Chinese site operated by the Falun Gong which has been supportive of President Trump. Twitter also removed 88,000 accounts on Friday alone which the company tied to Saudia Arabia. Unanimous Senate Approves Robocall Legislation  Every once in awhile, it’s nice to see some bipartisanship. The Senate last week unanimously approved Robocall legislation which will require phone carriers to block annoying robocalls free of charge. The bill also requires companies to verify that phone calls are coming from real numbers. It’s called the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence or TRACED Act. It now heads to the president’s desk for signature which Congressman Mike Doyle expects to happen within a week. Airbnb bans 60+ white supremacists Using data it collected from its user verification process, which included cross referencing its readership against the leaked SQL database of the now-defunct violent white extremist group Iron March, Airbnb banned more than 60 of its users, mostly guests rather than renrters, for their ties to Iron March. Gizmodo has more. France has fined Google $167 million for anti-compettive conduct France has fined Google some $167 million for anti-competitive conduct. The country asserts that Google controls some 90% of the online advertising market. Earlier this year, France began collecting a 3% company from firms that provide digital services to France-based customers. Reveal News reports on debilitating worker injuries at Amazon Reveal News published an article last week examining worker injuries at Amazon where, especially during the holiday season, workers are injured bending and lifting in an effort to reach a company goal of sending out 1 million orders out per hourdd. That translates to one item per 11 seconds for each employee. Moving at this breakneck speed, workers are increasingly injured, often keeping them out of work indefinitely. You can find that story in the show notes. The New York Times releases extensive report on location data collection The New York Times released a must-read report on how companies and entities we’ve never heard of, much less given consent to, are constantly collecting our location data, telling full stories about where we go, whom we’re with, and what we’re doing. It’s a long read, so definitely something to check out over the holidays.  

    Bio Mohamed Abdel-Kader (@MAKtweeter) is Executive Director of the Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute. He previously served in the administration of President Barack Obama as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education at the US Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education. In that role, Mohamed was responsible for encouraging and promoting the study of foreign languages and the study of the cultures of other countries at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels in the United States. He led his division’s work in administering grants for overseas studies and research programs funded through the Fulbright-Hays Act as well as Title VI grants to support language and area studies programs in the United States. Before joining the US Department of Education, Mohamed served as the Director of Development for the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and managed the university’s advancement strategy in the Middle East, where he focused on major gifts and strategic engagement. Previously, he developed international partnerships and led donor development efforts at George Mason University. He has advised a variety of clients on organizational strategy, doing business in emerging markets, intercultural communication, and cultural competency in international philanthropy. He speaks fluent Arabic and basic Spanish, is a Truman National Security Fellow and is the author of a children’s book about stereotypes. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Clemson University, a Master’s degree in Higher Education from Vanderbilt University, and an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Mohamed is a trustee of the Longview Foundation for International Education & World Affairs. Resources Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute Virtual Exchange Impact and Learning Report (Stevens Initiative, 2019) News Roundup Texas men plead guilty to committing hate crime against Grindr users  Two Texas men admitted to using gay dating app Grindr to target gay men for hate crimes. The 24 and 18-year-old pleaded guilty to committing a hate crime, conspiracy to commit a hate crime, car jacking and use of a firearm, according to the Justice Department. The defendants used Grindr to lure gay men to a vacant apartment where they allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted them, forcing them to withdraw money from ATMs at gunpoint.  They face between 15 and 30 years for their crimes. Groups file net neutrality appeal Several tech companies and advocacy groups, including Mozilla, Etsy, Vimeo, Free Press, and Public Knowledge, among others, filed an appeal in the D.C. Circuit asking the full panel of judges to reconsider the three-judge panel’s October decision to uphold the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of the Obama-era net neutrality rules. If the court grants the appeal petition, the full court will rehear the matter. Senators Booker/Wyden call on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to address algorithmic biases in healthcare Senators Cory Booker and Ron Wyden sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma calling for action to address racial and ethnic biases in healthcare. The Senators specifically cited recent research published in Science magazine showing that doctors were more likely not to refer black patients for additional care since their healthcare costs are typically lower than those of white patients. The Senators also cited a 2016 study showing that medical students and residents thought that black patients have a higher threshold for pain than white patients, affecting treatment recommendations offered to black patients. The Senators requested answers to several questions as to how CMMS is addressing algorithmic bias in healthcare. The answers to those questions are due by December 31st. ProPublica: Facebook still allows discrimination against women and older workers in ad targeting  ProPublica reported last week that Facebook still allows advertisers to to discriminate based on age and gender even though the company made changes to its platform to prevent advertisers from explicit targeting discrimination. But a new report by Northeastern and Upturn found that advertisers can still discriminate based on proxies for age and gender. Targeting audiences based on software engineering as an occupation, for example, can yield a larger percentage of male applicants. Facebook is adamant that it has done more than any other company to address advertising bias. New study finds increase in robocalls A new report from Hiya, a company that tracks robocalls, released a report Monday showing that some 54.6 million robocalls were placed between January and November of this year—a 108 percent increase compared to last year. Congress is expected to pass legislation that will require phone carriers to block robocalls as well as verify that the phone numbers from which calls originate are legit.

    Bio Ebonie Riley currently serves as DC Bureau Chief of National Action Network’s Washington, DC Bureau. The function of the Bureau is to advocate for and influence Federal public policy that reflects the needs and desires of the communities based on the Action Agenda set forth by the National Action Networks national board and senior leadership. In this capacity, Ebonie serves as a conduit for information about what is happening in the halls of Congress, in the office and administration of the President, and United States Supreme Court. Moreover, she and her team work to educate lawmakers and other stakeholders on the challenges and opportunities facing communities, by advocating for more resources and polices that help invest and advance economic and social equality. Ebonie’s government affairs portfolio includes criminal justice, federal sentencing reform, ending racial profiling, equal employment protection, access to comprehensive healthcare, immigration, access to quality education, women’s rights, environmental justice, voting rights protection, housing, among other various issues that impact social and economic status, mobility, prosperity and empowerment of urban and under served communities. Prior to this role, she served as the Bureau’s Research and Policy Associate, analyzing legislation, drafts advocacy strategies, develops policy recommendations and monitors policy developments related to federal, state and local legislation while co-managing NAN’s Social Media. During her time at NAN she has helped organized several events and marches including coordinating NAN’s 2015 National Convention, NAN’s events in Baltimore, MD after the death of Freddie Gray, the Justice For All March in December 2014, NAN’s Legislative & Policy Conferences in 2015 and 2014, the National Action to Realize the Dream Rally and March in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington with over 200,000 people in attendance and Justice For Trayvon 100 City Vigil in Washington, D.C. both in 2013, just to name a few. Born in Chicago, Illinois and growing up in Severn, Maryland, Ms. Riley graduated from Ft. Meade Senior High School and attended UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) where she graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and minor in History. While at UMBC; she served as President of Africana Studies Council of Majors, while sitting on several academic research teams that focused on civil rights, voting rights, political behavior and attitudes, identity politics, race and representation, Congress, and elections. Specific interests include political engagement, civil rights law, voter turnout, voter suppression, and identity group politics.   Resources   National Action Network News Roundup LGBTQ+ groups call on Facebook to take down false drug ads Several LGBTQ+ civil rights groups are calling on Facebook to take down an ad posted by lawyers apparently seeking to capitalize by spreading misinformation about Truvada for PrEP, which studies have shown helps reduce the risk of contracting HIV by 99%. According to groups including GLAAD, The Human Rights Campaign and other groups, the lawyers are inaccurately claiming the drug causes certain side effects, and the groups are concerned that the ad will discourage people from taking the drug. Pensacola hit by cyberattack In a Facebook post, The City of Pensacola, Florida reported that it was the victim of a cyberattack over the weekend and into Monday, which took down much of the city’s network, including its online payment system and city government emails. 311 service was also affected. Pensacola Mayor Grover Robertson said in a press conference that it was not known whether the cyberattack was connected to last week’s shooting at the Pensacola Naval Station in which 3 people were killed and many others injured.  TikTok lawsuits Legal troubles are mounting for Chinese social media company TikTok, whose growth has been outpacing that of established social media platforms, including Facebook. Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company, was already under federal investigation into potential ties to the Chinese government. Plaintiffs filed two lawsuits last week, one of which was settled. But a second lawsuit brought against ByteDance in the Northern District of California by a student alleges that TikTok is transferring private user data to the Chinese government. Separately, German digital rights and digital culture blog NetzPolitik reported that TikTok has been blocking users with disabilities including overweight users and users with intellectual disabilities. Netzpolitik also reports that TikTok has been nbanning gay users as well. The company purports to ban these users so that they won’t be subjected to bullying. Google Ads staff files retaliation complaint against Google The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint last Tuesday claiming the company fired several employees in retaliation for their having joined or supported a labor group and protesting the company’s terms and conditions of employment. Reports also state that Google’s rules prevent employees from organizing.

'What if There's Too Much Privacy?' with Michele Gilman (Ep. 211) Policymakers often discuss privacy as something that is lacking. But what if there is too much privacy? Michele Gilman joined Joe Miller to explain.  Bio  Michele Gilman (@profmgilman) is the Venable Professor of Law; Director, Saul Ewing Civil Advocacy Clinic; and Co-Director, Center on Applied Feminism at the University of Baltimore School of Law. She is also a faculty fellow at Data & Society in New York, where she focuses on the intersection of data privacy law with the concerns of low-income communities.  Before joining the faculty, Professor Gilman was a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice; an associate at Arnold and Porter in Washington, D.C.; a law clerk to United States District Court Judge Frank A. Kaufman of the District of Maryland; and an editor of the Michigan Law Review. Professor Gilman's scholarship focuses on issues relating to poverty, privacy, economic inequality, and feminist legal theory and her articles have been published in the California Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review and the Washington University Law Review, among others. She was a visiting associate professor at the William and Mary School of Law during the 2005-06 academic year and a professor in the University of Aberdeen summer program in summer 2009. In 2009, she received the Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Faculty Member Award.  Professor Gilman directs the Saul Ewing Civil Advocacy Clinic, in which student attorneys represent individuals and community groups in a wide array of civil litigation and law reform projects. She is involved in numerous groups working on behalf of low-income Marylanders. She is a member of the Committee on Litigation and Legal Priorities of the ACLU of Maryland and the Judicial Selection Committee of the Women's Law Center. She is the past president of the board of the Public Justice Center, where she served from 2004-2014, as well as a past member of the Maryland Bar's Section Council on Delivery of Legal Services. She received the 2010 University System of Maryland Board of Regents' Award for Public Service. Professor Gilman is the former co-chair and a member of the Scholarship Committee of the AALS Clinical Legal Education Section, and a former editor of the Clinical Law Review Review and the Journal of Legal Education. She is also a co-director of the Center on Applied Feminism, which works to apply the insights of feminist legal theory to legal practice and policy. She is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars.  Professor Gilman will be a faculty fellow at Data & Society in New York during the 2019-2020 academic year.  She will be focusing on the intersection of data privacy law with the concerns of low-income communities.  Resources   University of Baltimore School of Law  The Surveillance Gap: The Harms of Extreme Privacy and Data Marginalization by Michele Gilman (New York University Review of Law & Social Change, 2019).  News Roundup  Uber wins against woman in driver rape lawsuit  Uber was victorious last week in a sexual assault lawsuit brought against it by a woman who says she was raped near a San Francisco shopping mall last year, by a suspended Uber driver who still had the Uber decal on his window. In her pleadings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, the victim claimed that the suspended driver was acting within the scope of his employment and that she legitimately thought it would be a safe ride. But the court disagreed.  Judge Corley did find, however, that the victim had made out a plausible claim for negligence and permitted her to refile for punitive damages for negligence stemming from Uber’s apparent failure to ensure the driver removed the decal from his window. The driver still faces a criminal trial which could send him away for life.  Separately, Uber has begun videotaping rides. But the effort has faced resistance from privacy advocates.  Prisoners in West Virginia prisons to be charged $.03 per minute to read e-books  West Virginia prisoners will have to pay $.03 per minute to access e-books via Project Gutenberg, which otherwise offers the public free access to over 60,000 books. The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WVDCR) entered into a deal with Global Tel Link (GTL) to provide tablets to 10 prisons in West Virginia which will also allow inmates to watch videos and send written messages and photos. But the rates for those services, ranging between $.25 and $.50 per minute, are still very high relative to the $.04 per hour to $.58 per hour prisoners can earn in wages. The prisons will lift a current restriction on accessing books in print. But advocates who oppose the exploitative $.03 per minute fee for e-books note that the use of books in print comes with many more restrictions.  DC AG sues DoorDash for wage theft  DC Attorney General Karl Racine is suing DoorDash for pocketing tips the company solicits from customers. The Office of the Attorney General has been investigating the company since March, and now says that evidence shows that DoorDash routinely kept the tips to reduce the amount they had to pay drivers in wages.  Congresswoman Val Demings introduces bipartisan digital evidence bill  Florida Congresswoman Val Demings, a Democrat, has introduced new bipartisan legislation to improve law enforcement’s access to digital evidence from tech companies. The bill would create a new Office of Digital Law Enforcement within the Department of Justice to train law enforcement on how to handle digital evidence. It would also create a Center for Excellence for Digital Forensics to centralize tech expertise and legal assistance within the same building. The bill would also set up infrastructure for the DOJ to issue digital evidence program grants, as well as a Technology Policy Advisory Board to advise the Attorney General on digital evidence best practices.  Brooklyn landlord nixes facial recognition plan  A Brooklyn landlord has cancelled plans to install facial recognition technology after resistance from tenants and advocacy groups. Robert Nelson, President of Nelson Management Group, owns the 700-unit Atlantic Plaza Towers building in Brownsville where most tenants are black. Tenants and their supporters are now pushing for statewide legislation that would outlaw facial recognition technology throughout the Empire State.  Democrats call out Oracle on Diversity  Democratic lawmakers who are members of the House Tech Accountability Caucus, the Tri-Caucus, and the Congressional Black Caucus’ Diversity Task force called out Oracle for its lack of diversity in a letter to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. The letter notes that Oracle has 0% board diversity, saying it is unacceptable given Oracle’s attempts to earn business from firms that serve people of color. 

 

Bio Tyler McIntyre (@tmcpro) is the founder & CTO of Novo, a small business challenger bank in the United States that is building technology to help small and medium-sized businesses better understand where and how they are spending their money. Tyler has a strong technology background and understanding of business through his previous startups. He has also consulted for Fortune 500 companies. Tyler has been working with building artificially intelligent assistants since 2011. He has a Bachelors in Management from the University of Miami and a Certificate in Business Management from the University of Pennsylvania. His company is based in Manhattan’s Flatiron district. Resources Novo Bank News Roundup  Microsoft steps up fight to save DACA Microsoft is stepping up its fight to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on behalf of its 66 DACA employees, referred to as “Dreamers”. The Obama-era program grants relief to the children of undocumented migrants who have spent their entire childhood in the United States. Applicants to the program do need to meet several requirements in order to qualify for DACA. For example, they can’t have any felony convictions or more than 3 misdemeanors. They also have to have earned a high school diploma or GED. If they qualify, Dreamers get renewable, 2-year deferrals from being deported and can ultimately become eligible to obtain a work permit. President Trump has said he would end the program. So many, including Microsoft, have been pushing Congress to pass legislation to protect Dreamers, since the program was established under the Obama administration through an executive memo. The courts, including the Supreme Court which prevented its expansion, have held that the program is likely unconstitutional without action from Congress. Big Tech invests billions to fund public housing efforts in California Big tech companies are investing billions to address California’s public housing shortage. It started with Apple announcing a $2.5 billion investment, followed by pledges from Google and Facebook who pledged to contribute $1 billion apiece. But local California officials have said that the investment will not be enough to address decades of rapid employment growth in the tech sector. This growth has pushed some 28,000 people out of their homes, according to the Hill. Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders also criticized the program, calling for tax hikes, saying that its disingenuous for tech company tax evaders, who he says created the problem, to attempt to distract from it with investments that won’t be enough. Social media companies reconsider microtargeting in political ads Facebook, Google and Twitter are reconsidering allowing politicians to microtarget their ads based on user location and other factors. Twitter, for one, has banned all political advertising. Google is reportedly reconsidering its political ad policy with an announcement expected this week. These developments come amid criticism from Mozilla as well as an International Committee composed of lawmakers from Australia, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Singapore, the UK and the United States, who have objected to microtargeting practices across social media.   Facebook, YouTube pledge not to name whistleblower Facebook and YouTube have said that they will remove content revealing the name of the potential whistleblower who disclosed President Donald Trump’s alleged attempt to require Ukraine to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden in exchange for aid. The whistleblower’s complaint is at the heart of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry into the president.= Twitter however, will continue to allow users to post the name of the whistleblower, but will remove personally identifiable information such as his or her phone number and address.   Study: misinformation on Facebook is up ahead of 2020 election Avaaz, a global advocacy organization that tracks misinformation online, issued a study of the most viral fake political news stories in 2019. It found the stories generated nearly 160 million views, compared to 140 million views of fake news stories posted during the 2016 election. Some 62 percent of the fake stories were anti-Democrat.   NY Times: NYPD staffers took kickbacks from health clinics, doctors, and lawyers in exchange for car accident victim data The New York Times reports that staffers of the New York City Police Department took kickbacks from health clinics, doctors, lawyers, and a fraud insurance ring in Queens, in exchange for data from car accident victims. Prosecutors have charged 27 individuals for their alleged involvement. Fifty-one year-old Anthony Rose allegedly directed the scheme in which 911 call operators sent car accident victims in low-income areas in New York City to fake call centers that directed them to partnering accident victim service providers. In exchange, the call centers allegedly paid kickbacks to Rose, a portion of which he then distributed to co-conspirators who worked for the NYPD.   Sole anti-net neutrality Democratic Senator tied to Comcast The American Prospect reports that it has tied Kyrsten Sinema, the only Democrat in the Senate who opposes the pro-net neutrality Save the Internet Act, to a Super PAC that’s funded by telecom lobbyists. The report states that Sinema directed contributions to the Super PAC that ultimately funded her own campaign.   Instagram to hide ‘likes’ beginning this week Finally, beginning this week, Instagram is expected to hide the number of ‘likes’ users generate from their posts. Users will reportedly continue to be able to see likes on their own posts, but not the likes of others’. But the new policy will only affect some of Instagram’s users. The Hill reports that YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are also considering hiding likes.

  The Common Law History of Section 230 with Brent Skorup (Ep. 208)   Bio Brent Skorup (@bskorup) is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. His research areas include transportation technology, telecommunications, aviation, and wireless policy. He serves on the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee and on the Texas DOT’s Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Task Force. He is also a member of the Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project. The White House, the FCC, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and a dissenting opinion at the Illinois Supreme Court have cited his research. In addition to economics and law journal publication, he has authored pieces for National Affairs, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Wired, Air Traffic Management magazine, Regulation magazine, and elsewhere. He’s appeared as a TV and radio interview guest for news outlets like C-SPAN, NPR, CBS News, ABC News, and CNBC Asia. Brent has a BA in economics from Wheaton College and a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law, where he was articles editor for the Civil Rights Law Journal. He was a legal clerk at the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and at the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before joining Mercatus, he was the Director of Research at the Information Economy Project, a law and economics university research center. Resources   Mercatus Center   The Erosion of Publisher Liability in American Law by Brent Skorup and Jennifer Huddleston (Mercatus Center, 2019)   News Roundup   Zuckerberg, Facebook under mounting pressure over political ads   Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to meet with civil rights leaders this week after his company has maintained its policy to leave up political ads containing false statements by politicians. The company has applied the policy unevenly, first allowing Donald Trump to maliciously post an ad with false information about Joe Biden; then leaving up an Elizabeth Warren ad containing false information designed to illustrate the absurdity of Facebook’s ad policy.  During a hearing, Zuckerberg also admitted to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that if she were to place a false political ad, that the company would probably leave it up.    But Facebook is inexplicably removing false ads placed by Political  Action Committees. One notable example is an ad placed the Really Online Lefty League – ROLL – a Political Action Committee co-founded by Adriel Hampton – which falsely claimed that Lindsey Graham supports the New Green Deal. Hampton, an experienced marketing and political strategist, responded by filing to run for governor of California. Then gubernatorial candidate Hampton posted a false political ad and Facebook took it down, saying his campaign wasn’t legit—that it was just a ploy to place a false ad to see what Facebook would do. Even though Hampton says he fully expects to win the governorship, Facebook hasn’t reinstated the ad.   It’s a mess.   Top officials from the NAACP, National Urban League, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights are scheduled to meet with Zuckerberg this week to express their concerns with Facebook’s political ad policy, which the company now says has been extended to the UK.   Facebook sued for age, gender bias in financial services ads   A plaintiff in San Francisco filed a potential class action federal lawsuit last week claiming that Facebook discriminates against users based on age and gender in determining who can see financial services ads.  The lawsuit comes 7-months after Facebook agreed to tailor its platform to avoid discrimination on the basis of age, gender and zip code for job, credit, and housing ads.   US launches Tik Tok investigation   The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has launched a national security investigation into Tik Tok, which is owned by the Chinese firm Bytedance. A bipartisan cohort of lawmakers including Democrat Chuck Schumer, Republican Marco Rubio, and Tennessee Democratic Congressman Bart Gordon have all expressed concern about how the Chinese government uses TikTok’s data. TikTok’s growth has been outpacing the growth of incumbent social media companies in the U.S.     Snowden: Facebook as untrustworthy as the NSA   Whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is exiled in Russia for blowing the lid off the National Security Agency’s mass data collection practices six years ago, told ReCode’s Kara Swisher last week that Facebook is as untrustworthy as the NSA when it comes to privacy. But he didn’t limit his remarks to Facebook. He said that all tech companies are looking to exploit our personal data no matter the consequences. He also said that, on the surface, users may appear not to be concerned about how big tech companies handle their data but that, in reality, users are very concerned but feel powerless.   Five people shot and killed at Airbnb rental   Five people were shot and killed at an Airbnb rental Northern California during a Halloween party on Thursday. The rental listing on Airbnb prohibited parties and the renter claimed it was renting the space for family members who were suffering from smoke inhalation from the fires in the Los Angeles area. A witness reported to Buzzfeed that the shooting occurred with apparently no provocation. Airbnb has banned the renter from the platform.   China launches 5G network   Chinese officials announced last week that it would roll out 5G to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou 2 months ahead of schedule. The country also announced plans to roll out 5G to over 50 cities by the end of this year. While U.S. telecom companies have begun their 5G roll-out, it’s largely been rolled out on higher frequency bands than the 5G service that’s being rolled out in China. The lower frequency bands that China’s using cover a larger surface area, while the higher frequency bands U.S. companies are using are more powerful but cover less ground.   Corey Booker introduces bill to ban facial recognition in public housing   Senator Corey Booker has introduced a bill to ban facial recognition in public housing. The Senator cites the disproportionate impact that facial recognition technology threatens to have on the nation’s most vulnerable communities. The No Biometric Barriers to Housing Act targets public housing that receives funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.   Apple pledges $2.5 billion for California affordable housing   Apple announced that it will invest $2.5 billion to address California’s affordable housing shortage. Some of those funds will be applied statewide. Others will be allocated for projects in the Bay Area. Three hundred million dollars will go towards affordable housing on Apple-owned property.   Following Katie Hill’s resignation, Democrats push for revenge porn law   Thirty-five democrats in Congress sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee to pass a federal revenge porn law that would criminalize the nonconsensual posting of sexually explicit images online. The letter followed Congresswoman Katie Hill’s resignation from Congress after someone posted nude images depicting her and others as well as accusations that she was having inappropriate relations with campaign and congressional staffers. Hill blames her husband, whom she is in the process of divorcing, for posting the photos.     MIT president acknowledges discrimination against minorities and women on campus   Finally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Rafael Reif acknowledged last week that women and people of color often face exclusion and belittlement on campus and that it’s something the university is trying to improve. The development follows revelations of Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to the university.

      Bio   Elisa Shearer (@elisashearer) is a Research Associate at the Pew Research Center. She earned her Masters in Communications,  Culture, and Technology from Georgetown and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Houghton College, from which she graduated Magna Cum Laude.   Resources Americans are Wary of the Role Social Media Sites Play in Delivering the News by Elisa Shearer and Elizabeth Grieco (Pew, 2019) Pew Research Journalism (Twitter)  News Roundup Facebook’s Menlo Park Police  Motherboard reports on Facebook’s comfortable relationship with the Menlo Park Police Department. Apparently, Facebook is paying the City of Menlo Park some $2 million per year – a large some for a small city – to have a dedicated police force for Facebook’s campus. One of the things the Facebook unit does is monitor for thefts of bikes the company sets out for its employees. The employees aren’t permitted to leave the bikes outside of Facebook’s campus, but they often do it anyway. Sometimes citizens in the neighboring community, East Palo Alto, use the bikes. The majority of citizens on East Palo Alto are black or Latinx. One of the people the cops picked up for using one of the bikes was Latinx. But it turns out the employee was a Facebook contractor.  So citizens and advocates have called out the police and Facebook for working together on racial profiling. It’s a long read, but you can find the full report in the show notes. AOC Blasts Facebook for Political Ad Policy Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted Facebook on Twitter on Saturday, calling the company’s political behavior “increasingly disturbing”. Connecting the dots, the Congresswoman noted that Zuckerberg claimed he didn’t know when Facebook discovered the Cambridge Analytica scandal, that Zuckerberg met with Trump, and the far right thenm started allowing disinformation ads, and that Zuckerberg didn’t tell the whole truth about fact checkers. She says that Facebook acts like they’re just an innocent bystander but that Facebook’s decisions have become more and more disturbing. According to the New York Times, Hundreds of Facebook employees wrote an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg urging him to hold ads placed by politicians to the same high accuracy standard as those placed by any advertiser.   House passes third election security bill The House has passed a third election security bill designed to prevent foreign interference in the 2020 election. The bill passed 221-181 mostly along party lines. The act is dubbed the SHIELD act and it targets paid online political ads. Republicans raised First Amendment concerns about the bill, and the American Civil Liberties Union said that it sweeps to broadly.   Facebook announces Russian efforts to remain undetected According to Reuters, Russian operatives attempting to interfere with the platform ahead of the 2020 election are trying to remain invisible by sacrificing followers. Facebook is specifically flagging accounts that grow very quickly.   Google employees claim company is developing a tool to stop organizers Google employees are claiming that the company is creating a tool to monitor calendar invites to try and prevent staffers from organizing. The tool would apparently flag employees that create events with more than 10 rooms or 100 people. Google denies that the tool is designed to thwart organizing efforts.   Pentagon awards $10 billion contrat to Microsoft The Pentagon awarded its 10 year, $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft, closing it off from Amazon, which was expected to win the deal, as it was considered by many analysts to have the best capabilities. But Microsoft too has the highest military security rating possible. A former speechwriter for former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that President Trump wanted to “screw over” Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos,  who also owns the Washington Post—one of the news outlets the president thinks is biased against him. But the Pentagon states that its awarding of the contract to Microsoft is in line with an overall multi-platform strategy, that can’t be handled by a single vendor.   Google announces quantum computing milestone   Google announced a quantum computing milestone last week, saying that it had developed a microprocessor that took minutes to perform a calculation that would have taken the world’s best super computer thousands of years.    

Bio Andrew Free (@ImmCivilRights) is an abolitionist lawyer fighting alongside immigrant communities in the Deep South and across the country to defend deportations and advance civil rights. Resources Law Office of R. Andrew Free   A Good Provider is One Who Leaves by Jason DeParle   Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Resource on Maryland v. King   HEADLINES:   News Roundup   Mark Zuckerberg defends decision to allow misinformation by politicians   Zuckerberg delivered remarks on Thursday at Georgetown defending his company’s policy to leave up false political ads. But his speech was roundly criticized.   Both Democrats and civil rights organizations blasted Zuckerberg for deliberately refusing to fact-check ads placed by politicians. Leadership Conference for Civil Rights President Vanita Gupta, NAACP Legal Defense Fund head Sherrilyn Ifill, and Bernice King—the daughter of slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr.—all pointed to the historical role that disinformation has played in suppressing the voices of and inciting hatred against people of color.   Elizabeth Warren also escalated her attacks against Zuckerberg, challenging Facebook to remove an ad that her campaign posted. In order to illustrate the absurdity of Facebook’s policy to leave up false ads placed by politicians, Warren’s ad contained a deliberately false claim that Zuckerberg had endorsed Donald Trump for president. Facebook responded that it would prioritize free speech over facts and that it wouldn’t step in to police false claims made by politicians.   Joe Biden’s presidential campaign sent a letter to Facebook after a political action committee posted an ad that falsely claimed that Biden blackmailed the Ukrainian government to stop investigating his son, Hunter Biden, by threatening to withhold aid. Biden’s campaign says the ad wasn’t posted by a politician—it was posted by a PAC—and should’ve been taken down. The ad has since been removed.   On Monday, Facebook announced that it found and disabled misinformation campaigns apparently being conducted by Russia and Iran. The company also announced plans to label content posted by state actors.   Warren pledges to reject donations from big tech   In a blog post ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic debate, Elizabeth Warren also pledged to reject campaign funding from executives at Alphabet,  Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Lyft, and other big tech companies. Those executives would otherwise be allowed to donate up to $2,800.   Harris and Warren spar over Twitter   During the Democratic debate Tuesday night, Kamala Harris went after Elizabeth Warren for the latter’s refusal to support Harris’ call for Twitter to disable Trump’s Twitter account. Warren responded that her goal is to get Trump out of the White House not off Twitter. Twitter has said that it would not disable Trump’s account unless he specifically violates the social media company’s rules against threatening individuals, promoting terrorism or self-harm, or posting private information like a phone number.     Bernie Sanders wants to break up big media   Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, is taking a slightly different tack. The presidential candidate released a plan to dismantle the mergers of large media companies that have been approved during the Trump era. Sanders specifically mentioned Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox as an example of corporate greed that he would seek to tamp down as president.     Facebook loses support from major Libra allies   Facebook has lost the support of major banks it relied on to make its cryptocurrency, Libra, a reality. Mastercard, Visa, Ebay, Stripe and Latin American payments company Mercado Pago all pulled out of the partnership with the so-called Libra Association, citing regulatory concerns and a number of other factors. The companies joined PayPal, which left the association the week before last. Lyft and Vodafone are still in, according to Reuters.   FCC approves Sprint T-Mobile merger   The Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines to approve the Sprint-T-Mobile merger last week, with Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks opposing based on pricing concerns, including the lack of a resolution regarding the broadband subsidy program known as Lifeline. The deal got the DOJ’s stamp of approval in July. But the merger still faces a multistate lawsuit from ten states seeking to block the merger.   AT&T ‘s keeps hiking prices   AT&T has continued to hike prices by as much as 50%, according to Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica. The company’s new “TV Now” package is rising by $15 per month, from $50 to $65. The company is also raising prices on its “Live a Little” plan from $50 to $60 in November. This is the second time the company has raised prices for this plan. In April, it hiked it from $40 to $50—that’s a $20 monthly increase over the span of just 7 months.

Bio     Ora Tanner (@odtanner) is Assistant Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research at the University of South Florida (USF). She previously worked as a nuclear physicist, science educator, and more recently as a graduate researcher on NSF-funded grant projects related to digital game-based learning and assessment. Ora earned her B.S. and M.S. in physics from Dillard University of New Orleans and USF, respectively, and expects to complete her doctorate in Instructional Technology and Educational Measurement in 2019. She studies the latest emerging technologies and explores how they can be used to empower both K-12 students and teachers in science education.  Resources  Aspen Tech Policy Hub – Florida Schools Project   Right to Petition: A Practical Guide to Creating Change in Government with Political Advocacy Tools and Tips by Nicole Tisdale (Advocacy Blueprints Press, 2019) Email questions about the safety portal to: safeschools@fldoe.org  Submit public input here. News Roundup Elizabeth Warren Blasts Facebook for Enabling Trump   Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign targeted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week in a new social media ad. The ad facetiously alleges that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has endorsed Donald Trump for President. The assertion wasn’t true, of course, but that was the point: Warren says that endorsing Trump is essentially what Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg are doing by allowing politicians to post false ads on the platform.   In recent weeks, the social media giant has refused to remove false ads from politicians. As recently as Friday, Facebook declined to remove a Trump campaign ad questioning Presidential candidate Joe Biden’s alleged role in ousting a Ukrainian prosecutor, after the Democratic National Committee called for the ad to be removed. Facebook is uniformly refusing to take down false ads, claiming to prioritize freedom of expression over truth.   But Zuckerberg has also been defending himself for meeting with conservative groups, politicians, and pundits in private dinners and other gatherings. Zuckerberg’s terse response to those who criticized the meeting was, “Meeting new people and hearing from a wide range of viewpoints is part of learning … If you haven't tried it, I suggest you do!" Zuckerberg is set to return to Washington on October 23rd, to testify before the House Financial Services Committee, which is chaired by Maxine Waters.   Public demand for government intervention in online extremism clashes with civil liberties groups   According to a recent Morning Consult poll, some 58% of Americans want Congress to take a more active role in moderating online content. But the efforts of Democrats in Congress to push for legislation to curtail online extremism are getting resistance from civil liberties groups, including NYU’s Brennan Center.   The Hill reports that the Democrat-controlled House Homeland Security Committee is pushing for a bill that would create a bipartisan, 12-member commission with the power, not only to study online extremism, but also to subpoena certain communications. Civil liberties groups oppose any expansion of government surveillance, stating that such surveillance could have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities, such as communities of color.   Meanwhile, online extremists who used to post on 8chan until it was shut down, have now been migrating over to Telegram, according to a new Vice News investigation published last week finding that more than two thirds of the 150 extremist groups on Telegram were established in 2019. And extremist content on YouTube shows few signs of slowing. A violent YouTube video containing fictitious movie footage of a shooting surfaced over the weekend, after it was shown at a pro-Trump event hosted by the conservative group American Priority on a Trump golf course. In it, Trump’s image is superimposed on top of ashooter’s, and those of his political opponents, including Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and logos of major media companies, were superimposed on top of the faces of the victims in the movie, to make it appear as though the president was massacring his opponents inside a church. The president stated that he strongly condemns the video, but that he hasn’t seen it. On Friday, in an ostensible coincidence, Trump stated at a rally that there is an “unholy alliance of corrupt Democrat politicians, deep-state bureaucrats and the fake news media.”   California blocks facial recognition in police body cams   California governor Gavin Newsome signed a bill last week that prevents the police from using facial recognition in body cams. The bill remains in effect until January 1st, 2023. New Hampshire and Oregon have passed similar legislation.   Domino’s must make its website and app accessible to people with disabilities   Finally, In a case that carries significant implications for every online platform, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a lower court ruling that a blind customer can sue Domino’s pizza, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, for failing to make its website fully accessible. Fast Company reports though that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pushing back, saying that allowing customers to sue can open the floodgates of litigation and thereby harm small businesses.  

  Bio Data journalist Meredith Broussard (@merbroussard) is an associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University and the author of “Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World.”. Her academic research focuses on artificial intelligence in investigative reporting, with a particular interest in using data analysis for social good. She is also interested in reproducible research issues and is developing methods for preserving innovative digital journalism projects in scholarly archives so that we can read today’s news on tomorrow’s computers. She is an affiliate faculty member at the Moore Sloan Data Science Environment at the NYU Center for Data Science, a 2019 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow, and her work has been supported by the Institute of Museum & Library Services as well as the Tow Center at Columbia Journalism School. A former features editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, she has also worked as a software developer at AT&T Bell Labs and the MIT Media Lab. Her features and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Slate, and other outlets.  Resources Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World (MIT Press, 2018)   News Roundup New York Daily News: Google trained facial recognition on ‘dark skinned’ homeless people The New York Daily News reports that Google apparently sent out contractors to pay homeless people $5 gift cards to train facial recognition on ‘dark skinned’ homeless people. The revelation comes after several former Google temp workers came forward. Google has acknowledged the program, though, and said its primary goal is to have a diverse and inclusive data set. Better security is also a goal, said the Google spokesperson, because the company is seeking to protect as many people as possible. But the workers took issue with some of the specific tactics they were asked to employ via their staffing agency, Randstad, under the direction of Google.  DNC goes after Facebook for enabling Trump The CEO of the Democratic National Committee, Seema Nanda, went on CNN last week and accused Facebook of catering to Trump by allowing him to “mislead the American people”. The previous week, Facebook refused to remove posts and ads from politicians even if they violate Facebook’s community rules. Also, Scott Lucas of BuzzFeed wrote a piece on Facebook’s growing popularity among older and more conservative voters, and whether Facebook may in fact be Trump’s secret weapon against Democrats in the 2020 election. Sen. Kamala Harris calls on Twitter to suspend Trump In a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Senator Kamala Harris, who is running for president, called on Twitter to suspend Trump’s Twitter account, citing the president’s attempts to “target, harass, and attempt to out” the first Ukraine whistleblower. She also referred to the president’s tweet stating that there would be a Civil War-like fracture, if he’s impeached, saying it was an incitement to violence. The president also referred to the impeachment investigation as a “coup” to which Harris retweeted with a comment saying “Hey Jack … time to do something about this.” But Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom are also running for president, disagreed that Twitter should suspend the president’s Twitter account. The two lawmakers said that “we can’t just cancel or shutdown or silence those who we disagree with or who hold different views or who say things even that we strongly disagree with or abhor.” Court of Appeals upholds the FCC’s net neutrality repeal The DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC’s 2017 repeal of the 2015 net neutrality rules. The court sided with the FCC in saying that the internet isn’t a “telecommunications service”. But the court did say, however, that the FCC didn’t make a compelling argument that the FCC preempts state law, clearing the way for states to enact their own net neutrality rules, provided that they don’t undermine the repeal order. The court also said the FCC failed to properly consider the effect the rules would have on public safety, serving the underserved, and a wonky area of telecom law that deals with regulations around how ISPs should attach telecom equipment to existing telephone poles. DHS proposes rule to collect DNA evidence from detained migrants The Department of Homeland Security has proposed a rule that would allow the widespread collection of DNA from detained migrants. The Trump administration argues that the effort would aid the U.S. in identifying undocumented individuals. But policy experts cited in Roll Call are concerned that the program is just another way to target people of color.  Tim Cook urges Supreme Court to preserve DACA Tim Cook filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court urging the Court to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood (DACA) arrival program. If the Supreme Court rules against the program, hundreds of thousands of individuals who arrived in the U.S. as children, some of which work at Apple, could face deportation. Google can now recognize 9 “data-scarce” Indian languages Google researchers presented a model that recognizes speech in 9 “data scarce” Indian languages at Interspeech 2019 last week. The researches say the model allows for real-time speech recognition of all of the languages and does so better than other models. The languages include Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Gujarati. Rep. Maxine Waters and House Finance Committee press Zuckerberg to testify The House Financial Services Committee, for which California Representative Maxine Waters serves as chair, is demanding that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testify regarding its plan to introduce its Libra cryptocurrency. The company has planned to send COO Sheryl Sandberg, but the Committee indicated that sending Sandberg is insufficient. Waters has called for Zuckerberg to testify by January. Microsoft reports hacking attempts linked to Iran Microsoft reported a hacking attempt linked to Iran on 2,700 email accounts, of which 241 were successful. Some of the accounts included presidential candidates, according to the Hill, which also noted that an undisclosed source indicated that the Trump campaign was among the targets. The Trump campaign has said that it does not have any evidence of an attack. UPS gets FAA approval for a drone fleet The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved UPS’ plan to operate an unlimited fleet of drones nationwide. The drones are permitted to operate at night, but not yet in populated areas. UPS has not announced plans to train existing drivers to pilot the drones.

Bio Charlton McIlwain (@cmcilwain) is Vice Provost or Faculty Engagement and Development; Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University. His recent work focuses on the intersections of race, digital media, and racial justice activism. He recently wrote Racial Formation, Inequality & the Political Economy of Web Traffic, in the journal Information, Communication & Society, and he co-authored, with Deen Freelon and Meredith Clark, the recent report Beyond the Hashtags: Ferguson, #BlackLivesMatter, and the Online Struggle for Offline Justice, published by the Center for Media & Social Impact, and supported by the Spencer Foundation. Today, Tuesday October 1st, 2019, his new book entitled Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, From the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter, releases via Oxford University Press and available wherever you buy books. Resources McIlwain, Charlton. Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, from the AFRONET to Black Lives Matter (Oxford University Press, 2019) News Roundup EFF uncovers secret F.B.I. subpoenas for personal info from multiple companies The New York Times reports that the Electronic Frontier Foundation shared with it scores of documents uncovered in a Freedom of Information Act request that reveal the extent to which federal law enforcement officials issue subpoenas to companies in an effort to uncover personal data about individuals the Justice Department suspects of being a threat to National Security. The Justice Department has issued the so-called National Security Letters (NSLs) to companies as diverse as Equifax, Verizon, Google, and Microsoft seeking things like user names, IP addresses, locations, and records of purchases made by their customers. Elizabeth Warren proposes more tech expertise on the Hill Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing for more tech expertise on the Hill, saying that it would help resist tech companies’ growing lobbying influence in Washington. Warren says tech companies’ strategy has been to purport that they understand tech issues better than congressional staffers. So she’s advocating for the reestablishment of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), which Newt Gingrich dismantled in 1995. For about two decades, the OTA was tasked with helping to keep Congressional staffers abreast of tech issues. NAACP slams Comcast over Byron Allen lawsuit The NAACP slammed Comcast for asking the Supreme Court to curtail section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which outlaws discrimination in contracting. Comcast and Trump’s Department of Justice are asking the Supreme Court to water down the statute by requiring plaintiffs to prove that race was the only motivating factor for why a defendant didn’t award a contract, as opposed being one of several factors. Comcast is requesting the more conservative reading of the statute in the context of a $20 billion lawsuit Byron Allen brought against it and Charter for opting out of carrying Allen’s cable channels. The Department of Justice filed an amicus brief on Comcast’s behalf. Allen is arguing that race does not need to be the only motivating factor in a contract discrimination lawsuit and that Comcast and the Trump administration are conspiring to eviscerate this landmark civil rights law, which was passed in the wake of the Civil War—the first one. EEOC says companies’ Facebook ads discriminated against women and older workers The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that seven (7) companies including Capital One, Edward Jones, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Enterprise Holdings, Renewal by Andersen, Drive Time Auto, and Sandhills Publishing discriminated against women and older workers by targeting ads based on age and gender. The Commission found that while targeting based on ages an gender may be appropriate in some cases, it’s not appropriate for housing, real estate, financial services, and job opportunities. FTC sues Match The Federal Trade Commission is suing dating platform Match Group, owner of Match, Tinder, OKCupid, Hinge, PlentyofFish and other dating apps, for fraud, TechCrunch reports.  The lawsuit targets Match.com specifically saying the platform is overrun by bots and spammers that Match encourages and profits from. DoorDash hack exposes data of 4.9 million people Online delivery service DoorDash is one of the latest targets of a hack. This time, the hack exposed the data of 4.9 million people. Even though the hack happened in May, DoorDash didn’t discover it until September. GAO urges FCC to take measures to help Tribal areas access spectrum Finally, the Government Accountability Office wants the FCC to take more active measures to address a shortage of spectrum on Tribal lands. The report indicates that Tribal lands, especially those in rural areas, lag behind the rest of the country when it comes to broadband access. It says that wireless can help close the divide. GAO says the FCC needs to do more to assess the extent to which Tribal organizations participate in spectrum auctions and to which unused spectrum across tribal lands could be used to deliver broadband access.  

Bio   Jeffrey Cole has been at the forefront of media and communication technology issues both in the United States and internationally for the past three decades. An expert in the field of technology and emerging media, Cole serves as an adviser to governments and leading companies around the world as they craft digital strategies.   In July 2004 Dr. Cole joined the USC Annenberg School for Communication as Director of the newly formed Center for the Digital Future and as a Research Professor. Prior to joining USC, Dr. Cole was a longtime member of the UCLA faculty and served as Director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy, based in the Anderson Graduate School of Management. Cole founded and directs the World Internet Project, a long-term longitudinal look at the effects of computer and Internet technology, which is conducted in over 35 countries. At the announcement of the project in June 1999, Vice President Al Gore praised Cole as a “true visionary providing the public with information on how to understand the impact of media.”  Nineteen years into the project, the World Internet Project, through its unique data on Internet users around the world, is the leading, unrivaled international project examining the ways in which technology changes our lives.    Cole regularly presents trends and insights of the project to the White House, FCC, Congress, Department of Defense and heads of governments around the world. He has worked closely with the CEOs of GroupM, Ericsson, Telstra, Wesfarmers and others. On the advisory side, his long-term relationships have included Microsoft, Sony, Time Warner, AT&T, AARP, CBS, NBC, ABC, CPB, PBS, HP, Coca-Cola and many more as they learn to navigate the digital future. He also sits on Unilever’s (the world’s second largest advertiser) Global Digital Strategy Board.   In 2016 Cole was one of the founders of the Global Disruption Fund (GDF), a technology investment fund based in Australia (www.globaldisruptionfund.com.au). Cole is one of the members of the Investment Committee identifying innovative companies and those about to be disrupted, making investments based on his work. The Fund is now worth close to $1 billion and growing; it achieved a 40% return in its first year. Since 2017 he has written a popular and widely circulated column on disruption, media, technology and entertainment (www.digitalcenter.org/cole).   Under Cole’s leadership, the Center has conducted deep examinations of the entertainment, sports media, transportation and banking industries to identify where the next wave of disruption will occur. More than just identifying trends, the Center works closely with industry to create policies and make the concrete changes that will keep them competitive. That work includes all five (formerly six) motion picture studios, all four networks and now streaming companies, as well as sports networks, leagues, automotive companies and banks.   In the 1990s, Cole worked closely with the four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) dealing with television programming issues under an anti-trust waiver that allowed the networks to work together for the very first time. He issued annual reports to the television industry, Congress and the nation. Upon the release of the 1996 report, Cole held a joint press conference with President Bill Clinton, who referred to the Center for Communication Policy as “the premier educational institution setting trends in entertainment.” Nationwide there was unanimous praise for the quality of the reports and their contribution to the television content debate.    Cole has testified before Congress on television issues and has been a keynote speaker at more than 750 conferences on media and technology (many can be seen on YouTube). He has worked with the White House during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations on media and telecommunications issues. He regularly makes presentations across the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.   Cole was a member of the Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) from 1997 to 2001 and was the founding governor of the ATAS Interactive Media Peer Group. At UCLA, Cole taught over 35,000 students. In 1987 he received UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award.          Resources   USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future     News Roundup Election security funding bill gets McConnell’s support  Mitch McConnell, whom Democrats had started to call “Moscow Mitch”, backed a $250 million spending bill last week to help states beef up election security. McConnell had previously blocked two bills that would have boosted security and required paper ballots. Facebook suspends thousands of apps following audit Facebook has suspended tens of thousands of apps after an internal audit revealed that they could either have be a threat or didn’t respond to Facebook’s requests for information. Facebook says the move comes after a review of millions of apps following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The FTC fined Facebook $5 billion over the summer for privacy violations. Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in town meeting with members of Congress and President Trump at the White House, meetings which sources say were “constructive”.  Emmy’s awards feature little diversity Well, there’s not much else we can say about the 71st Emmy Awards other than the fact that this year’s awards offered shockingly little diversity. National Urban League CEO Marc Morial and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel penned a joint Op-Ed in the Hill released prior to the awards discussing this year’s lack of nominees of color.  For example, not one woman of color was nominated for lead actress in a comedy. This year, just 26 nominees were people of color, compared to 38 last year. Just three people of color ended up winning—RuPaul Charles won for hosting RuPaul’s Drag Race, Jharrel Jerome won for When they See Us, and Bill Porter won for Pose.  When are we gonna stop begging these people to include us, fam? Seriously. FCC Open Meeting Agenda The FCC released its open meeting agenda. The meeting will take place at 10:30 at the FCC. A proposal for $950 million in funding for Puerto Rico’s communications infrastructure is first on the agenda. New York Times ends Spanish language coverage The New York Times is ending Spanish language coverage. “While the Español site did attract a new audience for our journalism and consistently produced coverage we are very proud of,” the Times said in a statement, “it did not prove financially successful”. New York Times in Español launched in response to President Trump’s hate speech against Mexicans. NBC/Universal has launched a new streaming service NBC/Universal has launched a new streaming service dubbed Peacock, which is slated for launch in April. NBC/Universal will join the long list of new Netflix streaming competitors including the likes of Disney, Apple, and HBO Max.

  Bio   CJ Johnson is an award-winning creative entrepreneur, speaker and internet personality. First known as the go-to “branding guru” supporting hundreds of startups and Fortune 500 companies worldwide with his impactful creative strategies to cultivating hundreds of thousands of social media followers as an influential millennial voice in the fight against social media depression. Currently based in Los Angeles and New York, CJ is best known for his work in next-generation marketing that includes: creative strategies, the future of work, diversity and inclusion, and influencer marketing. He was first introduced to the world of business and marketing early in his career but it soared to new heights during the explosion of the startup movement and as the YouTube generation reshaped the industries of the world. Using his professional creative skills, he broke down racial barriers and became a strong voice in the Silicon Beach movement. After successful ventures overseeing marketing/publicity for several on-demand mobiles apps and startups, he went on to pursue his entrepreneurial passion by creating the digital agency, Januel+Johnson. After a couple of successful years with the agency, CJ and his partner decided to part ways to pursue their own personal passions. CJ has helped a total of over 128+ Startups, Entrepreneurs, and Fortune 500 companies worldwide find success with effective growth strategies. He now focuses on his primary mission of supporting and inspiring YOU to chase after YOUR dreams.   Resources   cjjohnsonjr.com   News Roundup   Twitter takes down violent tweet from Texas state lawmaker   Twitter took down the tweet of a Texas state lawmaker for violating Twitter’s policy against promoting violence. The Republican legislator, Briscoe Cain, wrote that his “AR is ready for you” after presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke tweeted “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15s”. O’Rourke called Cain’s tweet a death threat.   Intercept: NRA increased Facebook ad spending after El Paso, Dayton shootings   The Intercept reported that the National Rifle Association increased its spending on Facebook ads following last month’s shootings in El Paso and Dayton, in which 32 total people were killed. The Intercept reported that the NRA’s Facebook spending reached a high point of $29,000 on August 18th, with $360,000 spent on ads in the month following the attacks. Compared to just $9,400 during the month prior.   Hundreds arrested in global wire scam   The DOJ announced the arrest of 281 individuals worldwide who were allegedly co-conspirators in a pervasive wire scam targeting banks and their customers. The Hill reports that the scammers target bank employees with access to financial information, whom they then persuade to transfer funds to a fraudulent account. More than half the arrests were made in Nigeria but law enforcement officials also made arrests in the UK, Turkey, Japan and several other countries. The DOJ conducted the operation—dubbed Operation ReWired—along with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Treasury.   Facebook announces efforts to prevent triggering self-harm   Facebook announced its efforts to prevent self-harm as part of its participation in World Suicide Prevention Day last Tuesday. The company said it’ll be hiring a health and well-being expert, as well as seek to explore ways to share relevant data with the public that could be used to prevent self harm. Also, Facebook will no longer allow triggering content, such as images of self-harm or cutting.   Facebook penalizes Netanyahu’s Facebook page for hate speech   Finally, Facebook suspended a chatbot on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Facebook page. The chat bot promised site visitors that Netanyahu would pursue a right wing agenda against quote “Arabs who want to destroy us all”. Facebook suspended the bot for 24 hours and promised to take additional action if they detect any further violations.

  Bio   Malcom Glenn (@malcomglenn) is a writer, speaker, and public policy and communications specialist.   Malcom is currently the Head of Global Policy for Accessibility and Underserved Communities at Uber Technologies in Washington, DC, where he leads Uber's worldwide efforts to make the current and future platform more accessible for historically marginalized groups, spearheading the company's work to improve outcomes for people with disabilities, low-income families, communities of color, rural residents, seniors, and returning citizens, among many other groups facing barriers to transportation or work.   Malcom is a member of the board of directors for BUILD Metro DC, an organization that helps high school students from low-income backgrounds learn entrepreneurship skills, graduate from high school, and attend college. He's also on the board of directors for the World Institute on Disability, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that works to fully integrate people with disabilities into their communities. Malcom is a former fellow for the Transatlantic Digital Debates program, a joint venture of New America and the Global Public Policy Institute that's focused on building more long-term transatlantic cooperation in the digital age, particularly between Germany and the United States.   Malcom is a former executive communications manager at Google in Mountain View, CA, where he developed strategic communications for two of Google’s Chief Financial Officers, the head of the company's Access and Energy practice, as well as their respective leadership teams.    Before joining Google, Malcom was the director of communications at the American Federation for Children, a leading national education advocacy organization focused on expanding educational options for children from low-income communities.   Malcom previously worked on issue campaigns at the Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, where he helped organizations hone their messages.   A native of Denver, CO, Malcom graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in history, where he was the president of The Harvard Crimson, the nation's oldest continuously published daily college newspaper.     Resources   Uber - Community   Uber - Accessibility   Malcom Glenn     HEADLINES: Google and Facebook come under intense scrutiny as attorneys general throughout the country and the DOJ open investigations , Paypal suspends an account linked to the KKK and can Uber solve transportation inquality? Malcom Glenn is my guest for this, episode 200   News Roundup   50 Attorneys General launch Google investigation   The Attorneys General from 50 states and territories launched an antitrust investigation into Google Monday. Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are represented among those that filed lawsuits. California and Alabama abstained.   Attorneys General coalition announces Facebook investigation   Another coalition of attorneys general from eight (8) states announced an investigation into Facebook on Friday. The coalition, led by New York State AG Letitia James, will investigate Facebook’s dominance in social media.    DOJ requests documents from Google   In addition, the Department of Justice made a document request from Google and its parent company Alphabet on Friday. Alphabet says the document request is for documents released during a prior antitrust investigation.   PayPal suspends account linked to KKK   PayPal suspended the account of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for six days. PayPal had pledged to suspend accounts seeking to raise money for hate groups. And the Loyal White Knights profile linked to a landing page requesting donations. Now the link points to a page that’s no longer accepting donations, the Hill reports.   Flagstaff schools close following breach   Public schools in Flagstaff, Arizona shut down last week following a ransomware attack. In an effort to find the bug and prevent a re-infection, schools closed Friday as the school district investigated all of the computers issued to teachers and staff. Schools re-opened on Monday morning.   14 women sue Lyft alleging that they were attacked by drivers who turned out to be sexual predators   Fourteen anonymous women sued Lyft in San Francisco claiming that they were attacked or kidnapped by Lyft drivers. The lawsuit alleges that Lyft mishandled the investigation of the drivers, keeping them on despite the reports. Five of the women, including one woman who is blind, claimed they were raped.   8chan founder testifies in House hearing   Jim Watkins, the founder of 8chan-the message board on which alleged mass shooters posted manifestos before their rampages, gave a deposition to the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday. In his prepared testimony, Watkins wrote “"My company has no intention of deleting constitutionally protected hate speech”. The statement came the same day a federal court in the Northern District of California ruled that a man was barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act from suing Facebook for treating his alleged hate speech more strictly than similar content posted by white users.

Examining "Social Media Bias" with Jen Schradie Jen Schradie joined Joe Miller on the WashingTECH Tech Policy Podcast to discuss her work challenging the alleged "social media bias" that has been claimed by conservatives. Bio Jen Schradie is an Assistant Professor at the Observatoire sociologique du changement (OSC) at Sciences Po in Paris. Previously, she was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, based at the Toulouse School of Economics, as well as at the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société, Université de Toulouse. She received her PhD from the Department of Sociology at the University of California-Berkeley with a designated emphasis in New Media from the Berkeley Center for New Media. She also has a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School. Her broad research agenda is to interrogate digital democracy claims with empirical data. Despite recent panic about digital threats to democracy, many theorists have still suggested that the Internet can enable a more participatory, pluralist society, but her research challenges these claims, spanning three areas: the digital divide, digital activism, and digital labor. Schradie has found that inequalities, ideologies, and institutions shape participation in our new information society. Released in May of 2019 by Harvard University Press, The Revolution That Wasn’t: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives, traces what she calls the Digital Activism Gap. Rather than early utopian claims of Facebook and Twitter Revolutions or more recent dystopian ones of Russian bots, state-sponsored hacking, or fake news farms, she reveals a more insidious problem. Instead of the internet spawning democracy or then taking it away, it does not have a life of its own. A Digital Activism Gap is driven by social class inequalities, organizational hierarchies, and reformist conservatism. The prototype of the radical left digital protester did not fit the mold of the 34 groups she studied in North Carolina. Digital activists were much more likely to be Tea Party members than student anarchists. These findings challenge the view of the internet as a pluralist space for social movements. This research, funded by the National Science Foundation, has also generated three journal articles in The International Journal of Communication, Social Problems and Social Media + Society. She has published four articles on what she coined as “digital production inequality.” After articles on this topic were published in Poetics and Information, Communication and Society, the publicity she garnered from these publications earned her the 2012 Public Sociology Alumni Prize at UC Berkeley. Currently, she is examining egalitarian claims of tech start-up entrepreneurs in a comparative research project between France and the United States. Her current projects are on the digital economy – a comparative study between France and the United States and the role of the state in mediating risk with start-ups, with a focus on gender and class inequality. She is also working on a European Commission funded project with partners in the UK and Italy to analyze online hate speech against Muslims. Before entering academia, Schradie directed six documentary films, including, “The Golf War – a story of land, golf and revolution in the Philippines.” Most of her films, however, focused on social movements confronting corporate power in the American rural South. Schradie’s documentaries have screened at more than 25 film festivals and 100 universities. She is also a beginning banjo player and an occasional yoga teacher. Resources The Revolution that Wasn't: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives by Jen Schradie (Harvard University Press, 2019) News Roundup AOC says it’s OK to block Twitter users New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says that public officials should be able to block certain Twitter users for harassment. Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that she blocks only a tiny percentage of users. She also tweeted that users are free to speak their minds, even if others find that speech offensive, but that no one should have to require themselves to be subjected to harassing or abusive speech. Interestingly, a federal appeals court found that the president, because he uses Twitter in his official capacity, can’t constitutionally block users.   FCC activates disaster reporting for Dorian The Federal Communications Commission activated disaster reporting for Hurricane Dorian as the hurricane moved up the east coast over the weekend. The FCC wants communications providers in affected areas to provide updates on outages via The Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) at https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/. Tariffs on China begin to take effect The tariffs that Trump promised to impose on China as part of his trade war against the country went into effect on Sunday. The tariffs will affect some $110 billion worth of Chinese imports across a broad range of goods. Another tranche of tariffs on $160 billion worth of Chinese goods like laptop computers and other consumer devices is set to take effect on December 15th. Google announces hacking attempt Google publicly announced a hacking attempt that it found and reported to Apple back in February that targeted iPhones. The company said that going to certain websites using your iPhone gave hackers access to your data by installing malware that would run in the background without your knowledge. Hackers were then able to do things like copy your photos or even access encrypted messages sent via apps like Facebook Messenger or Telegraph. Google representative Ian Beer advised consumers to continue to be wary of the possibility of being hacked, even on devices with robust security features. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account hacked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter accounted was hacked last week. The hackers commenced to tweet racial slurs and other offensive messages until the posts were deleted within the hour, the Hill reports. Twitter says the hackers gained access to the account due to a security oversight by the wireless carrier that exposed Dorsey’s phone number. Report: Google to pay up to $200 million to FTC Politico reported Friday that Google will have to pay up to $200 million to settle allegations that YouTube violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits companies from collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent.  Some were disappointed by the news, including Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, who said the penalty wouldn’t be high enough. Google contract workers vote to unionize A group of ninety or so contract workers at Google voted to unionize last week, challenging how the company treats them compared to their full-time employees with whom they, in many cases, work side-by-side. With the help of the United Steelworkers union, about 2/3rds of the data analysts and other white collar professionals voted to unionize. The petition now heads up to the National Labor Relations Board which may formally authorize a union vote. Fort Collins launches municipal broadband The city of Fort Collins, Colorado is launching its own municipal broadband network offering up to 1GB of broadband for $60/month. Right now, the service targets 20-30 households but the city’s looking to ramp up. Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica reported that the cable industry vigorously opposed the effort. But voters approved the build out anyway.

  Bio Christopher Lewis is President and CEO at Public Knowledge. Prior to being elevated to President and CEO, Chris served for as PK's Vice President from 2012 to 2019 where he led the organization's day-to-day advocacy and political strategy on Capitol Hill and at government agencies. During that time he also served as a local elected official, serving two terms on the Alexandria City Public School Board. Chris serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Local Self Reliance and represents Public Knowledge on the Board of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG).  Before joining Public Knowledge, Chris worked in the Federal Communications Commission Office of Legislative Affairs, including as its Deputy Director. He is a former U.S. Senate staffer for the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and has over 18 years of political organizing and advocacy experience, including serving as Virginia State Director at GenerationEngage, and working as the North Carolina Field Director for Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign and other roles throughout the campaign. Chris graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelors degree in Government and lives in Alexandria, VA where he continues to volunteer and advocate on local civic issues. Resources Public Knowledge  News Roundup Google Asks Employees to Avoid “Raging Discussions About Politics” Google updated its internal community guidelines for all employees last week in which the company urged workers to avoid “raging discussions about politics”. The key tenets of the new policy are to be responsible, helpful, and thoughtful. The policy change came in the wake of several instances in which Googlers called out the company publicly to protest Google’s alleged suppression of conservative voices and its controversial payout to Andy Rubin who was accused of sexual harassment, but left the company with a hefty severance package anyway. Steve Bannon Seeks to Help Trump with Anti-Huawei Film Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon announced in a press release last week that he would soon release a new film that’s critical of Huawei, the Chinese tech company the Trump administration has accused of collusion with the Chinese government to spy on and steal trade secrets from U.S. firms. “Run by a radical cadre of the Chinese Community Party,” the press release states, “China’s Communism today is the greatest existential threat the West has ever faced.” The Trump administration has banned Huawei from doing business with the federal government. Trump extended by 90 days a similar deadline for U.S. companies to stop doing business with Huawei. Bannon’s announcement comes as Trump has been under fire for undermining the U.S. economy via its trade war with China, signals from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that point to slowing job growth, and an investor exodus away from long-term treasury bonds. Bipartisan Lawmakers Applaud Tech for Taking Down Chinese Social Media Accounts Republican Representative John Ratcliffe and Democratic Representative Adam Schiff both praised and called attention to the threat of Chinese interference with the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Ratcliffe urged Google and Facebook to view China’s removal of content posted by pro-Democracy Hong Kong protesters as a trial run of what could happen in 2020 if China targets the U.S. Schiff applauded Twitter and Facebook for acting quickly to remove hundreds of accounts linked to the Chinese government that garnered over a hundred thousand followers. ICE Renews Contract with Palantir Immigration and Customs Enforcement has renewed its surveillance contract with Palantir-the software company founded by Peter Thiel, a vociferous tech sector conservative who also serves as an advisor to President Trump. Tech companies and immigration groups have blasted the administration for working with Palantir, which helps ICE track immigrants. The Hill values the contract at around $49 million.  American Psychological Association Study Finds Fake News Causes False Memories Finally, A new study by the American Psychological Association found that voters may form false memories from fake news stories, especially if the stories conform to their existing beliefs.  The research was performed in Ireland, but researchers expect that there would be similar results in the U.S.

Bio   Patrick van Kessel (@pvankessel) is a senior data scientist at Pew Research Center, specializing in computational social science research and methodology. He is the author of studies that have used natural language processing and machine learning to measure negative political discourse and news sharing behavior by members of Congress on social media, and is involved in the ongoing development of best practices for the application of data science methods across the Center. Van Kessel received his master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago, where he focused on open-ended survey research and text analytics. He holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining Pew Research Center, he worked at NORC at the University of Chicago as a data scientist and technical advisor on a variety of research projects related to health, criminal justice and education.    Resources   Pew Research Center   Many Turn to YouTube for Children’s Content, News, How-to Lessons  by Aaron Smith, Skye Toor, and Patrick van Kessel   News Roundup   Trump falsely claims that Google manipulated millions of votes   In a tweet Monday, President Trump cited a debunked study to claim that Google manipulated between 2.6 million and 16 million votes. Even the author of the study Trump cited, Robert Epstein, a psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, said the president’s claim was false. Here’s the president’s tweet: “Wow, Report Just Out! Google manipulated from 2.6 million to 16 million votes for Hillary Clinton in 2016 Election! This was put out by a Clinton supporter, not a Trump Supporter! Google should be sued. My victory was even bigger than thought!” Epstein says the report showed bias but not that Google manipulated votes. The report has been discredited many times since its release in 2017.   Beto O’Rourke wants to hold tech companies accountable for hate speech   Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke says he wants to hold tech companies accountable for hate speech, despite the fact that Section 230 shields tech companies from liability for content posted by third parties. The proposal is part of a sweeping gun reform proposal O’Rourke released and looks to connect the dots between online radicalization and real-world violence.   FCC considering making ‘988’ a national suicide prevention hotline   The Federal Communications Commission is considering designating the digits 988 as a national suicide prevention and mental health hotline. The proposal was laid out in a Joint Report to Congress last week by the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of Economics and analytics. It’s endorsed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.   LGBTQ+ content creators sue YouTube   A class of LGBTQ+ content creators is suing YouTube for allegedly discriminating against their content. The complaint states that YouTube concealed their content, limited their subscribers, and thwarted their ability to sell ads, according to The Hill. The case is filed in the Northern District of California, San Jose division. YouTube says their algorithms don’t demonetize or discriminate against content posted by the LGBTQ+ community.     Facebook, YouTube say China spreading misinformation about Hong Kong   Facebook and YouTube announced Monday that China has been using the platforms to spread misinformation about the uprising in Hong Kong. Twitter says it found 936 accounts originating from China that Twitter found were designed to spread discord in Hong Kong. Prompted by Twitter, Facebook found seven pages, three groups and five accounts spreading misinformation which collectively boasted some 15,000 users. Some 200,000 accounts were active in spreading misinformation, according to Facebook. Facebook said it’s striving to continually improve. Twitter suspended the accounts.   FCC to increase oversight of broadband subsidies   Finally, The FCC has a proposal on circulation that would increase oversight of the Lifeline program—the federal subsidy for broadband that offers users $9.25 per month to help defray the cost of broadband in low-income households—according to a report in The Hill. The FCC is zeroing in on “waste, fraud and abuse” it says pervades the program. An FCC Inspector General report found Lifeline subsidies were going to some 50,000 deceased individuals.

Bio Johanna Blakley, PhD, is the managing director at the Norman Lear Center. Based at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Blakley performs research on a wide variety of topics, including global entertainment, cultural diplomacy, entertainment education, celebrity culture, fashion, digital media and intellectual property law. She has two talks on TED.com: Social Media & the End of Gender and Lessons from Fashion’s Free Culture. She speaks frequently in the U.S. and abroad about her research and her work has been cited by Reuters, the New York Times, The Economist, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, Politico, Huffington Post, RAND, Forbes, Business Week, PR Week and GOOD. She has appeared on Good Morning America, MSNBC, Al Jazeera and Current TV, and on several radio programs, including On the Media, Planet Money, Marketplace and the TED Radio Hour. Blakley is co-Principal Investigator, with Marty Kaplan, on the Media Impact Project (MIP), a hub for collecting, developing and sharing approaches for measuring the impact of media, primarily funded by the Gates Foundation. MIP seeks to better understand the role that media plays in changing knowledge, attitudes and behavior among individuals and communities, large and small, around the world. MIP currently works with the US State Department on three cultural exchange programs: American Film Showcase, Global Media Makers and the Middle East Media Initiative. Much of her work addresses the intersection between entertainment and politics, including two nationwide polls on the relationship between political ideology and entertainment preferences, and she co-authored a report on the Primetime War on Drugs & Terror. With funding from the Pop Culture Collaborative, Blakley is currently analyzing the impact of narrative ingredients of scripted TV shows on viewers. Blakley is a regular contributor to the Lear Center Blog, and she has guided more than forty manuscripts through the publication process at the Lear Center, including Warners’ War: Propaganda, Politics & Pop Culture in Wartime Hollywood. She has also overseen two major research initiatives about the impact of intellectual property rights on innovation and creativity – Ready to Share: Fashion & the Ownership of Creativity and Artists, Technology & the Ownership of Creative Content. At USC, she co-directed a university-wide research initiative on Creativity & Collaboration in the Academy; she developed course materials on cultural diplomacy for the new Masters in Public Diplomacy program at Annenberg, and she taught masters courses on transmedia storytelling. She received a PhD in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she taught courses on popular culture and twentieth-century literature. Blakley has held a variety of positions within the high-tech industry, including Web producer and digital archivist at Vivendi-Universal Games. She is on the advisory board of Women@Paley at the Paley Center for Media and FEM inc., a technology venture. She has served as an advisor to the Aspen Institute, Active Voice, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities and TEDxUSC, the first TEDx event in the world. She’s on the editorial board of the International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology and she’s a founding member of the board of directors for Les Figues Press, a venue for literary experimentation. Resources Norman Lear Center Are You What You Watch?: Tracking the Political Divide Through TV Preferences News Roundup CBS & Viacom strike merger deal CBS and Viacom have struck a merger deal worth about $50 billion, according to CNBC. The companies have been negotiating a merger deal for three years, which often put CBS and Viacom Vice Chair Shari Redstone at odds with former CBS CEO Les Moonves, who has since left the company mired by sexual harassment and abuse claims. The Redstone family-controlled National Amusements owns both companies. The combined entity will include CBS, as well as Viacom brands MTV, BET, Showtime, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Paramount.  Whole Foods workers protest Amazon’s work with ICE Whole Worker, the anonymous group of Whole Foods workers seeking to unionize the Amazon subsidiary’s workforce, released a protest letter yesterday opposing Amazon’s work with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The letter specifically calls out Amazon’s cloud support for Palantir—the mysterious company partially-owned by Trump supporter Peter Thiel that helps ICE use artificial intelligence to carry out deportations.   Federal Appeals Court rules Facebook users can sue over facial recognition You know how Facebook figures out if it’s your face in the images you post? Well, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that a class of Facebook users can sue Facebook under California law for using the facial recognition technology behind that feature. California’s Biometric Information Act requires companies to obtain consent before using the biometric data of their users. The 2015 lawsuit could put Facebook on the hook for billions of dollars.   Senator Marsha Blackburn calls out Huawei  U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, who’s a member of the Senate’s Technology, Innovation, and the Internet subcommittee called out Huawei for allegedly implanting spyware on devices. Blackburn said the China-based company is part of China’s military industrial complex designed to spy on the United States and other countries. Huawei is still on the Commerce department’s blacklist. But last month President Trump said that he would allow U.S. companies to sell equipment to Huawei.   Democrats blast McConnell at DEFCON hacker conference Senator Ron Wyden and California Representative Ted Lieu blasted Mitch McConnell at the main worldwide hacker conference, DEFCON, last week, for McConnell’s opposition to election security. McConnell has blocked legislation to strengthen election security—stating that federal legislation to defend election systems interferes with states rights.

Bio   Francella Ochillo (@franochillo) is the Executive Director of Next Century Cities. Previously, Francella was the Vice President of Policy and General Counsel for the National Hispanic Media Coalition. Francella is a digital rights advocate who is committed to expanding access for unserved and underserved communities. Francella has worked on a variety of technology and telecommunications issues with a specific focus on assessing the impact of policy proposals on marginalized communities. Having worked for more than a decade with government and public interest organizations, she understands the challenges associated with getting various stakeholders to agree on connectivity solutions. Francella helps policymakers and lawmakers understand how broadband access can change socioeconomic outcomes and revitalize communities. It motivates her work to ensure that state and local leaders are given every opportunity to resolve their own connectivity issues and have a voice in shaping federal policies.  Francella is based in Washington, DC and is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. She earned a B.S. in Marketing from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland and a J.D. from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois.   Resources   Next Century Cities     News Roundup   Mitch McConnell Blocks Election Security Bills The day after Robert Mueller gave testimony warning about election interference happening right at this very moment, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked two election security bills last week intended to bolster election integrity. One of the bills would have required paper ballots to be used and passed the House 225-184. Another bill—a Senate bill from Senator Richard Blumenthal—would have required candidates, campaign officials and their family members to report to the FBI any assistance they’ve been offered from foreign agents. Leader McConnell blocked consent on both bills saying they were partisan.   Senate Intelligence Committee Finds Russian Election Interference Extended to 2014 A Senate Intelligence Committee report found that Russians interfered in U.S. elections as far back as 2014. It also found Russian activities continued into 2017. The committee released the 67-page report the day after Robert Mueller’s testimony.   France Announces Tax on U.S. Tech Companies, Trump vows retaliation French President Emmanuel Macron signed into law a 3% digital services tax last week on U.S. tech companies that make at least $750 million Euros in revenue annually. President Trump said he intends to retaliate, that only the U.S. should tax American-based companies, and that American wine is better than French wine.   Tulsi Gabbard Sues Google for $50 million, Claims Censorship Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard sued Google last week claiming that the company censored her presidential campaign advertisements. The complaint alleges that by suspending Gabbard’s presidential campaign’s Google Ads account for several hours last month, that Google effectively censored her. Google says that they have an automated system that flags unusual activity. Gabbard is claiming $50 million in damages.   DOJ Approves the T-Mobile-Sprint Merger The Justice Department has approved the proposed, $26 billion T-Mobile-Sprint merger. However, a lawsuit brought by several state Attorneys General needs to be resolved before the merger takes effect. In exchange for the merger approval, the Hill reports that the Department of Justice is requiring T-Mobile to turn over subscribers and spectrum to Dish Network, which will become a facilities-based, carrier that will compete with the merged company.   Facebook Settles with SEC for $100 Million Finally, Facebook has settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $100 million. The Securities and Exchange Commission had claimed that Facebook misled investors for more than 2 years after the company became aware of the Cambridge Analytica breach in 2015. Facebook disclosed the breach in February of 2018.

  5G Broadband Beyond Faster Speeds with Lauren McCarty (Ep. 194) Nokia's Lauren McCarty joined Joe Miller to discuss the potential for 5G beyond faster speeds on Ep. 194 of the WashingTECH Tech Policy Podcast.   News Roundup    FaceApp Terms of Service Prompt Angst Among Lawmakers   FaceApp, a viral app created by Russian firm Wireless Lab sparked privacy concerns and angst among law makers last week. Faceapp allows users to upload selfies and lets users see what they’d look like if they swapped genders or what they’re likely to look like 50 years from now.   The app’s terms of service, though, which few of us actually reads, leaves it within Faceapp’s sole discretion to terminate your access to its services, even if losing access causes you loss or harm. The terms also reserve FaceApp’s right to store your pictures, even after you remove them, to “including and without limitation” comply with certain U.S. and foreign regulations, which could be those of any government in the world, including the Russian government.  The terms acknowledge that Faceapp uses an artificial intelligence algorithm that enables its ability to alter your photos.   Senator Chuck Schumer called for the FBI and FTC to investigate, saying in a letter to the agencies that the app could pose “national security and privacy risks for millions of U.S. citizens”.   Senate passes bill to criminalize voting systems hacking   Partially in response to the domestic hacking of election systems, and partially in response to Russia’s hacking of the 2016 presidential election that was alleged in the Mueller report, the Senate has passed a bill which would criminalize the hacking of voter machines to gain access to voter data. The Defending the Integrity of Voting Systems Act passed by unanimous consent on Wednesday night. Senators Whitehouse,  Blumenthal, and Graham introduced the legislation earlier this year.       President’s plea to Trump supporters on the fence: download the app   The Washington Post reported last week that Trump’s re-election campaign is trying to shore up support via a new app that campaign officials say will be released in the coming weeks. The mobile will allow Trump supports to organize in their local communities and register to vote.   Feinstein targets social media bots spreading misinformation Social media bots are widely seen to have played a decisive role in spreading misinformation in advance of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In fact Symantec released a report in June showing that Russia’s propaganda program in that election cycle was even more extensive than was originally thought. So Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced legislation to prohibit campaigns from using these spam bots to “subvert future elections”.  It’s called the Bot Disclosure and Accountability Act.   Maxine Waters, Senate Banking Committee, Trump, Mnuchin all highly skeptical of Facebook’s Libra Powerful lawmakers including Maxine Waters and most of the Senate Banking Committee, as well as administration officials including the president and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, are all highly skeptical of Facebook’s new cryptocurrency, Libra. Senator Sherrod Brown on the Senate Banking Committee was especially vocal in his opposition to the currency during a hearing in which Facebook’s lead for the project, David Marcus, testified. Brown was incredulous that after Facebook which “moved fast and broke our political discourse … broke journalism,  helped incite a genocide and … undermin[ed] our democracy” now wants to have a global cryptocurrency available to its 2 billion+ users that would be a global, commercial version of the Federal Reserve. Republicans on the panel also expressed opposition including Banking Commission Chairman Mike Crapo, who suggested the creation of a separate regulatory agency to deal with cryptocurrency.   In the House, Maxine Waters announced that she will be calling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in to testify.   Amazon hires Trump ally to bolster lobbying on Pentagon contract Amazon has hired Trump ally Jeff Miller to lobby on behalf of the company to win approval to work on a $10 billion “war cloud” contract for the Pentagon. Earlier in the week, Trump had expressed opposition to the contract. Republicans are also urging the president not to thwart the contract.   Sanders, Omar urge investigation into working conditions at Amazon warehouse   Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar were joined by 10 other members of Congress in a letter to the Department of Labor asking the agency to investigate working conditions at an Amazon warehouse in Minnesota where workers protested about working conditions.   Real Estate Agent Tanya Gersh scores $14m victory against Daily Stormer Founder Andrew Anglin A magistrate judge in the Federal District of Montana, Missoula Division recommended that Chief Judge Dana Christensen enter a default judgement of $14 million in damages against the founder of a neo-Nazi website. Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin had twice failed to appear for his deposition in the case brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of Ms. Gersh back in 2017. The suit contends that Anglin initiated a “troll storm” against real estate agent Tanya Gersh after Gersh advised the mother of alt-right figure Richard Spencer to denounce her sons views in order to sell her property. Judge Christensen has already ruled in favor Gersh, finding that the First Amendment doesn’t protect harassing speech, so now it’s just a question of whether Judge Christensen will sign off on the magistrate judge’s damages recommendation.     Events   Tues., July 23 American Federation for Children Parents and Students Share their Vision for Twenty-First Century Education in America 11:45pm – 1pm Senate Visitors Center, Room 202   Congressional Caucus on Smart Cities Smart Campuses 101: Introduction to the Future 12-1pm Rayburn House Office Building, Rm. 2044     Population Association of America Drawing a Line: How We Measure Poverty and Why it Matters 2-3pm Rayburn, 2043 Wed., July 24 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Anti-Semitism: The World’s Oldest Hatred – New Again 8:00AM-9:00am Rayburn House Office Building Rm. 2168   Girls in Tech Venture Capital 101 11:45am-1:00pm Mindspace 1301 K St., NW   Girl Scouts of America Ready for Takeoff: Girl Scouts and Space Science 12-1:00pm Rayburn, 2325   Government Affairs Industry Network Career Transitions:  Expectations v. Reality 12:00-1:30pm Covington & Burling 850 10th St., NW   Leader Schumer+Senate Diversity Ice Cream Social 3:30pm-5:30pm Hart Senate Office Building, 902   U.S. Department of Energy Modernizing the Grid for American Security, Innovation, and Economic Growth 4pm-7-pm Rayburn, 2253     Mon., July 29   Public Opinion Strategies What’s Next for Patient Experience Measurement? 11:45AM-1:30pm Dirksen Senate Office Building, G50  

  Bio   Michael J. Alkire (@AlkirePremier) is the President of Premier, Inc.. As President, Alkire leads the continued integration of Premier’s clinical, financial, supply chain and operational performance improvement offerings helping member hospitals and health systems provide higher quality care at a better cost. He oversees Premier’s quality, safety, labor and supply chain technology apps and data-driven collaboratives allowing alliance members to make decisions based on a combination of healthcare information. These performance improvement offerings access Premier’s comparative database, one of the nation’s largest outcomes databases. Alkire also led Premier’s efforts to address public health and safety issues from the nationwide drug shortage problem, testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives regarding Premier research on shortages and gray market price gouging. This work contributed to the president and Congress taking action to investigate and correct the problem, resulting in two pieces of bipartisan legislation. Prior to serving as President, Alkire was president of Premier Purchasing Partners, which offers group purchasing, supply chain and resource utilization services to hospitals and health systems. Premier remains among the top group purchasing organizations in the industry as the value of supplies purchased through its contracts has increased to more than $56 billion. Upon joining Premier in late 2003, Alkire worked closely with the Purchasing Partners team to develop and implement a three-year transformation plan designed to dramatically increase returns to the alliance’s shareholders while building stronger relationships with members and suppliers. Alkire is a past board member of GHX and the Healthcare Supply Chain Association. He recently was named one of the Top 25 COOs in Healthcare for 2018 by Modern Healthcare. In 2015, Alkire won the Gold Stevie Award for Executive of the Year and in 2014 he was recognized as a Gold Award Winner for COO of the Year by the Golden Bridge Awards. He has more than 20 years of experience in running business operations and business development organizations at Deloitte & Touche and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. Before joining Premier, he served in a number of leadership roles at Cap Gemini, including North American responsibilities for supply chain and high-tech manufacturing. Alkire graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science from Indiana State University and an MBA from Indiana University. Resources   Premier, Inc.   Advocacy @ Premier   Premier, Inc. and 10 Hospitals Launch Initiative to Improve Maternal and Infant Health (Press Release, July 11, 2019)     HEADLINES:   The FTC fines Facebook $5 billion—many say it’s not enough; Trump goes on a racist tirade on Twitter; and Michael Alkire is my guest.   News Roundup   FTC fines Facebook $5 billion   The Federal Trade Commission has fined Facebook some $5 billion with many saying it’s a slap on the wrist. One commentator on Twitter called it a parking ticket, although it was a record fine.  But the New York Times notes that the fine concludes just one of several investigations currently pending around the world. Facebook’s revenue last year was $56 billion.   Brian Stelter on Trumps racist tweets   You already know about Trump’s racist tweets over the weekend in which he told democratic, progressive Congresswomen of color, obviously including Representative Ilhan Omar, who fled to the U.S. from Somalia, to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came”. Of course the other Congresswomen to whom he was clearly referring, including New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were born in the U.S. But Brian Stelter from CNN pointed out something interesting – media outlets like Fox News are avoiding calling the president’s tweets racist, and instead relying on third-party commentators to do that. Twitter even said that the president’s tweets didn’t violate its policies. Twitter though is in a difficult predicament since it’s currently under fire by Trump, along with several other tech companies, for allegedly having an anti-conservative bias.   Social Media Summit   The Trump administration held a social media summit with conservative content creators and politicians last week. The president told those in attendance that he would invite tech companies to the White House to explain their alleged anti-conservative bias. But the president didn’t provide any evidence.   Huawei plans massive U.S. layoffs   The Wall Street Journal reports that Huawei, the China-based company that’s been besieged by the Trump administration for allegedly sharing the confidential and sensitive information of U.S. companies with the Chinese government, will be laying off as many as 850 people in the U.S. The U.S. Commerce Department has blacklisted Huawei, which Huawei estimates will cost it some $30 billion.   U.S. Army to test armed, robotic vehicles   Andrew Liptak reported in the Verge that the U.S. government is planning to test armed, robotic vehicles beginning next year. The Army will conduct the live-fire tests in Colorado and Europe. The vehicles will be remote controlled.       First quantum entanglement photograph   Scientists at the University of Glasglow photographed, for the very first time, two photons interacting and sharing physical states for a brief moment. What does it mean? Well the photograph will advance the field of quantum mechanics because it proves that photons physically interact with one another—something that was theoretical before. Also, the process of taking the photograph was very involved, creating a model that scientists can use to capture other scientific phenomena that are difficult to observe.   Chris Lewis elevated to President & CEO of Public Knowledge   Christopher Lewis, a seven-year veteran of progressive tech policy think tank and advocacy group Public Knowledge, has succeeded Gene Kimmelman as President & CEO. Previously, Chris was a staffer in the late Ted Kennedy’s office.   Events Tues., 7/16 House Commerce Committee Our Wireless Future: Building a Comprehensive Approach to Spectrum Policy 10:30AM Rayburn, 2322   New America Paying for Our Privacy: What Online Business Models Should be Off-Limits? 3:00-4:30pm New America, 740 15th St., NW   Thurs., 7/18   New America The Future of Free Expression Online in America 12-2pm New America, 740 15th St., NW

  Bio   Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonTGB) is Co-Founder of The Giving Block. The Giving Block is a DC-based start-ups focused on helping non-profits incorporate Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies into their funding model. Previously he was a Director at Block Shop, also DC-based, which is a blockchain incubator focused on building real blockchain solutions beyond the hype.   a blockchain incubator focused on building real blockchain solutions beyond thehype and serves as Washington DC's blockchain hub for top startups and events. He’s also a Senior Consultant at Optimity Advisors – a Management Consulting Firm in DC. He’s earned his BA at Wake Forest’s School of Business.     Resources   The Giving Block   Block Shop DC   HEADLINES: ProPUblica deiscovers an obscene Border Patrol facebook Group insulting migrants and Latina Congresswomen, Twitter’s right wing attacks Kamala Harris, and Alex Wilson is my guest   News Roundup   ProPublica discovers secret, obscene Facebook Group of Border Patrol agents targeting migrants and Congresswomen   ProPublica uncovered a secret Facebook Group containing some 9.5 thousand members in which Border Patrol Agents ridiculed migrants and members of Congress with obscene photos. In one comment, one of the agents suggested they throw a burrito at Representatives Veronica Escobar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when they come to visit an El Paso area border Patrol facility. Another group member posted the photo that went viral last week of a man lying face-down in the water next to his young daughter. The poster referred to them as “floaters” and suggested the photo wasn’t real. There were several other racist and sexist comments that I’ll let you find on your own … Customs and Border Patrol says they’re investigating but skeptics believe there to be a pervasive culture at the agency that encourages this type of bigotry.       Right wing Twitter accounts promote false rumors about Kamala Harris’ nationality   Twitter accounts identified as bots by researchers Josh Russell and Caroline Orr retweeted a conspiracy by Trumpworld personality Ali Alexander, in which Alexander wrote that Kamala Harris is “not an American Black” because she is half Indian and half Jamaican. Sound familiar? Anyway, Twitter denies that bots were involved and claimed that all of the users who contributed were actual human beings. The social media company said the tweets did not violate its terms of service.   Senators Warren and Jaypal criticize FCC panel’s corporate influence   In a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Senators Warren and Jaypal criticized the FCC’s Communications, Security, Reliability and Interoperability Advisory Committee for having to many corporate members on board. Currently, out of 22 members, 15 are corporate, 6 are government officials, and just one is from the nonprofit sector. Neither the FCC nor Chairman Ajit Pai have commented publicly.   Maine passes net neutrality   In defiance of the FCC’s overturning of the 2015 net neutrality rules, Maine has become the 12th state to pass its own net neutrality rules. These include Colorado, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Montana, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and California.   Trump relaxes Huawei ban   President Trump has relaxed the ban he imposed earlier this year preventing American companies from selling products to Chinese device manufacturer Huawei. The policy shift came as part of a deal with China to ease trade restrictions.   Facebook civil rights audit concludes with findings many already knew   Facebook has released the latest findings from the civil rights audit being conducted by prominent civil rights attorney Laura Murphy. It’s been received by many social justice advocates working on tech policy as a restatement of things they’ve been calling Facebook out on for a long time, such the need for board diversity, better treatment of people of color and women. The company announced that a task force will be created to address some of the issues raised in the report. But some some say the task force will just be a networking opportunity for members of the task force.     Events   Fri., 7/5   DC Fringe Festival Fri., 7/5-Sun. 7/28 Various locations

Safiya Noble: The Future of Class, Culture, Gender and Race on Digital Media Platforms (Ep. 191) Bio Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble (@safiyanoble) is an Associate Professor at UCLA in the Departments of Information Studies and African American Studies, and a visiting faculty member to the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor in Department of Media and Cinema Studies and the Institute for Communications Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  She is the author of a best-selling book on racist and sexist algorithmic bias in commercial search engines, entitled Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (NYU Press), which has been widely-reviewed in journals and periodicals including the Los Angeles Review of Books, featured in the New York Public Library 2018 Best Books for Adults (non-fiction), and recognized by Bustle magazine as one of 10 Books about Race to Read Instead of Asking a Person of Color to Explain Things to You. Safiya is the recipient of a Hellman Fellowship and the UCLA Early Career Award. Her academic research focuses on the design of digital media platforms on the internet and their impact on society. Her work is both sociological and interdisciplinary, marking the ways that digital media impacts and intersects with issues of race, gender, culture, and technology. She is regularly quoted for her expertise on issues of algorithmic discrimination and technology bias by national and international press including The Guardian, the BBC, CNN International, USA Today, Wired, Time, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The New York Times, and Virginia Public Radio, and a host of local news and podcasts, including Science Friction, and Science Friday to name a few. Recently, she was named in the “Top 25  Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers of 2019” by Government Technology magazine.  Dr. Noble is the co-editor of two edited volumes: The Intersectional Internet: Race, Sex, Culture and Class Online and Emotions, Technology & Design. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies, and is the co-editor of the Commentary & Criticism section of the Journal of Feminist Media Studies. She is a member of several academic journal and advisory boards, including Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Library & Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.A. in Sociology from California State University, Fresno where she was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for 2018.    Resources  Safiya U. Noble Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya U. Noble (NYU Press: 2019) Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media by Sarah T. Roberts (Yale University Press: 2019)   News Roundup   FTC is investigating YouTube over children’s privacy The Federal Trade Commission is investigating YouTube over children’s privacy concerns, according to the Washington Post. The Alphabet subsidiary faces steep fines if it’s found to have violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits tracking and targeting children under 13. The FTC and YouTube both declined to comment.   Lawmakers divided over election security The Hill reports that GOP lawmakers are divided over election security, with some, including Mitch McConnell, who think additional legislation is unnecessary to deal with the challenges posed by technology. Other Republicans, like Lindsay Graham think there’s more we can do.    Facebook plans cryptocurrency, Maxine Waters resists We reported last week that Facebook announced plans to launch its own cryptocurrency called Libra. But House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters is pushing back. Waters asked Facebook to place a moratorium on the release of its cryptocurrency until after Congress has had a chance to review it. Virginia Senator Mark Warner agreed. Both lawmakers said the company’s troubled past is a warning sign. Waters has scheduled a hearing for July 17.    DHS moving global biometric data to Amazon Cloud The Department of Homeland Security stated in request for information it released last week that it would be moving the data of hundreds of millions of people around the globe to Amazon Web Services. The DHS is moving the data to a Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) System, hosted by AWS, which will upgrade the agency’s ability to link biometric and biographical data to DNA. The system is designed to quickly identify anyone who’s in the database such as suspected criminals, immigration violators, terrorists and, frankly, you, if you’re in the database.   Google’s board rejects shareholder proposals to fight sexual harassment and boost diversity The Guardian reports that Google parent Alphabet’s board of directors voted down thirteen shareholder proposals that would have ended forced arbitration for sexual harassment claims by contract workers, addressed ethical concerns stemming from AI and China, and several other social concerns. The board voted against the proposals despite a protest happening outside the company’s headquarters during the vote.   Apple CEO Tim Cook calls out big tech Apple CEO Tim Cook called out big tech at a Stanford Commencement speech last week. He said tech companies need to accept responsibility for the chaos they create and that “Lately it seems this industry is becoming better known for a less noble innovation – the belief you can claim credit without accepting responsibility … We see it every day now with every data breach, every privacy violation, every blind eye turned to hate speech, fake news poisoning out national conversation, the false miracles in exchange for a single drop of your blood.”   Members call on tech companies to address law firm diversity concerns In a letter penned by Missouri Representative Emanuel Cleaver, members of the House of Representatives are calling on tech companies to diversify the ranks of outside counsel the companies use. Currently, tech companies retain large law firms notorious for their dismal diversity records and segregating lawyers of color into contractor roles. Congressman Cleaver, along with Representatives Robin Kelly, G.K. Butterfield, and Barbara Lee sent the letter to Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, IBM, Dell, Intel, HP, Cisco and Facebook.   Fairfax County gets first state funding for autonomous vehicles Fairfax County Virginia and Dominion Energy landed a $250,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation for an autonomous electric shuttle in Merrifield. The pilot will be part of a larger potential effort to build a largescale autonomous transportation system in Virginia. This first pilot will connect the Dunn Loring MetroRail Station with the Mosaic district. Under the deal, Dominion will purchase or lease the vehicle and Fairfax County will handle operations.   Events   Tues., 6/25 Senate Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet Optimizing for Engagement: Understanding the Use of Persuasive Technology on Internet Platforms 10AM Hart 216   House Committee on Homeland Security: Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism Artificial Intelligence and Counterterrorism: Possibilities and Limitations 10AM Cannon 310   House Committee on Small Business: Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure Broadband Mapping: Small Carrier Perspectives on a Path Forward 10AM Rayburn 2360   House Energy & Commerce Committee: Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Stopping Bad Robocalls Act 2PM Rayburn 2123   House Committee on Financial Services Task Force on Financial Technology: Overseeing the Fintech Revolution: Domestic and International Perspectives on Fintech Regulation 2PM Rayburn 2128   House Committee on Homeland Security: Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation                                                  Cybersecurity Challenges for State and Local Governments: Assessing How the Federal Government Can Help 2PM Cannon 310   House Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Continuing Challenges to the Voting Rights Act Since Shelby County v. Holder 2PM Rayburn 2141     House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology: Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Election Security: Voting Technology Vulnerabilities 2PM Rayburn 2318       Transformative Technology of DC How the Future of Work and STEM are impacting social wellbeing, digital transformation and mindset growth through tech 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT District Offices 10 G Street Northeast   GEICO Data Science Tech Talk & Open House 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDT 5260 Western Avenue Bethesda, MD 20815   Wed., 6/26   House Committee on Homeland Security Examining Social Media Companies' Efforts to Counter Online Terror Content and Misinformation 10AM Cannon 310   House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Artificial Intelligence: Societal and Ethical Implications 10AM Rayburn 2318   House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology: Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics NASA’s Aeronautics Mission: Enabling the Transformation of Aviation 2PM Rayburn 2318   Wine Wednesday Founding Farmers 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT Founding Farmers, Reston 1904 Reston Metro Plaza   Thurs., 6/27   Federal Trade Commission PrivacyCon 8:15AM-5PM FTC Constitution Center 400 7th ST., SW   Ford Motor Company Fund  HERImpact Entrepreneurship Summit 9:30AM-4PM Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business 3700 O St NW   General Assembly Inside the Minds of Brilliant Designers 6:30-8:30PM General Assembly, 509 7th Street NW, 3rd Floor      Fri., 6/28   Federal Communications Commission Workshop on Promoting Multilingual Alerting 9AM-2:30PM FCC   Tues., 7/2   Universal Service Administrative Company Lifeline Program Consumer Support Training for caseworkers, service agents, and support professionals 9:30AM-12PM Universal Service Administrative Company 700 12th St., NW

Bio Monica Anderson (@MonicaRAnders) is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center primarily studying internet and technology issues. Much of her recent work has focused on the impact of the digital divide, the role of technology in the lives of teenagers, and activism in the age of social media. She has a master’s degree in media studies from Georgetown University, where her work focused on the intersection of race, politics and media. Resources Pew Research Center Teens’ Social Media Habits and Experiences by Monica R. Anderson (Pew Research Center, 2018) News Roundup Elizabeth Warren demands Assistant AG recuses himself from tech antitrust investigation U.S. Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is demanding that Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim recuse himself from the DOJ’s antitrust investigation of Google and Apple. In the past, Delrahim lobbied on behalf of both companies. Senator Warren wrote directly to the Assistant Attorney General saying that not recusing himself would create the appearance of a conflict of interest. CBP announces data breach U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a data breach last week. The agency says thieves obtained traveler photos and license plate numbers via a malicious cyberattack to a subcontractor’s network. The hackers did not directly access CBP’s database. Zuckerberg may have been aware of shady privacy practices The Wall Street Journal reports that internal documents may show that Facebook knew about shady data practices happening at the company. Sources say internal emails in which executives are seen grappling with how to comply with the requirements of an FTC consent decree included silence by Zuckerberg as to the implications of an app that had the ability to reveal Facebook user data on its own site, irrespective of the users’ privacy settings on Facebook. OTI, Free Press, and Georgetown Law Center file FCC complaint against wireless carriers for selling location data New America’s Open Technology Institute, Free Press and Georgetown Law Center’s Center on Privacy and Technology lodged a complaint at the FCC Friday, claiming that AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint & Verizon have threatened public safety by enabling stalkers, people posing as police officers, debt collectors, and others by disclosing subscribers’ location data to bounty hunters. Facebook’s cryptocurrency gains major backers The Wall Street Journal reports that Visa, Mastercard, Uber and Paypal will each be investing around $10 million in Facebook’s new cryptocurrency called Libra, which Facebook’s planning to announce this week. Facebook’s been largely quiet about the currency but the Wall Street Journal reports that it would be a currency that’s pegged to government-backed cryptocurrencies and allow users to use the digital coin to make purchases across the internet. Some experts are worried about money laundering. Sweetgreen acquires delivery startup DC-founded Sweetgreen—the salad giant—is stepping up its delivery game. Even though Sweetgreen is now headquarted in LA, it announced its acquisition of Galley Foods last week, also a DC-based company, to handle delivery logistics. This is Sweetgreen’s first acquisition. Events Tues., 6/18 Senate Finance Committee The President’s 2019 Trade Policy Agenda and the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement 10:15AM 215 Dirksen Wed., 6/19 House Ways & Means Committee The 2019 Trade Policy Agenda: Negotiations with China, Japan, the EU, and UK; New NAFTA/USMCA; U.S. Participation in the WTO; and Other Matters 9:30AM 1100 Longworth National Telecommunications and Information Administration Building Smart Cities and Communities at the Regional Level 2PM-3PM Department of Commerce Demos at Dusk 5:30-8PM General Assembly 509 7th St., NW Thurs., 6/20 House Small Business Committee The Importance of Accurate Census Data to Small Business Formation and Growth 10AM Rayburn 236- House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress Cultivating Diversity and Improving Retention Among Congressional Staff 2PM Rayburn, 2253 Kora Research Center Broccoli Talk: Bridging the Gap Between Artists & Tech 5-8PM Broccoli City Bar 1817 7th St., NW Sat., 6/22 Black Girls Code DC Chapter  A Virtual Reality Experience 10AM-4PM Howard University School of Business 2600 6th St., NW Mon., 6/24 Federal Communications Commission Advisory Committee on Diversity & Digital Empowerment 10AM FCC

Bio Alfred Mathewson (@hubisoninthe505) is the former Emeritus Professor of Law and Henry Weihofen Chair of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law. He joined the UNM law faculty in 1983 after working as a corporate, securities and banking lawyer in Denver. He was named the Director of the Africana Studies Program in 2013 after having served as Acting or Interim Director since 2009. From 1997 through 2002, he was Associate Dean of Academics. In that position, he oversaw the curriculum, clinical law program, faculty appointments, the faculty promotion and tenure process, library, faculty development and related issues. Professor Mathewson served as a Co-Dean of the law school from 2015 to 2018. Mathewson's teaching and research focuses on antitrust law, business planning, sports law, minority business enterprises and corporate governance. He frequently supervises in the Business and Tax law Clinic and has served occasionally as Acting Director of the Clinical Law Program during the summer. He recently added Transactional Negotiations to his teaching portfolio. He has published numerous articles and given speeches in these areas and he brings this expertise to his teaching. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute. He has served on several ABA accreditation inspection teams. He is a member of the AALS Section on Law and Sports Law, of which he has previously served as chair. He currently is serving another stint as chair of the UNM Athletic Council. He serves as the faculty adviser of the UNM Chapter of the Black Law Students Association. He is active in various community organizations, including the Albuquerque Council on International Visitors. He has served as the president of the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association and the Sam Cary Bar Association (Denver). His recent publications include The Bowl Championship Series, Conference Realignment and the Major College Football Oligopoly: Revolution Not Reform, 1 Miss. Sports L. Rev. (2012) and Remediating Discrimination Against African American Females at the Intersection of Title IX and Title VI, 2 Wake Forest J. L. & Policy (2012). He presented “Times Have Changed: A New Bargain for Sharing the Revenue Stream in Intercollegiate Athletics with Student Athletes,” a paper prepared for panel at AALS 2014 Annual Meeting Section on Law and Sports program entitled, “O'Bannon v. NCAA: Is There An Unprecedented Change To Intercollegiate Sports Just Over The Horizon?” Resources Race in Ordinary Course: Utilizing the Racial Background in Antitrust and Corporate Law Courses by Alfred Mathewson, 23 St. John’s J. Legal Comment 667 (2008). Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight Civil Rights and the Anti-trust Laws by Philip Marcus Race, Markets and Hollywood’s Perpetual Dilemma by Hosea R. Harvey Amazon Antitrust Paradox by Lina M. Khan News Roundup Google walkout organizer leaves the company Claire Stapleton, one of the organizers of last year’s global walkout at Google following revelations that the company allegedly hid sexual harassment allegations against Android developer Andy Rubin, has left the company, saying she was retaliated against. She wrote in an internal document, later posted on Medium by Google Walkout for Real Change, “These past few months have been unbearably stressful and confusing. But they’ve been eye-opening, too: the more I spoke up about what I was experiencing, the more I heard, and the more I understood how universal these issues are.” Stapleton said she’s leaving the company because she’s having a baby. Google has refuted the allegations. Maine signs robust privacy bill The State of Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, signed a new privacy bill into law last week requiringcarriers to get consumers’ permission before selling their data to third parties. It specifically prohibits ISPs from retaliating against consumers for refusing to allow their data to be sold.     YouTube Revokes Steven Crowder’s Ads   YouTube shifted gears and revoked the ads of far-right commentator Steven Crowder over Crowder’s use of homophobic language. The company backtracked following outcry over the company’s initial defense of Crowder. But the ban isn’t permanent. Crowder simply must remove the offensive content, including the homophobic t-shirts he was selling in his online store.   FCC permits carriers to block more robocalls   The FCC allowed carriers last week to ban even more robocalls by allowing them to stop calls on behalf of subscribers.  The order had bipartisan support, but Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel said it opens the door for carriers to charge for the service since the order doesn’t contain any language to prevent that from happening.   Pew reports lagging tech adoption in rural   Pew reports that rural communities lag the rest of the country when it comes to tech adoption. At 63%, rural households are 10 points lower than the rest of the country. Smartphone penetration, at 67%, is also 10 points lower. Tablet penetration and the number of households with desktop computers also lags.   Congress kills bill provision preventing IRS from setting up free filing service   Finally, it looks like you’re going to have an alternative to Turbo Tax. The tax preparation service is facing some competition from the IRS itself. Congress has killed a provision of the Taxpayer First Act that would have prevented the IRS from creating its own, free online tax filing service.   Events   Tues., 6/11   NCTA/Rural Broadband Caucus Trailblazing a Path for Rural Broadband 11:30AM-1:00PM   Uber Elevate Summit 2019 Reagan International Center Today & Tomorrow   Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood & Color of Change Digital Privacy Briefing Rayburn 2322 3:30-5:00pm   Entertainment Software Association ES3 LA Convention Center Today through Wednesday   House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 1: The Free and Diverse Press Rayburn 2141 2PM   Wed., 6/12   Federal Communications Commission Tribal Workshop Riverwind Casino in Oklahoma Wed. and Thurs.

  Bio Chris Jones (@cjones2002) is the Chief Marketing Officer of Dragonchain and Co-founder of the Blockchain Seattle Conference. He’s a long-time entrepreneur and an expert in strategy, product marketing and user acquisition. He is adept at translating complex, technical features and functionalities into easy to understand concepts. Previously Chris held executive roles with Adidas America, Mattel and Boost Mobile. Chris is an evangelist for blockchain technology and the people and projects.  In addition, he consults to other blockchain & technology companies including Storm, a gamified microtasks platform and Sirqul, a leader in the IoT space. He attended Georgetown University as an undergraduate and earned an MBA from Northwestern University. Resources Dragonchain Dragonchain Free Blockchain Project Planning Guide Blockchain Use Cases Blockchain Blog Articles Gartner Report News Roundup Amazon considering purchasing Boost from T-Mobile Reuters reports that Amazon is considering purchasing Boost from T-Mobile. The report comes as the Department of Justice has called for Sprint and T-Mobile to spin off some property to ensure their proposed merger maintains at least 4 mobile competitors. U.S. to require social media profiles from visa applicants The New York Times reports that visa applicants planning to enter the U.S. will need provide their social media profiles from the last 5 years. They implemented the policy on Friday. The crackdown comes amidst a staggering anti-immigration posture that largely targets Muslims and people of color, China, and Mexico. Markets rattled as antitrust investigations of tech loom Tech shares tumbled Monday following reports that the DOJ, FTC and Congress will begin investigations against Google parent Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon and Apple. The New York Times reported that the DOJ has an investigation of Alphabet and Apple teed up. And the Federal Trade Commission will investigate Amazon and Facebook, according to sources. House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler also announced his committee will conduct its own investigation. The Nasdaq was down 1.6% and tech stocks in indexes around the world rode the rollercoaster in Monday’s trading.  FCC broadband report ridiculed by policy experts The FCC released its broadband report last week, concluding that carriers are building high speed internet service in a reasonable and timely fashion. This is even though some 23 million Americans lack access to broadband. FCC Commissioner Starks said the report’s findings are “fundamentally at odds with reality”. For example, in DC, some 9,000 people lack access to high speed internet service defined as 25mbps download speed. DC concentrates most of those lacking broadband internet in Wards 5, 7, and 8. Airbnb host in NYC calls black guests ‘monkeys’ and calls the police An New York City Airbnb host—an Asian woman—called her black guests monkeys and criminals and then called the police. The guests ended up leaving and staying in a hotel. You can find the link to the Instagram video in the show notes. Events Tues., June 4th Committee on Oversight & Reform Facial Recognition Technology (Part II): Ensuring Transparency in Government Use 10:00AM 2154 Rayburn   House Energy & Commerce Committee Hearing: STELAR Review: Protecting Consumers in an Evolving Media Marketplace 10:30AM Rayburn 2322   House Committee on Small Business Hearing: Mind the Skills Gap: Apprenticeships and Training Programs 11:30AM 2361 Rayburn Wed., June 5th Senate Commerce Committee The State of the Television and Video Marketplace 10:00AM Dirksen G50   New America Speech Police: The Global Struggle to Govern the Internet 11:45AM-1:00PM New America, 740 15th St., NW Epic.org AI and Human Rights: The Future of AI Policy in the US National Press Club 1PM-3PM   Thurs., June 6th  Federal Communications Commission Open Commission Meeting 10:30AM-12:30pm 445 12th St., SW

Bio  Kriti Sharma (@sharma_kriti) is an Artificial Intelligence expert and a leading global voice on ethical technology and its impact on society. She built her first robot at the age of 15 in India and has been building innovative AI technologies to solve global issues, from productivity to inequality to domestic abuse, ever since. Kriti was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and was included in the Recode 100 List of Key Influencers in Technology in 2017. She was invited as a Civic Leader to the Obama Foundation Summit. She is a Google Anita Borg Scholar and recently gave expert testimony on AI Policy to the UK Parliament in the House of Lords. While much of Silicon Valley worry about doomsday scenarios where AI will take over human civilization, Kriti Sharma has a different kind of concern: What happens if disadvantaged groups don’t have a say in the technology we’re creating? In 2017, she spearheaded the launch of the Sage Future Makers Lab, a forum that will equip young people around the world with hands-on learning for entering a career in Artificial Intelligence. Earlier this year, she founded AI for Good, an organization creating the next generation technology for a better, fairer world. Kriti also leads AI and Ethics at Sage. Resources AI for Good   Kriti's Ted Talk: How to Keep Human Bias out of AI    Automating Inequality by Virginia Eubanks   Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas   News Roundup   Amazon shareholder effort to restrict company’s facial recognition fails   Two Amazon shareholder resolutions to curb Rekognition—with a K—the company’s facial recognition platform—failed to garner shareholder approval last week. One proposal would have required the company to determine whether the technology violates civil liberties before rolling it out to law enforcement. The other resolution would have required Amazon to conduct a study of human rights violations posed by Rekognition. While Amazon is reluctant to address these issues, Google and Microsoft have pledged not to sell their facial recognition to law enforcement.   U.S. spy chief warns U.S. businesses about China   The Financial Times reports that U.S. National Security Advisor Dan Coates has been warning U.S.-based companies about doing business with China. Coates has even gone as far as sharing classified information with executives.  The classified briefings come amidst a U.S. trade war with China which includes a ban of China-based tech company Huawei from doing business in the U.S. because of a cozy relationship it allegedly had with Iran and the fact that China is alleged to be using the company’s components to spy on the U.S.  The Financial Times says the briefings have largely focused on the espionage and intellectual property threats China poses.     Senate passes anti-robocall bill   A bi-partisan bill introduced by Senators Ed Markey and John Thune, that would slap robocall offenders with a fine of $10,000 per call, passed the Senate with a vote of 97 to 1 on Thursday. The legislation also increases penalties for scammers and works to combat number blocking. The bill is called the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACE) Act and now heads to the House where Democrat Frank Pallone’s got a similar bill in the works.     Google tweaks abortion ad policy   Google has tweaked it policy for abortion ads after several misleading abortion ads showed up on the platform. Now, the company’s saying that it will certify advertisers who want to place abortion-related ads as either abortion providers or non-providers. Any advertiser that doesn’t fall into one of those categories won’t be able to run abortion ads on Google.   Events     Wed., 5/29   AT&T/Carnegie Mellon Livestream: Privacy in the World of Internet of Things 1pm-2:30pm   Fri., 5/31 Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board Public Forum on the USA FREEDOM Act 10:00AM-12:30PM Reagan Building 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW   Mon., 6/3   Federal Communications Commission Consumer Advisory Committee Meeting 9:00AM 445 12th St., SW

  Bio   Luis Avila (@phoenikera) is the President and Founder of Iconico Campaigns, a company that works to build advocacy capacity in organizations around the country. Migrating in 2000 from Mexico, Luis stayed in the U.S. to attend college, where he developed projects with people involved in arts, politics and social justice.  In 2004, Luis learned about civic participation in Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the American Freedom Summer program. He collaborated with organizers and leaders to advocate for the DREAM Act, fight against SB1070 and challenge Sheriff Joe Arpaio's discriminatory practices in Arizona. In 2008, Luis joined the Obama campaign where he got insight on cornerstone aspects of electoral organizing. This knowledge, paired with technologies developed to boost volunteer engagement, is applied now in all his advocacy and community engagement work. Luis spearheaded Somos América in 2011, the largest immigrant-rights coalition in Arizona, and currently sits on the Boards of Advisors of the National Council for La Raza and The New Teacher Project, an organization working to end education inequality. A long-time family and community engagement expert, Luis has designed engagement models for domestic and international organizations and school systems. In 2016, he served as Nevada's Democratic Coordinated Campaign Field Director, contributing to major victories in the state legislature, electing the first Latina Senator and delivering the state to Hillary Clinton, and he’s currently launching Instituto, an organization to build political infrastructure in communities of color in Arizona. Resources Instituto   Iconico    News Roundup The FCC signals that it will approve the Sprint/T-Mobile merger, China’s Huawei has a tough week as President Trump limits its U.S.-based business, and Luis Avila is my guest   FCC signals Sprint/TMobile approval The Trump administration appears divided over whether to approve the Sprint/TMobile merger. The companies say if the merger’s approved they’ll have 5G built out to the entire country in 6 years. Sprint says they’ll also sell prepaid wireless company Boost mobile. FCC Chair Ajit Pai says the merger conditions the companies are proposing are adequate and said he’d approve the deal. The two other Republicans on the Commission signaled their support as well giving the deal the majority it needs at the FCC. Policy expert Gigi Sohn says though that over at the DOJ’s antitrust division, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim is saying the conditions aren’t enough.   Tough week for Huawei   Chinese device manufacturer Huawei had a tough week last week as President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that bans American telecom companies from installing foreign-made equipment that could pose a national security threat. American officials have accused the company of violating an American trade embargo against Iran and with assisting China with spying on U.S. companies. Since Trump issued the order, Google parent Alphabet has suspended doing business with Huawei, outside of what’s available via open source, by revoking the Android licensing deal the tech giant had with Huawei.   President Trump creates story database to collect stories of conservatives being censored on social media   Looks like the White House wants to set up its own social network to compete with Twitter and Facebook. The White House has created a creepy new database that lets conservatives report instances in which they’ve been censored on social media platforms. The President is attempting to get users to opt-in to a separate White House newsletter that purports to allow anyone, irrespective of their political views, to receive updates without relying on Facebook and Twitter.   The White House also decided not to sign on to a multinational campaign created by Christchurch, New Zealand to stamp out online hate speech. The White House says the effort would dilute the freedom of speech. 18 other countries, including many of America’s allies, disagreed.   Johns Hopkins releases free online course on gun violence prevention   Johns Hopkins has released a free online course where users can learn how to prevent and protect against gun violence. The course contains six modules taught by experts, including mental health professionals. It’s entitled Reducing Gun Violence in America: Evidence for Change and its intended to equip students to use research to combat gun violence in America.   Carriers claim to stop collecting geolocation data but evidence suggests otherwise   Major wireless carriers including AT&T and Verizon have claimed that they have stopped sharing geolocation data with third party bounty hunters. But the the facts suggest otherwise. Congressman Mike Doyle notes that the number of complaints about police departments and others unauthorized (and unconstitutional, for that matter) surveillance of individuals has been on the rise. AT&T has acknowledged that it took advantage of a loophole in a Communications Act privacy provision that doesn’t cover a type of geolocation data known as A-GPS which AT&T’s Joan Marsh says is less precise than location data covered by the National Emergency Address Database.   Amazon releases HQ2 plan for Arlington Amazon released its plan for 2 LEED-certified 22 story office buildings in Arlington. There will be 50,000 square feet of street level space for retail and restaurants.   San Francisco becomes first city to ban facial recognition technology   San Francisco became the first city to ban the use of facial recognition technology. The ordinance passed by a vote of 8-1 and is headed to Mayor London Breed for her signature.   Events   Tues., 5/21 New America 2019 Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index 740 15th Street NW 9:30AM-11AM   House Judiciary Committee Full Committee Hearing: Understanding the Digital Advertising Ecosystem Dirksen 226 10AM   House Homeland Security Committee Growing and Diversifying Our Cyber Talent Pipeline 310 Cannon 2PM City Year Idealist Gala Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania 6PM Reception/7PM Program and Dinner   MIT Enterprise Forum Celebrating Entrepreneurship in Our Nation’s Capital 600 Mass. Ave. 5:30PM   Wed., 5/22 Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide Conferences Goes through 5/24 Vint Cerf Keynotes Georgetown University Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy 37th/O NW   House Oversight Committee Facial Recognition Technology (Part 1): Its Impact on our Civil Rights and Liberties 2154 Rayburn 10AM   House Energy & Commerce Committee Full Committee Hearing on “LIFT America: Modernizing Our Infrastructure for the Future” 2123 Rayburn House Office Building 10 AM   Tues., 5/28 New York University Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies 2019 Critical Race and Digital Studies Conference NYU Washington D.C., 1307 L St., NW 9:00AM-7:30PM   Sat, 6/1 DC Stem Network DC STEM Fair UDC 7AM-4PM

  Bio Harold Feld is Public Knowledge's Senior Vice President. Before becoming Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge, Harold worked as Senior Vice President of Media Access Project, advocating for the public interest in media, telecommunications, and technology policy for almost 10 years. Prior to joining MAP, Harold was an associate at Covington & Burling, worked on Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, and accountability issues at the Department of Energy, and clerked for the D.C. Court of Appeals. He received his B.A. from Princeton University, and his J.D. from Boston University Law School. Harold also writes Tales of the Sausage Factory, a progressive blog on media and telecom policy. In 2007, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin praised him and his blog for "[doing] a lot of great work helping people understand how FCC decisions affect people and communities on the ground." Resources Public Knowledge The Case for the Digital Platform Act by Harold Feld   News Roundup   Supreme Court takes a bite out of Apple in app store case   In a 5-4 the decision, the Supreme Court dealt a blow to Apple in a class action lawsuit claiming that company’s app store is a monopoly. The case will now proceed in the district court. The issue was whether regular consumers have standing to sue Apple for antitrust violations, or whether it was just competitors who have standing to sue. Justice Kavanaugh sided with the court’s liberal justices, saying that if consumers didn’t have standing, that retailers would be able to evade antitrust enforcement, by structuring deals with suppliers and manufactures in a way that complies with the black letter of the law, but still effectively have a monopoly.   Uber driver allegedly locks two women in his car   Police in Pittsburgh arrested an Uber driver, Richard Lomotey, who is also an assistant professor at Penn State’s Beaver campus, for allegedly locking two female passengers in his car and telling them, “you’re not going anywhere”. Lomotey is charged with two counts of kidnapping.   Protests over Palantir   Protestors converged on Palantir’s headquarters around the country over the company’s $38 million contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the Intercept, Palantir, which was founded by Trump adviser Peter Thiel, has been working with ICE to help them target and deport unaccompanied children and their families. Palantir says that it only helps ICE with investigations. But the Intercept found written documents, obtained via a FOIA request, that show Palantir pursued an “Unaccompanied Alien Children Human Smuggling Disruption Initiative” with both of ICE’s two major divisions: Homeland Security and Investigations and its other division, which is called Enforcement and Removal Operations.   Symantec: Chinese spies captured NSA’s hacking tools and used them against the U.S.   The New York Times reports that Symantec has discovered that Chinese spies hacked into the National Security Agency and stole its hacking tools. Then it took those tools and used them against the United States. Experts are now questioning what role the U.S. should now play in defining cybersecurity practices around the world. The New York Times describes what China did as being similar to a “ gunslinger who takes an enemy’s rifle and starts blasting away”, making cybersecurity, in a lot of ways, like the Wild West.   Justice Department charges Chinese Nationals in Anthem breach   The Justice Department has charged two Chinese nationals for hacking Anthem back in 2015 that affected some 78.8 million Americans. The DOJ says the hackers used “extremely sophisticated techniques” to hack into Anthem and three other companies. DOJ officials call it one of the worst attacks in U.S. history.   Amazon reports “extensive fraud” following merchant hack   Amazon reported that over 6 months last year, it was hit by what it termed an “extensive fraud” with hackers siphoning funds from merchant accounts.   Pew reports that Americans’ interest in social media is unchanged since 2018   Pew reports that despite all of the breaches, and hacks and problems in the tech sector and Facebook, in particular, Americans’ interest in tech remains unchanged compared to last year. Black and Hispanic adults’ use of YouTube exceeds that of Whites by 6 and 7 points respectively, with 78 and 77 percent saying they’ve ever used YouTube. Notably, Hispanic adults far outpace Whites on Instagram—by some 18 points, with 51 percent of Hispanics saying they’ve ever used the platform compared to just 33% of Whites. Blacks and Hispanics also far outpace Whites on WhatsApp, by 11 points and 29 points, respectively. You can find a link to the report in the show notes.   Uber drivers strike worldwide on day of IPO   Uber drivers around the world protested Uber and Lyft on the day of Uber’s IPO last week. The largest number of protestors, hundreds, appeared outside Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco. But the turnout in other cities around the world, were more modest. This underscores the difficulty of organizing in a company without a central company-wide email system that drivers can use to organize.   Oracle sues the Pentagon for offering jobs to DoD workers   Oracle is suing the Pentagon for eliminating it from a bidding process after Amazon allegedly offered a job to a Department of Defense employee for crafting the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure in a way that benefitted Amazon.   Fight over Airbnb regulation in DC intensifies   DC City Council member Phil Mendleson threatened DC Mayor Muriel Bowser on Twitter, saying that he would withhold building permits for government projects if the Mayor fails to implement a law designed to regulate short -term rentals like Airbnb. The Mayor’s office is saying the law may be unconstitutional because it limits owners of units that don’t actually reside at their property from sharing with renters for more than 90 days per year. The law is scheduled to take effect on October 1st.   Events  Tues., 5/15   If you’re in the Bay Area … New America 2020 Census: Everyone Counts 12:30-1:30 SPUR 1544 Broadway Oakland   FCC Webinar: Information for Older American Consumers 2PM-3PM   If you’re in New York … Politico’s Women Rule Networking Event The Future of Female Entrepreneurship 6PM-8PM tomorrow, Wed. May 15 New York This event has a high demand and the location isn’t public. But you can find the link to the interest list in the show notes.

    Bio   Randy Abreu (@AbreuAndTheCity) is the Senior Legislative Advisor to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Abreu served in the Obama Administration where he was appointed to the Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transitions and Clean Energy Investment Center. He is an alum of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and Google Policy fellowships and is currently a Google NextGen Leader, Internet Law and Policy Foundry fellow, and member of the Bronx Progressives. Abreu has a personal history of advocating for social justice, and federal experience producing regulations and initiatives on intellectual property, drones, self-driving cars, cybersecurity, broadband access, spectrum allocation, e-privacy, and tech-transfer. Read more at https://washingtechpodcast.libsyn.com/randy-abreu-tech-policy-in-the-bronx-and-beyond-ep-128#ySt87YOYc4MbviFm.99   Resources   New Green Deal   IPCC Special Report on Global Warming     HEADLINES:   News Roundup   Mark Zuckerberg comes under direct assault ahead of a shareholder vote to keep him on the Board, Microsoft defends election security, and Randy Abreu is my guest   Zuckerberg under assault   Two civil rights groups—Color of Change and Majority Action—are circulating a proposal and meeting with Facebook’s shareholders pushing to oust Mark Zuckerberg from the board. Color of Change President Rashad Robinson wrote “ "Lasting change to address the misinformation, discrimination, violent movements and data breaches that put users, especially Black users, at risk cannot subject to the whims of a single person." Currently, Zuckerberg controls 57.7% of voting shares. The Hill notes that 35% of Facebook’s shareholders withheld votes last year.   Here in DC Senators Blumenthal and Hawley wrote to the Federal Trade Commission urging it to wrap up its investigation into Facebook, calling for significant damages that exceed the $5 billion that some reports have anticipated.   Facebook bows to additional FTC oversight   Several sources have reported that Facebook has told federal regulators at the Federal Trade Commission that, in addition to paying what’s expected to be a multibillion dollar fine, it will also bend to additional oversight. Any major changes that Facebook plans to make to the platform would now need to go through a more rigorous approval process. And Facebook would need to hire a new privacy executive that the FTC pre-approves.  Facebook has also redesigned its website to emphasize group messages over the news feed in order to address privacy concerns.     Trump expands biometric data collection at the border   The Trump administration has expanded its collection of biometric data from migrant families at the U.S. border with Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security will now conduct DNA tests and a pilot to collect fingerprints from children under 14.    Putin signs new law closing Russia off from the internet   Russia took a huge step last week to close itself off from the internet. Vladimir Putin signed a new bill that would allow his country to develop a “sustainable, fully-functioning, and secure sovereign internet” to defend itself against potential cyberattacks.  The bill envisions doing this by creating a Russia-specific Domain Name Server.     Senators introduce bill to protect U.S. citizens’ data at the U.S./Mexico border   Senators Steve Daines And Gary Peters introduced a bipartisan bill that would prevent the Customs and Border Protection’s ability to sell personally identifiable information, like addresses and social security numbers, to third parties. The senators say the new measure could help prevent identity theft and credit card fraud.   Uber and Lyft stop adding new drivers in New York City   Uber and Lyft have stopped adding new drivers in New York City approximately 3 months after a new law went into effect that requires drivers to earn at least $17.22 per hour after expenses. The new law is intended to address low pay but also reduce the number of unused ride-sharing vehicles on the street. Politico noted that Uber and Lyft drivers have earned some $56 million more than they would have prior to February first.   Google employees stage sit-in to protest retaliation   Several hundred employees at Google offices around the world, including in London, staged a sit in last week to protest alleged retaliation against Google employee Meredith Whittaker for organizing a 20,000-employee walkout to protest forced arbitration f. During the sit-in other employees spoke about instances of retaliation that they too have allegedly experienced. Google released a statement saying it takes retaliation seriously and that it offers multiple channels by which employees have the ability to complain about retaliation, including anonymous complaints.     Microsoft takes initiative to beef up election security   Microsoft is taking the initiative to beef up election security by offering a free software that secures and validates votes and elections with new encryption methods. The company says it is ready to release “early prototypes” by 2020. Keep in mind though that it won’t be prepared for “significant deployments” until after the 2020 elections.       Events     Tues., 5/7 Federal Communications Bar Association CLE: Lawyering Social: Legal Issues on Social and Digital Media 6:00pm-8:15pm Wiley Rein, 1776 K St. $250 for non-members/$135 for members     Wed., 5/8   Washington Post 116th Congress State of Play Livestream   House Administration Committee Full Committee Hearing on Election Security 10:00AM 1310 Longworth     House Committee on Energy and Commerce Oversight of the Federal Trade Commission: Strengthening Protections for Americans’ Privacy and Data Security 10:30AM Rayburn, 2123   Thurs., 5/9   House Small Business Committee The Digital Ecosystem: New Paths to Entrepreneurship 10:00AM Rayburn, 2360   Federal Communications Commission May Open Meeting 10:30AM-12:30PM FCC,  445 12th St., NW

      Bio   Jelani Anglin is Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Good Call. Good Call’s mission is to ensure that anyone who is arrested will have immediate access to a lawyer via its hotline 833-3-Goodcall. Jelani  is a community organizer and serial entrepreneur. During High School, Jelani started his first online business, for which he was awarded the NYS FBLA Business Plan of the Year award, and was featured on national TV. Prior to founding Good Call, Jelani worked on a variety of issue-based and electoral campaigns, in addition to being a community organizer at AirBnb. Growing up in Far Rockaway, NY, and organizing in low-income communities across the east coast, Jelani experienced firsthand the pitfalls that exist for those oppressed by the criminal justice system. He works every day to better communities similar to where he grew up, and hopes his work will be a stepping stone for other young black males. In addition to being Co-executive Director at Good Call, Jelani is an Echoing Green fellow and a Civil Justice Fellow at Blue Ridge Labs. Resources   Good Call   Mastery by Robert Greene   The 50th Law by Robert Greene   News Roundup   Twitter, Facebook, and Google dominate the headlines in another week of near chaos as tech and public policy still fail to see eye-to-eye on privacy, hate speech, and workplace issues, and Jelani Anglin is my gust   Twitter   Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Called Rep. Ihan Omar Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey called Representative Ihan Omar the same day he met with President Trump, after she started receiving death threats following Trump’s tweet of her giving a speech alongside images from the September 11th terrorist attacks. The Washington Post says he called her to tell her he stood by his company’s position to keep the tweet up because he concluded it didn’t violate Twitter’s rules. He also said that taking it down wouldn’t have done much since the tweet had already been widely shared. Dorey also said the company needed to do a better job monitoring for and removing hate speech and harassment.  At the meeting with Trump, Trump complained to Dorsey that too many of his followers had been removed. But Dorsey reportedly said that it removes followers based on how much spam they tweet and that he also lost a lot of his own followers.     Twitter won’t ban more hate speech because Republican politicians would be affected   So Twitter won’t ban certain hate speech, apparently because certain GOP politicians would also be affected by it. During an all hands meeting someone asked why the company could ban Islamic State propaganda but not white supremacist content. An executive and engineer responded saying societal norms allow some Arabic language to be banned in order to sweep up ISIS tweets, but that societal norms wouldn’t allow sweeping up politicians’ tweets flagged as hate speech.   So yeah … Just total armchair policymaking at Twitter. Although, to be fair, Twitter did release a statement saying that this approach did not reflect the real approach at all.   But why won’t Twitter take down David Duke, for example? Not even Jack Dorsey knows since, when he was asked at a Ted event to explain, he just punted.   In any case, reading all of the news reports it’s clear that Twitter has absolutely no idea what the fuck is going on or how to design algorithms that prevent it from being used as a political propaganda machine. But the company is reportedly working on a way to make the context for political tweets more transparent—whatever the hell that means.   And meanwhile, we’re just supposed to sit here and deal with the mass shootings, and deal with the death threats and there’s absolutely not a single mechanism in this democracy that can handle it?   Facebook   New York AG announces investigation into Facebook’s email sweep   Recall that last week we reported that Facebook swept up some 1.5 million user emails to help it build new products and services. Well, users didn’t authorize the use of their emails for that purpose. So New York Attorney General Letitia James is now investigating.   Canada promises to sue Facebook for privacy violations   The Washington Post reports that up in Canada, regulators are planning to sue Facebook for breaking privacy laws. Canada began an investigation following the Cambridge Analytica scandal and found that the company’s privacy protections are merely “superficial”.   Ireland is also investigating Facebook   The Hill reports that Ireland is now also investigating Facebook for exposing the passwords of “hundreds of millions” of users . Ireland’s looking into whether the company violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).   Facebook hires Patriot Act writer as General Counsel   Facebook has hired Jennifer Newstead as its new General Counsel. Newstead previously helped draft the Patriot Act under George W. Bush when she was an attorney in the Bush administration. She’d previously worked for OMB, Justice, and the White House. Before she was appointed as Facebook’s GC, she was Trump’s appointed legal adviser at the State Department according to Politico.   Look for Facebook’s Q1 earnings report tomorrow (Wed., 5/1) Facebook is scheduled to report its first quarter earnings tomorrow, Wednesday May 1, so keep an eye out for that.   Facebooking while black   A report in USA Today discusses how Facebook censors black users from talking about race. So you’re going to want to check that out.   Google changes harassment and discrimination reporting protocol   Google has changed its reporting and harassment protocol for harassment and discrimination. The change comes after two employees who helped organize the walkout of some 20, 000 other employees in protest of Google’s forced arbitration for such complaints claimed the company retaliated against them. Google will now have a dedicated site where employees can report harassment and discrimination, and the company will also now make arbitration an option for employees. The company has also expanded its annual internal misconduct report to include information about sexual harassment investigations,  Events   Tues., 4/30             House Appropriations Committee Oversight Hearing: 2020 Census Preparation 10:00AM CAPITOL, H-309 Streaming   House Energy and Commerce Committee, Communications & Tech Subcommittee Hearing on “Legislating to Stop the Onslaught of Annoying Robocalls” Rayburn, 2123 Streaming   Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property World Intellectual Property Day 2019: The Role of Intellectual Property in Sports and Public Safety Dirksen, 226 Streaming    Wed., 5/1   New America Exploring Online Hate 11:00AM-2:00PM 740 15th St. NW #900 RSVP   Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on the DOJ’s Investigation of Russian Interference with the 2016 Presidential Election 10:00AM Dirksen, Rm. 226 Streaming     Thurs., 5/2   Department of Justice Competition in Television and Digital Advertising Workshop Information (Day 1) 1:30-5:30pm Liberty Square Building Anne K. Bingaman Auditorium & Lecture Hall 450 Fifth Street, NW               Fri., 5/3   Department of Justice Competition in Television and Digital Advertising Workshop Information (Day 2) 9:30am-1:00pm Liberty Square Building Anne K. Bingaman Auditorium & Lecture Hall 450 Fifth Street, NW

  Bio   Daiquiri Ryan (@DaiquiriRyan) serves as the policy counsel at the National Hispanic Media Coalition where she leverages her policy expertise to advocate on behalf of the Latino community on Capitol Hill and beyond. She monitors, reviews and analyzes policies, programs, regulations and proposals to identify ways to close the Latino digital divide and expand access to communications for all Americans, regardless of their income or home zip code. Daiquiri’s advocacy work includes preserving net neutrality, strengthening privacy protections, and increasing diversity in media ownership. Previously Daiquiri served as policy fellow at Public Knowledge, where she created and led the Broadband Connects America rural broadband coalition, engaged online creators in the fight to restore net neutrality, led litigation against the FCC’s repeal of the 2016 Tech Transitions order, and advocated for policies to close the digital divide. Her other fellowships have included time at Amazon, the DC Office of Attorney General, and the Arizona Department of Education. She is a member of the inaugural class of Google Next Gen Policy Leaders, where she co-leads a working group focused on creative policy solutions for intellectual property and social justice. Daiquiri also serves as Vice President and co-founder of the Joey Ryan Foundation, a 501(c)(3) created in honor of her late brother that focuses on empowering young people with disabilities. She received her Juris Doctorate from George Washington University Law School, Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Media Relations from Arizona State University, and is admitted to the state Bar of Texas.   Resources   National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC)   Lack of Internet Access Threatens 2020 Census Success and the Future of Latino Voting Power by Daiquiri Ryan     HEADLINES:   The Muellerreport finds Russians tried to hack Hillary emails within 5 hours after Trump called for it, the CIA warns the world about Huawei, and Daiquiri Ryan is my guest   News Roundup   Mueller report says Russians attempted to hack Hillary Clinton’s data just 5 hours after Trump called for it, then CIA warns the world over Huawei, and Daiquiri Ryan is my guest   The Mueller report on Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election found that Russians attempted to hack into Hillary Clinton’s emails just 5 hours after Trump called for Moscow to do so while he was on the campaign trail. It’s just one of the many, many lies and deceptive tactics both Russia and the Trump administration employed during the 2016 campaign season.   CIA warns UK over Huawei   The CIA told spy agencies abroad last week that China’s People’s Liberation Army, National Security Commission and a third branch of the Chinese state intelligence network, have funded Chinese telecom giant Huawei to supply 5G technology to Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. We reported back in December that Canada arrested Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou for allegedly defrauding multiple financial institutions in order to evade sanctions against Iran. The DOJ has since charged Meng with fraud. And Huawei is currently banned from doing business in the U.S. Huawei is suing the U.S. for the ban saying in part that the ban is politically motivated.   Facebook uploaded 1.5 million email addresses without consent Business Insider reported last week that in 2016, Facebook “unintentionally uploaded” some 1.5 million of Facebook users’ emails in order to develop new products and services. Facebook says it’s deleting the data.   Twitter left up death threats against Ilhan Omar   BuzzFeed News reported that Twitter left up death threats made against Rep. Ilhan Omar. The threats came after President Trump tweeted spliced footage of the Congresswoman alongside footage of the September 11th attacks. Twitter said it left the threats up so that Capitol Police could investigate.   Meanwhile, the EU parliament voted in a measure that would fine social media companies for leaving up extremist content for too long.       DOJ: Sprint/T-Mobile not likely to survive scrutiny   The DOJ’s Antitrust Division told Sprint and TMobile last week that the proposed $26 billion merger of the two companies, in its current form, is unlikely to be approved. That’s according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.     Law enforcement’s increased reliance on Google   In an investigative report, the New York Times has found that law enforcement agencies are increasingly relying on Google’s SensorVault technology as an evidence repository to identify devices that were present at crime scenes.  Some of the data dates back several years. Law enforcement officials interviewed in the report claim the search data it obtains from Google is only used to supplement additional evidence it collects from suspects.   Microsoft turns down California law enforcement request for AI   Reuters reports that Microsoft turned down an unnamed California law enforcement agency after the agency asked the company to install facial recognition technology in squad cars and body cams. Microsoft President Brad Smith said the agency’s use of the technology would lead to a negative impact on women and people of color because thus far it has only tested the technology on white males.

  Bio   Gigi Sohn (@gigibsohn) is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate. She is one of the nation’s leading public advocates for open, affordable and democratic communications networks. For 30 years, Gigi has worked to defend and preserve the fundamental competition and innovation policies that have made broadband Internet access more ubiquitous, competitive, affordable, open and protective of user privacy. From 2013-2016, Gigi was Counselor to the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler. From 2001-2013, Gigi served as the Co-Founder and CEO of Public Knowledge, a leading telecommunications, media and technology policy advocacy organization. She was previously a Project Specialist in the Ford Foundation’s Media, Arts and Culture unit and Executive Director of the Media Access Project, a public interest law firm. Gigi holds a BS in Broadcasting and Film, Summa Cum Laude from the Boston University College of Communication and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.       Resources   GigiSohn.com   Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution by Susan Crawford (Yale University Press, forthcoming, 2019)     News Roundup   Net neutrality bill looks increasingly unlikely The success of the net neutrality bill designed to reinstate the 2015 net neutrality rules that passed the House Energy & Commerce Committee last week by a vote of 30-22, looks increasingly unlikely to succeed, as its still gotta get past the Senate, and the Trump administration has threatened to veto even if it does. A floor vote in the House is expected today.   Congress ramps up tech scrutiny Congress is continuing its ramp up of scrutiny of big tech, looking specifically at how social media and tech companies enable harmful speech. They’re also looking at competition issues like Amazon’s promotion of its own private label products over competing products offered by smaller businesses.   The House Judiciary Committee is holding a bipartisan hearing today on the rise of hate crime and white nationalism 10AM in 2141 Rayburn.   On the competition front…several members are taking a fresh look at antitrust issues following Elizabeth Warren’s SXSW announcement of her proposal to rein in big tech with better antitrust enforcement. And so Amazon quietly removed promotional ads that gave preferential treatment to its own private label products. And Senators Amy Klobuchar and Marsha Blackburn sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging it to investigate Google for antitrust and data privacy violations.   Elizabeth Warren also introduced a new bill last week that could hold tech executives criminally liable for tech breaches. And Ed Markey introduced a bill that would require Google and Facebook to comply with online privacy rules. Markey’s bill is designed to stem harmful marketing on channels like YouTube that are largely unregulated in terms of the marketing and advertising that kids are exposed to. Google cancels AI ethics board   Google has killed the AI ethics board it set up. That’s after thousands of employees and public advocates pushed the company to remove Heritage Foundation President Kay Cole James--over comments she made about trans people and for the Heritage Foundation’s skepticism regarding climate change. The board also lacked civil rights leaders, as NAACP President Derrick Johnson noted on Twitter.   Leading AI scientists to Amazon: stop selling facial recognition technology   Leading AI scientists, including Yoshua Bengio, who won the Turing Award, which is basically the Nobel Prize of technology, have signed a letter urging Amazon to stop selling its facial recognition software, known as Rekognition. A couple of peer-reviewed papers have found the software, which police departments have been using, disproportionately misidentifies women and people of color. The New York Times has more.   Microsoft vows to focus on discrimination at employee meetings Microsoft promises to give its employees space to discuss discrimination issues at monthly employee meetings. CEO Satya Nadella and HR Chief Kathleen Hogan announced during an all-hands call last week. The move comes after employees erupted in an email thread, complaining about gender discrimination issues at the company.   Events   House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Hate Crimes and White Nationalism Today, Tues., 4/9 at 10AM Rayburn 2141, Streaming   Federal Trade Commission FTC Hearing #12: Competition and Consumer Protection Tues., 4/9 and Wed., 4/10 Constitution Center 400 7th St SW, Washington, DC 20024     Senate Judiciary Committee Stifling Free Speech: Technological Censorship and the Public Discourse Wed., 4/10 at 2:30PM Dirksen 226, Streaming   Senate Commerce Committee Illegal Robocalls: Calling all to stop the scourge Thurs, 4/11 at 10AM 216 Hart, Streaming   Brookings How Will Emerging Technologies Affect the Future of Work Fri., 4/12 at 10AM 1775 Massachusetts Ave.. NW   FCC Open Meeting Fri., 4/12 at 10:30AM 445 12th St. SW Commission Meeting Room, Streaming  

    Ben Green: A More Inclusive Approach to Smart Cities Ben Green joined Joe Miller to discuss how stakeholders can develop a more inclusive approach to smart cities by engaging local residents. Bio Ben Green (@benzevgreen) is a PhD Candidate in Applied Math at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and an Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. He studies the implementation and impacts of data science in local governments, with a focus on “smart cities” and the criminal justice system. Analyzing the intersections of data science with law, policy, and social science, Ben focuses on the social justice and policy implications of data-driven algorithms deployed by governments. His forthcoming book, The Smart Enough City: Putting Technology in Its Place to Reclaim Our Urban Future, will be published in April 2019 with MIT Press (Amazon link). Ben’s research draws on his extensive experience working with data and technology in municipal government. He most recently spent a year working for the Citywide Analytics Team in the City of Boston, where he developed analytics to improve public safety operations and civic engagement strategies for the City’s new open data program. Ben previously worked as a Fellow at the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship, and partnered with the City of Memphis, TN using machine learning to identify blighted homes. He also worked for a year at the New Haven Department of Transportation, Traffic, and Parking, where he managed the deployment of new parking meter payment technology. Ben completed his undergraduate degree in Mathematics & Physics at Yale College. His graduate work has been funded by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the Herbert Winokur SEAS Graduate Fellowship. Resources Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society The Smart Enough City: Putting Technology in Its Place to Reclaim Our Urban Future by Ben Green (forthcoming MIT Press, April 9, 2019).   News Roundup Rough Week for Google on LGBTQ issues It was a rough week for Google in the LGBTQ community. First, the Human Rights Coalition suspended Google from its rankings, for which Google had a perfect rating, because Google allowed an app promoting conversion therapy to remain in its app store. Google has since pulled the app. Also, several Googlers took aim at Google’s new Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) last week for naming Heritage Foundation President Kay Cole James as a member. Cole has repeatedly spoken out frequently against LGBTQ interests and trans folks in particular. So over a thousand Googlers signed on to a letter published on Medium opposing Cole’s appointment. NAACP President Derrick Johnson also criticized Google for failing to include civil rights leaders on the council. Facebook bans white nationalism and white separatism Facebook announced that it will now ban content promoting white nationalism and white separatism. The company will ban content with phrases that explicitly refer to white nationalism and white separatism. But Facebook said that finding implicit instances of white nationalism and white separatism will take some time for Facebook to learn how to identify. Mark Zuckerberg also wrote a Washington Post Op-Ed seeking a third-party tribunal that would reinforce Facebook’s efforts. Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr weighed in opposing such a framework. Department of Housing and Urban Development now looking into Twitter and Google The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which has already sued Facebook for allowing real estate advertisers to exclude certain ethnicities and zip codes, is now investigating Twitter and Google as well, according to the Washington Post. IBM sued for age discrimination A group of IBM ex-employees sued the company in federal court in New York City for failing to disclose how many people it laid off who were over the age of 40. It’s the second lawsuit following a ProPublica report last year that documented rampant alleged age discrimination at the company. At issue is a provision in IBM’s separation agreement that requires employees to agree not to sue the company in exchange for severance pay. Google, Cuba work together to improve connectivity Google and Cuba’s state-run telecommunications monopoly ETECSA have agreed to begin negotiations on bringing better connectivity to the island. The agreement entails Google’s and ETECSA’s engineers working together to bring better connectivity to the island via Google’s points of presence in Florida, Mexico, and Colombia without having to pay the hefty interconnection fees it’s been paying to a third party carrier to connect  to Venezuela. Nipsey Hussle advocated for STEM Finally, Nipsey Hussle, the rapper and community champion who was murdered in front of his clothing shop in L.A. on Sunday, was an avid supporter of science, technology, engineering, and math education for underrepresented youth and diversity in tech. John Ketchum writes in AfroTech that in an LA Times interview last year, Hussle was quoted as saying that kids are often nudged to emulate athletes and entertainers but that there should be more messaging around emulating tech leaders like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Events CHCI CHCI Capitol Hill Policy Briefing Series Rayburn Rm. 2043 Washington, DC 4/2   Privacy + Security Academy International Privacy & Security Forum The Marvin Center 800 21st St. NW Washington, DC 4/3-5   The Bridge Women Talk Tech & Policy WeWork 1440 G St. NW 4/3, 6-8PM

  Maureen K. Ohlhausen: Should Antitrust Law Rein in Big Tech? (Ep. 179) Maureen K. Ohlhausen joined Joe Miller to discuss whether U.S. antitrust law is the appropriate mechanism by which to rein in big tech. Bio  Maureen K. Ohlhausen (@M_Ohlhausen) is the Antitrust and Competition Law Practice Chair and Partner at the law firm of Baker Botts. Previously, she served as Acting Chairman at the Federal Trade Commission for 2 years and prior to that as a Commissioner for 6. She directed all aspects of the FTC's antitrust work, including merger review and conduct enforcement, and steered all FTC consumer protection enforcement, with a particular emphasis on privacy and technology issues. A thought leader, Maureen has published dozens of articles on antitrust, privacy, IP, regulation, FTC litigation, telecommunications, and international law issues in prestigious publications and has testified over a dozen times before the U.S. Congress. Maureen has relationships with officials in the U.S. and abroad, with a particular emphasis on Europe and China, and has led the U.S. delegation at the international antitrust and data privacy meeting on many occasions. She has received numerous awards, including the FTC's Robert Pitofsky Lifetime Achievement Award. Prior to her role as a Commissioner, Maureen led the FTC's Internet Access Task Force, which produced an influential report analyzing competition and consumer protection legal issues in the area of broadband and internet. In private practice, he headed the FTC practice group at a leading telecommunications firm, representing and counseling telecommunications and technology clients on antitrust compliance, privacy, and consumer protection matters before the FTC and the FCC. She also clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Resources Baker Botts – Antitrust and Competition Law Practice Group Here’s how we can break up big tech by Elizabeth Warren (Ms. Ohlhausen argues against.) News Roundup Facebook blocks race, age, gender, ZIP code ad targeting for housing, employment, credit Facebook is no longer permitting housing, employment and credit advertisers to target users based on their age, race, gender or zip code. This brings Facebook in line with federal rules preventing broadcasters from discriminating in ad sales contracts on the basis of race or gender. The new prohibitions are part of a settlement with several advocacy organizations that filed discrimination lawsuits against Facebook after ProPublica published an investigative report showing its ability to exclude certain ethnicities from seeing housing ads. Dems plan to vote on net neutrality bill on April 8th House democrats plan to vote, on Monday, April 8th, on the bill that would reinstate the 2015 net neutrality rules—the Save the Internet Act. Opponents are trying to tack on a bunch of Amendments even though the bill is pretty straight forward in terms of its intended scope. Even if the bill passes the House though, it faces an uphill climb in Mitch McConnel’s lair high up on the mountain  -- I mean the Senate. And the president would also have to sign it – we’ll see what happens. Security firm: Facebook stored user data in plain text for years This time, the security firm KrebsonSecurity found that, for years, Facebook stored hundreds of millions of user names and passwords in a text file. What’s the problem with this you ask? Well the text file was searchable by any of Facebook’s 20,000 employees. So let’s say a date didn’t go so well with some brah who happens to work at Facebook? Well guess what he could just go ahead and search for your password. Facebook has allegedly used this method dating back as far as 2012. Cummings demands documents related to Kushner’s use of encrypted app for official business House Oversight Chair Elijah Cummings has demanded documents from the attorney representing Jared Kushner regarding Kushner’s use of a private email address and What’s App to conduct official business. This of course is the same thing Republicans went after Hillary Clinton for during the 2016 presidential campaign. FCC to pay $43k in settlement for not releasing fake comments records The FCC will pay $43,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to a New York journalist named Jason Prechtel for failing to turn over information, under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, related to fake comments filed in the net neutrality proceeding. The case was settled without prejudice which means the FCC won’t admit to any wrongdoing—even though it didn’t respond to the journalist within the statutory timeframe. Nunes suing Twitter California Republican Representative Devin Nunes is suing Twitter and 3 users for $250 million saying he was “defamed” and claiming that Twitter bans conservative viewpoints. Trump finally names a CTO After two years, President Trump has finally named a Chief Technology Officer. Michael Kratsios is just 32 but well-connected and worked for Thiel Capital. Peter Thiel as you’ll recall is a Donald Trump Supporter Events Tuesday March 26th Hudson  Institute How Does the U.S. Maintain its Competitive Edge in 5G? 9:15AM-11:00AM 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. It will be livestreamed   Senate Commerce Committee Hearing on Small Business Perspectives on the Federal Data Privacy Framework 2:30pm – Dirksen 562   Wednesday March 27th House Judiciary Committee Lost Einsteins: Lack of Diversity in Patent Inventorship and the Impact on America’s Innovation Economy 10AM 2141 Rayburn   March 29th Brookings Stephen Bryer Lecture: Digital Technology in the age of artificial intelligence: A comparative perspective 10:30-12 noon Falk Auditorium @ Brookings 1776 Massachussetts, NW There will be a webcast for this as well.

  Dr. Alisa Valentin: The Unifying Power of Social Justice (Ep. 178) Alisa Valentin of Public Knowledge joined Joe Miller to discuss her approach to building a constructive dialogue at the intersection of tech and social justice. Bio Alisa Valentin (@alisavalentin) is the Communications Justice Fellow at Public Knowledge, where she focuses on digital inclusion policies for communities of color and policies that diversify media ownership. Prior to joining Public Knowledge, Alisa served as an intern in the Office of Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at the Federal Communications Commission and as a legislative fellow for Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke. Alisa was also an adjunct professor at several D.C. area colleges and universities where she taught communications and women’s studies courses. Alisa received her Ph.D. in Communications from Howard University. She also earned her B.S. from the University of Florida and an M.S. from Northwestern University. Resources Public Knowledge Racial Taxation: Schools, Segregation and Taxpayer Citizenship, 1869-1973 (Justice, Power & Politics) by Camille Walsh #TechPolicySoWhite by Alyssa Valentin (Public Knowledge, 2019)   News Roundup Facebook failed to block 20% of New Zealand shooter videos Facebook failed to block some 20% of videos showing the shooting in New Zealand, including videos that praised the shooting. That’s some 300,000 videos. The company reports though that it did manage to take down some 1.2 million videos related to a white supremacist’s massacre of 50 worshippers at 2 mosques in Christchurch. Arlington approves Amazon incentives Arlington County, Virginia has approved $23 million in incentives for Amazon to put its second headquarters in Crystal City. Protestors attended an Arlington County board meeting to oppose the vote saying the county should focus on affordable housing before Amazon. Opponents are also concerned about traffic congestion and school overcrowding. The Arlington chapter of the NAACP also opposed certain aspects of the incentive package. But the County board unanimously approved the incentives with a 5-0 vote. So again—just like in Queens—very superficial engagement by Amazon to reach out to the local community or even include them in negotiations. It’s just extremely poor stakeholder engagement – and they do it because they can. Facebook reinstates Warren ads calling for tech breakup Facebook has reinstated Senator Elizabeth Warren’s ads calling for a breakup of the social media giant along with Google and Amazon. A company spokesman says it removed the ads because they violated a policy regarding the use of Facebook’s logo … even though the whole point of that type of policy is obviously to prevent ads going up that criticize the company. Apple defends is app store policies against Spotify Finally, Apple is defending its app store policies against Spotify after Spotify filed  a complaint against Apple in Europe for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive behavior by setting its cost to carry the Spotify app in the app store too high. Apple currently charges 30% for anything sold in the app store. Apple says Spotify is simply seeking to avoid paying the same fee everyone else pays. Events Federal Trade Commission Hearing on Competition and Consumer Protection in U.S. broadband markets Constitution Center 400 7th St. NW 9AM-5:45pm Wed., 3/20 https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/events-calendar/ftc-hearing-10-competition-consumer-protection-21st-century   Public Knowledge/Georgetown/Goodfriend Group Algorithmic Exclusion and Data Deserts Georgetown University Law Center 600 New Jersey Ave., NW 3:30-5:30PM Monday, 10/25 https://www.georgetowntech.org/datadeserts  

Tom Wheeler: Gutenberg, Google, Darwin & Beyond (Ep. 177) Tom Wheeler joined Joe Miller to discuss Mr. Wheeler's new book 'From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future'.   Bio Chairman Tom Wheeler is a visiting fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings. Wheeler is a businessman, author, and was Chairman of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) from 2013 to 2017. For over four decades, Wheeler has been involved with new telecommunications networks and services. At the FCC he led the efforts that resulted in the adoption of Net Neutrality, privacy protections for consumers, and increased cybersecurity, among other policies. His chairmanship has been described as, “The most productive Commission in the history of the agency.” During the Obama-Biden Transition of 2008/09 Mr. Wheeler led activities overseeing the agencies of government dealing with science, technology, space and the arts. As an entrepreneur, he started or helped start multiple companies offering innovative cable, wireless and video communications services. He is the only person to be selected to both the Cable Television Hall of Fame and the Wireless Hall of Fame, a fact President Obama joked made him “the Bo Jackson of telecom.” Prior to being appointed Chairman of the FCC by President Obama, Wheeler was Managing Director at Core Capital Partners, a venture capital firm investing in early stage Internet Protocol (IP)-based companies. He is CEO of the Shiloh Group, a strategy development and private investment company specializing in telecommunications services. He co-founded SmartBrief, the Internet’s largest curated information service for vertical markets. From 1976 to 1984 Wheeler was associated with the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) where he was President and CEO from 1979 to 1984. Following NCTA Wheeler was CEO of several high-tech companies, including the first company to offer high-speed delivery to home computers and the first digital video satellite service. From 1992 to 2004 Wheeler served as President and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA). Mr. Wheeler wrote Take Command: Leadership Lessons from the Civil War (Doubleday, 2000), and Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War (HarperCollins, 2006). His commentaries on current events have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and numerous other leading publications. Mr. Wheeler served on President Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board prior to being named to the FCC. Presidents Clinton and Bush each appointed him a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is the former Chairman and President of the National Archives Foundation, and a former board member of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University and the recipient of its Alumni Medal. He resides in Washington, D.C. Resources Brookings Governance Studies From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future by Tom Wheeler (Brookings, 2019) Time to Fix It: Developing Rules for Internet Capitalism (Harvard: Kennedy, 2018) The Root of the Matter: Data & Duty: Rules of the New Digital Economy Should Look to Old Common Law Traditions (Harvard: Kennedy, 2018) The Supreme Court and House Democrats Breathe New Life into Net Neutrality (Brookings, 2018) Who Makes the Rules in the new gilded age? (Brookings, 2018)   News Roundup Elizabeth Warren proposes breaking up big tech Senator Elizabeth Warren announced her proposal last week to reign in tech firms like Google, Amazon, and Facebook. The plan calls for potentially breaking up some mergers as well as new legislation. Senator Warren wants to break up Doubleclick and Google, Facebook and its subsidiaries Instagram and Whats App, and the Amazon/Whole Foods merger. Politico reported Monday that Facebook removed ads that Elizabeth Warren placed on the social network which criticized Facebook and called for its breakup. Facebook backtracked after its attempt to silence Warren backfired. Democrats announce net neutrality bill Nancy Pelosi, on behalf of Democrats, introduced a new net neutrality bill last week. The bill is two pages long and would simply reinstate the 2015 Open Internet rules. The bill’s likely to pass the House where Ds hold the majority, but it faces a more uncertain future in the Senate and getting it over the presidents desk. Trump details plan for government-owned 5G Trump’s reelection campaign is proposing a plan that would give the government control of the nation’s 5G airwaves, allowing it to lease them out to carriers on a wholesale basis. Most carriers think the plan’s unworkable. But the plan is seen as an attempt to attract rural voters with spotty internet service. Huawei sues the U.S. Chinese device manufacturer Huawei, which the U.S. government has accused of spying and violating sanctions against Iran, has now sued the U.S. government for banning the company from doing business in the U.S.  The company filed in a U.S. District Court in Plano, Texas, where the company has its U.S. headquarters. TMobile spent $195k at Trump hotel TMobile’s expenditures at Trump’s DC hotel rose sharply after the company reported that it would be seeking to acquire Sprint. Since April of last year, when the merger was announced, TMobile has spent $195,000 at the hotel. But before the merger announcement, the company said that only two employees had stayed there. The FCC paused its review of the merger last week. This is the third time the FCC has paused the 180-day shot clock, which is now on day 122. The merger review has been going on for 8 months. It’s not clear why it was paused this time. But the hotel expenditures may have had something to do with it—especially since the White House actually approved the deal. A ‘Greenbook’ for bigots Finally, The Hill reported on Monday on a new app that launched which gives users a listing of MAGA-friendly establishments—places where they’re least likely to be made fun of or harassed for wearing their red MAGA hats, or that let them carry legally-concealed weapons … check it out it’s called 63Red—great way to figure out where not to go other than Cracker Barrel. Events House E&C Committee, Comms & Tech SubComm Hearing on Legislating to Safeguard the Free and Open Internet Tues., 3/12, 11:00AM Rayburn 2322     House E&C Committee, Comms & Tech SubComm The Impact of Broadband Investments in Rural America Tues., 3/12, 2:30PM Hart, Rm. 216   ACT Voters to Policymakers: Bridging the Digital Divide Inlcudes Unlicensed Spetrum Thurs., 3/14, 9:30AM Dirksen, Rm. 562     Federal Communications Commission Monthly Meeting Friday, 3/15, 12:30-2:30 445 12th St., NW Washington, D.C.    

    Jevan Hutson: How Racism in Online Dating Affects Economic Opportunities (Ep. 176) Jevan Hutson joined Joe Miller to talk about how racism in online dating affects economic opportunities. Bio Jevan Hutson (@jevanhutson) is a Gregoire Fellow at the University of Washington School of Law, where he researches technology policy, social computing, surveillance and privacy, and data ethics, and is an editor for the Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts. Jevan currently works for the Technology & Liberty Project of the ACLU of Washington, where he advocates for algorithmic accountability in government and restrictions on government use facial recognition technologies. He previously worked for Nintendo of America, Miller Nash Graham & Dunn, and Boeing. Jevan holds an MPS in Information Science and a BA in History of Art & Visual Studies from Cornell University, where he was a Research Assistant in the Social Computing Lab and Social Media Lab. Resources What Dating Apps are doing to Fight Bias by Jevan Hutson (Axios, 2019) Debiasing Desire: Addressing Bias and Discrimination on Intimate Platforms by Jevan Hutson, Jessie G. Taft, et al. (University of Washington School of Law, 2018) Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions that Shape Social Media by Tarleton Gillespie News Roundup US took down Russian troll factory during 2018 election Several U.S. officials said last week that they blocked the Internet Research Agency’s internet access as the Russian troll factory attempted to interfere with last year’s midterms. The Washington Post reports the operation was the first of its kind after the president and Congress bolstered cybercommand last year. Donald Trump approved the operation.  YouTube disables comments on videos featuring minors YouTube has disabled comments on videos that include minors under age 18. The move comes after pedophiles were lurking in comment sections directing users on where to access suggestive images of children. FTC wins fraud case against company that hired fake Amazon reviewers The Federal Trade Commission has won a case against Cure Encapsulations for paying a third party to write Amazon reviews of a supplement called garcinia cambogia. The drug is known to cause acute liver failure. It’s the first-evern case of its kind. Among other reviews, fake reviewers wrote that the supplement “literally stops fat from forming” rated it an average 4.3 out of 5 stars. Cure Encapulastions is now liable to pay a $12.8 million fine. FTC fines TikTok The Federal Trade Commission has fined China-based social media company TikTok $5.7 million because before it merged with Musical.ly, Musical.ly illegally collected the names, emails, pictures and location data of kids under 13. The U.S. hasn’t fined TikTok for anything that happened after the merger. TikTok has over 1 billion downloads – 100 million here in the U.S. – and is seen by many experts as legit Facebook rival. California AG Becerra looks to expand privacy California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is looking to improve his state’s privacy law that’s set to take effect next year by allowing private individuals to sue companies for damages. The current bill as written allows individuals to take legal action only after giving companies 30 days to correct violations. Nevada Sen. Cortez Masto takes on racial ad targeting Catherine Cortez Masto -- the Democratic Senator from Nevada -- is taking on racial ad targeting in a new bill that prohibits companies like Facebook from targeting on the basis of race. Propublica found back in 2016 that Facebook allows advertisers to exclude racial groups from certain campaigns—a practice which continued at least until the end of 2017. Twitter suspends Jacob Wohl Twitter suspended far-right activist Jacob Wohl for allegedly attempting to influence the 2020 presidential election by creating fake accounts purporting to support divisive candidates like Howard Schultz. Previously, USA Today had quoted Wohl as saying that he was planning to create “enormous left-wing online properties”. Wohl says it was just an “intellectual exercise”.  New FTC monopoly task force The Federal Trade Commission has established a new task force designed to look specifically at tech sector monopolies. The task force will boast 17 staff attorneys and be based in the competition bureau. Airline seatback monitors have cameras Some passengers on a Singapore Airlines flight shared a viral video showing the seatback video monitors in front of them had cameras in side them. Another passenger shared a picture of a similar camera he found on an American airlines flight. United and Delta followed up saying their screens also contain cameras. All four airlines say the manufacturer ships that screens that way for potential future uses, but that currently the cameras are disabled.  Currently. One of the manufacturers—Panasonic—told BuzzFeed that it would never activate the cameras without consent from the airline.   New York governor Cuomo wants Amazon back So as you know, Amazon backed out of plans to build out one of its new headquarters locations in Long Island City.   And now, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is like [new edition clip] [PAUSE] Love is HARD! [PAUSE] Representatives from some 70 powerful New York organizations took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to publish an open letter to Amazon Founder & CEO Jeff Bezos. Signatories included National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial and the NAACP’s New York State Conference and Astoria Chapter and the Presidents of the Queensbridge Houses and Astoria Houses Tenants Associations—corporate signatories included Ken Chenault and others. The State University of New York’s Chancellor also signed the letter, as did the Chancellor Designee of the City University of New York and the President of LaGuardia Community College. Several unions also signed. In the letter, the signatories characterized the public debate that followed the announcement as “strident”. It’s pretty hard to pass up an opportunity to add your name to a full-page letter in the New York Times. Whether anyone has carefully evaluated the upsides of the deal for every day New Yorkers isn’t clear. No word yet from Amazon. Events of Note House Energy & Commerce Hearing “Inclusion in Tech: How Diversity Benefits all Americans” Wed., 3/6 2019 @ 10:30am 2322 Rayburn Federal Communications Commission “Symposium on Media Diversity” Thurs., 3/7 2019 @ 9AM-5:30PM 445 12th St., SW

Renée DiResta: How to Fight the Imminent Disinformation Blitzkrieg (Ep. 175) Renée DiResta joined Joe Miller to discuss the ongoing threat of state-sponsored misinformation campaigns on social media designed to destabilize the U.S. government. Bio Renée DiResta (@noUpside) is the Director of Research at New Knowledge and a Mozilla Fellow in Media, Misinformation, and Trust. She investigates the spread of malign narratives across social networks, and assists policymakers in understanding and responding to the problem. She has advised Congress, the State Department, and other academic, civic, and business organizations, and has studied disinformation and computational propaganda in the context of pseudoscience conspiracies, terrorism, and state-sponsored information warfare. Renée regularly writes and speaks about the role that tech platforms and curatorial algorithms play in the proliferation of disinformation and conspiracy theories. She is an Ideas contributor at Wired. Her tech industry writing, analysis, talks, and data visualizations have been featured or covered by numerous media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fast Company, Politico, TechCrunch, Wired, Slate, Forbes, Buzzfeed, The Economist, Journal of Commerce, and more. She is a 2019 Truman National Security Project security fellow and a Council on Foreign Relations term member. Renée is the author of The Hardware Startup: Building your Product, Business, and Brand, published by O’Reilly Media. Previously, Renée was part of the founding team and ran marketing and business development at Haven, the transportation management technology platform that’s transforming trade logistics for commodity, CPG, and food shippers. Before that, Renée was a Principal at seed-stage venture capital fund O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV), where she invested in early technology startups with a focus on hardware, manufacturing, and logistics companies. She spent seven years on Wall Street as an equity derivatives trader and market maker at Jane Street, a top quantitative proprietary trading firm in New York City. Renée has degrees in Computer Science and Political Science from the Honors College at SUNY Stony Brook. She is a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar, a Staff Associate at the Columbia University Data Science Institute, a Harvard Berkman-Klein Center affiliate, and is a Founding Advisor to the Center for Humane Technology. She is passionate about STEM education and childhood immunization advocacy, and is one of the co-founders of parent advocacy organization Vaccinate California. For fun, she explores data sets and loves cooking and crafting. Renée and her husband, Justin Hileman, are the parents of two feisty little people. Resources RenéeDiResta.com New Knowledge What We Now Know About Russian Disinformation by Renée DiResta (N.Y. Times, 12/17/18) The Digital Maginot Line by Renée DiResta (RibbonFarm, 11/28/18) She Warned of ‘Peer-to-Peer Misinformation.’ Congress Listened. By Sheera Frenkel (N.Y. Times, 11/12/2017) The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium by Martin Gurri The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook by Niall Ferguson News Roundup Facebook A new British Parliament report is calling for new regulations against Facebook. Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee concluded an 18-month investigation against the social media giant finding it routinely breaks privacy and competition laws. The Committee report is non-binding but it could pave the way for additional regulations. Back here in the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint against Facebook saying the company reveals sensitive health data in groups. And the FTC is currently in the process of negotiation a multibillion dollar fine with the company. Also, several groups including Common Sense filed an FTC complaint against Facebook for violating children’s privacy laws and pushing kids to make in-app purchases. And the Verge posted an exposé yesterday on Facebook’s treatment of its contractors working for Cognizant. Apparently content screeners paid less than $29,000 a year are the first line of defense in preventing harmful content from being posted to the site. The reviewers are routinely exposed to death, sexual abuse, and other types of content that exacts an extreme mental health toll on these workers. Facebook claims its working to alleviate some of these working conditions. Google YouTube is facing an advertiser boycott after a YouTuber published a report detailing how comments and recommendations on normal products, like bikinis, ultimately nudge users to access inappropriate videos of children. The video aren’t necessarily pornographic per se, but users post comments within the videos that included time stamps that show children in compromising poses and positions. Nestle, Disney and Fortnight are among several advertisers that have pulled or restricted ads from YouTube because their ads appeared alongside the inappropriate content. YouTube reiterated its zero-tolerance policy for such content and deleted millions of the comments in question that directed viewers to the material in question. In other YouTube news, the platform announced that going forward it will prevent anti-vaxxer channels from hosting ads. YouTube cited its policy against dangerous and harmful content. And YouTube’s parent company Alphabet’s Google unit announced that it will end its policy of forced arbitration regarding worker disputes. Microsoft defends military contract Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella defended a $479 million military contract with the US Army to supply the company’s augmented reality systems called HoloLens. More than 100 Microsoft employees signed a letter protesting the contract and asking Microsoft to back out.  But Nadella said the company won’t withhold technology from what he deems to be “democratic governments” such as the United States. Bipartisan group of Senators ask DoE and Homeland to block Huawei A Bipartisan group of Senators wrote a letter to the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security yesterday urging them to block Huawei technology from accessing U.S. electrical systems and infrastructure. Several weeks ago, Congress blocked Huawei from accessing the nation’s telecommunication’s infrastructure as security officials believe the China-based company is working on behalf of the Chinese government to spy on the U.S.

Mignon Clyburn: The Social Justice Dynamics of Tech Policy  Mignon Clyburn joined Joe Miller to discuss how the complex social justice dynamics of tech policy affect alliances in Washington. Bio Mignon Clyburn (@mignonclyburn) is a former FCC Commissioner and President and CEO of MLC Strategies. Mignon served at the FCC from 2009-2018, with a stint as Acting FCC Chairwoman—the first FCC Chairwoman—in 2013. While at the FCC, Commissioner Clyburn was committed to closing the digital divide. Specifically, she was an advocate for Lifeline Modernization, which assists low income consumers defray the cost of broadband service, championed diversity in media ownership, initiated Inmate Calling Services reforms, emphasized diversity and inclusion in STEM opportunities, and fought to preserve a free and open internet. Prior to the FCC, she spent 11 years as a member of the sixth district on the Public Service Commission (PSC) of South Carolina. Prior to the PSC, Clyburn was the publisher and general manager of her family-founded newspaper for 14 years, the Coastal Times, a Charleston-based weekly newspaper that focused primarily on issues affecting the African American community. News Roundup Groups urge Congress to consider civil rights in privacy legislation In an open letter, 43 groups including the NAACP, National Urban League, OTI, Human Rights Campaign, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, National Hispanic Media Coalition and others, urged members of Congress last week to consider civil rights as they develop new privacy legislation. The letter points to set of principles the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights released back in 2014 focusing on the era of big data which Congress still hasn’t acted on. FTC and Facebook negotiate multibillion dollar fine The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are reportedly negotiating a multibillion fine the company would have to pay for violating a 2011 privacy consent decree. It would be the largest FTC fine against a technology company, exceeding the $22.5 million fine against Google back in 2012. Apple, Amazon & Google push to protect Dreamers Leaders from Apple, Amazon and Google joined a letter under the auspices of the Coalition for the American Dream, a cohort of more than 100 tech leaders from across the ideological spectrum organized to shed light on the economic effects of not enacting legislation to protect DREAMERS. The letter urges leaders in the House and Senate to pass legislation saying that without it, the U.S. economy stands to lose some $350 billion in GDP, with the Treasury standing to lose some $90 billion in tax revenue. Pai warns carriers about robocalls FCC Chairman Ajit Pai warned telecom companies that if they don’t adopt a self-regulatory framework to address robocalls this year, the FCC would have to step in. The warning is a follow-up to Pai’s call back in November telling carriers to develop an agreed-upon way to combat “spoofing”, which allows robocallers to appear to be calling from a more trusted number. Amazon Cancels NYC Plans As you’ve no doubt already heard, Amazon has canceled plans to build a second headquarters in Long Island City in Queens. The move has ignited a debate about the future of the Democratic party as more traditional, neoliberal Democrats appeared to be more in favor of the development plan, while local communities within Democratic strongholds in New York who would’ve been impacted by the deal wrote their members, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, urging them to push back against the expansion.

  Bio Betsy Cooper (@BetsOnTech) is the founding Director of the Aspen Tech Policy Hub. A cybersecurity expert, Ms. Cooper joined Aspen’s Cybersecurity & Technology Program after serving as the Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, she served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as an attorney advisor to the Deputy General Counsel and as a policy counselor in the Office of Policy. She has worked for over a decade in homeland security consulting, managing projects for Atlantic Philanthropies in Dublin, the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit in London, and the World Bank, and other organizations. In addition, Ms. Cooper has clerked for Berkeley Law professor and Judge William Fletcher on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (where she currently is a nonresident affiliate), as well as a Yale Public Interest Fellowship. Ms. Cooper has written more than twenty manuscripts and articles on U.S. and European homeland security policy. She is also a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group. Ms. Cooper earned a J.D. from Yale University, a D.Phil. in Politics from Oxford University, an M.Sc. in Forced Migration from Oxford University, and a B.A. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She speaks advanced French. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Resources Aspen Tech Policy Hub Aspen Tech Policy Hub Fellowship Application News Roundup Coates tells Senate committee that Russia and China are working together to undermine the 2020 election In his annual threat assessment report, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates told the Senate intelligence committee that Russia and China will try and interfere with the 2020 presidential election. The report lists social media threats as second on a list of several threats to U.S. national security. DC Circuit Appeals panel hears net neutrality oral arguments A three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments from the government and consumer advocates last week as consumer advocates’ lawsuit against the FCC for repealing the 2015 open internet rules presses on. Two of the judges—Particia Millett and Robert Wilkins—both Obama appointees—seemed to side with the consumer advocates as the FCC struggled to persuade the court that the agency had the authority to reclassify broadband as an information service. Report: FamilyTreeDNA works with the FBI BuzzFeed reported that popular home DNA testing company Family Tree DNA is working with the FBI, allowing agents to access its database to investigate violent crimes.  Privacy advocates object to the partnership. But others say that as more people sign up for genetic tests, the data has become increasingly valuable to solve cold cases, with the arrest last year of the suspected Golden State Killer being a prime example. Feds charge second Chinese Apple car worker with data theft The feds have charged a second Apple engineer with stealing company trade secrets with a plan to bring them back to China. Another Apple employee spotted Jizhong Chen taking snapshots of his workspace with a wide angle lens even though he was working under an NDA.  Apparently Chen had some 2,000 files on his hard drive, including manuals and schematics.  He says he was going to China to see family. But the feds allege he was actually planning to bring the files back to a Chinese car manufacturer he’d applied for a job with. It’s the second Apple employee charged with stealing trade secrets from the company’s self-driving car unit. Apple reports Group FaceTime bug Apple reported a bug with Group FaceTime that allowed callers to hear the people they were calling before they answered. The company took down Group Facetime when it learned of the bug, apologized, and announced that it would release a fix for the problem this week. Facebook hires three leading privacy critics from Access Now, EFF, and OTI The Information reports that Facebook has hired three leading privacy critics from Access Now, EFF, and OTI as the company tries to deal with the onslaught of backlash around its privacy woes. Robyn Greene, Nathan White, and Nate Cardozo have been critical of Facebook and all joined the company within the last month. Mignon Clyburn to advise TMobile/Sprint TMobile and Sprint have tapped former FCC Chair and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to help advise them on their $26 billion merger. Clyburn said in a statement that she will be advising the two companies as a continuation of her work to ensure vulnerable populations have affordable access to 5G.

  https://techpolicypodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/alicia_mazzara-500x500-e1548763637485.jpg   Alicia Mazzara: Mapping How a Housing Vouchers Loophole Furthers Segregation (Ep. 171) Landlords across the U.S. are refusing to rent to prospective tenants with housing vouchers. As a result, demand for voucher-eligible housing units in low-income areas greatly exceeds supply. But in high income areas, the opposite is true. Bio Alicia Mazzara is a Research Analyst in the Housing Division at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She works on issues related to federal low-income housing policy. Prior to joining the Center in 2015, Mazzara was a Policy Advisor in Third Way’s Economic Program where her research centered on income inequality, labor market dynamics, and workforce development. She has also spent time working in the federal government and as a Research Associate at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Mazzara has a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and international relations from Carleton College and a Master of Public Policy from George Washington University. Resources Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Interactive Map: Where Voucher Households Live in the 50 Largest Metropolitan Areas by Alicia Mazzara, Brian Knudsen, and Nick Kasprak (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2019). Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond News Roundup AOC and Pingree call out tech firms for sponsoring event featuring climate-change deniers Democratic Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Chellie Pingree called out Google, Facebook, and Microsoft last week for sponsoring an event put on by the CO2 Coalition, an organization that opposes policies that are designed to address climate change. Through company spokespeople, all three companies sought to distance themselves from the views expressed at the event by saying they support organizations across the political spectrum and highlighting their substantial investments to address climate change. After those companies released statements, Ocasio-Cortez and Pingree pushed back even further saying the climate-change crisis is too great for the companies to permit themselves to undermine their leadership by associating with propagandistic organizations like the CO2 Coalition. U.S. Charges Huawei The Department of Justice has indicted several affiliates, subsidiaries and executives of Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei. The company is accused of  stealing intellectual property from T-Mobile and violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. U.S. officials say Huawei’s alleged theft of intellectual property from T-Mobile gave the Chinese government backdoor access to technology from a U.S.-based telecommunications company thereby endangering U.S. national security interests. The U.S. is also in the process of extraditing Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wengzhou from Vancouver in order to face charges that she worked to circumvent U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. Big Tech Increased Lobbying in 2018 Google, Facebook and Amazon increased their lobbying spending in 2018 over the previous year during increased scrutiny from Congress regarding how the companies use personal data. Google’s lobbying expenditures jumped from $18 to 21 million. Amazon spent $14.2 million, up from $12.8 million in 2017. Facebook spent $13 million—a million-and—half more than the previous year. All three companies concentrated a fair share of that spending in the fourth quarter. Netflix joins MPAA Netflix has joined the Motion Picture Association of America which, since 1922, has been the trade association for the six major film studios. The announcement came the same day Netflix received its first-ever Best Picture nomination for ‘Roma’. Advocacy groups call on FTC to breakup Facebook Several advocacy groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Color of Change, are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to break up Facebook, according to a Wall Street Journal report on a draft letter it obtained. In addition to Facebook, Facebook also owns Instagram and WhatsApp. Many advocates and civil rights groups, including the NAACP, have taken aim at Facebook following the Cambridge Analytica debacle for how the company traffics in its users’ data. It’s not clear what authority the FTC would have to break up Facebook. However, the agency is assessing whether Facebook violated the terms of a consent decree the company signed back in 2011 when it allowed Cambridge Analytica to access the data of some 87 million Facebook users when Cambridge Analytica allegedly handled most of the analytics that went into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. US Labor Department sues Oracle for discrimination The U.S. Labor Department filed a federal complaint against Oracle last week claiming the company owes some $400 million in lost wages to women and people of color. The Labor Department says only 11 of 500 people hired into technical jobs over a four-year period were African American or Hispanic and that 5,000 women and 11,000 Asian employees were also underpaid by as much as 20% compared to their white male counterparts. MIT report says Amazon’s facial recognition technology is biased A new MIT study says that Amazon’s facial recognition technology is biased against women and people of color. The study found that Amazon’s Rekognition classified a disproportionate number of women as men. Mignon Clyburn appointed to new Artificial Intelligence advisory group The Secretaries of Defense and Commerce and top Republicans and Democrats in Congress appointed former FCC Chairman and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to serve on the newly-created National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which will advise the U.S. government on national security and competition issues related to artificial intelligence. Former Alphabet CEO Eric Schmidt will Chair the Commission and Clyburn will serve with Oracle CEO Safra Catz and executives from Google and Microsoft among others. The Commission was created by the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act and has a $10 million budget through 2020.

  Bio Lauren Rhue is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems and Analytics at the Wake Forest School of Business where she’s also an Exxon-Wayne Calloway Rising Faculty Fellow. Her research uses empirical and econometric methods to explore the economic and social implications of technology. Dr. Rhue is also interested in investigating the economic implications of technology platforms for traditionally disadvantaged populations. She earned her Bachelor’s in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford and her Ph.D. in Information Systems from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Resources Wake Forest University School of Business Racial Influence on Automated Perceptions of Emotions by Lauren Rhue (Wake Forest University School of Business, 2018) Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World by Bruce Schneier

  H. Claire Brown: How an FDA Algorithm is Killing Bodegas (Ep. 169) The New Food Economy’s Claire Brown joined Joe Miller to discuss how an FDA algorithm is killing bodegas by flagging otherwise legal transactions as fraud. Bio H. Claire Brown (@hclaire_brown) is a staff writer for The New Food Economy focusing on food policy and the environment. Her reporting has won awards from the Newswomen’s Club of New York and the New York Press Club. She is based in Brooklyn. Resources New Food Economy How an Algorithm kicks small businesses out of the food stamp program on dubious fraud charges by Claire Brown Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister News Roundup Federal officials worry about shutdown’s effect on cyber security Federal security officials are worried about the short and long-term harm to the nation’s cybersecurity during the shutdown. They’re worried about losing furloughed talent and about criminals and foreign actors taking advantage of the shutdown to launch cyberattacks. Illinois Congresswoman Robin Kelly issued a strong rebuke against Trump for the shutdown saying it’s immoral and unnecessary. She noted that when she served as the ranking member of the IT subcommittee in the last session of Congress, the subcommittee repeatedly discussed the federal government’s inability to attract top IT and tech talent. She said the shutdown makes federal IT jobs seem even less attractive than they were before. Motherboard paid $300 to a bounty hunter to access customer location info from carriers Remember in 2017 when the Republican-controlled Congress repealed the Obama-FCC’s privacy rules that would have required carriers to obtain opt-in consent from customers before sharing their data? Well, Motherboard’s Joseph Cox reported last week that he paid just 300 bucks to a bounty hunter to identify the location of a phone. This is exactly the kind of harm the privacy rules were designed to prevent. The Motherboard investigation found that all the bounty hunter had to do was purchase the location data that ultimately came from T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint and voilá – here’s your phone … or the phone of that person you’re stalking … So House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone demanded an emergency briefing from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai … Pai declined, citing the shutdown --- claiming that the issue wasn’t a “threat to the safety of human life or property.” AG nominee Barr to recuse himself from AT&T/Time Warner merger appeal Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar announced last week that Trump’s attorney general nominee William Barr assured her in a private meeting that he would recuse himself from the AT&T/Time Warner Merger. The Justice Department is appealing a lower court’s decision to approve the $85 billion merger of the two companies. Barr’s Senate confirmation hearing takes place today, Tuesday, January 15. Google shareholder sues for $90 million Andy Rubin payout Google shareholder James Martin filed a lawsuit against the company last week for its $90 million payout to former executive Andy Rubin after he left the company amidst sexual harassment allegations. The complaint alleges a “multi-year scheme to cover up sexual harassment and discrimination at Alphabet” and claims the board, including Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, breached their fiduciary duties as board members and as executives who set the internal tone that enabled extramarital affairs at the company. Thune/Wicker switch roles on the Senate Commerce Committee South Dakota Republican John Thune has stepped down as Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and now heads up the Communications Subcommittee. Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker now Chairs the full committee. Trump administration proposes to allow drones to fly at night The Federal Aviation Administration issued proposed rules Monday that would allow small commercial drones to fly over cities at night.  Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao says she’s keenly aware of the safety concerns.  

  H. Claire Brown: How an FDA Algorithm is Killing Bodegas (Ep. 169) The New Food Economy’s Claire Brown joined Joe Miller to discuss how an FDA algorithm is killing bodegas by flagging otherwise legal transactions as fraud. Bio H. Claire Brown (@hclaire_brown) is a staff writer for The New Food Economy focusing on food policy and the environment. Her reporting has won awards from the Newswomen’s Club of New York and the New York Press Club. She is based in Brooklyn. Resources New Food Economy How an Algorithm kicks small businesses out of the food stamp program on dubious fraud charges by Claire Brown Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister News Roundup Federal officials worry about shutdown’s effect on cyber security Federal security officials are worried about the short and long-term harm to the nation’s cybersecurity during the shutdown. They’re worried about losing furloughed talent and about criminals and foreign actors taking advantage of the shutdown to launch cyberattacks. Illinois Congresswoman Robin Kelly issued a strong rebuke against Trump for the shutdown saying it’s immoral and unnecessary. She noted that when she served as the ranking member of the IT subcommittee in the last session of Congress, the subcommittee repeatedly discussed the federal government’s inability to attract top IT and tech talent. She said the shutdown makes federal IT jobs seem even less attractive than they were before. Motherboard paid $300 to a bounty hunter to access customer location info from carriers Remember in 2017 when the Republican-controlled Congress repealed the Obama-FCC’s privacy rules that would have required carriers to obtain opt-in consent from customers before sharing their data? Well, Motherboard’s Joseph Cox reported last week that he paid just 300 bucks to a bounty hunter to identify the location of a phone. This is exactly the kind of harm the privacy rules were designed to prevent. The Motherboard investigation found that all the bounty hunter had to do was purchase the location data that ultimately came from T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint and voilá – here’s your phone … or the phone of that person you’re stalking … So House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone demanded an emergency briefing from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai … Pai declined, citing the shutdown --- claiming that the issue wasn’t a “threat to the safety of human life or property.” AG nominee Barr to recuse himself from AT&T/Time Warner merger appeal Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar announced last week that Trump’s attorney general nominee William Barr assured her in a private meeting that he would recuse himself from the AT&T/Time Warner Merger. The Justice Department is appealing a lower court’s decision to approve the $85 billion merger of the two companies. Barr’s Senate confirmation hearing takes place today, Tuesday, January 15. Google shareholder sues for $90 million Andy Rubin payout Google shareholder James Martin filed a lawsuit against the company last week for its $90 million payout to former executive Andy Rubin after he left the company amidst sexual harassment allegations. The complaint alleges a “multi-year scheme to cover up sexual harassment and discrimination at Alphabet” and claims the board, including Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, breached their fiduciary duties as board members and as executives who set the internal tone that enabled extramarital affairs at the company. Thune/Wicker switch roles on the Senate Commerce Committee South Dakota Republican John Thune has stepped down as Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and now heads up the Communications Subcommittee. Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker now Chairs the full committee. Trump administration proposes to allow drones to fly at night The Federal Aviation Administration issued proposed rules Monday that would allow small commercial drones to fly over cities at night.  Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao says she’s keenly aware of the safety concerns.  

Bio Kimberly Tignor (@Kim_Tignor) is the Public Policy Director for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Ms. Tignor manages a portfolio that includes education, voting rights, employment discrimination, fair housing, affirmative action, criminal justice, and immigration. In addition, she manages the Judicial Diversity Program of the Lawyers’ Committee. Ms. Tignor has spent her career immersed in the most pressing of legal issues surrounding underprivileged persons and advancing the causes of equality and social justice. She is particularly well-versed in working across multicultural issues and topics of key interest to people of color. Her impressive legal experience spans from directing policy at the National Bar Association, the nation’s oldest and largest national network of African American legal professionals, to coordinating state and national level pipeline and advocacy efforts for Presidential judicial nominees at the VENG Group, the leading government affairs firm consulting group representing Presidential nominees to the federal judiciary. During her time with the Georgetown Law Juvenile Justice Clinic, Ms. Tignor studied the impact of laws on adolescents and advocated for a higher quality of rehabilitation services within the justice system. Ms. Tignor Chairs the National Bar Association Judicial Evaluations Committee and is an active member of the organization’s Civil Rights Law and Legislative Affairs Sections. In her local community, she is a board member of the DC Ward 4 Democrats, a member of the Potomac (VA) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and the DC Lawyers for Youth. Ms. Tignor has been a guest speaker for numerous panels including C-Span’s After Words, the American Bar Association Commission of Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the profession, and the Washington Bar Association. Ms. Tignor was recently recognized by On Being a Lawyer of Color as one of the country’s top lawyers under the age of 40. Kimberly Tignor is a proud Washington DC native. She received her JD from Georgetown University, and an undergraduate degree in Economics and Information Technology from the College of William and Mary. Resources Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Creative Control News Roundup Outgoing Congress fails to reinstate net neutrality The House of Representatives failed to vote on a Senate-passed resolution that would have reinstated the 2015 open internet rules the FCC repealed after Trump took office. A lawsuit from consumer advocates and state attorneys general is still pending in the DC Circuit, with oral arguments set for next month. The FCC says the lawsuits are moot since they’ve already repealed the rules. Apple lowers revenue forecast Apple lowered its revenue forecast last week citing uncertainty about tensions with China. Apple CEO Tim Cook revised the company’s first quarter forecast down by some $9 billion. The report sent stocks down early last week. But the market was up 700 points at the end of the week after reports of strong unemployment numbers. FCC back up to 5 commissioners The FCC is back up to 5 commissioners after the Senate confirmed Democrat Jeffrey Starks and re-confirmed Republican Brendan Carr. Airbnb blocks New York City host identity lawsuit Airbnb has won a legal victory in a federal lawsuit it brought against the City of New York for a law requiring the homesharing company to disclose the names and addresses of hosts to the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement. The court issued a preliminary injunction against the new law which was supposed to go into effect in February. Warner/Rubio propose new White House cyber office Senators Mark Warner and Marco Rubio proposed bi-partisan legislation last week that seeks to establish a new White House office of Critical Technology and Security. The new office would be tasked with dealing with increasing cyberthreats from China. Marriott: Hackers accessed 5 million passport numbers Marriott reported last week that its November data breach allowed hackers to access some 5 million unencrypted passport numbers. Over twenty million total passport numbers were swiped, including encrypted ones. Marriott also claims that 117 million fewer guests were affected by the breach. It now says 383 million guests had their data breached—that’s down from the 500 million it claimed back in November.

Bio A Mexican American with a creative background and an untraditional career path, Ambar Januel (@ambarjanuel) is a marketing strategist and branding expert for non-profits and innovative tech companies. With a focus on social impact, her partners utilize future technologies to disrupt the system, while prioritizing diversity and inclusion, community engagement, and social justice. Tech startup project manager, turned creative director, turned agency co-founder, Ambar currently works independently as a strategist, bringing marketing, event production, and branding skills together through her work. She has spoken at a variety of conferences and has been featured in many publications, including 7in7, BBC Media, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Digital LA, Honeybook, WeRule, and more. Resources Ambar Januel Good Call Call Them by Their True Names by Rebecca Solnit News Roundup NAACP launches Facebook boycott for targeting people of color The NAACP has launched a boycott of Facebook following reports that the Kremlin specifically used Facebook and other social media to recruit African Americans and other people of color to support Donald Trump. The NAACP is calling on Facebook users to log out of Facebook for one day—today, Tuesday. Data analysts from the University of Oxford submitted a report to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, yesterday, analyzing how Russians infiltrated social media to spread pro-Trump propaganda leading up to the 2016 presidential election. We’ve got a link to coverage in the show notes. But Russian operatives working for the Internet Research Agency—the propaganda arm of the Kremlin—sought to entice African Americans and other people of color to host events, start coalitions, and engage in other activities -- on American soil -- to gin up support for Donald Trump. These were leaflets, folks. So even though the Kremlin used other social media platforms -- including Twitter , Google, and others -- to promote propaganda, and the report to the Senate Intelligence Committee says that these companies may have evaded Congress and provided incomplete datasets during testimony over the past year, this was the icing on the cake for the NAACP as far as Facebook’s concerned. The 110-year-old civil rights organization found a persistent pattern of anti-democratic tactics that have repeatedly implicated Facebook since the 2016 election cycle. To add insult to injury, Facebook revealed yet another breach affecting private photos of some 6.8 million users. So this goes far beyond smart lawyering. Tech company’s testimony before Congress all year came with legal implications. And, as long as they didn’t commit perjury, disclosing as little as possible is frankly well within their Fifth Amendment rights. But there’s a particular quality to Facebook that’s fundamentally different from other platforms--because it’s so pervasive, and so personal. YouTube has removed 58 million videos in last quarter YouTube reports that it removed some 58 million videos during the past quarter for violating community standards. The Google unit said that 72% of the videos promoted spam or were misleading. YouTube also removed 1.67 million channels during the same period. HuffPo: Cloudflare hosts terror organizations The web giant Cloudflare apparently provides cybersecurity services to at least 7 foreign terrorist organizations and militant groups, according to the Huffington Post. All of the groups are listed on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. Jesselyn Cook has the report in the Huffington Post. AP: Iranian operatives hacked personal emails of American security officials The AP reports that Iranian hackers hacked into the personal email accounts of U.S. officials last month to attempt to thwart the Trump administration’s new sanctions. The AP obtained the data from London-based security firm Certfa. Raphael Satter has more overage in the AP. FCC allows internet service providers to block texts The FCC voted last week to allow internet service providers to block some text messages, supposedly to prevent spam. Opponents say it’s a threat to net neutrality and gives ISPs too much control over content, in this case texts. Manchin blocks Carr nomination West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin moved to block Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s nomination to the the FCC  after the Republican-controlled agency voted to block the expansion of wireless internet service to rural areas. Carr’s term is actually already expired—it expired back on June 30th. And if the current Congress doesn’t vote to approve a new five-year term by January 3rd, which is when the current Congress concludes, and we move into the next session of Congress, Carr will need to step down. However, he could still be renominated and confirmed by the next Senate, which is what happened with Jessica Rosenworcel.

  Alexandra Channer: Automation, Displacement and Slavery in Southeast Asia (Ep. 166) Alexandra Channer joined Joe Miller to discuss how automation is leading to labor abuses and slavery in Southeast Asia. Bio Dr. Alexandra Channer (@channer_alex) is a human rights advisor for business, helping to identify and mitigate impacts resulting from their commercial activities and relationships. She has a technical background in risk analysis and due diligence for labour standards, civil and political rights and community impacts. In her previous role, Alex was principal analyst and head of human rights strategy at Verisk Maplecroft. In this role, Alex supported multinationals with global supply chains in the technology, extractives, food and beverage, and apparel sectors. Areas of focus included modern slavery, human rights defenders and automation. Alex’s approach is enriched by her doctorate in politics - involving eight years of fieldwork on grievance-based mobilisation in Kosovo - as well as experience working in political communications. Alex learnt Albanian in Kosovo and translates plays and books in her spare time. Key services: Modern slavery training workshops and e-learning programmes Gap assessments of human rights management systems Stakeholder consultation    Disclosure statement support Risk and impact assessments Issue briefing, horizon scanning Resources Slavery and labour abuses in SE Asia supply chains set to spiral over the next two decades as automation consumes job market by Alexandra Channer (Verisk Maplecroft, 2018) Confidential documents obtained by UK’s Parliament suggest Facebook sold data Two-hundred fifty pages of confidential documents obtained by a UK Parliamentary committee from a company embroiled in litigation with Facebook in the U.S. seem to reveal that Facebook sold data to certain buyers as it sought to grow. Zuckerberg denies that allegations. But the trove of emails between Facebook and a company called Six4Three contain several communications with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that seem to discredit his assertion that Facebook never sold users’ data. In other Facebook news, The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook’s board of directors backs Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s handling of the anti-Semitic campaign against George Soros. And Facebook plans to a buyback of $9 billion more of its shares to boost investor confidence after a stock slump of more than 40% since July. Verizon’s Oath to pay a $5 million settlement in child data protection lawsuit Verizon’s Oath has agreed to pay $5 million to the New York State attorney general to settle charges that its AOL unit violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, also known as COPPA. It’s the largest settlement paid by a company in COPPA history. New York’s Attorney General had accused AOL of displaying ads on children’s sites even though AOL’s policies prohibited it.  Sapna Maheshwari has more in The New York Times. FCC watchdog clears Pai of collusion with the White House The FCC’s own, internal Inspector General has completed an investigation of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. It found that Pai didn’t violate ethics rules when he failed to disclose conversations he’d had with former White House counsel Don McGahn regarding the Sinclair merger because the FCC’s rules didn’t prohibit the conversation even though the FCC is not a cabinet-level agency and is supposed to be independent of the White House. Margaret Harding McGill has the story in Politico. Google contract employees push for better working conditions Google’s contract employees are pushing for better working conditions. In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Googler’s are calling for inclusion in corporate-wide communications as well as equal pay and better treatment. The contract workers, known internally as TVCs, are also referred to as Google’s “shadow workforce”. And they were excluded from Google’s new policies regarding sexual harassment which the company began implementing following the walkout of thousands of employees world-wide protesting the company’s handling of Andy Rubin’s departure, after he’d been accused of sexual misconduct—an accusation Mr. Rubin has denied. The contract employees say that Google’s $30 billion in profit this year alone is more than enough for the company to compensate them fairly. Google accelerates closure of Google+ Google has found a new bug exposing user data to some 52 million users. The company had already planned to shut down Google+ by the end of next year, but it has accelerated the closure to August. Google CEO Sundar Pichai is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on today, Tuesday, December 11th and the new data breach is sure to be an issue.  

Joseph Kane: The Impact of Automated Vehicles on Your White Collar Job (Ep. 165) Brookings' Joseph Kane joined Joe Miller to talk about how automated vehicles could impact your white collar job--not just those of drivers. Bio Joseph Kane (@jwkane) is a senior research associate and associate fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. Kane’s work focuses on a wide array of built environment issues, including transportation and water infrastructure. Within these areas of research, he has explored infrastructure’s central economic role across different regions as well as its relationship to opportunity and resilience. Across several projects, he has concentrated on the use of innovative datasets, combining them with other qualitative measures to better assess current and future infrastructure needs. From the exploration of metropolitan freight trends to the first-ever analysis of infrastructure jobs at a metropolitan level, he has coordinated the production of new metrics and developed other interactive content to better inform decisions by policymakers and practitioners across the country. Prior to Brookings, Kane was an Economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. He holds a master’s degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from the College of William and Mary. Resources Metropolitan Policy Program @ Brookings How big could the AV industry be? 9.5 million workers and counting by Joseph Kane and Adie Tomer Why the Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown by Sean Stafford News Roundup Consequences Facebook’s poor engagement with people of color taking root The consequences of Facebook’s poor engagement over the years with people of color began to take hold last week. On Tuesday, USA Today’s Jessica Guynn reported on a former black Facebook employee – Mark Luckie – who says the company has a deep seated race problem both internally and on the platform. Luckie wrote an internal blog post on Facebook earlier this month—to management and employees—that later went public—saying the platform itself actively works against black people. He says that Facebook works against attempts by black users to create safe spaces on Facebook, amplifies some users over others using class-based criteria, which effectively dilutes black voices, and fails to hire a workforce that reflects the demographics of its user base. Color of Change CEO Rashad Robinson met with Sheryl Sandberg on Thursday. Politico reported that it was a victory, but then went on to talk about all of the ways in which it really wasn’t. For example, Facebook hasn’t committed to release records on its work with Definers Public Affairs to engage in promoting far right, anti-Semitic attacks against George Soros. It was a campaign that also targeted Color of Change. Robinson also told Politico that Sandberg defended Joel Kaplan. Apparently Sandberg, according to Politico’s account of the meeting, offered a sincere apology and Mark Zuckerberg popped his head in. But really, who cares. Sandberg did agree to a civil rights audit that Color of Change would conduct and agreed to have a public debate on the results of the audit. But that’s really non-negotiable since they have to do something to prevent a boycott. Also, a New York Times report out the same day Robinson met with Sandberg suggested that Sandberg directed the communications team in their research of George Soros’s financial interests and actually sent an email asking if Soros had  shorted Facebook’s stock. A lot of people are just sort of wondering why Sheryl Sandberg, Mark Zuckerberg and Joel Kaplan should keep their jobs. But would that solve Facebook’s race issues? Mattis says Russia interfered in midterms Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said over the weekend during an interview at the Ronald Reagan Public library that Russian operatives attempted to interfere with the U.S. election. He said the Trump administration’s relationship with Russia has deteriorated. Mattis’ remarks came a couple of days after Trump canceled his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit amidst Michael Cohen’s guilty plea for making misstatements to Congress in the investigation into the Trump administration’s business dealings with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Marriott hack affects 500 million guests Marriott reported a hack that apparently affected some 500 million of its Starwood guests, exposing personal information including home addresses, passport numbers, drivers’ license numbers, names, and other personal details. New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood is investigating the breach. The company has known about the breach since early September. Nexstar to acquire Tribune Nextstar has announced plans to acquire Tribune Media for $4.1 billion, making it the largest tv station owner in the U.S. The merger would add 42 stations to Nexstar’s portfolio bringing its total number of stations to 216 in 118 markets, just under the FCC’s 39% ownership threshold. The deal comes after Sinclair failed in its bid for Tribune earlier this year. Delrahim for AG? CNN reports that President Trump may be considering Makan Delrahim to replace Jeff Sessions as US Attorney General.  Currently, Delrahim is the Assistant Attorney General who sued AT&T to stop its acquisition of Time Warner—he lost. That deal went through. Some are still debating whether the president directed Delrahim to stop the merger. Delrahim denies this. But if he did act at Trump’s behest, the Attorney General job would be a big reward—ya think? FBI Charges 8 in Ad-fraud scheme The FBI charged eight individuals last week in an ad fraud scheme. The men face 13 charges for allegedly scheming to infect 1.7 million computers and drive traffic to counterfeit websites serving up ads. Craig Silverman has a detailed report in BuzzFeed News. DOJ Indicts 2 Iranians for Ransomware Attacks The Department of justice indicted 2 men in connection with an alleged Iranian ransomware plot since 2015 that has caused some $30 million in financial damage to city universities, governments and hospitals, including the City of Atlanta. Officials say the scheme, known as SamSam, affected more than 200 victims and led to some $6 million in ransom payments. Brian Fung has the story in the Washington Post. Google employees pledge $200k to help striking employees Some Google employees have banded together to create a $200k fund to help striking engineers who are opposing Google’s work on a censored search engine in China. The project is known as Project Dragonfly and hundreds of engineers oppose the effort and signed a letter to that effect last week.  

  Chiqui Cartagena: The Public Policy Implications of Hispanic Marketing (Ep. 164) Chiqui Cartagena joined Joe Miller to discuss the public policy implications of Hispanic marketing amidst an increased demand for Latino data. Bio Chiqui Cartagena (@ChiquiCartagena) is the author of Latino Boom II and most recently served as senior vice president of the Political & Advocacy Group at Univision Communications Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America. At Univision, she was responsible for increasing the understanding of the importance of Hispanic voter and the key political issues that affect them among key political constituents across the country. In 2014, Ms. Cartagena was named one of Campaigns & Elections "50 Influencers". In 2013, she was recognized with a Multiethnic TV Leadership Award from Broadcasting & Cable magazine and in 2012, Cartagena received the ADCOLOR® Legend Award in recognition of her tireless efforts in leading the conversation about the Hispanic market. In 2007, she was named the Hispanic Direct Marketing Professional of the Year by the Direct Marketing Association. And finally, she is the author of Latino Boom II, Catch the Biggest Wave Since the Baby Boom, her second book on the Hispanic market which was published in 2013. Ms. Cartagena is a Hispanic media and marketing pioneer with 25 years of experience developing, launching, and leading some of America’s most successful Spanish-language consumer magazines, including People en Español and TV Guide en Español. She has also developed many integrated marketing programs for leading consumer brands to successfully reach the Latino community. Her career also includes senior roles as a broadcast journalist, having previously worked in the news divisions of Univision and Telemundo. Ms. Cartagena, a graduate of the University of Miami, is a member of the Awards Committee for National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and lives in New York City. Resources Latino Boom Nielsen LatinX The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century by George Friedman News Roundup Can Facebook overcome its woes with Zuckerberg and Sandberg still leading the company? Facebook, which has lost about $100 billion in market value since March, can’t seem to right itself after a year of the Cambridge Analytica and election interference debacle. The UK Parliament got hold of senior level communications from a company in the U.S. called Six4Thirty which is suing Facebook. Six4Thirty, whose core business model was scanning Facebook data for bikini photos, obtained the communications in the discovery process in an attempt to establish that Facebook knew about the loophole it used to obtain Facebook’s users data, which was allegedly the same loophole that Cambridge Analytica used. Some of the communications are said to be from Mark Zuckerberg himself. So normally, the communications would be shielded from disclosure as the matter is being litigated. But it just so happens that Damian Collins, the Chair of the Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sports select committee, caught wind of the fact that one of Six4Thirty’s founders was in London—bringing the company within the UK’s jurisdiction. So that enabled Collins to seize the documents by sending a Serjeant at Arms to the founder’s hotel room and requiring him to turn over the documents within 2 hours or face a fine or potential jail time. So there’s that. And as far as Facebook’s hiring of a lobbying firm that allegedly worked to play into anti-Semitism against George Soros, Facebook’s head of public policy Elliot Schrage announced in an internal memo that he was responsible for hiring the firm. However, he said that it was never his intention to play into anti-semitism. Facebook COO Cheryl Sandberg weighed in in a comment, saying that she was ultimately responsible. Schrage has been planning to leave the company for some time, and he will be replaced by former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Calls by some shareholders and others for Mark Zuckerberg and Cheryl Sandberg to step down from at least some of their responsibilities has fallen on deaf ears. As Zuckerberg said in a CBS Business Interview that, while he apologized for the company’s woes, said that stepping down or replacing Sandberg is “not the plan”. Can Amazon be humbled by pushback from its workforce? Amazon has huge, global aspirations. But will the company go as far as it needs to in order to resolve internal labor disputes? In the U.S., Amazon raised its minimum wage to $15 per hour but eliminated other perks, including employee benefits. But on Black Friday, thousands of European workers went on strike, demanding better pay and working conditions. All of this is happening amidst Amazon’s aggressive expansion efforts beyond ecommerce. For example, the company is bidding for 21st Century Fox’s 22 Regional Sports assets—including YES TV which broadcasts the New York Yankees. The Wall Street Journal also reports that Amazon is now the Number 3 digital advertising platform, behind just Google and Facebook, with ad sales growth projected to be at over 400% between 2017 and 2020, way ahead of second-place Tencent in China whose ad sales growth is projected to be at just under 200%. Roger Stone crony Jerome Corsi says he won’t take FBI plea deal Conspiracy theorist and Roger Stone ally Jermone Corsi told CNN that Robert Mueller offered him a plea deal on one count of perjury connected with statements Corsi made saying that he had no communication with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Trump confidante Stone himself said that he’d never had direct communication with Assange either, saying that he got all of his info through a backchannel alleged to be New York radio personality Randy Credico, which Credico has denied. Russian hacking is resurgence American officials and security firms are reporting that Russian hacking efforts are on an uptick following the U.S. midterm elections. The hackers are apparently trying to test the waters with the new Congress coming in. But experts are concerned that we won’t know the full scale of the hackers’ capabilities until the 2020 presidential election. Is China’s TikTok the next big video karaoke app? Axios has a report on the growth of TikTok, which has seen impressive user growth over the last year. The platform is now up to 7.2 million monthly users. It’s now ranked in the Top 5 U.S. apps in both Google Play and  the iOS app store and its global monthly usage comes in around 130 million. So some are asking how big TikTok can become in the U.S. NASA lands on Mars again For the 8th time, NASA has landed on Mars. This time, the rover Insight will explore Mars’ interior, digging beneath the red planet’s surface to determine its origins. It’s expected to be a 2-year mission. Trump ponders state-run TV network Is President Trump considering establishing a state-run TV network? Some think he is and it follows the same playbook as most dictators.

  Sahra V. Nguyen: Public Policy as a Creative Spark (Ep. 163) Sahra Nguyen joined Joe Miller to chat about her new Brooklyn-based coffee venture—Nguyen Coffee Supply. Bi0 Sahra Nguyen is an award-winning filmmaker, entrepreneur, and founder/CEO of Nguyen Coffee Supply. Currently based in Brooklyn, NY, Nguyen is also the co-founder of podcast agency Listening Party and a member of the 2018 Google Next Gen Tech Policy Leaders. In 2018, Nguyen launched Nguyen Coffee Supply—the first-ever Vietnamese-American owned importer, supplier, and roaster of green coffee beans from Vietnam—as a way to showcase the diversity of single-origin arabica and robusta. She works directly with a fourth-generation Vietnamese coffee farmer from Da Lat in the Central Highlands, whose beans are certified clean and organic in Vietnam. As the daughter of Vietnamese refugees in Boston, MA, the company’s name is a nod to Nguyen’s Vietnamese heritage. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a double major in Asian American Studies and World Arts & Cultures, served as the Director of the Writing Success Program at UCLA, and published an e-book of poetry exploring themes of identity, race in America, and the Vietnamese-American experience. Building on her love of storytelling, in 2015 Nguyen started her own production company, One Ounce Gold. Her first self-produced documentary web series, “Maker's Lane," evolved into a brand new series for NBC News entitled "Self-Starters,” a show about Asian American entrepreneurs around the country. Helping launch the video channel for NBC Asian America, "Self-Starters" was nominated for the EPPY Awards and LA Press Club Awards. In mid-2016, Nguyen sold her second documentary series to NBC News, "Deported," which follows the grassroots fight to end deportation of Cambodian-Americans from the U.S. to Cambodia. "Deported" was nominated alongside CNN's Lisa Ling's "This is Life" and won the 2018 NAMIC Vision Award for Best Digital Media, Long Form. With a passion to constantly take on new challenges, Nguyen, along with three friends (all under the age of 30), opened up their first storefront business Lucy's Vietnamese Kitchen, in Bushwick, NY, in March of 2015. Within the first 9 months, Lucy's Vietnamese Kitchen won "Best Vietnamese Restaurant" by popular vote and has been featured in The New York Times, Time Out New York, Zagat, VICE, and more. Follow Sahra Nguyen on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin. Resources Sahra V. Nguyen Nguyen Coffee Supply ‘Deported’ on NBC News Roundup Bombshell New York Times report reveals Facebook’s political machinations A bombshell New York Times report last week cast new light on the extent to which Facebook sought to contain accusations that it was enabling Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Apparently, the company sought to promote the image that the company knew nothing about Russia’s interference while, at the same time, Mark Zuckerberg was kept in the dark. But internally, while Joel Kaplan and Cheryl Sandberg were doing their magic on the Hill working their Harvard connections, Facebook kept uncovering new evidence that Russians continued to use the platform to protect president Trump and spread propaganda in advance of the election and beyond. The New York Times also reports that the company apparently also hired lobbyists, such as Definers Public Affairs, to help the company oppose its critics. In a video-conferenced all-hands meeting on Friday, Zuckerberg defended the company saying the New York Times report was unfair and untrue, even as Cheryl Sandberg accepted responsibility for hiring Definers Public Affairs. And another report by the Wall Street Journal found that Zuckerberg himself pointed fingers at Sandberg, blaming her for the Cambridge Analytica fallout. Reuters: Russians impersonating State Department officials Reuters reports that Russian hackers have been impersonating at least one State Department official, Heather Nauert, over email trying to get other officials to download malicious code. Security firms CrowdStrike and FireEye uncovered the effort. But Russia denies involvement. Julian Assange back in spotlight Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who played a key role releasing hacked emails during the 2016 presidential election, is back in the spotlight. George Washington University Program on Extremism researcher Seamus Hughes uncovered a court filing which found that the Department of Justice appears to be pressing sealed charges against Assange. The Hill also reports that Ecuadorian officials have grown weary of granting Assange asylum at their embassy in London since 2012. If they evict Assange, Assange could be extradited back to the U.S. The American Civil Liberties Union opposes prosecuting Assange, claiming that doing so would be a First Amendment violation. Nation’s only African American network chief to step down ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey, who is African American, is stepping down from the company as Disney seeks to restructure the company in advance of closing on its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets next year. Dungey is the only African American network head in the country, and she’s been with the company for 14 years. She’s been responsible for launching ‘Scandal’, “black-ish” and the “The Good Doctor”. But ABC has seen overall ratings decline 10%, with an 18% decline among adults 18-49 according to The Wall Street Journal. JD.com’s chief shifting focus China-based ecommerce giant JD.com’s chief has announced that he will delegate more responsibilities. It’s seen as a long-term move to groom his replacement. Richard Liu was arrested in Minnesota in September for alleged “criminal sexual misconduct” with a Chinese student at the University of Minnesota. The company’s share price has also dropped 55% since January amidst the U.S.-China trade war. Snap subpoenaed on IPO disclosures Reuters reports that the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission have subpoenaed Snap to uncover whether the company downplayed competition from Instagram during its initial public offering (IPO) in March of 2017. Snap’s share price has tumbled down to $6.71 per share from its offering price of $17 per share. TV station groups settle with DOJ over ad sales collusion allegations Six tv station groups the Department of Justice alleges colluded to fix ad sales prices have settled. Sinclair, Raycom, Tribune, Meredith, Griffin, and Dreamcatcher all settled. The settlement simply requires the station groups not to share nonpublic pricing data with each other for 7 years. There are no penalties, according to Meredith. A private class action by advertisers against the station groups is still in progress.    

  Jonathan Friebert: Public Policy and the Future of Retail: A Starter's Guide (Ep. 162) Jonathan Friebert, U.S. Head of Public Policy of China's largest retailer, JD.com, joined us to discuss the public policies that are most crucial to the future of retail. Bio Jonathan Friebert (@friebs) is the head of U.S. Government Relations for JD.com--China's largest retailer. He has more than 20 years of Fortune 50, political, non-profit and governmental experience. Previously, he was at Microsoft where he helped partners, entrepreneurs, customers and consumers advocate for positive technology public policies through overseeing Microsoft's Voices for Innovation (VFI) initiative: a community of more than 100,000 technology leaders in the U.S. who engage with government leaders. Through VFI, he spearheaded traditional and digital grassroots on issues such as competition policy, STEM funding, high-skilled immigration reform, online privacy, software piracy, cloud computing regulations, security, IP protection and government procurement mandates. Before Microsoft, he was with the PepsiCo government affairs team where he managed several Midwest states as well as federal issues impacting the Gatorade and Quaker Oats brands. This includes bottle deposit bills, food labeling, school breakfast and lunch funding, R&D tax credits and soft drink taxes. Jonathan led an effort on a significant legislative threat to Gatorade business around banning soft drinks in schools. He implemented a successful campaign to protect Gatorade in multiple states. Jonathan also served in the Clinton Administration as a political appointee in the Immediate Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Resources JD.com Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Thomas Friedman News Roundup Tech leads Dow drop of 600 points Market uncertainty in the tech sector led to a 600 point drop across the Dow in Monday’s trading. Apple’s 5% decline led to a selloff across oil, manufacturing, entertainment and beyond, as investors moved some of their assets to the more stable real estate market—the only sector that rose MMnday at .2%. Amazon will spilt their second headquarters between New York City and Crystal City in Arlington, VA Amazon is expected to announce that it will spit its second headquarters between Northern Virginia and Long Island City in Queens, according to several media outlets, including NPR and the New York Times. The cities beat out 238 proposals across the country. Boeing failed to train pilots on dangerous flight control feature that led to crash in Indonesia Safety experts and midlevel Federal Aviation Administration investigators have  found that Boeing never trained pilots on a dangerous flight control feature that can unexpectedly push down the nose of a Boeing 737. That’s the model that crashed in in Indonesia last month, killing all 189 people on board. The New York Times notes that the plane crashed into the ocean at 400 miles per hour within seconds—a force so strong that it reduced some of the plane’s metal fittings to powder.  The safety feature was apparently intended to prevent the plane from stalling if the nose goes up too high. But it can force the plane down unexpectedly, which can cause pilots to lose control, according to report. FBI and Homeland: No significant foreign influence on midterms Both the FBI and Department of Homeland security concluded that there were no significant efforts by foreign agents to breach the U.S. midterm elections. At a press briefing, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Neilsen said that the main concern was disinformation on social media, but that there was no evidence of breaches into election machines. Google, Facebook, eBay, and Airbnb end forced arbitration in employment agreements Following Google’s lead, Facebook, eBay and Airbnb have all removed forced arbitration provisions from their employment policies. The companies moved to end forced arbitration after thousands of Google employees worldwide staged a protest a couple of weeks ago, in protest of the $90 million Google paid Android creator Andy Rubin when he left the company amidst sexual harassment allegations that a Google investigation had found credible. DEA and ICE are hiding surveillance equipment in streetlights The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have begun to hide surveillance equipment within streetlights, according to a Quartz analysis of federal contracting documents. The DEA apparently paid a company called Cowboy Streetlight Concealments out of Houston some $22,000 since June for “video recording and reproducing equipment”. ICE paid about $28,000 to the same company since then as well. Motel 6 corporate to pay $7.6 million settlement after a franchise owner faxed guests’ names to ICE Finally, The Motel 6 hotel chain will pay a $7.6 million settlement to class action litigants after a Motel 6 franchise owner in Warwick, Rhode Island routinely faxed the names of Hispanic guests to the local police department. Another location in Arizona sent guest names directly to ICE. Motel 6 the corporation has denied wrongdoing.

  Amy Cappellanti-Wolf: How to Instill a Culture of Mutual Respect (Ep. 161) Symantec’s Chief Human Resources Officer Amy Cappellanti-Wolf joined Joe Miller to discuss Symantec's efforts to instill a culture of mutual respect on diverse teams.  Bio Amy Cappellanti-Wolf (@amycappellanti) is CHRO at Symantec in Mountain View, CA. As CHRO, Amy leads the Global HR, Workforce Planning and Real Estate organizations. With more than three decades of experience leading companies across high tech, entertainment and consumer products industries through complex transformations, Amy is a proven organizational design and development leader and executive coach focusing on talent as the key driver of business growth. Amy specializes in helping businesses survive and thrive while undergoing deep transformation. Her focus areas include Business Transformation and Change Management, Organizational Design and Process Management, Business Partnership, Communication Strategy Facilitation, and Diversity in Tech. As CHRO at Symantec, Amy has successfully led the global organizational operating model, structure, change management and integration strategies for large scale acquisitions and divestitures. She has led effectiveness strategies related to organization and people optimization, and delivered systemic program and metrics related to structure, workforce planning, talent, and real estate consolidation. Amy has deep experience in architecting HR Operating Models in support of the business with her most recent emphasis on building Talent Development and HR Solutions capability. She has delivered high-impact automation and predictive data analytics and reporting, reducing operating expense, while improving operational effectiveness. In the real estate space, she has integrated workforce planning with real estate optimization, significantly reducing operating costs while also delivering award-winning workspaces for better collaboration and productivity, among other successes. Prior to joining Symantec, Amy was CHRO at Silver Spring Networks, where she led Global HR, Real Estate, and Technical Education organizations. Amy helped to deliver a successful IPO in March 2013. She established HR infrastructure, programs, and technology to drive global scale for the fast growing hardware, software, and services business, and she led several organizational companywide restructures. Amy built and ramped a professional talent acquisition team, doubled the employee population in less than eighteen months, implemented various automation and information systems, and opened up the European, South American, and Asian offices. From 2001 to 2009, Amy held key human resources roles at Cisco Systems, where she developed innovative leadership development programs and processes. She directly contributed to Cisco’s globalization efforts by developing workforce planning and global mobility practices to resource new and emerging capabilities outside of the US. Specifically, Amy led HR for the U.S. Enterprise Sales team; Worldwide Marketing; Business Functions; and the Decision Support, Services and Operations Businesses. Prior to Cisco, Amy also led HR teams at Sun Microsystems, The Walt Disney Company, and Frito-Lay. Amy provides ongoing support of children and foster children as a Board member of the non-profit Silicon Valley Children’s Fund. She was recently named one of the top 50 most influential women tech leaders by the National Diversity Council. Amy holds an M.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations and a B.S. in Journalism and Public Relations, both from West Virginia University. She is a frequent speaker and lecturer at industry-related conferences. Resources Symantec News Roundup Supreme Court declines to overturn ruling to uphold the 2015 net neutrality rules The Supreme Court has declined to overturn the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling to uphold the 2015 net neutrality rules. Although the F.C.C. overturned the rules itself, and another lawsuit is working its way through the court’s, the Supreme Court’s denial to hear the original case preserves the FCC’s ability to regulate the internet like a public utility. Harper Niedig reports in the Hill. Google employees stage worldwide walkouts for company’s handling of sexual harassment; Sundar Pichai supports Thousands of Google employees staged walkouts around the world in protest of Google’s handling of Android creator Andy Rubin’s exit from the company, which was mired in sexual harassment allegations which he denies. In a bombshell report, The New York Times had reported that Google paid Rubin some $90 million after he left, even though an internal investigation at Google found the allegations against him to be credible. Protesting staffers are demanding an end to forced arbitration for discrimination and harassment claims, a commitment to pay and opportunity equity, a publicly-disclosed sexual harassment transparency report, a clear and uniform way to report sexual harassment, and a promotion of the Chief of Diversity Officer to direct-report status to the CEO. CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in support of the protests. Amazon commences paying workers $15/hour minimum wage Amazon has commenced paying workers a $15/hour minimum wage. It began on November first, and Amazon called on its competitors to follow suit. None of the big box retailers have set a minimum wage of $15 per hour. Google’s Susan Molinari to step down Susan Molinari—who has served at the head of Google’s Washington office for nearly seven years—will be stepping down from her post. The former Republican representative will remain on board as a Senior Advisor. Molinari sites family changes as the reason for stepping down. Facebook, Twitter fail to respond to aftermath of Pittsburgh massacre Facebook and Twitter both failed to adequately respond to the aftermath of the Pittsburgh massacre that left 11 Jewish congregants dead. The Intercept reports that Facebook allowed advertisers to use “white genocide” as a target keyword, and Twitter found itself apologizing for allowing “Kill all Jews” to be a trending topic. An uptick in hate speech on Instagram Columbia University media researcher Jonathan Albright found an uptick in hate speech appearing on Instagram. He found numerous instances of hashtags like #soros49 #maga #libtards and others associated with hate speech. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. Sens. Klobuchar/Warner: Facebook’s political ad transparency tools are ‘unacceptable’ Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mark Warner – both Democrats -- sent a letter to Facebook last week urging them to improve their political ad transparency tools saying they’re ‘unacceptable’ since they’re still capable display the wrong sources of funding for ad campaigns. The letter followed Vice News’ successful, experimental attempts to purchase Facebook ads posting as Mike Pence, the Islamic State in Iraq and all 100 Senators. U.S. charges 10 Chinese intelligence agents with commercial hacking The Trump administration has unsealed charges against 10 Chinese intelligence agents the U.S. accuses of engaging in a persistent campaign to hack into American aviation companies in Arizona, Massachusetts, Oregon, and elsewhere. The Chinese embassy in Washington denies the allegations. Back in 2015, former U.S. President  Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an accord to refrain from conducting cyber operations against the other. But now some experts are saying that the Trump administration’s aggressive stance towards China has led the world’s second largest economy to stop enforcing the accord. Aruna Viswanatha and Dustin Volz have the report for the Wall Street Journal. 56 major companies oppose Trump administration’s efforts to erase legal protections for transgender people Fifty-six companies, including Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Lyft, Twitter and others issued a business statement opposing the Trump administration’s plans to remove legal protections for transgender people. The statement calls for “respect and transparency in policy-making, and for equality under the law for transgender people.” HBO and Cinemax go dark for first time in 40 years AT&T’s HBO and Cinemax went dark last week after they couldn’t reach a carriage deal with Dish Networks. HBO said it’s the first time in 40 years they’ve gone dark. Dish accuses AT&T of preventing other carriers from accessing HBO. The dispute involves subscriber guarantees Dish would have to meet in order to carry HBO. Hackers continue to target U.S. elections Hackers have ramped up efforts to target the United States’ election infrastructure, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Attempts have largely been thwarted. But the agency is seeing as many as 10 hacking attempts per day. Atlantic: Democrats significantly outspent Republicans on Facebook Democrats have significantly outspent Republicans on Facebook with 63.5% of political spending on the platform, compared to just 17.8% for Republicans, according to the Atlantic. Democrats spent $9.4 million while Republicans have spent just $2.7 million. Alexis Madrigal reports in the Atlantic. California gives Waymo green light to test on public roads Finally, the state of California has given Waymo the green light to conduct tests of robot cars without human drivers on public roads. Waymo is the first company to which California has granted the privilege. The permit allows Waymo to test 40 cars on roads with speed limits up to 65 miles per hour.  

Brook Bello: Tech and Tech Policy Solutions to End Sex Trafficking (Ep. 160) Brook Bello joined Joe Miller to discuss how tech policies can help end sex trafficking. Bio Dr. Brook Bello (@BrookBello) is Founder and CEO/ED of More Too Life, Inc., -- an anti-sexual violence, human trafficking and youth crime prevention organization that was named by United Way Worldwide as one of the best in the nation. A sought-after international speaker and champion against human trafficking, Dr. Bello has been recognized with countless achievement awards, fellowships and appointment, she was recently named a Google Next Gen Policy Leader, with the ability to learn from leading Google executives and other leaders in profound aspects that deal with world issues in relation to tech and tech policy. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the 44thPresident of the United States and the White House in December 2016. She also received the advocate of the year in the state of Florida from Florida Governor Rick Scott and Florida Attorney Pam Bondi’s Human Trafficking Council. Dr. Bello is also the author of innovative root cause focused successful curricula such as, RJEDE™ (Restorative Justice End Demand Education) -- a court appointed and volunteer course for violators of sexual violence, prostitution and human trafficking prevention in Miami/Dade, Sarasota and Manatee counties. In addition, LATN™ and LATN D2 (Living Above the Noise) educational mentoring curriculum for victims to prevent sexual violence and human trafficking. She holds a Masters and PH.D in pastoral clinical counseling and accreditation in pastoral clinical and temperance based counseling. Her bachelor’s is in biblical studies. She also holds two honorary doctorates -- one in humane letters, theology and biblical studies from the Covenant Theological Seminary and Richmond Virginia Seminary. Her dissertation defends the urgency in spirituality in mental health and the profound pain caused by shame. Bello is also a licensed chaplain and ambassador with the Canadian Institute of Chaplains and Ambassadors (CICA)—the only university accredited by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN-ECOSOC). She is also an alum of the Skinner Leadership Institute’s Masters Series of Distinguished Leaders.  Dr. Bello was chosen 1 of 10 national heroes in a series by Dolphin Digital Media and United Way Worldwide called, The Hero Effect.” Resources More Too Life Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman Life is Not Complicated, You Are by Carlos Wallace News Roundup Tech stocks tank following earnings reports Tech stocks led a slide on major indexes as Amazon posted a two-day decline Monday, eliminating some $127 billion from its market value, according to the Wall Street Journal. Amazon actually posted a $2.88 billion profit in the 3rd quarter—11 times last year’s figure—but its sales increased by only 29%, falling about half a billion dollars shy of the average analyst estimate of $57.1 billion. Alphabet too missed analyst estimates by about $310 million, coming in with $33.74 billion in revenue in the third quarter, which was up by 21% over last year. At Twitter, active monthly users declined, but revenue was up 29% to 650 million for the third quarter. Twitter attributed the user decline to its purging of suspicious accounts. Tesla also reported strong earnings, with $312 million in profits on $6.8 billion in revenue. As for Snap – it looks like Facebook’s Instagram stories is eroding the platform, although Snap beat estimates, however slightly. Snap lost about 2 million users since the second quarter, but its net loss was two cents per share less than expected, and it also had more revenue than analysts expected -- $297.6 million – which was about $14 million more than analysts’ expectations. N.Y. Times reports that Trump uses iPhones spied on by Russia/China The New York Times reported that President Trump uses unsecured iPhones to gossip with colleagues that Chinese and Russian spies routinely eavesdrop on to gather intelligence. President Trump denies the report saying that he only uses a government phone and, in a Tweet, said the New York Times report is “sooo wrong”. Facebook identifies Iranian misinformation campaign Facebook identified an Iranian misinformation campaign which led it to delete 82 pages the company says were engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behavior”. Facebook’s head of cybersecurity Nathaniel Gleicher said the pages had over 1 million followers. Google paid ‘Father of Android’ $90 million to leave the company following a sexual misconduct allegation The New York Times reported last week in an investigative report that Google paid Android creator Andy Rubin some $90 million dollars in 2014 when he left the company following sexual misconduct allegations. Google released Rubin with praises from Larry Page even though an internal investigation found the allegations credible, according the New York Times. The newspaper reports that Google similarly protected 2 other executives. Rubin has denied the allegations and, in a letter to Google’s employees, Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote that Google has fired some 48 employees for sexual harassment since 2016. U.S. launches election protection cyber operation against Russia U.S. cybercommand has launched a first-of-its-kind mission against Russia to prevent election interference. The initiative followed a Justice Department report released Friday outlining Russia’s campaign of “information warfare”. Alleged Pittsburgh shooter repeatedly posted violent content on social media prior to mass murder Before he allegedly murdered 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue, including a 97-year-old holocaust survivor, Robert Bowers allegedly posted hateful and violent content on social media numerous times on Facebook, Twitter, and the alt-right website Gab -- but he still wasn’t on the radar of law enforcement. Joyent, the web hosting platform that hosted Gab, has since banned Gab from using its platform, knocking it offline. Kevin Roose has more in the New York Times. U.S. restricts exports to Chinese semiconductor firm Fujian Jinhua The U.S. has decided to restrict exports to Chinese semiconductor firm Fujian Jinhua. The Trump administration says the company stole intellectual property from U.S.-based Micron Technology. The rationale is that if Fujian Jinhua supplies chips to Micron, there’s a risk that the Chinese-manufactured chips would edge out those manufactured by American competitors. President Trump signs U.S. spectrum strategy President Trump has signed a memo directing the Commerce Department to develop a spectrum strategy to prepare for 5G wireless. Mr. Trump has also created a Spectrum Task Force to evaluate federal spectrum needs and how spectrum can be shared with private companies. UK fines Facebook £500,000 for data violations Finally, the UK has fined Facebook just £500,000 for Cambridge Analytica-related data violations. That’s a little over $640,000— The Guardian notes that Facebook brought in some $40.7 billion last year. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office found that Cambridge Analytica harvested the data of some 1 million Facebook users in the UK via loopholes on Facebook’s platform that allowed developers to access the data of Facebook’s users without their consent.

  Tiffany Moore: Trade, 5G, and Beyond: The Policy Landscape for Consumer Tech (Ep. 159) How will the current trade war with China affect small, American-owned technology manufacturers? What's the potential of 5G for consumer tech? How is the consumer technology industry tackling diversity and inclusion? The Consumer Technology Association's Senior Vice President of Political and Industry Affairs, Tiffany Moore, joined Joe Miller to discuss these and other issues affecting the policy landscape for consumer tech. Bio Tiffany Moore (@TiffanyMMoore) currently serves as Senior Vice President of Political and Industry Affairs for the Consumer Technology Association.  Promoted to the newly created position in April 2018, Tiffany’s expanded role includes overseeing CTA’s U.S. Jobs, and Diversity and Inclusion initiatives.  In addition, Tiffany leads the association’s advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill on issues including communications and technology policy, patent litigation reform, strategic immigration reform and international trade, and overseeing CTA’s political action committee CTAPAC. Tiffany joined CTA as Vice President of Government and Political Affairs for the Consumer Technology Association in December 2015. Previously, Tiffany served as a government relations consultant to CTA as principal at Moore Consulting and strategic consultant with TwinLogic Strategies. In addition to CTA, Moore advised numerous corporate and association clients on how to influence technology and innovation policy before Congress and the Administration.  Before launching Moore Consulting, Tiffany served as senior legislative advisor in the Legislative and Government Affairs Practice Group at Venable LLP. In 2006, Tiffany was appointed Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) by Ambassador Rob Portman.  In this role, Moore led domestic outreach efforts to American business, agriculture and consumer communities on the U.S. trade policy agenda and served as primary intermediary with governors, mayors and local elected officials on U.S. trade policy. Prior to joining USTR, Tiffany served as director of government relations for Kellogg Company and led legislative policy efforts around a broad array of issues including trade, food security, safety, tax and advertising as director, government relations. Tiffany began her legislative career working in a variety of roles in the office of U.S. Representative Fred Upton (R-MI), where she served as legislative director from 2000-2002. In January 2018, Tiffany was named to the Board of Trustees of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Foundation.  Tiffany also serves on the Women’s Health Board of The GW Medical Faculty Associates dedicated to supporting the Mobile Mammography Program (Mammovan). In addition, Tiffany serves on the boards of the Faith and Politics Institute and the Washington Government Relations Group. A proud native of Detroit, Michigan, Tiffany earned her M.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, and her B.A. from Western Michigan University.   Resources Consumer Technology Association Ninja Future: Secrets to Success in the New World of Innovation by Gary Shapiro (pre-order)   News Roundup Twitter purges pro-Saudi bots Twitter has purged bots that NBC News discovered were simultaneously tweeting pro-Saudi talking points regarding the alleged murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Washington Post also reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered a network of Twitter trolls to attack Kahshoggi’s viewpoints in the days, weeks and months leading up to his disappearance. Why is Softbank’s CEO still warm on the Saudis? Several companies have decided to distance themselves from Saudis, following the apparent murder of Jamal Khashoggi. But not Masayoshi Son—head of Japanese conglomerate Softbank, which has made extensive investments in U.S.-based companies, including WeWork, Uber and Slack, and which also owns Sprint. The New York Times has the report. Russian-linked Twitter bots Some bots connected to Russia’s Internet Research Agency have also been attempting to interfere with U.S. elections, according to Twitter. Apparently the bots use platforms of automation companies like IFTTT  to quickly disseminate tweets. IFTTT says it’s investigating. The Justice Department also charged a Russian woman-- Elena Khusyaynova—with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Kusyaynova allegedly helped spearhead a campaign to divide Americans via social media. Ebay sues Amazon Ebay has sued Amazon in California Superior Court for allegedly poaching sellers by using Ebay’s internal email system. The complaint includes allegations of violations of both civil and criminal statutes. Richard Parsons resigns from CBS board Media veteran Richard Parsons has stepped down from the board of CBS, including as Interim Chairman, citing health issues related to a rare blood cancer he was diagnosed with several years ago. Strauss Zelnick will take up the reigns as interim chair. Zelnick is seasoned in all areas of the entertainment industry, including as CEO of Take Two Interactive—the creators of the Grand Theft Auto game franchise. Netflix to take on more debt Netflix—already under a mountain of debt—is seeking to take on another $2 billion worth, the company announced Monday during an earnings call. It’s the second time this year the company will take on more debt. Netflix was down .94% points at Monday’s close. Uber considers IPO proposals Finally, Uber is considering IPO proposals from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, some of which value the ride-sharing company at as much as 120 billion. The valuation exceeds that of the top three U.S. car makers – GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler – combined. Lyft is also said to be considering an IPO next year—its valuation is $15 billion.

Petra Molnar joined us to discuss her new paper which looks at the human rights impact of automated decision-making and immigration. Bio Petra Molnar (@PMolnar) is a refugee lawyer and researcher based in Toronto, Canada. She is a former refugee settlement worker who has researched forced migration issues in Canada and internationally including immigration detention, health and human rights, and gender-based violence. She is currently working on a book on resilience in the face of the Syrian conflict. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Master of Arts, Social Antropology, at York University. Resources Thinking Forward Network Bots at the Gate: A Human Rights Analysis of Automated Decision-Making in Canada’s Immigration and Refugee System by Petra Molnar (University of Toronto, 2018) News Roundup GAO: “Nearly all” U.S. weapons systems are susceptible to cyber attack The Government Accountability Office issued a report last week saying that “nearly all” weapons systems reviewed for weaknesses between 2012-2017 were vulnerable to cyberattacks. Testers were able to exploit the security holes using relatively simple tools and techniques, with one team taking only about an hour to hack into the weapons system. A key risk factor among these technologies is that many of them are interconnected, allowing them to transfer information more easily. Ryan Browne has more over at CNN. Lawmakers demand answers from Google Top Senate Republicans on the Commerce Committee delivered a letter to Google on Thursday demanding answers about why Google failed to disclose a privacy vulnerability in Google Plus immediately when it discovered it last March. Senators Thune, Moran, and Wicker are especially concerned that Google Chief Privacy Officer didn’t disclose the breach during his Senate testimony several weeks ago. Democrats too are jumping into the fray. Senators Blumenthal, Markey and Udall wrote a separate letter to the Federal Trade Commission requesting an investigation into the Google Plus privacy breach. An independent audit conducted by Ernst and Young had approved Google’s security practices earlier this year. Google drops out of Pentagon bid Google has decided to drop out of the competition to handle the Pentagon’s cloud computing infrastructure. The contract was worth up to $10 billion. Google said it couldn’t be sure that the contract would align with its AI principles. Thousands of Google employees had signed a letter starting back in April asking Google to withdraw. Republicans warn of Chinese efforts to sway the midterms Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and FBI Director Christopher Wray both stated at a Senate committee hearing last week that China is attempting to sway the U.S. midterm election. However, they did not say that there is any evidence that China is interfering with the U.S.’s election infrastructure. Nielsen said that China’s efforts to sway public opinion are unprecedented. Wray says that China is the most significant long-term threat to U.S. counterintelligence the U.S. faces. Warner/Rubio ask Canada to ban Huawei from 5G Senators Marco Rubio and Mark Warner sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week urging him to ban China-based company Huawei from participating in Canada’s 5G deployment program. The Senators accuse Huawei of being an agent of the Chinese government. Lyft taps Anthony Foxx to head up its policy team Lyft has tapped former Obama Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to head up its policy team. Foxx will report directly to Lyft President John Zimmer. Group warns of malicious emailed ballots Apparently there are a few jurisdictions that permit voters to submit their ballots via email as an attachment. But election security groups including Common Cause and R St. are warning election officials that these ballots could come laden with malicious software that could grant a hacker backdoor access to election systems. So elections officials need to be wary of malicious ballots submitted by unknown persons. According to the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission, some 100,000 voters submitted ballots via email during the 2016 presidential election. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has died Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has died. He was 65. The cause was non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates and amassed a $26 billion fortune which he used to build Seattle into a cultural destination and engage in philanthropy. He also owned the Seattle Seahawks. Steve Lohr at The New York Times has a full obituary.

  Sean Perryman: How to Promote Diversity & Inclusion in Tech (Ep. 157) Prior to joining IA, Sean Perrymanserved as Counsel on the House Oversight Committee, Democratic staff where he advised on technology policy. How do the internet sector's efforts to improve diversity and inclusion in tech align with its broader policy agenda? Sean Perryman joined us to discuss.   Bio   Sean Perryman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanperryman/) is the Director of Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Counsel at the Internet Association. He is responsible for leading IA’s advocacy efforts around diversity, inclusion, and workforce-related policies at the local, state, and federal level. Prior to joining IA, Sean served as Counsel on the House Oversight Committee, Democratic staff where he advised on technology policy including AI, cybersecurity, and privacy issues. Before working on the Oversight Committee, Sean practiced civil litigation both in Texas and D.C. Sean is passionate about issues of equity and inclusion. In his spare time he serves as Education Chair for the Fairfax County NAACP. He also regularly writes about issues related to race and advocates for a more equitable society. Sean earned his B.A. from City University of New York- Baruch College. He received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School. A Brooklyn, New York native, he now resides in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife and daughter. Resources Internet Association Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi News Roundup DOJ indicts 7 Russian intelligence officers for conspiracy The Department of Justice indicted 7 Russian intelligence officers on Thursday on  charges that they conspired to conduct malicious cyberattacks against the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Morgan Chalfant reports in the Hill that on that same day, the UK and the Netherlands announced that they had thwarted a Russian-led cyberattack against The Hague’s global chemical weapons watchdog. The indicted officials allegedly work for Russian military intelligence GRU. FBI special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 GRU officials earlier this year for their alleged role in hacking the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Google+ bug exposes 500,000 users to potential data breach Google announced that as many as 500,000 of its users may have had their personal data exposed from a breach in its unpopular social media platform, Google Plus. The company announced that it discovered the bug back in March but that there is no evidence that anyone exploited the bug. The company also announced that it will be shuttering Google Plus by August of next year. Facebook executive stokes internal conflict at Facebook for supporting Kavanaugh Joel Kaplan – Facebook’s vice president for global public policy is under internal fire at Facebook for supporting Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. Kaplan sat directly behind Kavanaugh at the hearing, then threw a party for him to celebrate his confirmation, which reports say Kavanaugh and his wife attended. Kaplan and his wife hosted the party despite apologizing, in a note to Facebook’s staff, in which Kaplan said he recognizes that this moment is a painful one. Kaplan, however, as a private supporter and personal friend of Kavanaugh’s, did not break any company rules, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Victim’s Fitbit data leads to arrest of 90-year-old murder suspect A Fitbit has led to the arrest of a 90-year-old San Jose man for allegedly murdering his 67-year-old stepdaughter after dropping off a homemade pizza and biscotti, according to police. The police tied the suspect to the victim’s heart rate which, according to her Fitbit device, surged and then rapidly declined while the suspect was still in the house. This was corroborated by surveillance footage, also synced up to internet time, that allegedly shows that his car was still parked outside, thus placing him in the house, when the victim expired. Amazon announces $15/hour minimum wage but cuts bonuses Amazon has announced a $15 minimum wage for all of its 250,000 employees, engendering the support of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Amazon also announced that it will begin lobbying Congress to raise the national minimum wage. Target’s minimum hourly wage stands at $12 while Walmart’s stands at $11. Ranking Member Pallone questions tech CEOS about Russian influence on Kavanaugh hearing House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone sent several questions to the CEOs of Alphabet, Facebook, and Twitter to determine the extent to which Russian trolls impacted debate on the Kavanaugh hearing in ways that resembled Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election. U.S. officials believe that Russians have continued their hacking operations against the U.S. Pallone noted that one Facebook Group that was vocal about supporting Kavanaugh, also advocated for boycotting Nike and Colin Kaepernick. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. Trump administration relaxes restrictions on driverless trucks Finally, the Trump administration has decided to relax restrictions on driverless trucks—shifting the onus for safety away from the federal government to companies who develop driverless technologies. But transportation Secretary Elain Chao says that the administration continues to be concerned about the effect that driverless vehicles will have on the workforce.  

x       Alex J. Wood -- Liberator or 'Boss from Hell'?: The Gig Economy's Double Edge Oxford Internet Institute Researcher Alex J. Wood discusses the gig economy's double edge from the perspective of workers themselves. Bio Alex J. Wood (@tom_swing) is a Researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute. He is a sociologist of work and employment, focusing on the changing nature of employment relations and labour market transformation. Alex is currently researching new forms of worker voice and collective action in the online gig economy as part of the iLabour project. Alex previously researched online labour markets and virtual employment relations in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia as part of the “Microwork and Virtual Production Networks in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia” project. This project investigates the economic and social implications of new forms of economic activities in the context of ICTs for development. Alex completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge Department of Sociology where he also worked as Research Associate on an ESRC impact acceleration project to evaluate potential ways of reducing workplace stress resulting from insecure scheduling. Alex’s PhD (2015) is titled the “The insecure worker: workplace control in the 21st Century”. His PhD focuses on the changing nature of flexible and insecure forms of work such as zero hour contracts. New patterns of working-time flexibility and how this relates to insecurity, well-being, and issues of workplace control and resistance being central to account developed. He also has a long standing interest in the relationships between industrial relations, union renewal and emerging forms of workplace representation and new patterns of class and inequality. Previously he received his MPhil in Sociology from the University of Cambridge (2011) with distinction. He received a first class BSc (hons) degree in Politics and Sociology, from Aston University (2009). Resources Oxford Internet Institute Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy by Alex J. Wood, Mark Graham and Vili Lehdonvirta   News Roundup New Facebook breach affects 50 million users Facebook reported a data breach that began to take effect in July of 2017 when Facebook updated its View As feature which allows users to see how their profile looks to specific friends. The company said it didn’t discover the breach until September. While the company didn’t dislose exactly which user data was stolen or who stole it, it did reveal that the hackers obtained access tokens that enabled them to manipulate user accounts. Facebook says it has notified affected users and required them to log back into their accounts. Elon Musk steps down as Tesla over tweets/SEC fraud investigation Elon Musk has stepped down as the Chairman of Tesla and will need to pay a $20 million fine for his tweet last month saying he had “funding secured” for a $420 per share buyout of the company. The SEC had sued Musk for the tweet saying it misled investors. The SEC said that the $420 stock price was a weed reference—intended to impress his girlfriend\, rapper Grimes. He was also smoking up on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Obviously he was confused and bewildered—talking in tongues and rapping freestyle. Federal prosecutors are now probing the ad industry Federal prosecutors have launched an investigation into ad agencies who buy advertising time on behalf of large corporate brands. A recent Association of National Retailers report found that media outlets have been offering ad agencies rebates—cash back after they meet spending threshholds -- but that the money hasn’t been making its way back advertisers. Suzanne Vranica and Nicole Hong report in the Wall Street Journal. Environmental Protection Agency to dissolve science advisory office The EPA will be dissolving its science office and ostensibly rolling it into the agency’s Office of Research and Development. This is the same agency that has basically censored the terms “climate change” from its website, speeches and all of pr collateral. It has also stopped giving climate change awards and is working to roll back full efficiency standards. Federal preemption is trending The doctrine of Federal pre-emption took center-stage this week in three different areas: net neutrality, privacy, and 5G buildout. Remember the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution makes federal law the supreme law of the land. On the net neutrality front, the state of California passed its own set of net neutrality rules that mirror the ones the FCC passed in 2015 but that Ajit Pai’s FCC repealed earlier this year. The Department of Justice is now suing the state of California, claiming the federal preemption doctrine. On privacy, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, AT&T, Charter, and Twitter told the Senate Commerce Committee last week that they would support federal privacy regulation that would preempt California’s privacy law, set to go into effect in 2020, which would give California consumers more control over their data. But a national privacy framework that would preempt state privacy rules has support from both sides of the aisle. And on 5G … the FCC passed new rules last week that would minimize the role of local and state authorities in the review process to build out 5G wireless infrastructure, by limiting fees that local and state authorities charge carriers in order to deploy 5G and capping the shot clock to require local authorities to approve 5G applications within 60 to 90 days. Verizon begins 5G rollout in 4 cities Five days following the FCC’s order to limit local and state oversight of 5G deployment, Verizon announced that it would be deploying 5G in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. This makes Verizon the first company in the world to offer 5G on a commercial basis to individual consumers. Brian Fung has more in the Washington Post. Federal court rules against Uber drivers suing as a class Finally, the federal District Court of the Northern District of California has ruled to de-certify a class of nearly 240,000 Uber drivers who are suing Uber, saying that they should be considered employees rather than independent contractors. This would entitle them to better benefits and things like reimbursement for gas. The decision was long expected since the US Supreme Court ruled back in May – in Epic Systems v. Louis – that courts are required to honor arbitration agreements that gig workers sign up for.  All 240, 000 drivers would now have to pursue their claims individually.

Naeemah Clark: How to Define 'Viewpoint Diversity' in a Polarized America (Ep. 155) Are 'viewpoint diversity' and 'ethnic diversity' mutually exclusive? Elon University professor Naeemah Clark helps put 'viewpoint diversity' in perspective. Bio Naeemah Clark (@NaeemahC)  is an Associate Professor of Communications at Elon University. Noticing a lack of diversity and unfair portrayal of marginalized groups in the media, Naeemah Clark pursues an interest in race and gender, economic status, disabilities, LGBTQIA and ethnicity in the media. She also studies and teaches about economic, programming and diversity issues related in the media and entertainment industries. She has edited the book, "African Americans in the History of U.S. Media," co-authored a textbook, "Diversity in U.S. Mass Media," published work in Journalism History, American Behavioral Scientist and has presented numerous papers at various conferences. She earned a B.A. in education from Florida State University, and her Masters and Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Florida. Resources Elon University School of Communications Diversity in the U.S. Mass Media by Catherine Luther, Carolyn Ringer Lepre, and Naeemah Clark (Wiley Press, 2012) News Roundup Comcast beat out 21st Century Fox in bid for SkyTV Comcast beat out Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox in its bid for UK cable provider Sky with a $40 billion offer. At 17.28 pounds per share, it tracks Sky’s share price which was trading at about 17.16 pounds per share Monday morning on the London Stock Exchange. This also takes Disney out of the running for Sky. Disney hoped to acquire Sky when it closes on its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets, which it won back in July for $71 billion and which includes 21st Century Fox’s 39% stake in Sky. Feds weigh regulation of social media platforms Bloomberg News reported that the White House is considering a draft order that would direct the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission to investigate Facebook and Google’s social media practices. The administration has repeatedly claimed the platforms are biased against conservative viewpoints. However, no similar measures to curtail broadcasters’ bias have surfaced, leaving one sector of a broader media ecosystem under attack, while traditional media are free to discriminate against differing viewpoints without restriction. For example, Sinclair Broadcasting’s commentators and talk radio hosts hold almost exclusively conservative viewpoints. The Department of Justice is weighing a discussion with state attorneys general regarding the so-called “shadow banning” of conservative viewpoints at the National Association of Attorneys General meeting from November 27-29th in Charleston, South Carolina. And the Wall Street Journal also reported that, following the Trump administration’s Muslim travel ban, Google employees discussed tweaking search results to inform users about how they might contribute to pro-immigration causes and counteract the effects of the ban. Google says it never implemented the changes. Paypal stops doing business with Infowars Paypal has stopped doing business with Alex Jones’ conspiracy website Infowars.  PayPal ended the relationship in an email saying InfoWars violated PayPal’s acceptable use policy by “promoting hate and discriminatory intolerance against certain communities and religions.” Trump administration releases new cyber strategy The Trump administration announced a new cyber strategy last week that’ll prioritize attacks against foreign adversaries. National Security Advisor Josh Bolton made it clear last week that the U.S. will focus on both offense and defense on a cyber front that has grown to be infinitely more complex since the 2016 presidential election.   Google says it allows third parties to share data from Gmail As the Wall Street Journal reported last week, Google wrote a letter to Senators saying that it allows app developers to scan Gmail accounts for data, even though Google itself says that it no longer uses Gmail data for ad-targeting. App developers have ready access to valuable data about Gmail users’ buying preferences, whom they interact with, and other valuable psychometric data. But Google’s Vice President of public policy and government affairs wrote that the company only shares data with third parties who agree to be fully transparent. Sen. Wyden’s office discovers targeted Gmail attacks against members of Congress Foreign hackers are targeting senators’ Gmail accounts. That’s according to a letter Senate Democrat Ron Wyden wrote to senate leaders last week, which was subsequently confirmed by Google spokesman Aaron Stein who said that his company informed Senator Wyden of the breach attempts. Neither Wyden nor Google confirmed details of which members the hackers are targeting or how. But Wyden is calling for rule changes that would empower the Sergeant-at-Arms to protect members’ personal email accounts. New York Times sues FCC over Russian influence in net neutrality proceeding The New York Times has sued the Federal Communications Commission in the Southern District of New York to determine the extent of Russian meddling in the net neutrality proceeding. Of the record 22 million commenters in the proceeding to overturn the 2015 net neutrality rules, some 450,000 had Russian email addresses. But the New York Times also wants IP addresses, timestamps, and user-agent headers to gain a fuller understanding of how Russians interfered with the proceeding. Federal Judge keeps electronic touch screen machines in place in Georgia A federal judge in Georgia denied a motion that would have required Georgia to switch from electronic touch screens to paper ballots. Judge Amy Totenberg found that switching to paper ballots on such short notice would have a worse effect on the November election than the touch screens would. Facebook to team with anti-fake news nonprofits Facebook has announced that it will be teaming up with the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute -- two anti-propaganda nonprofits on the left and right -– as the company continues to battle fake news ahead of Brazilian elections in October and the U.S. November midterms. Facebook announced the partnership as new research found that 3 out of 4 articles being shared about the Brazil election are false. Joseph Menn has the story at Reuters. Sirius XM to acquire Pandora Finally, in a $3.5 billion deal, satellite broadcaster Sirius XM will be acquiring internet streaming service Pandora in an all-stock transaction, according to a company announcement on Monday. The deal will combine Sirius XM’s 36 million subscribers with Pandora’s 70 million, with projected revenue for this year of $7 billion.

    Rebekah Tromble: How to Combat Misinformation (Ep. 154) Leiden University's Rebekah Tromble joined Joe Miller to chat about ways to combat misinformation on social media.   Bio Rebekah Tromble (@RebekahKTromble) is an assistant professor in the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University in the Netherlands, where she teaches and conducts research on media and politics, digital research methods and ethics, and computational social science. Dr. Tromble is deeply committed to understanding and promoting responsible and ethical uses of data and technology and has founded the Data in Democracy Initiative at Leiden University to pursue that commitment through teaching, research, and public outreach. Previously, she conducted extensive fieldwork in former Soviet Central Asia, where she focused on political discourses about Muslims and Islam. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Bloomington, and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Knox College.   Resources Rebekah Tromble Leiden University, Institute of Political Science Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity by Lilliana Mason   News Roundup U.S. sanctions Russian and Chinese firms over North Korea The U.S. has sanctioned tech firms in Russia and China for funneling money to North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions, by using fake social media profiles to solicit work from North Koreans. The sanctions target Yanbian Silverstar Network Technology Company, whose CEO is North Korean, and a Russian subsidiary called Volasys Silverstar. Arizona is investigating Google’s location data practices Arizona’s Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich has initiated an investigation into Google’s location data practices, according to The Washington Post. Google was accused recently of recording the location data of Android users even when the location setting was turned off. The company denies the allegation saying that it is transparent with users by giving them the option to toggle what gets collected and delete their location history. FCC stops review clock on T-Mobile/Sprint merger review The FCC has stopped the clock on its review of the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint. Traditionally the FCC sets the clock at 180 days. But, citing the transaction’s complexity, the FCC paused the T-Mobile/Sprint review 60 days in. Trump has signed off on election interference sanctions President Trump has signed off on a set of sanctions against foreign actors who engage in election interference. The executive order gives federal law enforcement officials 90 days to review instances of potential interference and act on them if they determine that doing so would be necessary. Google under scrutiny for China plans Reuters reports that Google and its parent company Alphabet are under scrutiny by 16 lawmakers regarding its plans to expand into China. China has banned the company since 2010. In a letter, both liberal and conservative members of Congress asked Google how they would protect its users in light of China’s censorship laws. Google said that its ambitions in China are merely exploratory and not close to launching. Some 1,000 Google employees wrote a letter questioning Google about its ambitions in China. At least one research scientist has resigned in protest. European Union adopts draft copyright bill The European Union has adopted a draft copyright bill that would require tech companies to pay higher royalties to media companies for the right to host their content. Under the new law, publishers would have the right to negotiate payment for content posted on sites like YouTube. Tech giants would also have to pay “proportionate remuneration” to large media companies for hosting their content. Big tech is pushing back saying that keeping track of every piece of content would be unwieldy. CBS sets aside $120 million in severance for Les Moonves Finally, CBS wrote in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it is setting aside $120 million in severance for their departing CEO Les Moonves—but the company has a year to decide whether to let him go for cause. If they do, he’ll get nothing. This $120 million is down from an original severance amount of $238 million. Twelve women have accused Moonves of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, or sexual harassment. CBS will also be contributing $20 million to causes that support the #MeToo movement.

  Francella Ochillo: Latinos and Tech Policy -- The Policy Year Ahead (Ep. 153) Francella Ochillo joined Joe Miller to talk about the tech policy issues the National Hispanic Media Coalition is most focused on during the policy year ahead. Bio Francella Ochillo (@Francella202) is the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s (NHMC) Vice President, Policy and General Counsel. Francella brings a unique combination of litigation and community activism experience to NHMC. At the Department of Justice, she worked on securities fraud investigation teams, prosecuting banks for corporate misconduct under the False Claims Act and Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act. Meanwhile, she maintains her commitment community engagement in various roles at the YMCA, a non-profit devoted to strengthening communities. Even though Francella has called the District of Columbia home for the past ten years, she is originally from New Orleans and still loves jambalaya. She has a B.S. degree in Marketing from Morgan State University where she graduated with honors from the School of Business. She earned her J.D. from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois where she excelled as a moot court competitor and went on to represent the City of Chicago in Administrative Hearings. Francella is currently a member of the District of Columbia Bar. Resources National Hispanic Media Coalition Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Noble Human and Machine: Rethinking Work in the Age of AI by Paul Daugherty and H. James Wilson News Roundup Google under heat Google is under heat after the company left its seat vacant at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian election interference. Donald Trump has led the charge against the tech company, accusing it, Facebook and Twitter of having an anti-conservative bias. Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican, wasn’t happy when Google offered to send its General Counsel, Kent Walker to testify. He wanted company founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page to appear. Although Google’s seat was empty at the hearing, it sent written testimony from Mr. Walker. Outcry against Google’s lack of a physical presence at the hearing was bipartisan. The Committee’s top Democrat -- Senator Mark Warner – said that he was deeply disappointed that Google didn’t appear. Washington is now abuzz wondering how this will affect how Congress will consider potential regulations that would affect the company. Back in July, Google was the subject of the largest antitrust fine in European Union history -- $5 billion -- for illegally tying Chrome to its Android operating system, among other things—a decision the company is appealing. Twitter permanently bans Alex Jones Twitter has decided to permanently ban conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The company said that Jones violated its abusive behavior policy. Justice Department investigates whether tech companies stifle conservative viewpoints The Justice Department has announced that it will be investigating whether platforms like Google, Facebook and Twitter stifle free speech. DOJ spokesman Devin O’Malley made the announcement as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wrapped up their Senate Intelligence Committee testimony on Wednesday. Politics sends NASDAQ down 161 points These political issues sent the NASDAQ composite on a 4 day losing streak, which it recovered from slightly on Monday. Overall, though, the NASDAQ is down about 161 points since the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Google, Facebook, and Twitter bans Myanmar military accounts Google, Facebook, and Twitter have banned dozens of accounts belonging to Myanmar military officials. The company banned the officials for spreading hate speech and misinformation against Rohingya and other Muslims in Myanmar. Reuters reports that the decision came hours after the United Nation’s reported that the Myanmar military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with “genocidal intent”. President Trump asks Apple to shift production back to U.S. Finally, President Trump urged Apple on Twitter last week to shift production back to the United States from China. The president threatened tariffs and offered tax incentives, including a zero percent tax rate, if the company moves its production operations to the U.S.    

  Bio Otessa Marie Ghadar (Instagram: @otessa_, @dcwebfest, @2020newmedia, @hardDCcore)  is an award-winning digital storyteller who uses writing, filmmaking, photography, and technology to share her narratives and build communities. As one of the web series medium’s earliest adopters, Otessa is a true forerunner of digital media. Starting in 2006, Otessa’s web series "Orange Juice in Bishop’s Garden" is now the longest continually running show online, with an international audience in over 145 countries.  Otessa founded the DC Web Fest (one of the first of its kind & now in its 7th year) out of the need for digital content creators to showcase their works, inspiring creativity and innovation.  As an Adjunct Professor at American University, and through additional guest lecturing, Otessa uses her passions to guide the next generation of digital storytellers. Stemming from her knowledge and expertise, she published the world’s first new media textbook called "The Wild West of Film." In addition to speaking, she also enjoys exhibiting her work, having shown work as part of FotoWeek DC, Transformer Gallery, The National Museum for Women in the Arts, amongst others.  A newly initiated Google Next Generation Policy leader, Otessa works diligently to increase technology awareness and innovation among minority and marginalized communities She resides in Washington DC, and is currently working on her next trans-media project -- the Young Adult Science Fiction series, "Lemma." She Completed her Graduate Film Studies at Columbia University's film school in NYC. Resources Otessa Marie Ghadar DC Web Fest hardDCCore series She So Crazy series Orange Juice in Bishops Garden series The Wild West of Film by Otessa Ghadar 20/20 Productions: perfect vision new medi Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/otessa_ News Roundup HUD and DOJ back Facebook advertising discrimination lawsuit The Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Justice last week backed a lawsuit that housing justice advocates brought back in March alleging that Facebook allows advertisers to discriminate against certain groups. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook facilitates unlawful discrimination by allowing advertisers to exclude keywords that are closely associated with those groups and zip codes in which certain demographics reside. HUD filed a formal administrative complaint, which was then followed up by a statement of interest by the DOJ. Former Tesla security employee files whistleblower complaint Tesla’s problems escalated a bit last week-the week following Founder and CEO Elon Musk’s August 7th tweet saying that investors were interested in taking the company private. A former Tesla security employee named Martin Trip has now filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission claiming that he was fired for raising allegations internally that Tesla had failed to report to investors the theft of some $37 million in raw materials from the Gigafactory -- Tesla’s lithium-ion battery production plant in Nevada. The complaint also alleges that Tesla spies on employees and that some Tesla employees engage in drug trafficking. The SEC is already investigating Tesla and Elon Musk to determine whether Musk’s tweet was designed to inflate share prices. Pushback on Google’s China Plans According to a companywide meeting transcript obtained by Reuters, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced last week that, contrary to rumors, the company is not close to launching a search engine in China. To launch such a search engine, Google would need to comply with China’s censorship regulations, a move that has raised internal resistance from many Google employees. In other Google-related news, a new class action lawsuit alleges that Google continues to track users after they turned off their location settings. The case is Patacsil v Google Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. Alex Jones drama continues The Department of Justice is suing the alleged operators of a pirate radio station in Austin, Texas who were allegedly using a makeshift facility in an apartment complex to illegally broadcast Alex Jones’ conspiracy theories to 90.1FM without a license, via an extension cord. The FCC levied a $15,000 fine against the station operators back in 2014, but the station owners refuse to pay it, claiming that the FCC doesn’t have jurisdiction to levy the fine. Meanwhile, Vimeo joined the long list of internet companies that have booted Alex Jones for violating their terms of service. Twitter has also suspended Jones. President Trump tweeted that internet companies are discriminating against conservative content and that he may “get involved” Pai: White House called him regarding Sinclair FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told the Senate Commerce Committee during an oversight hearing last week that White House counsel Don McGahn contacted him to make a “status inquiry” immediately after Pai announced back in July that he and the FCC had serious concerns about the ill-fated merger of Sinclair and Tribune Media.  But Pai insists that the White House did not interfere in the proceeding. Melania Trump speaks out on cyberbullying First Lady Melania Trump spoke out against cyberbullying at a Rockville summit on Monday as part of her Be Best initiative. The remarks come days after President Trump called Omarosa Manigault a “dog” on Twitter, underscoring a disconnect between the East and West wings of the White House on their approaches to cyberbullying. Netflix signs Kenya Barris Finally, Netflix has signed showrunner Kenya Barris to a multi-year deal to produce a new tv series. Barris created ABC’s successful “black-ish” about an upper-middle class black family, as well as last summer’s movie hit “Girl’s Trip”. The Wall Street Journal reports that Barris negotiated an early exit from the Disney-owned TV network after it refused to air a black-ish episode that featured a plot about athletes kneeling during the national anthem. Barris will be joining Shonda Rhimes at Netflix.

  Bio Ron Gonzales (@rongon2000) is President and CEO of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley. Gonzales has over 35 years of technology and public policy experience. Prior to leading the Hispanic Foundation, Gonzales was Founder, Chairman and CEO of Presencia, LLC. Presencia, LLC provides marketing and sales consulting services in the government, education, enterprise and SMB markets. Previously, Ron served as Mayor of San José, the Capital of Silicon Valley and the nation’s 10thth largest city from 1999-2006. His achievements included nationally recognized initiatives that strengthened neighborhoods, improved public education, and ensured the economic vitality of the city with high quality public services and effective solutions to affordable housing and regional transportation projects.   Before his election as Mayor, Gonzales worked as an executive with the Hewlett-Packard Company, in the areas of marketing, human resources, and corporate philanthropy. Gonzales served for eight years (1989-1996) on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. As a two-time mayor and member of the Sunnyvale City Council (1979-87), Gonzales helped initiate governmental efficiency measures that were recognized in the best-selling book Reinventing Government. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Notre Dame de Namur University, KIPP Bay Area Schools, and Save The Bay. He is married to Guisselle Nuñez and they live in downtown San Jose.   Resources   Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley   Latino Leaders Speak: Personal Stories of Struggle and Triumph by Mickey Ibarra   Elon Musk raises red flags with the securities and exchange commission, the City of New York caps ride sharing licenses, and Ron Gonzalez ios my guest   News Roundup   Elon Musk raises flags over privatization tweet   Elon Musk raised red flags with the Securities and Exchange Commission when he tweeted last Tuesday “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.” That share price was about 20% above the stock’s trading price earlier that day.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the SEC is probing whether there was any factual basis to Musk’s tweet. If not, Musk may have violated securities regulations by giving false or misleading information to the public. It’s also looking into whether Musk’s tweet was designed to pump Tesla’s share price in advance of some $920 million in convertible bonds the company has coming due in March that the company may have to tap into its cash flow to pay down if it can’t raise the funds from investors.   New York City caps ride sharing licenses   The City of New York became the first U.S. city to cap the number of licenses it issues to ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. The New York City Council voted 39-6 to approve the measure, which livery and yellow cab drivers hailed, as they’ve seen their hourly wages decline, as Uber and Lyft have increased their number of drivers from 25,000 to 80,000 over the last three years in the city. Uber and Lyft issued statements against the cap, saying that it would lead to an increase in fares. Lyft spokesman Joseph Okpaku said the move would specifically harm communities of color and passengers in the outer boroughs.   Tribune kills $3.9 billion Sinclair deal   Tribune Media has killed its $3.9 billion deal with Sinclair citing breach of contract. Tribune us arguing the 15-month deal has taken too long and that Sinclair has been too aggressive with regulators. The announcement came following the FCC’s 4-0 decision to refer the merger to an administrative law judge. It also came amidst a new class-action lawsuit brought by national advertisers and a DOJ investigation into whether Tribune and Sinclair colluded to fix advertising sales rates.   Instagram added more users than Snap’s total usership   Snapchat parent Snap Inc. reported a 2% drop in its monthly usership in the second quarter—its first reported decline since its founding in 2011--to about 188 million monthly users. Competitor Instagram’s monthly usership, on the other hand, now stands at 1 billion. This translated to a $353 million revenue loss for Snap, which was up by 2 percentage points in after-hours trading Monday to 12.57 per share.   Pentagon limits fitness devices in sensitive areas   Finding that fitness devices posed a “significant risk” to military personnel, the Pentagon issued an order last week restricting military personnel from wearing fitness tracking devices in sensitive locations. The new order allows commanders to decide whether to ban the devices in their specific area, based on the nature of the military activities happening there. For example, using tracking devices in training areas, such as Fort Hood, would be less of a concern than using the devices in less secure areas during military operations abroad. The new rule is a response to the fact that fitness app Strava publishes a Heatmap that shows where in the world its subscribers, including military personnel, have been exercising, which can shed light on classified troop movements. Facebook to require more information from page managers   Finally, Facebook announced a new authorization process for page managers that will make it more difficult for fake accounts to maintain Facebook pages. The new process will require page managers to secure their account with two-factor authentication. Facebook says it will also be more transparent about who manages each page by adding a “People Who Manage This Page” section. It will also show when pages have been merged. Facebook says it will begin enforcing the new standards later this month and eventually roll out the changes to Instagram as well.

K.J. Bagchi: The Obstacle is the Myth (Ep. 149) K.J. Bagchi joined Joe Miller to discuss how the Model Minority Myth negatively impacts Asian Americans and impedes an inclusive policy dialogue. Bio K.J. Bagchi (@kjbagchi) is the Senior Staff Attorney for Telecommunications, Technology, and Media at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. K.J. has broad experience providing counsel and policy advice for elected members at the local, state and federal levels. He worked as Legislative Counsel at the D.C. City Council and for former Congressman Mike Honda. He has drafted legislation in a variety of areas including juvenile justice, immigration, and consumer protection. Through various roles, K.J. has developed programs, trainings, and conversations to embolden and empower the AAPI community in civic participation. K.J. holds a bachelor’s degree from University of California Davis and a law degree from Seattle University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in the State of Maryland. Resources Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC 14: Stories that Inspired Satyajit Ray by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay News Roundup Facebook reveals new disinformation campaign Facebook revealed a new disinformation campaign last week which led to its removal of 32 pages and accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook wrote that the accounts were engaged in “inauthentic behavior”. The company said that it was unable to attribute the campaign to Russia. But Virginia Senator Mark Warner said this provides what he termed as “further evidence” that the Kremlin is attempting to impact the midterm elections. Facebook is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on September 5th. Facebook teams up with banks to share customer data The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Facebook has sought detailed banking information from the likes of JP MorganChase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and US Bancorp. Facebook wants users to be able to communicate with their banks within Messenger. In a press release, Facebook pushed back writing that the Wall Street Journal report is overblown as it is seeking no more information than other technology firms such as Google and Amazon. But this new revelation is sure to come up during the September 5th hearing on the Hill. States sue to stop 3D printing of guns AP reports that several states are suing the Trump Administration for settling with a purveyor of plans to make homemade 3D printed guns. A federal judge had blocked Defense Distributed from releasing plans that would allow anyone with a 3D printer to print the plastic firearms. But the Trump Administration stepped in and negotiated a settlement. Nineteen states including the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit. And there’s newly introduced legislation in the House that would either prevent the 3-D printing of guns, or make 3D-printed guns detectable at security checkpoints. Advertisers sue Sinclair Sinclair Broadcasting’s troubles got worse last week after advertisers brought a class action lawsuit against it, Tribune Media, and several co-defendants for coordinating to inflate ad prices in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Department of Justice is currently probing the possibility that Sinclair worked with competitors to manipulate prices, after it discovered suspicious behavior during the course of its review of Sinclair’s $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune. The FCC has since sent the merger to an Administrative Law Judge to decide, an act that experts largely see as the death knell for the merger. Lobbying disclosure statements show that the FCC’s decision has led Sinclair to retain more lobbyists than it has since the year 2000. They’re working with the S-3 Group—a Republican lobbying firm -- according to the Hill. Apple hits a $1 trillion market valuation Apple closed with a $1 trillion market cap on Thursday, making it the first firm to do so.  Notably, the company has hung on to that valuation, with a market cap of over $1 trillion for the August 6th close. Facebook, Apple, YouTube, and Spotify remove all Alex Jones’ Content Facebook, Apple, YouTube, and Spotify have removed all of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ channels for failing to meet community guidelines against hate speech and glorifying violence. The conservative commentator founded InfoWars in 1999 and is largely seen as having been instrumental to the election of President Donald Trump. The net neutrality fight is the gift that keeps on giving The net neutrality fight is the gift that keeps on giving. First, the FCC’s own Inspector General has found that the FCC lied back in May of 2017 when it said a wave of comments following John Oliver’s net neutrality segment on Last Week Tonight led to a large-scale Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. I repeat: the attack . never. happened.  As Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel noted—they were actual comments. The inspector general’s findings haven’t been released, but FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tried to get out in front of it by making the announcement on Monday and blaming the former CIO for saying it was a DDoS attack—which he never did. Also, the FCC and DOJ have filed a petition with the Supreme Court to vacate the DC Court of Appeals ruling to uphold the 2015 net neutrality rules. The FCC’s repeal of those rules wasn’t enough I suppose.

    Jennifer Becker: Confronting Tech-Enabled Domestic Violence (Ep. 148) Legal Momentum's Jennifer Becker joined Joe Miller for Part 2 of our series on how perpetrators use technology to engage in domestic violence. Bio Jennifer Becker is Deputy Legal Director and National Judicial Education Program (NJEP) Senior Attorney. At Legal Momentum, Jennifer is engaged in a range of litigation, education, and policy on issues of gender-based discrimination and violence, including efforts to strengthen state gender-based violence statutes and reauthorization of the federal Violence Against Women Act. Jennifer has presented nationally and internationally on issues related to gender equality and gender-based violence. Jennifer is engaged in NJEP’s judicial training and technical assistance efforts and has developed and presented information about sexual assault and the intersection of sexual assault and domestic violence at national and state judicial conferences and multidisciplinary conferences. Jennifer is a former sex crimes and child abuse prosecutor, having served for seven years in the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office in Bronx, NY. During that time she handled hundreds of such cases throughout all stages of the criminal justice process. Prior to joining Legal Momentum, Jennifer was the Title IX Coordinator for the New York City public school system, a district of more than 1 million students and 135,000 employees. In that role she was responsible for overseeing gender equity compliance, including responding to and investigating sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in schools. Jennifer has developed and conducted trainings for attorneys and non-legal staff on substantive issues related to gender equity laws, discrimination, criminal law, and litigation techniques and strategies.  Jennifer is an active member of the New York City Bar Association Sex and Law Committee and co-chair of the New York County Lawyers Association Women in Law Committee. She is a graduate of CUNY Law School and Quinnipiac University.  Resources Legal Momentum Thermostats, Locks and Lights: Digital Tools of Domestic Abuse (N.Y. Times, June 23, 2018) News Roundup Facebook posts biggest single-day loss in stock market history Facebook’s market value dropped $119 billion Thursday after the company released a poor quarterly report.  The single-day drop was the biggest in stock market history and represented 19% of Facebook’s market cap , taking it down to $510 billion. In its quarterly report, Facebook reported usership that fell short of expectations by 20 million active daily users, and its  revenue fell short of analyst estimates by some $130 million for the second quarter. And at $1.72 Facebook’s earnings per share was also two cents lower than Thompson Reuters had estimated. Facebook and Amazon set lobbying records in 2Q18 Facebook and Amazon set new lobbying records for themselves in the second quarter, spending over $7 million combined on its lobbying efforts. This is according to lobbying disclosure records. Facebook spent $3.6 million to deal with the Cambridge Analytica and Russian hacking debacles. Amazon spent some $3.47 million.  Google spent its fair amount on lobbying as well, coming in at $5.9 million for the second quarter alone. Ali Breland reports in Politico. Is Trump doing enough to stave off Russian attacks on the midterms? President Donald Trump met with members of the National Security Council on Friday to discuss cyber threats to the rapidly approaching midterm election. The White House released a statement that said in part, “The president has made it clear that his Administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections from any nation state or other malicious actors.” The statement made no specific mention of Russia.   But the president tweeted that he is concerned that Russia might help Democrats—even though Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during the infamous Helsinki Summit that he wanted Trump to be re-elected in 2020. In addition, the Daily Beast reported that Russian hackers recently attempted to access Senator Claire McCaskill’s emails as she launched her 2018 re-election bid. Senator McCaskill acknowledged the attempt, saying it was “not successful”. House Democrats said that the White House’s effort to prevent election interference is insubstantial. They want a more robust action plan from the White House. And Politico reported that most states are unprepared for cyberattacks. Even though Congress appropriated $380 million back in March to help states replace their voting machines, Politico reports that only 14 states and DC plan to do so before he 2020 presidential election. Over in the UK, British lawmakers are proposing that tech companies be held liable for publishing fake news on their sites. Facebook signs binding agreement with Washington State not to help advertisers target customers on the basis of race Facebook signed a binding agreement with Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson last week in which the company promised not to allow advertisers to target users on the basis of race. This would include ads for housing, employment, credit, insurance and “public accommodations”. However, advertisers may not need to target race directly. They could target and exclude on the basis of race using non-racial proxies for race. Facebook could potentially still have the ability to cross-reference facial recognition data and users’ likes and dislikes to build psychometric profiles that show trends that correlate with race, which advertisers could then use without creating a paper trail.   DOJ Investigates Sinclair Finally, the Justice Department is now investigating whether Sinclair, Tribune and others engaged in anticompetitive behavior that affected advertising sales rates. The Wall Street Journal reports that the DOJ is looking into whether Sinclair and Tribune coordinated in such a way as to generate higher rates for tv ad spots. The DOJ had stumbled upon potential evidence of coordination practices as it was reviewing Sinclair’s proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune, which is now in the hands of administrative law judge after the FCC voted unanimously not to approve the acquisition.

Bio Katie Ray-Jones (@KtRayJones) is President of the National Domestic Violence Hotline and National Dating Abuse Hotline. Previously, she served as NDCH’s Director of Operations. As a member of the National Task Force to Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act and in her role as Hotline Director, Katie has made several visits to key congressional offices and is well known on Capitol Hill as a representative of the Hotline and Helpline.  Katie has distinguished herself as a leader with prominent individuals in the national domestic violence movement and with national domestic violent groups and has represented the Hotline at several key national domestic/dating violence and gender-based violence meetings. Katie also has extensive experience working with survivors of domestic violence.  She has managed an emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing programs, nonresidential services for survivors and their children, 24-hour hotlines, services for individuals with HIV/AIDS, housing for families who are homeless, case management programs for children who have been abused and neglected, and a therapeutic preschool for children who have witnessed violence.  She has also worked at a legal clinic that provided assistance to victims of domestic violence who were seeking restraining orders and other types of legal advocacy, provided individual therapy and facilitated groups for survivors and abusers and worked for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission administering funding to family violence providers throughout the state of Texas. Katie has a bachelor’s degree in child and family development from San Diego State University and a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the University of San Diego.  Katie is married and has two wonderful children, George and Maximillian. Resources The National Domestic Violence Hotline Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Briné Brown. News Roundup EU fines Google $5 billion The European Union fined Google parent Alphabet some $5 billion for allegedly using its Android operating system to direct users to Google search. Android runs on some 80% of the world’s smartphones according to the Wall Street Journal. Still, Alphabet’s second quarter earnings beat analysts’ expectations by more than $2 per share. And in after-hours trading, Google shares rose 3.9% to $1,267. FCC Punts on Sinclair The FCC unanimously voted to send Sinclair’s proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribine Media to an Administrative Law judge. The FCC found that Sinclair failed to disclose that it planned to divest Chicago’s WGN to Baltimore businessman Steven Fader, who has no broadcast experience, and who is a friend of Sinclair Executive Chairman David Smith. The FCC found the divestiture, priced at $60 million, would have been far below market value, and Sinclair would have maintained control of the station. Sinclair has since revised its plan. It now proposes to keep control of WGN, but divest stations in Houston and Dallas. Still, experts don’t expect the ALJ to approve the merger. Justice Department releases cybercrime/election meddling plan The Justice Department released a response plan for how it will handle election hacking and cybercrime. The report also discusses how the agency will address denial of service attacks, use existing law, such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, to prosecute, and the surveillance tactics it will implement. It also discusses how the DOJ will train agents and lists the challenges the government faces. Twitter suspended 58 million accounts in the fourth quarter Twitter suspended some 58 million of its user accounts in the Fourth Quarter of 2017, according to the Associated Press. Last week, the company had reported that it had suspended somewhere between 50 and 70 million users in response to Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election. Comcast drops bid for 21st Century Fox Comcast dropped its bid for 21st Century Fox, which Disney is likely to acquire for $71 billion in cash and stock. Disney and Comcast had been in a bidding war over Fox’s assets. CNBC reporter David Faber reported that Comcast’s withdrawal of its bid was, at least to some extent, provoked by the fact that the U.S. government will be appealing to the DC Circuit to reverse the court-approved merger of AT&T and Time Warner. Netflix misses on subscriber growth Netflix reported a huge miss on subscriber additions in the second quarter—they added 1 million fewer than forecast for 5.15 million subscribers. Additions of domestic subscribers fared worse than the rate of additions internationally, meeting just over half of the projected amount, or 674,000 versus the 1.23 million that analysts forecast. Earnings, though, were barely shy of expectations with $3.91 billion in revenue versus the $3.94 billion that was projected. Congress will allow Trump’s plan to save ZTE Congress declined to block last week the Trump administration’s plan to save Chinese device manufacturer ZTE from tough sanctions that prevented ZTE and Huawei from taking on government contracts. The sanctions were expected to all but put ZTE out of business. But the Trump administration decided to pull back on the sanctions it had initially planned. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the failure of Congress to keep the sanctions in place was a win for Chinese President Xi Jinping and a loss for American workers and national security.

  Natalie Salmanowitz: How Virtual Reality Can Help Mitigate Implicit Bias (Ep. 146) Bio Natalie Salmanowitz (@nsalmanowitz) is a rising 3L at Harvard Law School and is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. After studying neuroscience at Dartmouth College, she went to Duke University for a master’s degree in Bioethics and Science Policy before spending a year at Stanford Law School as a fellow in the Neuroscience and Society Program. Resources The Impact of Virtual Reality on Implicit Racial Bias and Mock Legal Decisions by Natalie Salmanowitz (Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 2018) What Money Can’t Buy by Michael J. Sandel News Roundup FBI indicted 12 Russians in connection with 2016 DNC Hack Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a DC Grand Jury indictment of 12 Russians charged with hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2016. They’re all GRU members, which is Russia’s intelligence agency. And one of the defendants is accused of hacking into state election systems themselves. Intelligence officials say Russia intended for the hacks to help Donald Trump. But during a presser following his closed-door meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, the President sided with Russia. This was met with strong rebukes from U.S. intelligence officials and Republicans. Meanwhile, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates warns of an imminent “crippling cyber attack on our critical infrastructure”. He names Russia as “the most aggressive foreign actor, no question.” And CNN reports that a Kremlin-linked internet company, Mail.Ru, had access to a Facebook app that collected user data without their consent. FCC changes consumer complaint rules The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission passed a new rule last week that will require consumers to pay a $225 fee to file formal complaints with the agency. Democrats were livid, with Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel calling the rule change “bonkers”, and FCC Chairman Pai passed the rules over the objections of Democratic representatives Frank Pallone and Mike Doyle. They’re concerned the rule change will dilute the impact of informal complaints. Purdue study: Airbnb benefits local economies in white neighborhoods. Black and Latino neighborhoods? Not so much. A new study of Purdue University, that looks at Bureau of Labor Statistics and Yelp data, has found that Airbnb’s economic benefits local economies—with one wrinkle: it’s mainly neighborhoods that are predominantly white. The study specifically looked at the spillover effect to local economies when Airbnb guests stay there by evaluating how many new jobs were created in area restaurants. Apparently, Airbnb guests are less likely to eat at restaurants surrounding Airbnbs in neighborhoods where the black or Latino population exceeds 50%, than they are in predominantly white neighborhoods. U.S. Lifts Ban on ZTE The Trump administration lifted its ban against ZTE on Friday. The ban required U.S. companies to refrain from contracting with Chinese telecom manufacturer ZTE because U.S. intelligence officials accused ZTE of lying about how it was handling sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Justice Department to appeal AT&T/Time Warner Finally, The Justice Department announced that it would be appealing the DC Court of Appeals decision approving AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner. This re-opens litigation that could have major implications for how courts and the federal government will consider vertical mergers.

George Joseph: Palantir and the Police (Ep. 145) Palantir and the police have joined forces in Los Angeles to crunch the city's suspect database. George Joseph joined Joe Miller to discuss what this means for local communities and individuals who are disproportionately targeted by surveillance. Bio George Joseph (@GeorgeJoseph94) is criminal justice reporgter at The Appeal. Formerly, he was a reporting fellow at Demos focusing on surveillance, immigration, law enforcement, and the entry of big data in criminal justice systems. His work has appeared in outlets such as The Guardian, NPR, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Verge, Slate, and CityLab. Resources The Appeal The LAPD Has a New Surveillance Formula, Powered by Palantir by George Joseph   Trump nominates Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court President Trump has nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The Washington Post’s Ann Marimow reports that even though Kavanaugh clerked for the justice he would replace—Justice Anthony Kennedy—Kavanaugh’s ideology is far to the right of Kennedy’s, and he has a broad view when it comes to presidential authority. For example, in his 12 years as a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, Kavanaugh has supported military tribunals for terrorism suspects and restructuring the consumer financial protection bureau. As far as tech is concerned, Kavanaugh issued a dissent in the case that upheld the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality rules, arguing that Congress did not provide the FCC with clear statutory authority to issue the rules. Kavanaugh needs just 50 votes to be confirmed by the Senate. Trump’s trade war China’s Commerce Ministry on Friday accused Trump of using bullying tactics to launch “the biggest trade war in economic history”, after the White House began implementing a 25% tariff against Chinese goods, which will cost China an estimated $34 billion, according to CNN. China retaliated with another $34 billion worth of tariffs against American produce. The tech sector decries Trump’s tariffs, with ITI’s Josh Kallmer saying they would harm American consumers and businesses. Trump may have another $16 billion worth of tariffs coming against China later this month. Facebook faces more scrutiny As if the scrutiny of Facebook couldn’t get any worse, the FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Federal Trade Commission will now join the wide-ranging investigation into how it and Cambridge Analytica shared the data of 71 million Americans in 2015. The investigation is trying, among other things, to understand more about why Facebook failed to disclose its data-sharing practices. It was also reported last week that Facebook suffered another mishap in late May and early June in which a bug caused it to temporarily unblock accounts that some 800,000 users had previously blocked. The company also came under fire for deleting a post containing references to “Indian savages”—it turns out the post was an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence—so Facebook apologized for that as well.  Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg has surpassed Warren Buffet for the third spot on the list of the world’s richest people. Zuck is work $81.6 billion—behind Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. Inspector General: DC Metro susceptible to cyberattack The DC Metro is susceptible to cyberattack, according to a leaked Inspector General’s report that was presented to Metro’s board of directors last month. The report cites vulnerabilities that threaten Metro’s rail traffic control systems, gas and fire sensors, the power grid, station ventilation, an voice and data communications. Martine Powers reports in the Washington Post. Report: Amazon still selling Nazi paraphernalia Amazon is still selling Nazi paraphernalia, according to a new report by the Partnership for Working Families and the Action Center on Race & the Economy. The report listed a swastika pendant, cross burning baby onesie for girls, stickers and decals, and even music among the products. Amazon had promised last year to stop selling items featuring the Confederate flag but the company was found to have kept a lot of those products active. Twitter deleted 70 million accounts in May and June Finally, Twitter deleted 70 million fake accounts and bots in May and June this year, according to the Washington Post. This would significantly reduce Twitter’s user base, but lately the social media company has been increasing its usership, which has led to more investment in the company. The Washington Post reports that Twitter has been deleting accounts at the same rate in July.

Bio  Lydia Parnes is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she is chair of the firm's privacy and cybersecurity practice. She regularly represents companies in complex regulatory investigations and provides advice on complying with federal, state, and global privacy and data protection laws. The former director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lydia is a highly regarded privacy expert. As director of the BCP, Lydia oversaw privacy and data security enforcement efforts and the development of the FTC's approach to online advertising. She testified on numerous occasions on the benefits of a uniform nationwide data breach law and the risks of legislating in the technology area. Lydia advises companies on how to navigate global privacy and data security requirements while pursuing their business goals. She helps them develop and implement comprehensive privacy compliance programs and understand the nuances of regulation and self-regulation in the privacy arena. Lydia regularly represents clients before the FTC and other federal and state agencies. Lydia was named a top lawyer in the cybersecurity category by Washingtonian Magazine in 2017 and 2015 and is regularly recognized in Chambers USA, Chambers Global, and The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers as among the country's top privacy and data security attorneys. In 2012, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was recognized by Law360 as a "top privacy and consumer protection" law firm.   Lydia speaks throughout the country on developments in data security and privacy. Resources  Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Eleventh Circuit LabMD Decision Significantly Restrains FTC’s Remedial Powers in Data Security and Privacy Actions by Lydia Parnes (WSGR Blog, June 18, 2018)   News Roundup California passes its own set of privacy rules The state of California has passed its own, sweeping data privacy law that’s set to go into effect in 2020. The hastily passed law signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday grants Californians the right to know the what, why and how of how companies are collecting and sharing their data. The new law, while it also grants consumers the right to tell companies to delete their data, isn’t as extensive as the EU’s new Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which everyone’s still trying to figure out. DOJ approves Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox  The Department of Justice has granted Disney antitrust approval to acquire 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets for $71 billion. But Disney is going to need to divest Fox’s 22 regional sports networks within 90 days after it closes. Rival Comcast is still in the running, though. Its $65 billion bid is still on the table. Facebook says it released even more data  In a 700-page set of replies to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Facebook acknowledged that it shared user data with 52 companies after it stopped doing so in 2015 with most others. The company says it has ended 38 of the 52 partnerships. Companies with which Facebook continues to share data are Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung and Alibaba. But lawmakers are obviously concerned given the ongoing fallout from the Cambridge Analytica debacle in which the company shared the data of some 87 million Facebook users which were used to help Republican candidates. Man charged with threatening Ajit Pai’s family        The FBI arrested a Norwalk, California man for allegedly threatening to kill Ajit Pai’s children because of the FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules. Thirty-three year old Markara Man, 33, allegedly sent three emails to Pai listing preschools around Arlington, Virginia, where Chairman Pai lives and threatening to kill his children back in December of 2017—months before the vote.  NSA deletes 685 million call records Remember when the National Security Agency came under fire a few years back when former contractor Ed Snowden revealed that the agency was collecting the phone records of millions of Americans? Well the NSA is deleting some 685 million of those call records for “technical irregularities”.   NSA Contractor Reality Winner takes pea bargain         Reality Winner, the former NSA contractor who leaked NSA documents last summer, has taken a plea bargain. The 26-year-old was charged with violating the Espionage Act for sharing NSA documents allegedly showing what NSA knew about how Russia penetrated the 2016 presidential election. She’ll serve 5 years and 3 months, with 3 years’ supervised release. Former Equifax manager charged with insider trading  The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Sudhakar Reddy Bonthy with insider trading. The agency alleges that Bonthu made $75,000 from illegal trades based on confidential information about Equifax’s data breach last year which exposed the data of more than 100 million people.  The New York Attorney General is probing the T-Mobile/Sprint Deal  The New York Attorney General’s office is investigating the effect the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint deal would have on pre-paid mobile services. Combined, the companies have 30 million paid subscribers, according to the Wall Street Journal. Prepaid plans are disproportionately the plan of choice for low-income households, a spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said. Tinder moves to encrypt photos Tinder’s parent company Match Group has moved to encrypt its users’ photos. The changes actually went into effect back in February after Senator Ron Wyden wrote a letter to Tinder asking the company to encrypt photos given the risk that hackers would have been able to capture photos and swipe data via the Tinder app. Netflix fires executive for racist comment Finally, Netflix has fired its Chief Communications officer for using the n-word during a meeting and then using it again. The company says that Jonathan Friedland used the word at least twice. In a letter, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the 7-year Netflix veteran used the word in a meeting about offensive speech in an inappropriate and offensive way. Friedland then used the word again with two black employees in the HR department who were tasked with dealing with the incident. Hastings wrote that he should have addressed the first incident head on, instead, he wrote “I realize that my privilege has made me intellectualize or otherwise minimize race issues like this. I need to set a better example by learning and listening more so I can be the leader we need.” According to Netflix’s 2Q18 workforce demographics report, Blacks comprise just 4% of Netflix’s workforce despite the fact that nonhispanic blacks comprise 12.1% of the U.S. population, according to the latest U.S. Census.

  Bio CJ Johnson (https://twitter.com/cjjohnsonjr) is an award-winning photographer and content creator. He co-founded J+J (listed as one of the Top 50 Digital Agencies in Los Angeles), is a GQ Insider, and well-known “Branding Guru". He’s recognized for his contributions and authority in leadership, creativity, and social media marketing. He’s helped over 100+ startups to Fortune 500 companies all around the world find success and reach new heights. CJ is based out of Los Angeles, but he is truly global and spends a lot of time traveling around the world. He was introduced to his current career as the startup movement and YouTube generation reshaped the industries of the world.    Since creating J+J, CJ has overseen creative campaigns and consultations for successful businesses (from all industries) and continues his personal goal of inspiring people to chase after their dreams. He’s currently a Google Next Gen Policy Leader and he contributes to initiatives to help bring technology and education to content creators and low income areas in the United States. Resources CJ Johnson The Alchemist by Paul Coelho News Roundup U.S. Supreme Court Rules that police need warrants for cell location data The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling last week requiring law enforcement to obtain a search warrant for suspects’ cell tower records. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority which also included the Court’s liberal justices Sotomayor, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan.  Roberts wrote ““Modern cellphones are not just another technological convenience … They could just as easily be called cameras, video players, Rolodexes, calendars, tape recorders, libraries, diaries, albums, televisions, maps or newspapers.” The case stems from the conviction of Timothy Carpenter who is serving a 116-year sentence for being the ringleader of armed robberies of Radio Shack stores in and around Detroit. Prosecutors obtained 127 days’-worth of Carpenter’s location data from his carrier to prove his whereabouts when the robberies took place. U.S. Supreme Court rules for state sales tax of out-of-state retailers The U.S. Supreme Court issued another ruling last week—also a 5-4 decision—this time, the Court’s conservatives were joined by liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Interestingly, Chief Justice John Roberts dissented in the opinion—joining the remaining 3 liberal justices. In this case, the Court found that states can require out-of-state retailers like Amazon and Overstock to collect state sales tax. T-Mobile and Sprint file for merger T-Mobile and Sprint filed a 678-page merger application with the Federal Communications Commission last week. The companies argue that the $26 billion merger would accelerate the deployment of 5G and increase competition. The application comes amidst a wave of mergers in the telecommunications and media industries. Disney upped its bid for 21st Century Fox to a whopping $71.3 billion in cash and stock. Disney and Comcast have been locked in a bidding war for Fox’s assets, with Comcast having made a $65 billion all-cash bid for Fox the week before. Apple will now enable 911 location pinpointing Apple last week announced that some 6,300 emergency response centers in the U.S. will now be able to pinpoint where 911 calls are coming from. Some 80% of 911 calls now come from mobile phones but, until now, where the calls were coming from has been difficult for first responders to pinpoint. Experts estimate that some 240 million 911 calls will be made this year. Amazon and Microsoft employees stand up to surveillance deals Finally Employees at Amazon and Microsoft are standing up to their companies’ government contracting deals that they say violate human rights. A group of Amazon workers sent a letter on the company’s internal Wiki urging to Jeff Bezos to stop selling facial recognition technology to local law enforcement. They also want Amazon to stop working, both directly and indirectly, with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.   One hundred Microsoft employees sent an open letter to Satya Nadella protesting the $19.4 million contract the company has ICE’s data and artificial intelligence capabilities.        

Bio  Jorge Fontanez (@CuriousJLuis) is the founder of Marca Studio and operates as senior strategist, innovator and problem-solver passionate about creating and launching digital engagement and storytelling programs. He has been working at the intersection of technology, sustainability and marketing for over 15 years and experiments with models of stakeholder engagement in his role as Clinical Professor of Marketing at the Bard MBA in Sustainability Program.  Jorge is a First Movers Fellow since 2014 at the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program and collaborates with the Google Next Generation Policy Leaders influencing how tech policy affects communities of color. Jorge is an Afro-Latinx, queer affirming voice hailing from Philadelphia, representing the Puerto Rican diaspora and lives in New York City.   Jorge maintains a strong record delivering consistent execution of national, integrated marketing campaigns and was honored as a “40 under 40” Brand Innovator in 2012 for expertise in digital marketing. In 2011 and 2012, Jorge was also honored as an Official Honoree of The Webby Awards in the category of Corporate Social Responsibility for his leadership of Chase Community Giving, an employee and customer engagement program of JPMorgan Chase & Co. delivering over $25MM in grants to thousands of nonprofits nationwide.  Jorge now pursues his passion and interests in corporate citizenship, improving the world of philanthropy and stakeholder engagement through purpose-driven and impact marketing programs that scale.   Resources Marca Studio Collective Action for Puerto Rico   News Roundup Court greenlights AT&T/Time Warner merger setting the stage for more consolidation  Federal DC Circuit Judge Richard Leon ruled that the Department of Justice failed to prove that AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner violates federal antitrust laws, giving the greenlight for the $52 billion merger, which the companies closed on the same day. Comcast then made a $65 billion move to outbid Disney for 21st Century Fox, and Sprint and T-Mobile have now proposed a merger. The FCC opened a docket to review the Sprint/TMobile merger on Friday.  Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Indicted Federal prosecutors have indicted Elizabeth Holmes, the once-promising founder of  Theranos—a faulty blood testing technology company once valued at $10 billion. The company’s former president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, was also indicted. They’re charged with 9 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They’re accused of defrauding investors of $100 million. They’ve plead not guilty. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also accused Theranos’s founders of fraud.   Trump calls for creation of a Space Force President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to create a new branch of the military—a “Space Force”—that will seek to achieve U.S. dominance in space. At a meeting of the National Space Council at the White House Trump said, “We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal”. Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut, is against the proposal and tweeted that it is something that military leadership has told him they do not want.   Google released its diversity report Google released its annual diversity report last week and it shows black employees make up just 2.5% of the company even though the U.S. Census Bureau says they comprise 13.3% of the population. Latinx employees make up 17.8% of the population, but just 3.6% of Google’s workforce. The company also released for the first time data on attrition rates which show that, at 27 points above the index, black employees are leaving the company at a higher rate than other groups. Latinx employees are leaving the company at 15 points above the index.   Apple will remove backdoor for law enforcement Finally, Apple announced last week that it would be removing the iPhone port that lets law enforcement break into iPhones. There’s only one problem with this --  an official reportedly told Politico that this may create an opportunity for officers to exploit the exigent need exception—allowing them to access the phone without a warrant.      

  Hassan Tetteh: The Power of AI in Medicine (Ep. 141) How can doctors use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve health outcomes for service members? What can we learn from the use of AI in the context of military medicine that we can apply to civilian healthcare? Dr. Hassan Tetteh joined Joe Miller to discuss the power of AI in Medicine. Bio Hassan A. Tetteh (@doctortetteh) author is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, adjunct faculty at Howard University College of Medicine, and served as Division Lead for Futures and Innovation at Navy Medicine’s Headquarters, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow from 2012-13, assigned to the U.S. Congress, Congressional Budget Office, (CBO), and served as Assistant Deputy Commander for Healthcare Operations and Strategic Planning at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) during its integration. Currently, Tetteh is a Thoracic staff Surgeon for MedStar Health and WRNMMC and most recently served as Command Surgeon for the National Defense University. Tetteh served as Ship’s Surgeon and Director of Surgical Services for the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) battle group in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM in 2005. In 2011, he deployed as a trauma surgeon to Afghanistan’s Helmand and Nimroz provinces in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM with II Marine Expeditionary Forces and most recently supported special joint forces missions to South America, the Middle East, the South Pacific, Australia, and Africa. He earned both the Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer and Fleet Marine Force Qualified Officer designations, and his military honors include two Meritorious Service Medals and the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Tetteh is the author of the novel Gifts of the Heart and has published articles on surgical innovation, health information technology, ethics, wounded warriors, and process improvement. He also serves on the board of directors for the Brooklyn, New York-based Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, Fayetteville, Arkansas based Champions for Kids, and Miriam’s Kitchen a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit that works to end chronic homelessness. At the CBO, as a Visiting Scholar with the Health, Retirement, and Long-Term Analysis Division, Tetteh provided a clinical perspective, working with different teams of analysts on a variety of health policy projects. Individually, he contributed to studies related to the changing cost of chronic conditions, the costs of obesity and their effects on the federal budget, supply-side modeling of health workforce issues, and the impact of health information technology on the federal budget. He also analyzed policy proposals aimed at achieving savings in Medicare. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Tetteh received his B.S. from State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh, his M.D. from SUNY Downstate Medical Center, his M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, and M.S. from the National War College. He completed his thoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota and advanced cardiac surgery fellowship at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Tetteh is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management, board certified in thoracic surgery, general surgery, clinical informatics, and healthcare management, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Resources Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation by Bob Roth News Roundup Net neutrality is officially gone The FCC’s repeal of the 2015 net neutrality rules went into effect yesterday, Monday June 11th. The Hill predicts that you won’t see any immediate changes to internet speeds or new paid prioritization schemes, but concludes that that’s only because carriers are going to be on their best behavior as the repeal winds its ways through the courts and Congress continues to push for legislation. The status of Congressional Review Act proposals are still very uncertain as proponents have been unable to secure enough Republican votes. Ex-Senate intelligence aide charged for FBI leaks The DOJ has charged James Wolfe, who for nearly 30 years served as the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Director of Security, for leaking FBI intelligence to four reporters, including a New York Times reporter, Ali Watkins, with whom he had a 3 year relationship. Wolf is alleged to have used encrypted messaging apps to leak the info to reporters. Amidst  uncertainty regarding Chinese device makers, Senator Warner pressures Google and Twitter Senator Mark Warner is seeking information from Google and Twitter about their relationships with Chinese phone makers like Huawei and ZTE. Just to give you some background here, the Commerce Department has already fined ZTE $1.19 billion for dealing with Iran and North Korea in violation of trade agreements that China had with the U.S. But on Squawkbox last Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced a fresh batch of $1 billion in sanctions against ZTE for misleading regulators and failing to discipline employees. ZTE has also had to put $400 million in escrow in case they violate the trade agreement again. Ouch. But Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer says the sanctions don’t go far enough. So he and Senator Tom Cotton introduced a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authoprization Act (NDAA) to restore additional sanctions including the original ban against government agencies buying or leasing  from ZTE or Huawei, which is also caught in the cross-hair of all this. And Democratic Senator Mark Warner is also pressuring Twitter and Google to provide information on how they work with Chinese phone makers. Facebook announced last week that it had granted Huawei and other Chinese phone makers access to user data, opening up a brand new can of worms against the social media giant amidst the ongoing Cambridge Analytica fiasco. Verizon has a news CEO Verizon has a new CEO. Hans Vestberg will replace Lowell McAdam on August 1st. Vestberg joined the company about a year ago as Chief Tehnology Officer. U.S . sanctions firms linked to Russia The U.S. Treasury Department has prohibited 5 Russian firms and 3 Russian nationals from doing business in the U.S. because they allegedly helped the Kremlin conduct cyber attacks. Just a few days ago, President Trump called for Russia’s readmittance to the G-7. In addition, security experts at Cisco are warning that Russian hacks of home routers is more widespread than we initially thought. Washington State is suing Google/Facebook for political ads Washington State is suing Google and Facebook for allegedly failing to disclose who bought political election ads. Their Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, wants access to names, addresses, and the cost of political ads sold. Google, Facebook and Twitter have each announced new policies for political ad disclosures.

    Clayton Banks: 5G Comes to Harlem (Ep. 140) Bio Clayton Banks (@embertime) is the Co-Founder and CEO of Silicon Harlem.  The mission of Silicon Harlem is to transform Harlem and other urban markets into Innovation and Technology Hubs. Under his leadership, Silicon Harlem has partnered with the Department of Education for New York City to establish an after school STEM based startup accelerator, collaborate with the NYC Mayor’s office to assess wireless broadband in upper Manhattan, and coordinate a virtual startup incubator for tech based entrepreneurs. Banks has established and produces the only comprehensive technology conference in Harlem, the Silicon Harlem tech conference is focused on next generation internet and its impact on urban markets economic development. Prior to Silicon Harlem, Banks has been a pioneer in the cable and communications industry for over two decades. He set the vision for Ember Media, a development group that builds digital solutions and interactive applications for top brands and non-profit organizations, across multiple platforms. Known as a pragmatic visionary, Banks has developed and deployed leading edge technology and applications for network cloud, gaming consoles, social media, augmented reality, interactive TV, tablets, mobile apps and over 400 interactive properties. Banks has implemented multi-platform strategies for MTV, ESPN, Budweiser, Essence Music Festival, Urban Latino, Prudential, New York Institute of Technology, United Technologies, National Urban League, Denny’s, Scholastic, and other top brands. He has produced multimedia and broadband content for Discovery Networks, HBO, Pepsi, Bloomberg TV, Showtime Networks, Bermuda Tourism, British Tourist Authority, Monaco Tourism, and countless other companies and organizations around the world. Banks has worked with former President of the United States Bill Clinton to publish a first-of-its-kind interactive college guide series called “The Key”, that targets underserved communities and features Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions. The Key was featured on CNN, NY1, Univision, and several other media outlets around the country. Banks served as Vice President of Affiliate Relations for Comedy Central. While at Comedy Central, he was part of the launch of South Park, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and the Upright Citizens Brigade.  Banks established the New York and Chicago Affiliate Relations offices, recruited, hired, and managed a senior affiliate relations team. Prior to Comedy Central, Banks served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing to launch Sega Channel. Sega Channel was the first interactive cable service available to US subscribers.  In his capacity at Sega Channel, Banks collaborated with all aspects of the product including technical infrastructure, product content, and distribution.  Banks negotiated affiliation agreements for distribution of the service with the top cable companies in the US. Including Comcast, Cablevision Systems, Time Warner, and Charter Communications. Sega Channel has been credited by many media experts for moving the cable industry toward interactivity. Prior to Sega Channel, Banks served as Regional Director at Showtime Networks, where he was responsible for launching The Movie Channel in New York City and overseeing overall growth of Showtime Networks among assigned multiple system operators. Banks currently serves on the Commission on Public Information and Communication for the city of New York, appointed by and representing the 5 Borough Presidents.  He serves as a Board of Director for the Armory Track and Field Foundation, a Board member for the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and is an active participant in the Principal for a Day program in New York City.   He has published several white papers on the interactive experience and participates as a moderator and speaker at several industry events. Banks served as the President of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) from 1996-1998 and was instrumental in working with the FCC to include Minority owned business incentives in the 1996 Telecommunications Act.  As NAMIC’s President he championed programs to increase the number of minorities in senior management in the Cable and network television business. Banks has received many awards for outstanding creative and corporate awards including an I.D. Magazine Award, a Davey Award, Promax, @dtech award, Creativity Award, Astrid Award, Ten Awards, the Communicator Award, a Boli Award, the Harlem Business Alliance Business Person of the Year, inducted as a History Maker in the United States Library of Congress, the recipient of the Trailblazer award from Rainbow Push and most recently received a proclamation from New York City as a Technology Leader. Banks attended California State University at Fullerton, where he received degrees in Business Administration and Communications. Banks also completed a Cable Industry sponsored Executive Management program at Harvard Business School. Resources Silicon Harlem A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey News Roundup Trump nominates Geoffrey Starks to fill Democratic FCC Seat President Trump has nominated Geoffrey Starks to fill the Democratic seat at the FCC seat that Mignon Clyburn left vacant when she stepped down from the Commission at the end of her term last month. The distinguished Harvard and Yale Law School grad is currently an Assistant Chief in the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. Previously, he worked at the Department of Justice where he helped successfully secure a hate crimes conviction for a former D.C. neighborhood advisory commissioner for DuPont Circle—Robert Dwyer. Dwyer was convicted for, in the wee-hours of the night back in 2014, going over to 17th and Corcoran NW where homeless people sleep and proceeding to toss their belongings into the street, yell racial slurs, and spray one of the homeless men with cleaning solution. Previously, Starks worked at the law firm of Williams & Connolly and as an aide to state senators in Illinois including Barack Obama. Facebook under fire again Facebook is under fire again by both Republicans and Democrats after the New York Times ran a story Sunday night saying the company shared user data with device makers.  The article alleges that Facebook entered into data-sharing agreements with companies like Apple, Amazon, Blackberry and Samsung without users’ consent, reinforcing accusations that began to arise last month, during the ongoing Cambridge Analytica debacle, that Facebook violated a 2011 Federal Trade Commission consent decree to protect user data. Keith Ellison calls for FTC investigation of Google In a letter on Friday, Keith Ellison, vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, followed up on a call he made back in October for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google parent company Alphabet’s market dominance.  He says the FTC should undertake a similar investigation to the one recently conducted by the European Union which resulted in a record $2.7 billion fine against the tech giant for unfairly highlighting its own search results. Facebook and Twitter address political ad transparency Facebook and Twitter have announced measures to address ad transparency. Facebook will now include a “paid for” label atop political ads, and also keep an archive of political ad data for seven years—the length of a congressional election cycle. Twitter will ban foreign-based advertisers from placing political ads on its platform -- it will also clearly identify and include disclaimers on political ads, as well as require political advertisers to use photos in the advertiser profiles as well as provide contact information. The two companies follow efforts by Google to improve its political ad transparency. The Internet Association is urging the Federal Election Commission to keep political ad regulations flexible. Homeland detected surveillance activity near “sensitive facilities” The Department of Homeland security reported suspicious surveillance activity near what it termed as “sensitive facilities”. In a letter to Senator Ron Wyden, Senior Homeland Security Official Chris Krebs wrote that the Department detected an “anomalous” use of Stingray devices—a device that law enforcement officers use to mimic cell towers in order to obtain device data. The problem is that Homeland doesn’t know or isn’t disclosing where the suspicious activity is coming from. Apple reports sharp increase in national security requests Reporting on national security requests it received in the second half of 2017, Apple reported that it received 20% more such requests than it did in the first half of that year. The company reports that it received 16,249 requests regarding 8,249 accounts between July 1 and December 31 of 2017. Google nixes plans to work with Pentagon Finally ,After receiving pressure from thousands of employees, some of which resigned, Google has announced that it will no longer seek government contracting funding to support the Pentagon in its quest to use Artificial Intelligence for drone warfare. The current contract is set to expire in 2019 and Google won’t seek to renew it, according to Gizmodo.

  Bio Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey (@drniiquartelai) is a trusted strategic partner and community advocate. He’s currently Senior Advisor and National LGBT Liaison at AARP, where he serves as a strategic advisor to the Senior Vice President of Multicultural Leadership. He also serves AARP in an enterprise-wide role charged with building national awareness and deepening intersectional community engagement to advance AARP's social impact agenda. Dr. Quartey is dedicated to advancing the affirming influence of corporate and non-profit executives on LGBTQ civil rights. Previously, he was the National Strategic Partnership Manager at American Heart. Dr. Quartey earned his B.A. in Political Science with a Minor in Critical Approaches to Leadership from the University of Southern California, and his Masters in Social Entrepreneurship & Change from Pepperdine University, where he also earned his Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership. Resources AARP’s LGBT Pride Portal Maintaining Dignity: A Survey of LGBT Adults Age 45 and Older   Uber stops requiring arbitration from sexual assault victims, employees and drivers just days before the Supreme Court ruled that such agreements are enforceable The Supreme Court ruled on Monday of this week, in a 5-4 decision, that employers can force employees to sign arbitration agreements to prevent them from joining class-action lawsuits. Uber announced that it will stop implementing its long-time policy of forcing passengers who allege sexual assault at the hands of drivers into arbitration. All Uber passengers, drivers and employees will now be able to choose the venue in which they wish to bring their claims. CNN reported two weeks ago that passengers have accused 103 Uber drivers of sexual assault over the past 4 years. Sara Ashley O’brien reports in CNN. House takes up Net Neutrality CRA The House is now reviewing the Senate’s Congressional Review Act resolution to nullify the Trump administration FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules the FCC adopted back in 2015. The House needs to vote on the resolution by June 12th. Representative Mike Doyle—a Democrat from Pennsylvania—introduced a companion resolution, but that can’t come to a floor vote until the House votes on the Senate’s resolution, which needs 218 votes to pass a House in which Republicans hold a 52-member majority. John Eggerton reports in Broadcasting and Cable. House Committee rejects Trump’s efforts to water down ZTE sanctions The House Appropriations Committee agreed by voice vote last week to disabuse the Trump administration of any notion that it would be watering down sanctions against Chinese phone manufacturer ZTE. The Trump administration has been at odds with law enforcement over sanctions the administration announced it would be taking against China-based phone manufacturer ZTE, but then backtracked on. A couple of weeks ago, U.S.  Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross imposed a seven-year ban on the sale and purchase of ZTE products. China then requested that the U.S. ease up on the sanctions because they’d likely devastate the company. President Trump and Ross had begun reconsidering the sanctions and the president says they’re working more closely with Chinese President Xi a “way to get back into business, fast”.   But law enforcement officials, including FBI Director Christopher Wray, told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that he was “deeply concerned” about the threat ZTE poses to the U.S. telecommunications network. And Republicans and Democrats alike have for years warned about ZTE’s spying capability. Eli Okun reports for Politico. FCC puts Sinclair-Tribune merger back on the table The FCC has opened a new comment cycle for the Sinclair-Tribune merger. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is still reviewing how many TV stations Sinclair should own. Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel says the FCC should wait to reopen the Sinclair docket until after the court makes decision. Reply comments in the new proceeding are due on July 11th. Amazon will adopt board diversity rule Amazon announced, after first resisting a shareholder proposal for Amazon to implement best practices to improve diversity, that it will now support it. The company announced on Monday of last week that it would now adopt a policy to include women and people of color in the applicant pool of candidates for its board seats. The company’s initial resistance sparked outrage from its employees. Justice Department and F.B.I. Investigate Cambridge Analytica Cambridge Analytica, the political data firm that filed for bankruptcy last week after a whistleblower revealed the company misused millions of Facebook users’ data to impact the 2016 presidential election, is now under criminal investigation in the U.S. The Justice Department and F.B.I. are apparently in the early stages of the investigation as they have questioned several witnesses. Cambridge Analytica is principally owned by Robert Mercer—a wealthy political donor. Nicholas Confessore and Matthew Rosenberg report in the New York Times. Trump issues Executive Order on CIO Authority President Trump issued an Executive Order last week that strengthens federal agency Chief Information Officers’ ability to set hiring, budget and agenda goals for their departments’ IT enterprises.  Aaron Boyd reports in NextGov.

  Bio Karina Cabrera Bell (@KarinaCBell) is the President of the Reach Mama Network and Host of the Reach Mama Podcast. Reach Mama’s mission is to increase the number of moms of color in leadership positions by 1) highlighting successful moms of color and having them share their strategies and tips, and 2) creating tools and support systems for moms of color that want to advance professionally. A mom of two, Karina has 15 years experience in government and political campaigns. Karina has worked at all levels of government and has seen firsthand the benefits of having women in leadership positions. Most recently, she worked in the Obama White House and the U.S. Department of Energy.  She honed her policy chops in the U.S. Senate as Policy Advisor for New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Karina has also worked on numerous campaigns including two presidential campaigns (Obama 08' and Kerry 04'). Karina is passionate about women's empowerment. She earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Mount Saint Mary and her Masters in Urban Policy from the New School. Resources Reach Mama Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act Support the FAMILY Ac Off the Sidelines: Speak Up, Be Fearless, and Change Your World by Kirsten Gillibrand (Ballantine Books, 2014). News Roundup U.S./China appear to be backing away from trade war The U.S. and China appear to be backing away from a telecom trade war. The U.S. had issued strict sanctions against China-based telecommunications manufacturers including Huawei and ZTE due in part to fears that China was using the devices for spying purposes, and in part due to the countries’ respective efforts to dominate in the buildout of 5G. But according to Chinese officials, the sanctions would ruin ZTE, so it urged the Trump administration to reconsider. Trump tweeted Monday that he has now asked the Commerce Department to look into easing up on some of those sanctions in order to protect jobs that would be affected by the ZTE sanctions. And China has restarted its review of Qualcomm’s proposal to acquire China-based NXP Semiconductors. The Hill reports that lawmakers like Marco Rubion aren’t happy because of espionage and security concerns. Steven Yang reports in Bloomberg and Brent Griffiths reports in Politico. Senate forces a vote on net neutrality Thirty-three Senators, under the leadership of Ed Markey, have submitted what’s known as a discharge petition, under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), restore net neutrality over the Federal Communications Commission’s vote to repeal the 2015 rules. The net neutrality rules are set to expire on June 11th. The full Senate will vote on the resolution on Wednesday, and it seems likely to pass, since one Republican—Susan Collins from Maine—has agreed to support the petition, and an ailing Senator McCain is unlikely to cast a vote. But the petition would still need to clear the House, where Republicans are in the majority by a margin of 236-193. And president Trump would also need to sign it. Jon Brodkin reports in Ars Technica. AT&T retained Trump lawyer Michael Cohen Brian Fung and Rosalind Helderman reported last week that AT&T retained Michael Cohen’s firm, Essential Consultants, the same entity he allegedly used to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Donald Trump. According the Washington Post, AT&T’s company records show AT&T retained Essential Consultants for some $600,000 to help them with their $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner.  AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said retaining Cohen was a “big mistake”. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden wrote to AT&T on Monday demanding answers. Facebook shuffles is leadership Recode reports that Facebook is re-shuffling its leadership. WhatsApp and Messenger now have new leaders. The company will now have three divisions, each with a separate leader. Those divisions include Family of apps, Blockchain, and Central product services. But it looks like no executives are leaving the company, which is surprising to some given the Cambridge Analytica debacle. Kurt Wagner has the report at Recode. Senate Intelligence Committee releases interim election security report Karoun Demirjian at the Washington Post reports that a new Senate Intelligence Committee report concludes that the Department of Homeland Security did an “inadequate job” at countering Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. A House Intelligence Committee final report released in April made a similar conclusion, saying that U.S. Intelligence Committees failed to follow best practices. Black, Hispanic lawmakers blast Amazon directors for opposing diversity Members of Amazon’s board are advocating against a shareholder proposal to increase board diversity. Shareholders are advocating for a rule called the “Rooney Rule” which would require initial lists of board candidates to fill new board seats to include women and people of color. However, Amazon’s current Board Members are advising against the proposal, and many of Amazon’s employees are outraged, according to Recode. FAA ignores Amazon in drone pilot program Amazon is not included in a pilot program called the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program being run by the US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration. Over the next three years the program will test out drone delivery service, with the goal of eventually rolling out drone delivery service throughout the country. Amazon is notably absent from the list of companies that will be participating, although Google parent Alphabet is included, as well as smaller startups including AirMap and Flirtey. Mike Murphy reports in Quartz. FCC issues a $120 million robocall fine The FCC has announced a $120 million fine to a Florida man -- Adrian Abramovich—for allegedly making some 100 million robocalls in three months. While the FCC has issued this fine, it still has not introduced new robocall regulations. Ali Breland has the report in the Hill.

Darell West: AI, the Future of Work, and the Future of America (Ep. 137) Bio Darrell M. West (@darrwest) is the vice president and director of Governance Studies and Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution and Editor-in-Chief of TechTank. His current research focuses on technology, mass media, campaigns and elections, and public sector innovation. Prior to coming to Brookings, West was the John Hazen White Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University. West is the author or co-author of 23 books including The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation(Brookings Institution Press, 2018), Megachange: Economic Disruption, Political Upheaval, and Social Strife in the 21st Century (Brookings Institution Press, 2016), Going Mobile: How Wireless Technology is Reshaping Our Lives (Brookings Institution Press, 2015), Billionaires: Reflections on the Upper Crust(Brookings Institution Press, 2014), Digital Schools: How Technology Can Transform Education (Brookings, 2012), The Next Wave: Using Digital Technology to Further Social and Political Innovation (Brookings, 2011), Brain Gain: Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy (Brookings, 2010), Digital Medicine: Health Care in the Internet Era (Brookings, 2009), Digital Government: Technology and Public Sector Performance, (Princeton University Press, 2005), Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election Campaigns (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2005), Cross Talk: Citizens, Candidates, and the Media in a Presidential Campaign(University of Chicago Press, 1996) The Sound of Money: How Political Interests Get What They Want (W. W. Norton, 1998), Biotechnology Policy Across National Boundaries (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), and Patrick Kennedy: The Rise to Power (Prentice-Hall, 2000), among others. He is the winner of the American Political Science Association’s Don K. Price award for best book on technology (for Digital Government) and the American Political Science Association’s Doris Graber award for best book on political communications (for Cross Talk). He has published more than three dozen scholarly articles in a wide range of academic journals. In 2014, he was honored by Public Administration Review for having written one of the 75 most influential articles since 1940. This was for his article “E-Government and the Transformation of Service Delivery and Citizen Attitudes.” He has delivered many lectures in more than a dozen different countries around the world, including Malaysia, Singapore, Norway, China, Japan, Russia, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Bahrain, and the United States. He has been quoted in leading newspapers, radio stations, and national television networks around the world. The Center that he directs at Brookings examines a wide range of topics related to technology innovation including governance, democracy, and public sector innovation; health information technology; virtual education, and green technology. Its mission is to identify key developments in technology innovation, undertake cutting-edge research, disseminate best practices broadly, inform policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels about actions needed to improve innovation, and enhance the public’s and media’s understanding of technology innovation. Resources Inside Politics The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation (Brookings Institution Press, 2018) Brookings Center for Technology Innovation Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz (HarperCollins, 2017) News Roundup Federal watchdog: FCC’s ORielly violated Hatch Act The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the federal ethics authority, warned Republican FCC Commission Mike O’Rielly that O’Rielly violated the Hatch Act, according to a letter it wrote to the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their official authority to influence or affect an election. At a panel discussion of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, O’Rielly stated ,“I think what we can do is make sure as conservatives that we elect good people to both the House, the Senate and make sure that President Trump gets reelected.” OSC did say, however, that merely appearing at the event was not a violation. Comcast aims for 21st Century Fox Comcast is preparing an all-cash $60 billion bid for 21st Century Fox, according to Reuters. This exceeds Disney’s current $52 billion proposal. But Comcast says it’ll wait for regulators to decide the fate of AT&T’s proposed takeover of Time Warner, before making a formal offer. Tensions mount between U.S. and China over Telecom/5G Tensions between the U.S. and China are beginning to mount over national security concerns related to Chinese telecommunications equipment, and the two countries’ race to lead the world in 5G. Cecilia Kang and Ana Swanson report in the New York Times that the White House is considering further restricting the sale of telecom equipment manufactured in China. The FCC and Commerce Department have already restricted government contractors from purchasing telecommunications equipment from companies like ZTE, which the Commerce Department says failed to punish employees for violating U.S. sanctions. China’s Ministry of Commerce told a U.S. trade delegation that visited Beijing last week that the ZTE ban would severely hurt the company. Se Young Lee and Lusha Zhang report in Reuters. N.S.A.’s collection of data from U.S. phone companies is up threefold since 2016 Charlie Savage reports in the New York Times that the National Security Agency collected three times more data than it did in 2016. The NSA collected some 534 million phone call and text message records from telecommunications companies. FCC begins shift of $9 Billion in Universal Service funds from BofA to Treasury FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has begun moving $9 billion that’s used for the universal service fund from Bank of America to the Treasury Department. Democratic Commissioners Rosenworcel and Clyburn say moving the funds is a shame because it foregoes some $50 million in annual interest income that could have been used to provide further subsidies. Todd Shields reports in Bloomberg. Velázquez and 46 members of Congress urge the FCC to preserve Lifeline FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made a proposal recently to rollback the federal Lifeline program, a program that subsidizes communications services for low-income Americans. In a letter she wrote along with 47 Members of Congress, New York Representative Nydia Velázquez says rolling the program back would result in 75 percent of existing customers in Puerto Rico losing their telecommunications carrier. Cambridge Analytica declares bankruptcy Cambridge Analytica has declared bankruptcy and is ceasing operations. The company began losing clients following the investigation into its alleged work to use the personal data of millions on Facebook to help get Donald Trump elected. However, the UK’s investigation of Cambridge Analytica is still ongoing, despite the bankruptcy, according to the Associated Press. CBC Releases vision for shared prosperity in tech The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) released last week its Tech 2020 set of principles. The principles include proposals for STEAM education and job training, making tech available and affordable, addressing the economic stability of communities, recruiting and retaining black talent, and targeting investment in diverse companies and communities. Melania Trump announces platform Melania Trump announced a platform focused on children’s issues. It’s dubbed “Be Best” and it will have three components: well being, social media use (including cyberbullying) and opioid abuse. Google and Facebook announce ban on bail bond ads Google and Facebook announced that they would ban ads for bail bonds. Google said it would officially start banning the ads in July. Google’s Global Product Policy Director David Graff said the bail bond providers make most of their revenue from low income areas and communities of color. Facebook has plans to ban the ads as well, but it’s still working out the details.

  Chelsea Barabas: How to balance AI and criminal justice (Ep. 136) MIT Research Scientist Chelsea Barabas and Joe Miller discuss how to balance AI and criminal justice to affect better defendant outcomes. Bio Chelsea Barabas (@chels_bar) is a research scientist at MIT, where she examines the spread of algorithmic decision making tools in the US criminal justice system. Formerly, Chelsea was the Head of Social Innovation with the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative. She has worked on a wide range of issues related to the use of emerging technologies to serve the public good around the world. Chelsea’s graduate research at MIT was on understanding the U.S.’s ongoing struggle to cultivate and hire a diverse technical workforce, and she conducted her graduate thesis in partnership with Code2040. She attended Stanford as an undergraduate, where she earned a B.A. in Sociology.  Resources Chelsea Barabas, Karthik Dinakar, Joichi Ito, Madars Virza, and Jonathan Zittrain. 2018. Interventions over Predictions: Reframing the Ethical Debate for Actuarial Risk Assessment. In Proceedings of the Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAT*) conference (FAT* 2018). ACM, New York, NY, USA. Virginia Eubanks, Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor (2018) News Roundup T-Mobile and Sprint announce merger plans T-Mobile and Sprint have announced merger plans again. It’s a $27 billion deal that would include Softbank giving up control of Sprint.  The combined company would be called T-Mobile and, with 98 million subscribers, the combined company would become the second largest wireless carrier, behind Verizon’s 116 million. Brian Fung and Tony Romm report in the Washington Post. Comcast launches bidding war against Fox for Sky Comcast announced that it would seek to acquire European pay TV provider Sky for $31 billion. The Murdoch’s 21st Century  Fox already has a bid for Sky on the table, but it’s $15 billion lower than Comcast’s, even though Fox already has a 39% stake in Sky. 21st Century Fox had rejected a separate bid by Comcast to acquire Fox’s entertainment assets, which Disney is now planning to purchase for $52.4 billion, which was also lower than Comcast’s proposal. Shalani Ramachandran, Amol Sharma and David Benoit report in the Wall Street Journal. EU investigates Apple’s Shazam bid EU antitrust regulators are investigating whether Apple’s bid for music identification service Shazam is anticompetitive. Apple had announced back in December that it was looking to acquire Shazam for an undisclosed amount. The EU is concerned the acquisition could limit consumer choice. Foo Yun Chee has more at Reuters. Senate confirms Nakasone to Lead NSA/Cyber Command The Senate unanimously confirmed U.S. Army Command Chief Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone to serve as both the head of the National Security Administration and U.S. Cyber Command. He’ll replace Mike Rogers. Nakasone will also get a fourth star. SEC fines company formerly known as Yahoo! $35 million The Securities and Exchange Commission fined Altaba, the company that now owns Yahoo!’s remaining assets, over $35 million. The fine is for failing to disclose a 2014 data breach that compromised the data of over 500 million Yahoo! users. Jacob Katrenakes reports in the Verge. FTC warns app firms about collecting children’s data The Federal Trade Commission has warned app firms in China and Sweden about collecting the data of U.S. children. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act prohibits the collection of such data and applies to foreign companies. The China based- Gator Group and Sweden-based Tinitell, both sell smartwatches to children. In other news related to Children's privacy, YouTube has announced new parental controls for YouTube kids. Parents will now be able to limit recommendations and suggestions will now be made by humans. Did Diamond and Silk commit perjury? In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last week, conservative African American internet personalities Diamond and Silk said under oath that President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign never paid them. But there’s a 2016 Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing showing that the campaign paid them $1,275 for “field consulting”. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. CBC members to meet in Silicon Valley to discuss diversity The Congressional Black Caucus is sending the largest delegation of lawmakers it has ever sent to Silicon Valley to discuss diversity. Just 3% of Silicon Valley tech workers are black, according to a Center for Investigative Reporting study. Shirin Ghaffary reports in Recode. Facebook warns SEC about more data misuse In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Facebook indicated that additional reports of the misuse of user data are likely forthcoming. The social media giant said it is conducting a third-party audit which it anticipates will reveal additional improprieties. Google’s Sergey Brin warns about AI threat Finally, Google co-founder Sergey Brin warned in the company’s annual Founders’ Letter about the future of AI and the fact that it is already transforming everything from self-driving cars to planetary discovery. Brin said he is optimistic about Artificial Intelligence and said that Alphabet is giving serious consideration to the ways in which AI will affect employment, how developers can control for bias in their algorithms, and the potential for AI to “manipulate people.” James Vincent notes in the Verge that Brin’s letter does not discuss the dangers of using AI for military intelligence, although the company has said its technology would be used for “non-offensive purposes only”. Still, several employees at the company are urging Alphabet to withdraw from its plans to work with the Pentagon.

Kadija Ferryman: Achieving Fairness in Precision Medicine (Ep. 135) Data & Society's Kadija Ferryman joined Joe Miller to discuss data-driven medicine and the policy issues surrounding fairness in precision medicine. Bio Dr. Kadija Ferryman (@KadijaFerryman) is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Data and Society Research Institute in New York. Dr. Ferryman is a cultural anthropologist whose research examines how cultural and moral values are embedded in digital health information, social and biological influences on health, and the ethics of translational and digital health research. She earned a BA in Anthropology from Yale University and a PhD in Anthropology from The New School for Social Research. Before completing her PhD, she was a policy researcher at the Urban Institute where she studied how housing and neighborhoods impact well-being, specifically the effects of public housing redevelopment on children, families, and older adults. She has published research in journals such as Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, European Journal of Human Genetics, and Genetics in Medicine. Resources What is Precision Medicine by Kadija Ferryman and Mikaela Pitcan (Data & Society, 2018) Fairness in Precision Medicine by Kadija Ferryman and Mikaela Pitcan (Data & Society, 2018) Fact Sheet: Obama Administration Announces Key Actions to Accelerate Precision Medicine Initiative (archived) Are Workarounds Ethical?: Managing Moral Problems in Health Care Systems by Nancy Berlinger (Oxford University Press, 2016)   News Roundup Facebook still under fire amidst looming GDPR implementation The EU’s Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is set to take effect on May 26th and Facebook is scrambling to manage a ceaseless onslaught of negative press regarding how it handles its users’ data. Ryan Browne at CNBC reports on the dangers of Facebook’s “log in with Facebook” feature, which apparently exposes users’ data to third-party trackers. Morgan Chalfant at the New York Times reported on a painting app that actually installs malware that harvests users’ payment information, among other things. Additionally, Ali Breland reports in the Hill that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has reopened an investigation it had closed last year into whether and how Facebook helps facilitate housing discrimination. Democrats are pushing for tighter data protection rules at the Federal Trade Commission, but that’s unlikely to mean much in the near-term since, with Commissioner Terrell McSweeny’s announcement last week that she’ll be stepping down at the end of this month, the FTC will now be operating with just one of five commissioners—Republican Acting Chair Maureen Ohlhausen. Auditors don’t seem to be offering much in the way of confidence in the manner with which Facebook protects user data. PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted an audit of Facebook and told the FTC, after Facebook knew about Cambridge Analytica, that Facebook was adequately protecting consumer privacy and in compliance with a 2011 consent decree. Meanwhile, David Ingram reports for Reuters that Facebook has changed its terms of service for 1.5 billion Facebook users in Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Like Europe, their terms of service were governed by Facebook’s headquarters in Ireland. But since Ireland would come under GDPR, Facebook has changed the terms of service in those areas to fall under the more lenient U.S. privacy standards. Facebook says it will apply the same privacy standards around the world. Clyburn to step down from FCC Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn has announced that she will be stepping down from the dais at the end of the month. The Obama appointee served at the Commission for eight years and was a rare and passionate advocate for marginalized communities. President Trump will need to nominate a replacement Commissioner who would then need to be confirmed by the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is reportedly set to recommend current FCC Assistant Enforcement Bureau Chief Geoffrey Starks, who enjoys broad support from Democrats. U.S. investigates AT&T/Verizon collusion Cecilia Kang reports for the New York Times that the DOJ has launched an antitrust investigation into possible coordinated efforts between AT&T and Verizon and the G.S.M.A.— the standards-setting group, to make it more difficult for consumers to switch carriers.  The Justice Department is looking into whether the organizations intentionally attempted to stifle the development of eSIM which allows consumers to switch provides without a new SIM card. FCC to hold 5G spectrum auctions in November The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously last week on a public notice that it will commence spectrum auctions for 5G in the 28- and 24- GHz bands. The auctions will commence on November 14th, beginning with the 28 GHz band. CNN report: YouTube ran ads for hundreds of brands on extremist YouTube channels A CNN report found that ads from over 300 companies appeared on YouTube channels promoting extremist groups like Neo-Nazis, conspiracy theorists and other extremist content. Adidas, Cisco, Hershey, Hilton and Under Armour were among the many companies whose ads appeared on these sites. Paul Murphy reports in CNN. Lyft to invest to offset carbon emissions Finally, Heather Somerville at Reuters reported that Lyft is launching a program to offset emissions from their 1.4 million drivers. The company will invest in things like renewable energy and reforestation to make up for its emissions, and the amount it invests will grow with the company.

Carson Martinez: Health Data Privacy 101 (Ep. 134) Bio Carson Martinez (@CarsonMart) is the Future of Privacy Forum’s Health Policy Fellow. Carson works on issues surrounding health data, particularly where it is not covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These non-HIPAA health data issues include consumer-facing genetics companies, wearables, medical “big data”, and medical device surveillance. Carson also assists with the operation of the Genetics Working Group. Carson was previously an Intern at Intel with the Government and Policy Group, working on health, technology, and policy. Before joining Intel, she was an intern for the International Neuroethics Society, and a Research Assistant for both the Data-Pop Alliance and New York University. Carson graduated from Duke University with a Master’s Degree in Bioethics and Science Policy with a concentration in Technology and Data Policy. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Neuroscience with minors in Philosophy and Psychology from New York University. Carson is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US). Resources Future of Privacy Forum When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi   News Roundup Trump considers re-joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership Erica Werner, Damian Paletta and Seung Min Kim reported for the Washington Post that President Trump has ordered officials to look into the possibility of re-joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership –that’s the trade partnership between eleven nations, including Japan, Vietnam and Singapore. The Obama administration had signed the agreement, and Mexico and Canada are participating. But Trump backed out. Now he wants back in, presumably to gain negotiating leverage against China.   U.S./UK Accuse Russians of hacking home routers There are fresh allegations today from British and American officials regarding Russia’s spying program. Apparently, Russians may have hacked routers belonging to small businesses and home offices. British intelligence, the National Security Council, DHS and the FBI made the announcement saying they had “high confidence” that Russia led cyberattacks into internet service providers, network routers, government and critical infrastructure. You can find the report in Forbes. FCC’s Pai won’t investigate Sinclair Remember the viral video from a few weeks ago in which news anchors on Sinclair TV stations around the country were reading the exact same script? Well, despite the request from 11 Democratic Senators plus Bernie Sanders, who is an Independent, to investigate Sinclair for distorting new coverage, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has declined. He cites the First Amendment. The FCC’s inspector general is currently investigating Pai for improperly paving the way for Sinclair’s acquisition of Tribune Media.  Brett Samuels reports in The Hill. Apple warns employees about leaking Mark Gurman reports in Bloomberg on a leaked memo from inside Apple to employees warning them about leaks. The company threatened legal action and criminal charges and indicated that it caught 29 leakers last year, 12 of which were arrested. New paper finds women find chilly environment in tech companies A new paper out of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research and Stanford University finds that more women are earning STEM degrees. But they are finding the tech companies in which they find jobs to be stifling environments. Contributing to the chilly environments women technologists often find themselves in are the overt usage of gender stereotypes, an exclusive “geek” culture and other factors that discourage some women from advancing in tech.  

Riana Pfefferkorn: The Emerging Trend of 'Side-Channel Cryptanalysis' (Ep. 133) Bio Riana Pfefferkorn (@Riana_Crypto) is the Cryptography Fellow at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Her work, made possible through funding from the Stanford Cyber Initiative, focuses on investigating and analyzing the U.S. government's policy and practices for forcing decryption and/or influencing crypto-related design of online platforms and services, devices, and products, both via technical means and through the courts and legislatures. Riana also researches the benefits and detriments of strong encryption on free expression, political engagement, economic development, and other public interests. Prior to joining Stanford, Riana was an associate in the Internet Strategy & Litigation group at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she worked on litigation and counseling matters involving online privacy, Internet intermediary liability, consumer protection, copyright, trademark, and trade secrets and was actively involved in the firm's pro bono program. Before that, Riana clerked for the Honorable Bruce J. McGiverin of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. She also interned during law school for the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Riana earned her law degree from the University of Washington School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Whitman College. Resources The Risks of Responsible Encryption by Riana Pfefferkorn Riana Pfefferkorn, Everything Radiates: Does the Fourth Amendment Regulate Side-Channel Cryptanalysis? 49 Connecticut Law Review 1393 (2017) Generation Wealth by Laura Greenfield News Roundup Facebook still in hot water Facebook is still managing the onslaught following revelations that Cambridge Analytica allegedly used Facebook data to sway the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. Faceboook upped the number of users whose data Cambridge Analytica acquired by 37 million to 87 million. Originally, Facebook reported that just 50 million users were affected.   In addition, Facebook has had to suspend yet another data analytics firm, CubeYou, for collecting information via quizzes, as Michelle Castillo reports in CNBC. CubeYou misleadingly told users that it was collecting their data for “non-profit academic research”, but it turns out CubeYou was in fact sharing the information with marketers. Facebook said Friday that it will now require buyers of ads related to controversial political topics like gun control and immigration, to confirm their location and identity. Facebook is due to testify before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees on Tuesday, and the House Energry and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, David Shepardson reports in Reuters. Backpage.com founders indicted A federal grand jury in Arizona indicted seven Backpage founders on 93 counts of facilitating prostitution and money laundering on Monday.The indictment states that many of the ads on Backpage were of child sex trafficking victims. Federal agents seized Backpage on Friday, and raided the home of Backpage co-founder, Michael Lacey.  Last month, Congress passed changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to provide that websites may be held liable for knowingly facilitating users’ ability to post illegal content. Best Buy reports possible data breach Best Buy reported a possible data breach last week. The company that handles Best Buy’s messaging system, [24]7.ia was hacked late last year, which may have exposed Best Buy customers’ data. Charisse Jones reports in USA Today. U.S. expanding surveillance of migrants within Mexico Finally, Nick Miroff and Joshua Partlow report in the Washington Post that the U.S. government is expanding its data-gathering efforts within Mexico. According to the report, the Trump administration is “capturing the biometric data of tens of thousands of Central Americans” who were arrested in Mexico. The U.S. is also operating detention facilities in Mexico. But President Trump had accused Mexico of doing nothing to stop the flow of migrants fleeing Central American countries for the Mexico/U.S. border.

Courtney Cogburn: Virtual Reality to Improve Race Relations (Ep. 132) Columbia University School of Social Work Professor Courtney Cogburn joined Joe Miller to discuss her work with virtual reality to improve race relations. Bio Courtney Cogburn (@CourtneyCogburn) is an assistant professor at the Columbia School of Social Work and a Faculty Affiliate of the Columbia Population Research Center. Her research integrates principles and methodologies across psychology, stress physiology and social epidemiology to investigate relationships between racism-related stress and racial health disparities across the life course. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Her current research projects examine: the effects of cultural racism in the media on physiological, psychological and behavioral stress reactivity and moderating effects of cognitive appraisal processes; the role of structural racism in producing disease risk; and chronic psychosocial stress exposure and related implications for understanding Black/White disparities in cardiovascular health and disease between early and late adulthood. At the end of 2014, Dr. Cogburn received an award from the Provost’s Grants Program for Junior Faculty Who Contribute to the Diversity Goals of the University for a project titled “Black Face to Ferguson: A Mixed Methodological Examination of Media Racism, Media Activism and Health.” In addition to her academic research, Dr. Cogburn works with the Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and is a senior advisor at the International Center Advocates Against Discrimination in NYC to educate and build community activism around issues of racism and health. Before coming to Columbia in July 2014, Dr. Cogburn was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia, MSW from the University of Michigan School of Social Work and PhD in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan. Resources Columbia School of Social Work Experiencing Racism in VR by Courtney Cogburn (Ted Talk) The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss News Roundup Facebook makes moves to contain Cambridge Analytica fallout Facebook has made several moves to contain the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal and salvage what remains of its integrity and public image. The company announced that it will now fact-check political photos and videos, allow you to see the personal data they have on you, and limit the sharing of your personal information with data brokers. Meanwhile, on the legal front, Missouri’s Republican Attorney General has opened an investigation into Facebook’s data collection practices. Attorney General Josh Hawley wants to know about every instance in which Facebook shared user data with political entities, the rates they paid and whether users were notified.  In addition, Facebook will not provide evidence or testify before a U.K. parliamentary committee investigating Facebook’s use of user data. However, he will testify before Congress, and Sunny Bonnell reports in Inc. that it could happen as soon as April 10th. In addition, housing groups are suing Facebook for allowing real estate advertisers to discriminate against mothers, the disabled and minorities, according to Jordan Pearson in Motherboard. And Ali Breland reported on a memo leaked from 2016 written by Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth suggesting the company’s expansion is justified even if it costs lives from bullying or a terrorist attack. Sinclair, which is in the process of buying Tribune Media, has anchors read same script Sinclair Broadcasting, the little-known media company that’s in the process of buying Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, has been accused of being a mouthpiece for conservative viewpoints. Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been seen by many to have paved the way for Sinclair by relaxing longstanding media ownership rules. Now, Deadspin has put together a video showing dozens of anchors on tv stations owned by Sinclair reciting the exact same script making the same claims about fake news that the Trump administration has been making. Sinclair now reaches 2 out of every 5 American homes, with 193 stations concentrated in midsize markets. The merger with Tribune Media would bring that number up to 236, including stations in New York City and Chicago, if Sinclair doesn’t divest some of the stations.  Emily Stewart reports in Vox. In a Tweet, President Trump defended Sinclair.  Saks/Lord & Taylor hacked  Vindu Goel and Rachel Abrams report for the New York Times that a well-known band of cybercriminals hacked the credit and debit card numbers of some 5 million Saks and Lord & Taylor customers. The parent company of the two department stores, Hudson’s Bay Company, said in  a statement that the company has identified the issue, is taking steps to contain it, and will keep the public informed. Trump attacks Amazon Trump attacked Amazon on twitter last week, saying the company should be regulated, which led to a dip in the company’s stock prices. But policy experts say that antitrust action against Amazon is a long shot. Laura Stevens reports in the Wall Street Journal. City of Atlanta hit by cyberattack Eight thousand employees of the City of Atlanta had to shut down their computers last week. The reason? A ransomware attack. The attackers demanded $51,000 to unscramble government processes usually handled online. While the attack did not affect major systems like wastewater treatment and 911 calls, police officers had to write tickets by hand, none of Atlanta’s 6 million residents could apply for city jobs, and the courts could not validate warrants. Nicole Perlroth and Aland Blinder report in the New York Times. FCC greenlights SpaceX’s satellite internet service The FCC has given the green light to SpaceX’s satellite broadband internet service. The company aims to deploy thousands of small satellites to reach underserved areas, such as rural communities, at fiber-like speeds. Samanta Masunaga reports in the LA Times.   Tumblr cancels 84 accounts tied to Russia Morgan Chalfant reports in the Hill that Tumblr took down 84 accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency, the Russian troll farm at the center of a federal investigation into the Russian propaganda campaign that swayed the 2016 presidential election. Last month DOJ Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians and 3 Russian entities connected to the Internet Research Agency. Trump administration to look at social media accounts for visas The Trump administration announced that it is planning to review the social media accounts of people applying for visas to enter the U.S. People entering the U.S. from countries with visa-free status, like the UK, Canada, France, and Germany, won’t be subjected to the additional vetting. But individuals seeking entry visas into the U.S. from countries like India, China and Mexico would need to turn over their social media information. The BBC has the story. But Joe Uchill and Stef W. Kight reported for Axios that ICE already uses Facebook data – not to track immigrants, though, but to track child predators. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear challenges to the FCC’s net neutrality order Finally, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will now hear the consolidated appeals of the FCC’s December order to repeal the 2015 net neutrality rules. The Ninth Circuit had won the lottery to hear the case, but Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request to move the cases to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard the appeals of both the 2011 rules and the 2015 rules, which it had upheld. John Eggerton reports in Broadcasting and Cable.

Bio  Henry T. Greely (@HankGreelyLSJU) is the Director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences; and Professor (by courtesy) of Genetics at the Stanford School of Medicine. He is also the Chair of Stanford’s Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and the Director of Stanford’s Program in Neuroscience and Society. Hank specializes in the ethical, legal, and social implications of new biomedical technologies, particularly those related to neuroscience, genetics, or stem cell research. He frequently serves as an advisor on California, national, and international policy issues. He is chair of California’s Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, a member of the Advisory Council of the NIH’s National Institute for General Medical Sciences, a member of the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law of the National Academies, a member of the Neuroscience Forum of the Institute of Medicine, and served from 2007-2010 as co-director of the Law and Neuroscience Project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation. In 2007 Professor Greely was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1985, Greely was a partner at Tuttle & Taylor, served as a staff assistant to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, and as special assistant to the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense. He served as a law clerk to Justice Potter Stewart of the U.S. Supreme Court and to Judge John Minor Wisdom of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He received Stanford University’s Richard W. Lyman Prize in 2013.  Resources Stanford University Center for Law and the Biosciences War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy News Roundup N.Y. Times: Data Firm with links to Trump Campaign Exploited Facebook User Data  The New York Times dropped a bombshell story on Sunday and it has sent Washington and the stock market into a tailspin. The Dow dropped more than 1%, or by over 300 points, Facebook lost some $37 billion in value, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw his net worth decline by $5 billion. In addition,  Congressional leaders including Dianne Feinstein, Amy Klobuchar, John Thune, Adam Schiff, Mark Warner and Chuck Grassley are just HAMMERING Facebook at this moment and I wouldn’t want to be in Zukerberg’s shoes right now. The New York Times investigation alleges that a London-based company called Cambridge Analytica, with deep ties to Republican donor Robert Mercer, who invested $15 million in Cambridge Analytica, Mercer’s daughter who’s on the board of Cambridge Analytica, and none other than Steve Bannon, who allegedly named the company, exploited Facebook user data to influence the 2016 presidential election to target users based on their psychographic profiles—things like religion, life statisfaction, conscientiousness, and extraversion. Of course, it’s illegal under U.S. election laws to employ foreigners in political campaigns. So, The Times alleges, Cambridge set up a shell corporation and hired a Russian-American front man, Alexander Kogan, who was a researcher with the University of Cambridge. Kogan then created a Facebook personality quiz that paid users to share their private information and download the app. Some 50 million users were affected. This quiz allegedly scraped their information, and Cambridge Analytica gave him $800,000 for it. A former Cambridge Analytica employee, Christopher Wylie, was the whistleblower in all this. Facebook says it would suspend working with Cambridge Analytica and conduct an internal review, including the hiring of a forensics team. Channel 4 News London reported in an internal investigation that Cambridge Analytica uses bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians. This is just the surface. Summarizing every detail of this is way above my pay grade. But it’s just layers upon layers of deception and bullshittery. You can find summaries and analysis in The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Trump administration issues new Russian sanctions on same day it reveals attacks on power plants Russia has stepped its capability with regard to cyberattacks on nuclear power plans, water, and electric systems, according to U.S. intelligence officials.The country now has moved from having the ability to surveil American power plants to having the ability to disable them anytime tensions escalate, and in a similar manner with which it disabled power in the Ukraine on two separate occasions in 2015 and 2016. The accusations came on the same day the Trump administration imposed new economic sanctions against Russia for its role in hacking the 2016 presidential election. Sanctions include freezing assets and prohibiting business deals from being transacted with two-dozen Russian individuals and entities. Nicole Perlroth and David Sanger report in the New York Times and Jonathan Easley reports in The Hill. First pedestrian casualty for self-driving cars Ali Breland reports in the Hill that a 49-year-old woman was struck and killed by an Uber fully self-driving car while she was walking through a crosswalk in Tempe, Arizona on Monday. The state attracted Uber because of its deregulatory approach to self-driving vehicle technology. The National Transportation Safety Board announced that it would be investigating. Uber has suspended its testing of self-driving cars in Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto. Walmart whistleblower sues after reporting e-commerce cheating A former Walmart executive has sued the world’s largest retailer for firing him after he reported that the company was fudging its e-commerce results to show better numbers against Amazon. The complaint alleges that Walmart mislabeled products and deliberately failed to properly process returns in order to inflate sales numbers. Jonathan Stempel and Nandita Bose report in Reuters. Japanese regulators raid Amazon Ali Breland reports for the Hill that Japanese regulators raided Amazon last week. Japan’s Fair Trade Commission may be concerned about Amazon’s alleged practice of strong-arming suppliers to show cheaper prices on Amazon as compared to their competitors in Japan. Amazon recalls portable chargers  Amazon is recalling 260,000 AmazonBasics portable chargers after it received 53 complaints that they were overheating. One person reported being burned by the charger’s battery acid. Four others reported fire and smoke. Kate Gibson reports for CBS. Google introduces wheelchair accessibility in Maps Google released Thursday a new wheelchair-friendly maps navigation feature. The feature will include accessible routes and information on accommodations in public transportation. Josh Delk reports in the Hill. Google bans Bitcoin ads  Google has decided to ban ads for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Facebook had previously initiated a similar ban. The company did not state why it decided to make the policy change. However, it comes as many in the policy community have expressed concern that online ads could be used to promote cryptocurrency scams. Daisuke Wakabayashi reports for The New York Times. Microsoft logs 200 discrimination, harassment complaints over 6 years Ali Breland reported in the Hill that, according to court filings filed by women suing Microsoft for gender pay and promotion discrimination, women working at the company lodged some 238 gender discrimination or harassment complaints between 2010 and 2016. Of the 118 that were gender discrimination complaints, Microsoft found only one to be “founded”. According to Natasha Bach at Fortune, Microsoft has changed the way it addresses harassment complaints by banning forced arbitration agreements. The question, of course, is whether that’s enough. Conservative forms bogus company to lure tech workers Finally, Gizmodo reports that James O’Keefe—the undercover conservative activist— created a fake company and sent in employees of his Project Veritas organization to pose as recruiters. These fake recruiters then reached out to employees at major tech companies like Twitter to interview them and record their responses. In one case, an employee stated that Twitter hired few conservatives and secretly hid content posted by conservative users in a practice called “shadow banning”. Project Veritas then allegedly posted the videos as evidence of an anti-conservative bias at Twitter. Twitter has denied in Congressional testimony that it engages in shadow banning activities.

Joe Jerome: An overview of GDPR requirements (Ep. 130) Bio  Joseph Jerome (@joejerome) is a Policy Counsel on CDT’s Privacy & Data Project. His work focuses on the legal and ethical questions posed by smart technologies and big data, and he is interested in developing transparency and accountability mechanisms and procedures around novel uses of data. Prior to joining CDT, Joe was an associate in the cybersecurity and privacy practice of a major law firm. His practice focused on advertising technologies and privacy compliance in the health and financial sectors. Additionally, he worked on a wide range of consumer privacy issues at the Future of Privacy Forum and has written articles about data ethics, trust in the online gig economy, and emerging technologies in video games. Joe has a J.D. from the New York University School of Law, where he was an International Law and Human Rights Student Fellow, and a B.A. from Boston University. Resources enter for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Top 10 operational impacts of the GDPR (via IAPP) Top 10 operational responses to the GDPR (via IAPP) Security, Privacy & Tech Inquiries Blog by Lukasz Olejnik World without Mind by Franklin Foer News Roundup Trump fails to act on Russian cyberattacks U.S. Cyber Command head Admiral Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee that President Trump has yet to give an order to implement measures that would prevent further Russian cyberattacks. This is despite reports last week of Russia’s deepening efforts to interfere with American politics. For example, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology released a report saying that between 2015 and 2017, accounts on social media that were linked to Russian propagandists, tried to influence policies that would undermine U.S. efforts to sell natural gas in Europe where Russia has considerable market share. Also, Reddit reported that thousands shared Russian propaganda on its site, prompting demands for more answers from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also investigating Tumblr. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is also said to be pursuing a case against Russians who conducted cyberattacks against Democrats during the 2016 election. These charges would be in addition to the ones Mueller has already brought against Russians accused of spreading propaganda on social media, according to NBC News’ Ken Dilanian.   But despite the absence of specific directives from the White House to U.S. Cyber Command, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats claimed before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the White House is taking a “whole government approach” under which the president has tasked the 17 agencies Mr. Coats oversees with addressing the Russian cyber threat.   John Bowden at the Hill reported that Russians also collected Americans’ personal data from social media platforms during the 2016 campaign.   On Monday top Democrats including Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Dianne Feinstein wrote a letter to President Trump urging him to extradite the 13 Russian nationals FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted last month for allegedly using social media to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the extradition would never happen. Ninth Circuit will hear consolidated net neutrality appeal The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is based in San Francisco, will hear the multidistrict litigation initiated by 22 state attorneys general to appeal the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality rules. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict litigation chose the Ninth circuit at random. Trump blocks Broadcom acquisition of Qualcomm President Trump has blocked Singapore tech giant Broadcom’s acquisition of Qualcomm, citing national security concerns. At $117 billion, the merger of the two chipmakers would have been the biggest tech deal in history. The Verge reports that Broadcom is in the process of moving its headquarters to the U.S. by April 3rd.   Twitter cracks down on ‘Tweetdeckers Twitter purged several accounts for “tweetdecking”, a violation of Twitter’s spam policy in which users mass tweet each other’s tweets using platforms like Tweetdeck. Some of the accounts that were suspended had millions of followers. A new MIT study also released last week found that fake news travels some 6 times faster on Twitter than the truth. White House holds video game violence meeting  Harper Neidig at the Hill reported on the White House’s meeting with video game industry representatives. The president convened the behind-closed-doors meeting to discuss the role of video games in promoting mass shootings. In attendance were representatives from the Parents Television Council, Entertainment Software Association, as well as executives from game makers Rockstar and ZeniMax. The Verge reported that the meeting was largely unproductive and Activision announced the release of its latest ‘Call of Duty’ installment on the same day the White House meeting took place. FBI paid Geek Squad employees to inform on Child Pornography Laurel Wamsley at NPR reported that the FBI paid informants at Best Buy’s computer repair service unit Geek Squad to flag child pornography found on their customers’ computers.The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the FBI last year about these searches and the new documents illustrate more about the nature of the relationship between the FBI and Geek Squad. FBI Agent Tracey Riley testified in a Jefferson County Kentucky Circuit Court last week confirming that that FBI agents paid Geek Squad workers in a Best Buy store in Kentucky when they found child pornography.  FCC Proposes $1 billion for Caribbean hurricane recovery efforts FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed over $1 billion in funding to aid in the recovery of communications networks in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Sixty-four million would go immediately towards restoring networks. The rest, or $954 million, would go towards longer-term projects to enhance broadband networks in the Caribbean. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. Congressional Black Caucus pushes tech on lobbying diversity The Congressional Black Caucus wrote a letter to the Internet Association, CTIA, NCTA and US Telecom urging them to hire and retain more black lobbyists given African-Americans’ widespread use of mobile devices. White House joins push for internet sales tax The White House is joining in states’ push for the Supreme Court to overturn a 1992 precedent, Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, that held that many online retailers don’t have to add sales tax to the prices their customers pay. Thirty-five states support overturning the decision. Online retailers who oppose doing so claim that it would be too onerous to collect taxes from fifty different states. Jess Bravin reports for the Wall Street Journal. Number of Americans affected by Equifax breach keeps growing Equifax’s interim Chief Executive Paulino do Rego Barros Jr. announced on Thursday that an additional 2.4 million consumers were affected by their massive data breach last year. It brings the total up to 147.9 million. Brian Fung reports in the Washington Post. House reauthorizes the FCC The House voted to reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission with legislation that seeks to develop 5G networks and invest funds for the spectrum incentive auction. If the bill passes Congress, it will be the first time since 1990 that Congress has reauthorized the Commission. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. Amazon offering 54 percent discount to Medicaid recipients Amazon announced last week that, for Medicaid recipients only, it would cut the monthly Prime subscription down to $5.99 per month. This is $7.00 less than the standard $12.99 fee. The move is seen as an effort by Amazon to attract Walmart customers. MIT study finds Uber & Lyft drivers earn less than minimum wage A new MIT study found that Uber and Lyft drivers earn less on average that minimum wage workers. The report found a median profit of $3.37 per hour before taxes. Ashley May has the report in USA Today.

    Bio Sally Culley is a Partner in the law firm of Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell where she primarily practices in the areas of employment and commercial litigation. Her clients include large corporations as well as smaller, local businesses. With regard to employment law, Sally represents employers, both in the public and private sector, in defending employment-related claims, including claims of discrimination, wage and hour violations, whistle-blower violations, wrongful termination, harassment, and retaliation. She also provides consulting and training services designed to help prevent such claims and minimize risk. Finally, Sally assists with the creation and enforcement of employee handbooks, severance agreements, and non-compete agreements. With regard to commercial litigation, Sally handles matters involving contract disputes, fraud, and statutory claims such as Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act/Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, and RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). Sally also represents clients in commercial mortgage foreclosures and workouts, construction lien compliance and litigation, quiet title actions, bankruptcy, and collection matters. Sally also has significant experience reviewing and interpreting insurance policies, and she assists insurers with matters involving coverage and bad faith claims, evaluating such matters, and participating in litigation where necessary. She earned her J.D. from the UNC Chapel Hill School of Law and her Bachelors from Samford University from which she graduated magna cum laude. Resources Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell First Gig Economy Trial Decision: Independent Contractor by Sally Rogers Culley and Suzanne A. Singer (2018) News Roundup In political maneuver, House Republicans expose Senator Mark Warner’s confidential texts The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that the House Intelligence Committee, under the leadership of Devin Nunes, leaked confidential texts in which Senator Mark Warner sought from a lawyer associated with British spy Christopher Steele, a meeting with Mr. Steele, as Mr. Warner sought to investigate Russia’s interference with the 2016 presidential election. The law firm for which the lawyer, Adam Waldman, works has also represented Oleg Deripaska—a Russian oil magnate. So after the text was leaked, President Trump tweeted “Wow! – Senator Mark Warner got caught having extensive contact with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch …” Both Mark Warner and Republican Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr, who ostensibly wasn’t in on the leak, sought a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan to express their overall concern about the politicization of the House Intelligence Committee. Nicholas Fandos reports in the Washington Post. Online sex trafficking bill clears House The House overwhelmingly passed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) on Tuesday by a vote of 388-25. The bill would amend the Communications Decency Act to hold web platforms that knowingly help facilitate sex trafficking accountable. Currently, an exception to the CDA—Section 230—provides that web platforms are shielded from third-party liability for illegal content posted by their users. Opponents say the bill would erode free speech on the Internet and would ultimately not do enough to stop sex trafficking online. There’s a Senate companion bill—the Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA)—that the House will vote on next, which is also expected to pass. Harper Neidig reports in The Hill. Facebook polls users on how it should handle child porn Facebook conducted a strange survey in which it asked users how they should handle a “private message in which an adult man asks a 14 year old girl for sexual pictures.” The question turned on the extent to which Facebook should display the photo. Facebook says the question was a “mistake”. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Microsoft overseas data case The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday regarding a dispute between Microsoft and the Department of Justice. The DOJ wants to be able to obtain data on Microsoft users suspected of drug trafficking. The problem is that the suspects’ data are stored on a server in Ireland. Normally, the 1986 Stored Communications Act would apply, which would allow the DOJ to get a warrant. But Microsoft argues that since the data are stored overseas, the SCA doesn’t apply. The court’s liberal justices--namely, Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor-- seemed to side with Microsoft, arguing that Congress should enact new legislation. But Justices Roberts and Alito seemed to favor an interim, judicial measure that would allow law enforcement to conduct investigations while Congress sorts it out. Amy Howe reports on SCOTUS Blog. On the net neutrality front … Democrats in both chambers introduce bill to stop net neutrality repeal Democrats in both chambers introduced bills to stop the FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules. The Senate bill has 50 co-sponsors, with one Republican, Susan Collins. It needs 1 more vote to get through the Senate. There’s also another bill in the House, that Representative Mike Doyle introduced, that’s supported by 150 of representatives.  However, Donald Trump is not expected to sign off on these bills, even if they do pass. And the clock is ticking on Congress to do something by January 23rd, which is when the 60-day window closes on the Congressional Review Act process. Public Knowledge has a great primer on how the Congressional Review Act works here., which I’ve linked to in the show notes. Additionally, the state of Washington became the first state to pass net neutrality legislation of its own. And six more companies have decided to sue the FCC for repealing the net neutrality rules including Kickstarter, Foursquare, Etsy, Shutterstock, Expa, and Automattic. Pai to calls for new spectrum auctions FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is calling for new auctions to free up more spectrum. Pai announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that he wants to free up more spectrum in the 24 and 28 GHz bands. The auction would be designed to accommodate 5G wireless. Pai proposes conducting the auction for the 28Gz band in November, and then proceed with a separate auction for the 24GHz band. Ali Breland has more at the Hill. Pai declines NRA award I reported last week that the National Rifle Association awarded FCC Chairman Ajit Pai the Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award. Politico now reports that Pai has turned it down. New lawsuit alleges that Google discriminated against white and Asian men  A new lawsuit filed in California’s San Mateo County Superior Court alleges that Google executives actively discriminated against white and Asian men in the hiring process. But currently, whites and Asians comprise some 91% of Google’s workforce. Kirsten Grind and Douglas MacMillan report in the Wall Street Journal. The Verge: Palantir has been secretly using predictive policying technology in New Orleans Ali Winston of the Verge wrote an investigative report on a secretive program carried out by Palantir, a data mining company that was seeded with funding from the CIA’s venture capital firm.  Apparently, Palantir has been working with the New Orleans’ police department to secretly track largely minority populations in New Orleans with an algorithm that claims to predict violence and crime. Not even the New Orleans city council admits that they were aware of the program.  Report: Sexting is on the rise among youth A new JAMA Pediatrics report finds that sexting is on the rise among tweens and teens. The study compiled data from 39 studies of 110,380 participants and found that some 27% of kids between 12 and 17 receive sexts. The average age is 15. Fifteen percent reported that they sent sexts. Beth Mole reports in Ars Technica. FCC relaxing environmental standards for 5G deployment In addition to the spectrum auction, Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr last week announced that the Commission will vote on March 23rd on a measure that would relax some environmental review standards for small companies that want to deploy 5G. Carr claimed in his remarks that the proposal would remove regulatory burdens and help the U.S. remain competitive. To support relaxing these environmental standards, Carr also made unsubstantiated claims that 5G deployment would create 3 million new jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in network investment and GDP growth. EU tells Facebook and Google to take down terror content in 1 hour The European Union released a set of voluntary guidelines for Facebook and Google to remove terrorist and other illegal content, including content that incites hatred. The guidelines provide that the companies should remove such content within one hour. Binding regulations could be forthcoming depending on how well the voluntary guidelines work. Natalia Drozdiak reports in the Wall Street Journal. Comcast wants to buy Sky for $31bn Harper Neidig reports in the Hill that Comcast now wants to buy Sky, the European broadcaster, for $31 billion. This offer is 16% higher than what Fox was offering. Disney is also a factor here, since they’re making a bid for Fox’s non-broadcast assets.

  Bio Randy Abreu (@AbreuForNYC) is an author, attorney, tech-policy nerd and former candidate for New York City Council from the Bronx. Abreu served in the Obama Administration where he was appointed to the Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transitions and Clean Energy Investment Center. He is an alum of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and Google Policy fellowships and is currently a Google NextGen Leader, Internet Law and Policy Foundry fellow, and member of the Bronx Progressives. Abreu has a personal history of advocating for social justice, and federal experience producing regulations and initiatives on intellectual property, drones, self-driving cars, cybersecurity, broadband access, spectrum allocation, e-privacy, and tech-transfer. Resources Bronx Progressives  Public or Industry Interest? Debating the UHF Discount  by Randy Abreu and Jason Smith (International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, March, 2014) Digital Divide, Race, and Ethnic Inequality by Randy Abreu (The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism, December, 2015) Failure to Communicate: The Critical Information Needs Debate by Randy Abreu, Eds. Jason Smith, Bhoomi K. Thakore (Race and Contention in Twenty-First Century Media, May 2016) MOU or an IOU? Latina/os and the Racialization of Media Policy by Randy Abreu and Jason Smith (Ethnic and Racial Studies, forthcoming, Spring, 2018) News Roundup Online sex trafficking bill moves forward in House The FOSTA bill—the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex trafficking bill—cleared the House Rules Committee on Monday. It now moves to a floor vote and it includes California Republican representative Mimi Walters’ amendment to allow victims to sue and prosecutors to charge website operators who enable sex trafficking. The bill now moves to a floor vote and it now has the support of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai gets NRA award The National Rifle Association awarded FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with a “Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire” award. The NRA wanted to recognize Pai for enduring the incredible public outcry over the push to repeal the net neutrality rules. FCC’s net neutrality repeal published in federal register The FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, giving Congress 60 days to block the repeal under the Congressional Review Act before the first few rules take effect. Senators who support the measure to block the repeal need one more vote. Eric Limer reports in Popular Mechanics. Meanwhile, a coalition of 22 state attorneys general have now refiled their lawsuits to block the repeal as well. Second Circuit: FTC can move forward with AT&T throttling suit The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission against AT&T claiming the company throttled customers can move forward. The FTC alleges that AT&T slowed down customers’ data even though the customers had unlimited data plans. As Harper Neidig notes in the Hill, the decision is seen as affirming the FTC’s role as enforcer of net neutrality principles. Intel concealed chip flaws for months Intel concealed the Meltdown and Spectre security flaws from US officials until they were made public some six months after Google’s parent company, Alphabet, told them about them. Intel now faces 32 pending lawsuits related to the flaws, as well as an insider-training investigation concerning the company’s CEO, Brian Krzanich, who sold a chunk of company stock in the fourth quarter of last year, after the security flaws were known. Tom Warren has the story in the Verge. NLRB: Google’s firing of James Damore was legal The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that Google was justified in firing former Google computer engineer James Damore. Despite all the recent so-called research about a supposed lack of “viewpoint diversity” in Silicon Valley, and all of the histrionics around high profile individuals leaving Silicon Valley because they don’t feel free to express themselves—the NLRB found that Damore’s derogatory comments in a memo about how women’s biological traits affect their work performance were “unprotected discriminatory comments”. Edward Moyer has a report in CNET. In another case, an employee who criticized Damore, whom Google also subsequently fired, is also now suing the company for letting him go. The employee, Tim Chevalier, who is queer and transgender, posted that Damore’s memo was misogynistic and also that “’white boys’ expect privilege and feel threatened if they don’t receive it.’” Nearly half of parents worry about kids’ mobile addition Forty-seven percent of parents are worried that their kids are addicted to mobile devices. That’s according to a new survey from Common Sense Media and Survey Monkey. But 89% believe that they are in control of their kids’ device use. Brett Molina reports in USA Today. SpaceX moved forward on test of high speed internet from space SpaceX launched two experimental satellites that will test the internet service it wants to provide to everyone on the planet via 10,000 low-orbiting satellites whizzing around the earth at over 200 miles per hour. The project has FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s blessing. Pai urged his fellow commissioners to approve SpaceX’s proposal to provide broadband worldwide. Jackie Wattles reports in CNN. Facebook plans to use postcards to verify advertiser identities Facebook announced last week that it would begin sending postcards to ad buyers in order to verify their identities. In the aftermath of revelations that Russian hackers relied extensively on Facebook to push Russian propaganda, the social media giant wants to prove to regulators and the public that they are committed to weeding out bots and fake profiles. Dustin Volz reports for Reuters. Facebook to study economic inequality  Nancy Scola reported for Politico that Facebook will now study economic inequality in the United States using its own, massive data trove. The Stanford-led team will be led by economist Raj Chetty. DC grants Elon Musk Hyperloop permit Michael Laris and Jonathan O’Connell reported for the Washington post that the Washington, D.C. government has granted Elon Musk a permit to start digging for the Hyperloop. The Hyperloop would be a vacuum-based transportation system that’s capable of traveling at 670 miles per hour. Tough week for the right on social media It was a tough week last week for right-wing conservatives on social media. Luis Sanchez reports for the Hill that conservatives on Twitter have been bleeding followers since itreportedly suspended thousands of user accounts. One claimed to have lost as many as 2,000 in a single night Twitter also announced Wednesday that it will be limiting users’ ability to automate and post duplicate posts across platforms and accounts. Ali Breland of the Hill reports that over at Medium, the blogging platform suspended the accounts of far-right bloggers Mike Cernovich, Jack Posobiec and Laura Loomer And the YouTube channel of the far right outlet InfoWars posted a conspiracy video claiming that one of the Parkland survivors was an “actor”. YouTube issued an apology and issued a strike against InfoWars. According to YouTube’s community guidelines, users that get 3 strikes within 3 months will have their channels terminated. Abby Ohlheiser has more at the Washington Post.

  Bio Dr. Desmond Upton Patton (@SAFELab) is an assistant professor at the Columbia School of Social Work and a Faculty Affiliate of the Social Intervention Group (SIG) and the Data Science Institute. His research utilizes qualitative and computational data collection methods to examine how and why youth and gang violence, trauma, grief and identity are expressed on social media and the real world impact they have on well-being for low-income youth of color. His current research projects examine: How gang involved youth conceptualize threats on social media The extent to which social media shapes and facilitates youth and gang violence Developing an online tool for detecting aggression in social media posts in partnership with the Data Science Institute at Columbia. Dr. Patton’s research on Internet Banging has been discussed on several media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, NPR, Boston Magazine, ABC News, and Vice; it  was most recently cited in an Amici Curae Brief submitted to the United States Supreme Court in the Elonis v. United States case which examined the issues of interpreting threats on social media. Before coming to Columbia in July of 2015, Dr. Patton was an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and School of Information. He received a BA in Anthropology and Political Science, with honors, from the University of North Carolina- Greensboro, an MSW from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and a PhD in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. Resources SAFELab at Columbia University's School of Social Work The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish News Roundup Mueller indicts 13 Russians in ’16 election hacking  You have undoubtedly heard by now about FBI special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s indictment of 13 Russians who allegedly maintained a vast network of content creators in order to sway the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump. The defendants used social media by amplifying primarily mainstream news content, according to a new Columbia University study. The network stole Americans’ identities, and created fake social media profiles to spread divisive content that favored Donald Trump. But the hacking began in 2014, prior to president Trump’s announcement that he would be running for president. The defendants even promoted content that favored Bernie Sanders’ primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. So the Trump administration is using this to try to illustrate that the Russians’ primary effort was to subvert our entire political system, rather than support Donald Trump’s election, specifically. Trump’s opponents argue that Russian conspirators saw the seating of Donald Trump as President as a no-brainer, given his susceptibility to blackmail because of his alleged hiring of prostitutes in 2013 in Moscow and his real estate deals with Russians. Sharon Lafraniere and Matt Apuzzo report for the New York Times. Craig Timberg reports for the Washington Post. But you can find coverage everywhere. Meanwhile, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence warns that there is “no doubt” that Russians are planning to hack this year’s midterm elections. The consensus is that we’re not prepared for that. In fact, the website Hamilton 68, reported that Russian bots flooded Twitter with pro-gun messaging following Wednesday’s school shooting in Parkland Florida that left 17 dead. FCC is investigating its own Chairman Pai Cecilia Kang at the New York Times reported last week that the FCC’s Inspector General is investigating FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for illegally paving the way for Sinclair Broadcasting. Pai led the agency in several efforts that, appearing to some, seemed timed to Sinclair’s proposed $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media, including the relaxation of the media ownership cap and newspaper broadcast cross-ownership rules. Amazon boosts lobbying spending Spencer Soper, Naomi Nix, Ben Brody and Bill Allison report for Bloomberg that Amazon has significantly increased its lobbying spending in Washington. A number of policy issues have taken center-stage for the company, as Amazon seeks to expand into different areas, including healthcare. The company’s lobbying spending has grown by over 400% since 2012, according to Bloomberg. You can find the full report there. Federal Court: Grubhub drivers are contractors not employees In a major victory for on-demand takeout company Grubhub, the U.S. Dictrict Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Grubhub drivers are contractors not employees. The plaintiff sued Grubhub for paying subpar wages based on his classification as a contractor. The court ruled that Grubhub does not exercise a requisite amount of color over drivers’ work to justify classifying them as employees. Dara Kerr reports in CNET. Google tests 911-caller locator system Google tested a new system that would improve the ability of 911 operators to locate emergency callers. Currently, 911 calls made via cell phone are difficult to pinpoint. Ryan Knutson has the story in the Wall Street Journal.

  Bio Brian Howard is a Research & Policy Analyst with the American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) at Arizona State University. Prior to joining the AIPI team in November 2016, Brian served over five years as a Legislative Associate with the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, DC. Working on behalf of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments, Brian’s work included developing and advocating tribal policy initiatives in Congress and the Administration on issues such as Telecommunications, Government Contracting, and Cultural Protections (Sacred Places, Eagle Feather/Eagle Protections, NAGPRA, and Mascot issues). Brian’s work experience has included numerous D.C.-based research and policy internships, as well as with the New Mexico House of Representatives and the Gila River Indian Community Council’s Office. Brian graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2009 with his Bachelor of Arts degree in Native American Studies focusing on Federal Indian Law and Policy with a minor in Political Science. He is Akimel O’odham, Tohono O’odham, and Pi-Pash, and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community where he grew up in the Komatke District. Resources American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) at Arizona State University National Congress of American Indians Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Jr. Vine Deloria News Roundup N.Y. Times: U.S. spies paid Russians for cyberweapons/Trump secret Remember the dossier on Donald Trump that former British spy Christopher Steele built that made headlines about a year ago? The one that alleged encounters with prostitutes, bribes, and evidence of collaboration with Russians to hack Democrats? Well the problem with the dossier until now was that none of the allegations have been corroborated. But, over the weekend, the New York Times reported that U.S. spies paid a “shadowy Russian” some $100,000 in exchange for stolen National Security Agency cyberweapons. The Russian also promised secret information about President Trump. The total payout was to be $1 million. This was just the first installment. And the spies, according to the Times, delivered the cash in a suitcase to a Berlin hotel. The White House and CIA have obviously been trying to contain the report. Matthew Rosenberg reports in the New York Times. Russian hackers continue to exploit U.S. cyber vulnerabilities The Associated Press reports that Russian spies have continued to exploit vulnerabilities in U.S. defenses. According to the report, the spies fooled contractors with phishing scams disseminated via email, which allowed them to gain access to data acquired by spy drones. Waymo and Uber reach a settlement Uber and Waymo reached a settlement last week. Uber agreed to give Waymo, the self driving car company built by Google, a $245 million stake in Uber’s equity, or about .34 percent. No cash was part of the settlement. Uber continues to deny that they either stole or used any of Waymo’s trade secrets or self-driving car technology. Alex Castro reports for the Verge. U.S. arrests 36 in cyberfraud crackdown The Justice Department reported last week that it had arrested and charged 36 people for running a cyberfraud ring that stole some $350 million. Officials allege that Svyatoslav Bondarenko created Infraud in 2010 to make online purchases with counterfeit or stolen credit card information. Tom Schoenberg reports on the details of the scheme in Bloomberg. Internet giants back net neutrality bill The Internet Association--the trade association that represents internet giants like Google, Facebook and others--wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week in support of a bipartisan legislative solution that would overturn the FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. British officials grill Google, Facebook and Twitter in Washington Eleven members of the British Parliament came to Washington last week to grill tech executives from Google, Facebook and Twitter about fake news. Hamza Shaban of the Chicago Tribune reported that the meeting was far from cordial, with the lawmakers sharply criticizing the companies’ moral compass and failure to curtail the spread of misinformation online. YouTube maintained that it hadn’t found any evidence of Russian interference in the Brexit vote. In a separate story last week, CNN brought to Twitter’s attention the fact that hundreds of Russian propaganda videos remained on Vine—the video sharing platform that Twitter owns--until well after Twitter should have been aware that the Kremlin posted the videos Also, YouTube had to change some of its policies after YouTuber Logan Paul engaged in an ongoing pattern of posting really repulsive videos such as the video of a suicide victim in Japan. Google decided to suspend advertising on Paul’s channel and announced a broader policy change under which it would make YouTube channels that post offensive content less discoverable. Ingrid Ludent reports for Tech Crunch Winter Olympics were cyberattacked An organizer of the winter Olympics in Pyeongchang reported that there was a cyberattack during the opening ceremony. However, the organizer won’t disclose who carried out the attack. Peter Rutherford reports in Reuters New study finds gender pay gap among Uber drivers A new University of Chicago study found a gender pay gap among Uber drivers. The study found that women driving for Uber earned some 7% less per hour than their male counterparts. Mark Warner tees up ‘tech addiction’ At a speech last week, Senator Mark Warner teed up tech addiction as a concern for policymakers. The remarks came amidst several studies conducted recently that purport to illustrate Americans’ addition to tech. David McCabe has more in Axios M.I.T. study shows facial recognition AI skin color bias A new study from the M.I.T. Media Lab shows a commercial facial recognition technology is correct 99% of the time when it comes to identifying white man. But when it came to identifying black folks, the software was wrong 35% of the time. Steve Lohr reports in The New York Times Spouses of highly skilled immigrants face job losses under Trump The spouses of high skilled workers who enter the country under an H1B visa are permitted to work under an H-4 visa. But Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is seeking to end the program, potentially affecting that additional source of income. Cleaver wants white supremacists out of cryptocurrencies Several reports say that white supremacists have been raising funding with Bitcoin to circumvent the established tech sector. So Missouri Democrat Emanuel Cleaver wrote a letter to the Bitcoin Foundation and Digital Chamber of Commerce, asking for measures to curtail white supremacists’ cryptocurrency fundraising activities. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. Senators pressure CFPB on Equifax Thirty Senators want to know why Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, a Trump appointee has delayed the investigation into the Equifax breach that compromised the data of some 143 million Americans. Thirty Senators, led by Hawaii Democrat Brian Schatz, want to know why CFPB hasn’t taken preliminary steps in the investigation. So far the CFPB has declined comment. Trump administration wants to privatize International Space station Christian Davenport reports for the Washington Post that the White House is planning to stop funding for the International Space Station after 2024. It is working on a plan to turn the space station into a commercial enterprise.    

Bio Dr. Simone Browne (@wewatchwatchers) is Associate Professor in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas, Austin. She teaches and researches surveillance studies and black diaspora studies. Her first book, Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, examines surveillance with a focus on transatlantic slavery, biometric technologies, branding, airports and creative texts. You can read the Introduction to Dark Matters here. Winner of the 2016 Best Book Prize, Surveillance Studies Network Winner of the 2016 Lora Romero First Book Prize, American Studies Association Winner of the 2015 Donald McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communications Technology Research She is an Executive Board member of HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory). She is also a member of Deep Lab, a feminist collaborative composed of artists, engineers, hackers, writers, and theorists. Along with Katherine McKittrick and Deborah Cowen she is co-editor of Errantries, a new series published by Duke University Press. Resources Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness by Simone Browne Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Noble UT Austin Department of Sociology AI Now Institute at New York University Deep Lab Danielle Deane Sadie Barnette News Roundup CFPB Head Mulvaney Halts Equifax Probe Patrick Rucker at Reuters reported on Sunday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Acting Director, Mick Mulvaney, has been blocking the investigation into Equifax's massive September data breach. The breach exposed the data of some 143 million Americans to hackers. But Mulvaney has been working behind the scenes by not ordering any subpoenas, seeking sworn testimony, or really anything that would suggest CFPB is doing anything to further the investigation. CFPB has also blocked other agencies such as the FDIC and Federal Reserve from even stepping in to help out with the investigation. The U.S. Court of Appeals also affirmed Mulvaney's poltically-charged appointment. Study finds text reminders reduced arrest warrants for those who fail to appear in court A new University of Chicago Crime Lab and ideas42 study that was funded, in part, by the MacArthur Foundation, found that texts reminding people about court appearances in New York City, reduced Failure to Appear "FTA" arrest warrants by as much as a third. Changes to the summons form, that put the most relevant information on top, such as the date, time and place of the court appearance, plus the penalty associated with failing to appear,  translated to a reduction of FTA arrest warrants by 17,000, when the form changes were implemented system-wide. U.S. Census Bureau to Ignore Detailed Race Classification The U.S. Census Bureau is bowing to an apparent effort by the Trump administration to ensure that as many people as possible claim their race as "White" for census purposes. The Census Bureau released a statement on January 26th saying that the 2020 Census would ignore the Obama Administration's recommendation to allow census respondents to check specific ethnicities along with racial categories. Instead, the Bureau will continue to emphasize the broader racial categories of White and Black, with Hispanics and Latinos only being able to write-in their heritage, but also having to choose their race as Black or White. The form also indicates "Egyptian" as an example of "White". Additionally, the "White" racial category will continue to be listed first. But that would have been the case on the form that the Obama administration recommended as well. The Census Bureau has until March 31st to make its final determination. PBS cries foul on YouTube content-flagging plan YouTube’s plan to flag government-sponsored content isn’t going over so well with PBS. PBS receives some, but not all, funding from the federal government. So the powerful, non-profit broadcast network is concerned that YouTube will lump all of its content into one bucket. Hamza Shaban reports for The New York Times.  Ahead of Valentine’s Day, the FTC posts infographic warning of dating site scams The Federal Trade Commission last week released a new infographic warning about dating site scams. Some of the things to look out for include, well, weirdos, basically – people who profess their love quickly, ask for money, or say they need help with an emergency. You know, standard stuff. The FTC says people lost $220 million from scams like these in 2016. DON’T let it happen to you. Alphabet’s board names new Executive Chairman Google’s parent company Alphabet has announced its new Chairman to replace outgoing Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. John Hennessy has taken the helm. Hennessy is the former President of Stanford University and he’s been an Alphabet board member since it was founded in 2015, and prior to that was a Google board member since 1997. Hennessy is a passionate defender of the DREAM Act. Schmidt remains an Alphabet board member and technical advisor to the company. He has also joined MIT as an innovation fellow. Trump SOTU breaks Twitter record  Twitter reports that Trump’s State of the Union Speech last week broke the Twitter record. The 3 million tweets during Trump’s speech surpassed the 2.6 million tweets Barack Obama’s garnered in 2015.  

Bio Chris J Snook (@chrisjsnook) is the Bestselling Author of Digital Sense: The Common Sense Approach to Effectively Blending Social Business Strategy, Marketing Technology and Customer Experience (Wiley, 2016). He is a Managing Partner at Launch Haus, a venture capital firm focused on cryptocurrency, blockchain, enterprise software, consumer products, digital marketing, event/media properties, and service businesses. He is also a Chairman and Founder of the WorldTokenomicForum ,the leading international organization for enabling public-private cooperation, interoperability, and innovation in token and blockchain based technology. He is also an INC magazine contributor. Resources World Tokenomic Forum Digital Sense: The Common Sense Approach to Effectively Blending Social Business Strategy, Marketing Technology, and Customer Experience by Travis Wright and Chris Snook (Wiley, 2016). Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio  News Roundup Trump officials weigh 5G network Trump officials are weighing building a new 5G network to compete with China's, according to a Powerpoint Axios obtained. The plan would be for the federal government to build a 5G network within 3 years. The report was met with resistance from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, as well Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel. Olivia Beavers has the story in the Hill. Which do you think will be built first? The Wall between the US and Mexico or the 5G network? Russia's Twitter presence  Twitter announced on Friday that some 677,000 of its users engaged with a Kremlin-linked troll factory called the Internet Research Agency. Twitter has also identified an additional 13,512 Russian bots on Twitter, bringing the total to over 50,000. One hundred and twenty-six million people saw content from Russian bots on Twitter during the 2016 election cycle. Twitter has big changes in store for the 2018 midterm election to significantly cut back on malicious Russian bots. Twitter also reported that Russian bots retweeted Donald Trump some 500,000 times over just two-and-a-half months between September 1 and November 16, 2016. Facebook reported to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russian bots created some 129 events. Ashley Gold reports for Politico and Jacqueline Thomas for the Hill. New York Attorney General to Investigate Fake Follower Farm New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that he would be investigating Devumi--a company that sells millions of fake followers to high profile individuals. The New York Times reported over the weekend that some 15% of Twitter's active users are actually fake accounts. Nicholas Confessore, Gabriel J.X. Dance, and Richard Harris and Mark Hansen report in the New York Times. Fitness Tracking App reveals secret US Army base location A fitness tracking app called Strava inadvertently revealed the locations of secret U.S. army basis via military personnel who tracked their exercise by using the app. Alex Hern reports for the Guardian. Trump nominates Suzette Kent as CIO President Trump has nominated a new Chief Information Officer. Suzette Kent was previously with Ernst & Young, JP Morgan and the Carreker Corporation over 27 years in financial an payment services. Aaron Boyd reports in Next.gov.            

  Bio Daiquiri Ryan (@daiquiriryan) is a Policy Fellow at Public Knowledge, where she uses her passion for the intersection of technology policy and social justice to help further innovative consumer advocacy. Prior to joining PK, Daiquiri spent time as a legal intern at Amazon and a Google Policy Fellow at the National Hispanic Media Coalition. Daiquiri is a current member of Google’s NextGen Policy Leader’s inaugural class and contributes NextGen’s subcommittee on Data and Machine Learning’s impact on marginalized communities. She received her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and B.A. in Political Science and Media Relations at Arizona State University. Daiquiri is a Texas native with a special affinity for college football, Elvis Presley and her dog Bobo.  Resources Public Knowledge Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue  News Roundup Montana becomes first state to pass a law challenging the FCC's repeal of net neutrality Montana Governor Steve Bullock, a Democrat, signed an Executive Order last week that requires internet service providers to abide by the FCC' 2015 net neutrality principles. The order simply states that ISPs with state contracts must abide by the principles. Bullock says this is a template that other states should use. harper Neidig has more in The Hill. FCC draft report says wireless broadband not a full substitute for wired  FCC Chairman Ajit Pai reneged on previous statements in which he suggested that the FCC would consider mobile broadband to be a full substitute for wired broadband. Back in 2014, the Obama era FCC under Chairman Tom Wheeler raised the definition of what is to be considered high speed broadband from 4 Mbps down and 1Mbps up to 25Mbps down and 3 Mbps up.  But last August, the FCC proposed 10 Mbps up and 1Mbps down for mobile broadband as an adequate substitute for wired broadband. Thankfully, in a reversal last week, Pai circulated a draft report stating that he would keep the current broadband definition intact. The Open Meeting is scheduled for January 30th. FCC to investigate false alarm in Hawaii You've heard by now that a false alert went out to Hawaiians last week warning them about an incoming ballistic missile strike. The alert turned out to be false. So the FCC says it's investigating. Apple and Verizon announce tax windfalls Verizon and Apple announced windfalls last week stemming from Republicans' tax overhaul. Verizon said the new tax bill would reduce their 4th quarter tax liabilities by $16.8 billion, which translates to $4.10 in earnings per share. Apple claims that it would repatriate some $250 billion in overseas cash from the overhaul. The company claimed that it would invest $350 billion in the U.S. economy over the next 5 years. Google's Sundar Pichai supports no NDAs for women reporting harassment Google CEO Sundar Pichai told Kara Swisher and Ari Melber last week that he would have "no issues" with women speaking out about sexual harassment, even if they are bound by an non-disclosure agreement. Pichai said he's not even aware of such agreements that would prevent women from telling their stories. Comcast's NCB merger conditions expire The merger conditions the feds placed on Comcast back when they acquired NBC Universal in 2011 have expired. This raises concerns for advocates who are concerned about Comcast now becoming emboldened to engage in anti-competitive practices. Kim Hart reports for Axios. EFF files amicus brief urging Ninth Circuit to require warrants for border phone searches Under President Trump, U.S. Customs searches of mobile devices belonging to people entering the U.S. have more than tripled at the U.S. border with Mexico. The Electronic Frontier Foundation wants those warrantless searches to stop. So it filed an amicus brief in U.S. v. Cano, urging the court to apply the same Fourth Amendment standard to those entering the country that it applies to arrestees.   

  Bio Here to discuss net neutrality and sexual health is Leslie Kantor, PhD, MPH (@lesliekantor), Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Vice President of Education. Dr. Kantor is a widely respected leader in the field of sexual and reproductive health, with over two decades of experience in sex education. Since arriving at PPFA, Dr. Kantor has led efforts to develop innovative, technology-based approaches to sex education, partnered with affiliates to strengthen programs and evaluation, served as a national spokesperson, and spearheaded PPFA’s policy efforts related to sex education. Dr. Kantor has extensive experience training professionals as well as expertise in working directly with children, adolescents, young adults and parents throughout the United States. Ms. Kantor appears frequently in the media speaking about sexual and reproductive health and has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, the Associated Press, The Daily Show with John Stewart, the CBS Evening News, NY1News and the Today Show. In addition, she is a member of the faculty at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University where she teaches “Pedagogy of Sexuality Education.” Dr. Kantor’s scholarly articles have appeared in journals such as Sexuality Research and Social Policy, the Journal of Medical Internet Research, and the Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association and she has published book chapters on adolescent sexual development and sexuality in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, Sixth Edition and Epidemiology of Women’s Health. She is a member of the editorial review board for the journal Sex Education. Dr. Kantor has received two prestigious awards from the American Public Health Association (APHA) —the Early Career Award for Excellence from the Population, Reproduction and Sexual Health section and the APHA Jay S. Drotman Memorial Award which is awarded to a public health professional who has “challenged public health practice in a creative and positive manner.” In 2011, the Association of Planned Parenthood Leaders in Education (APPLE) awarded Ms. Kantor their prestigious “Golden Apple” award for leadership in the field of sexuality education. Dr. Kantor has served on the boards of directors of several of the major organizations in the field of sexual health including the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Answer. She is a past board member of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and chaired their board committee on community education and leadership development for several years. Dr. Kantor holds a BA magna cum laude from Barnard College, a master's in public health (MPH) from the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and a PhD from the Columbia University School of Social Work. She is also the mother of a teenage son. Resources Planned Parenthood Planned Parenthood's Statement on Net Neutrality and Sexual Health Planned Parenthood's Chat Tool Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta Ross and Rickie Solinger (University of California Press, 2017) News Roundup House passes FISA surveillance renewal The House of Representatives voted last week to renew the statute that grants U.S. spy agencies sweeping powers to surveil foreign nationals. The statute--Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act--is set to expire at the end of January. President Trump introduced uncertainty as lawmakers negotiated the renewal by sending conflicting tweets, which first opposed the renewal and then appeared to support it.  Now the bill heads to the Senate where Democrat Ron Wyden as well as Republican Rand Paul, have vowed to filibuster the bill out of concern for the fact that American citizens' data are often swept into surveillance requests when they communicate with individuals outside the U.S. The bill would renew the surveillance program until 2023. Jeff Bezos donates $33 Million for DREAMER college scholarships Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is donating $33 million in college scholarships for DREAMERS--undocumented high school graduates in the U.S. The grant will fund $33,000 worth of tuition for 1,000 students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status. Bezos indicated in a statement that his father came to the U.S. from Cuba when he was 16 years old and unable to speak English. Facebook overhauls newsfeed You'll be seeing a lot fewer ads and news stories on Facebook. The social media company announced last week that it is tweaking its news feed to emphasize content from its users' family and friends. Some are skeptical that this will have any effect on fake and misleading news appearing on the site. Popular articles shared by family and friends would still rise to the top of the news feed if they get enough engagements. Mike Isaac reports in the New York Times. Trend Micro warns the Senate about Russian hackers A new Trend Micro report warns about the ongoing threat of Russian hackers. The report states that the same Russian hackers who broke into the Democratic Party during last year's election are still at work. This time they are attempting to access the private emails of U.S. Senators. The Associated Press has more. Intel promises more transparency Intel CEO Bryan Krzanich wrote an open letter last week promising that Intel will be much more transparent going forward about the way its processors are performing. Krzanich wrote the letter in the wake of revelations that Intel's processors had two major security flaws affecting countless computers worldwide. In the meantime, Intel is facing at least 3 class-action lawsuits stemming from the security flaws. Tom Warren reports in the Verge and Samuel Gibbs reports for the Guardian. FCC halts its review of Sinclair/Tribune Reuters reports that the FCC has decided to pause the 180-day transaction clock on Sinclair Broadcast's acquisition of Tribune Media. The agency said that it needs to be able to "fully review" some station divestitures Sinclair will be making. These would include the 10 stations that Fox wants to purchase from Sinclair.

Bio Elissa Shevinsky (@ElissaBeth) is a successful serial entrepreneur, focusing on cybersecurity and cryptocurrency companies. An early employee at Geekcorps (acquired) and Everyday Health (IPO) she was most recently Head of Product at Brave. Shevinsky is also the author of "Lean Out: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Tech and Startup Culture."  Little known fact: her first job out of college was as a lobbyist in DC, working to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Resources Lean Out: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Tech and Start-Up Culture by Elissa Shevinsky (OR Books: 2015) Mastering Bitcoin: Programming the Open BlockChain by Andreas Antonopoulos (O'Reilly Media: 2017) Mastering Ethereum by Andreas Antonopoulous (O'Reilly Media: forthcoming, 2018) News Roundup Online sex trafficking bill has 60 votes The Senate bill to combat online sex trafficking has the 60 votes it needs to prevent a filibuster. The bipartisan bill, which met initial resistance and then acceptance by large tech companies, seeks to limit an exception in the Communications Decency Act that shields web hosts from liability for illegal content, such as prostitution ads, posted by third parties. The Senate bill would eliminate the exception for websites that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking. Ben Brody has more in Bloomberg. Apple announces security flaws Apple announced last week that all Mac and iOS devices are susceptible to processing system flaws called Spectre and Meltdown. Apple said that, to avoid the possibility of hackers exploiting these vulnerabilities, consumers should avoid downloading anything from anyone other than trusted sources. Selena Larson reports for CNN. Effort to overturn FCC's repeal of net neutrality gains first Republican supporter Senator Ed Markey's effort to overturn the FCC's reversal of the 2015 open internet rules gained its first Republican supporter last week: Senator Susan Collins from Maine. Markey's resolution could now pass the Senate with just one more Republican vote. On Monday, Democrat Claire McCaskill joined the list of the bill's sponsors, bringing the total number of sponsors to 30. John Brodkin has the story in Ars Technica. CEOs urge Congress to protect DREAMERS With the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) set to expire on March 5th, more than 100 American CEOs sent a joint letter to Congress urging it to pass a bill to allow Dreamers--the children of undocumented immigrants who brought them to the U.S.--to remain in the country. The CEOs, who represented companies as diverse as Google, Apple, Best Buy, Levi Strauss, Facebook, Target, Verizon, Visa and others wrote that the impending expiration of DACA is a crisis. Harper Neidig has the story in the Hill. The Internet Association will sue the FCC over net neutrality The Internet Association--the trade group that represents major tech companies such as Google, Netflix, Facebook and others--announced last week that it would be suing the Federal Communications Commission over its repeal of the 2015 net neutrality rules. Fired Google memo writer sues the company James Damore--the fired Google employee who wrote a controversial memo that played into stereotypes about women, sued Google for treating employees with conservative political views differently from the way it treated liberals working at the company. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. Pew: Half of Women in STEM jobs experience discrimination Half of women in STEM jobs experience gender-based discrimination at work, according to a new Pew survey. Some 50 percent of women in STEM fields reported that they had been victims of discrimination, compared to 41 percent of women in non-STEM jobs. Cary Funk and Kim Parker wrote the report for Pew. VTech settles with FTC for $650,000 Children's electronic toy maker VTech settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $650,000 on Monday. The FTC alleged that the company had collected kids' private information without the consent of their parents, and then failed to secure the information against hackers. White House sent Car nomination to Congress The White House has nominated Brendan Carr to a five-year term as a Federal Communications Commission Commissioner. Carr's current term expires in June.                

  Bio Monica Anderson is a research associate at the Pew Research Center. Her work focuses on internet and technology issues. Much of her recent work focuses on the impact of the digital divide, growing role of automation in everyday life, and the role of online activism in the age of social media. She has a master’s degree in media studies from Georgetown University, where her work focused on the intersection of race, politics and social media. Resources Americans and Automation in Every Day Life by Aaron Smith and Monica Anderson Pew Research Center The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown by Paul Taylor News Roundup Communications Workers Union sues companies for discriminatory Facebook employment ads The Communications Workers of America, the nation's leading union representing telecommunications industry workers, is suing several companies for placing job ads on Facebook that targeted users under age 40 and, in some cases, under 38. The complaint alleges that T-Mobile, Amazon, and Cox Communications placed job ads on Facebook and placed age caps on their audience target. Sharon Bernstein reports for Reuters. Twenty-six Senators plan to block FCC's net neutrality repeal The likelihood that the Republican-controlled Congress will pass legislation to overturn the FCC's repeal of the 2015 net neutrality rules seems like a long-shot. Nevertheless, as many as 26 Senators support Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey's effort to undo the vote using the Congressional Review Act. Colin Lecher reports in the Verge. Republicans also announced their own version of a net neutrality bill. Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn unveiled the Open Internet Preservation Act, which would restore two of the repealed net neutrality rules including the rule against throttling and the rule against blocking. However, the bill doesn't bring back the rule against paid prioritization. Without that, ISPs would be free to charge website operators exorbitant fees for access to internet fast lanes. Brian Fung reports on this in the Washington Post. AT&T announces layoffs To celebrate Congress' passage of the tax overhaul, AT&T announced that it would pay $1,000 bonuses to its 200,000 employees. Then the company turned around and announced that it would be laying off more than a thousand workers. Carlos Bellesteros reports for Newsweek. White House: Facebook, Microsoft thwarts cyber threats The White House announced that Microsoft and Facebook disabled North Korean cyberattacks earlier this year. White House homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert said that Facebook and Microsoft disabled the WannaCry virus that disabled critical institutions such as hospitals and banks earlier this year, as well as several other ongoing cyberattacks. Dustin Volz reports for Reuters. Tax overhaul benefits Silicon Valley The new tax overhaul has major benefits for Silicon Valley independent contractors, executives and investors. Many top tech executives will see more take-home pay, and some contractors will as well. Tech giants will see major tax cuts and will be able to bring back money earned overseas at a lower tax rate than they had been able to previously.  Blue collar workers in the Valley, such as security workers, will see some tax benefits but nowhere near as substantial as those of higher paid workers. Paresh Dave, Heather Somerville and Jeffrey Dastin report for Reuters. DHS conducting unauthorized face scans at U.S. airports In a new report, the Georgetown University Center on Privacy and Technology found that the Department of Homeland Security is scanning the faces of American citizens traveling internationally and comparing it to a national database. The report found that this program affects as many as 1 in 25 international travelers. Homeland is implementing the face scanning program at eight airports in Boston Logan, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Chicago O'Hare, Las Vegas McCarran, Miami International, Hobby International in Houston, New York's JFK, and Washington Dulles. Although it has approved the use of biometrics for screening foreign nationals who are entering the country, Congress has not yet authorized the practice of face-scanning American citizens who are exiting. Harrison Rudolph, Laura Moy, and Alvaro Bedoya authored the report, which you can find at airportfacescans.com.      

Bio Brian Woolfolk (@brianpwoolfolk) is the Founding Executive Director of Full Color Future--a new think tank and advocacy organization committed to changing the narrative about people of color in media, tech and innovation. He has been passionate about inclusive tech, telecom and media policy for more than 20 years, since he got his start on Capitol Hill. Brian served as Democratic Counsel on the US House Judiciary Committee and advised Committee Members on the Telecommunications Act, media ownership diversity, and free speech issues. He also advised members and staff on constitutional, civil rights, antitrust, criminal justice and investigative issues. Prior to his Committee work, Brian served as legislative counsel to Congressman Robert C. (Bobby) Scott of Virginia, currently the Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee. Since leaving the Hill, Brian Woolfolk has worked in private practice, representing a broad array of clients with matters before Congress, federal agencies, and state and local governments. Brian also counsels clients involved in high profile Congressional Investigations. Mr. Woolfolk has extensive technology and media policy experience. His advocacy on tech policy issues began when he ran a pro bono project that provided government relations services to minority media companies challenging anti-competitive practices in the cable marketplace. Over the years, Brian has worked on surveillance, artificial intelligence, net neutrality, mergers, set top boxes, and a host of other issues related to the fight to ensure diverse tech and media interests are protected. Brian has a B.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland and a J.D. from the William & Mary Law School. Brian currently serves as a Member of the William and Mary Board of Visitors (Trustees). Resources Full Color Future Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You?: A Memoir by George Clinton (Atria Books, 2014) News Roundup Net neutrality and media ownership caps: next steps Of course you've heard by now that the Republican-led FCC voted to repeal the 2015 net neutrality rules which classified ISPs as "common carriers". This classification brought them directly within the scope of the Commission's so-called "Title II" authority, which is the section of the Communications Act that deals with common carriers. The net neutrality rules banned ISPs from blocking, slowing down, or prioritizing speeds for content creators who can afford to pay for higher speeds, while keeping everyone else's in the slow lane. Those rules are gone now. However, the FCC did keep the so-called "transparency rule", which continues to require ISPs to be transparent about their network management practices. Still, the definition of "transparency" is subject to broad interpretation since there is no longer any underlying rules that say what ISPs are supposed to be transparent about. The FCC and FTC have said that they intended to pursue a Memorandum of Understanding which would define how the two agencies would work together to enforce net neutrality principles. But until that's done--there are no net neutrality rules--only unenforceable principles of net neutrality. So what are the next steps? Well, first off, the FCC is likely to get sued. The most obvious basis for any lawsuit would be the way in which the FCC considered public comments in this proceeding, or, should I say--did NOT consider public comments. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said last week that he would be suing the FCC for illegally rolling back the net neutrality rules. He points to the fact that there were millions of fake or fraudulent comments in the record. He also says that the Commission failed to hold public hearings. Schniederman says that repealing the rules "rewards the very perpetrators who scammed the system to advance their own agenda." Other states that are planning to sue include Washington, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Delaware, Vermont, DC and Massachusetts. Advocacy organizations, like Free Press, have also expressed their intention to sue. The other route is legislation. Verge reporter Jacob Kastrenakes reports that Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Thune called on Congress last week to pass a new net neutrality law. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that he would force a vote under he Congressional Review Act to preserve the net neutrality rules. Shannon Liao has excellent coverage of how all of this could play out in The Verge. The FCC also passed a notice of proposed rulemaking, in which it is exploring how the FCC might reduce the broadcast ownership cap. Currently, it is illegal for a single broadcast owner to reach more than 39% of the national market. This standard was set by Congress, and it was legislation that current Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly worked on when he was a Legislative Assistant for former Republican New Hampshire Senator John Sununu. O'Rielly opposes raising the cap because he says the Commission doesn't have the authority to do so. However, he says that it is appropriate for the FCC to consider raising the cap, since it is unlikely that Congress will do so. John Eggerton explains in Broadcasting & Cable. We should also note that David Shepardson of Reuters reports that the FCC has voted behind closed doors to fine Sinclair Broadcasting $13.3 million for failing to disclose that it ran paid programming on some of its stations that was sponsored by a cancer institute. Sinclair's proposed acquisition of Tribune Media is still pending. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal calls for Comcast-NBC merger investigation U.S. Senator Richard Blumental wants the DOJ to revisit the Comcast/NBCU merger that closed back in 2011. The merger conditions Comcast committed to in exchange for the merger being approved are set to expire next fall. So Blumenthal is concerned that the market harms that some have already pointed to will get worse. He wrote a letter last week to U.S. Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim asking him to consider breaking up Comcast/NBCU or, at a minimum, to extend the merger conditions. Ted Johnson reports for Variety. NASA discovers 8th planet orbiting distant star With the help of Google's artificial intelligence neural network, NASA has identified an 8th planet orbiting a distant star called Kepler 90, which is about 2,500 light years away from us. The planet, which is called Kepler 90i, has a 14-day orbit and is rocky and hot, with a surface temperature of 800 degrees Farenheit. It is within the first solar system humans have discovered with as many planets as our own. Maya Wei-Haas has the story in Smithsonian. Twitter cracks down on hate speech Twitter began enforcing a new policy to crack down on white nationalist hate speech on Monday, suspending accounts linked to white nationalists. The new policy prohibits users from advocating violence against civilians. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. Former Uber lawyer alleges thatUber hacked and surveilled its competitors As you know, Uber, and Google parent company Alphabet's self driving car unit Waymo, have been embroiled in litigation. Waymo charges that a former employee took secrets back to Uber to help Uber develop its competing self-driving car. Well,  a new letter came to light last week, and it says that Uber hacked and surveilled its competitors to gain competitive insights in a way that went far beyond industry norms.  For example, the 37-page letter--dubbed Jacob's letter-- written by a former attorney to Uber's head of global intelligence, says that Uber collected the license, name and contact information of 35,000  drivers and used that information to entice them to work for Uber instead. The letter also states that Uber engaged in other less-than-savory practices as it spied on competitors. The letter was made public just days ahead of the trial that's set to commence in days. Jake Nicas reports in the Wall Street Journal. House releases answer to the Senate's Sex Trafficking bill The House of Representatives released its answer to the Senate's Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act last week. The House version, which is entitled the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, or FOSTA, would make it so that companies can no longer claim immunity from *state* laws for third-party content that promotes sex trafficking. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act only prevents such immunity from federal law. The House bill also prohibits ads that solicit prostitution. Jack Corrigan reports in Next.gov. Democrats push back on Disney/21st Century Fox merger Democratic lawmakers are calling for hearings on Disney's $52 billion bid for 21st Century Fox. Senator Amy Klobuchar is concerned about the merger's potential competitive harms. Representatives David Cicilline and Emanuel Cleaver want hearings as well. Tony Romm reports for Recode. Senator Brian Schatz warns about a lack of diversity in AI Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz--the top ranking internet subcommittee Democrat--scolded the tech sector for its lack of diversity at an artificial intelligence hearing last week. Schatz was particularly concerned about the lack of diversity among artificial intelligence development teams. He said that these teams are predominantly white and male and pointed to the potential for bias in setting up AI algorithms.  Ali Breland reports in The Hill. YouTube takes down Ajit Pai's 'Harlem Shake' video for 7 hours FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's video of himself doing the Harlem Shake to ease minds about repealing net neutrality didn't go over so well with DJ Baauer, who created the track. Bauer filed a copyright claim and YouTube took the video down for  7 hours.      In any case the video's back up but the ratio of dislikes to likes is some 24 to 1. with just 9,000 likes and 217, 000 dislikes. Sarah Jeong reports in the Verge.                 

  Bio Carmen Scurato (@carmenscurato) is Vice President, Policy and General Counsel at the National Hispanic Media Coalition, where she leads NHMC's policy and government affairs office in Washington, D.C. She is responsible for developing policy and legal strategies that encourage open and affordable communications, innovation, competition, and diversity. Carmen represents NHMC in meetings with decision makers in Congress and at federal regulatory agencies. She has spoken extensively on the ways that communications policy impacts people of color and regularly appears in outlets such as Fast Company, Fortune, The Root and the Guardian to highlight NHMC’s policy and advocacy efforts. Carmen coordinates organizational responses to regulatory proposals that threaten to widen the digital divide and has co-authored several notable filings for Voices for Internet Freedom highlighting the importance of Net Neutrality and the Lifeline program for communities of color. In 2017, Carmen was the architect of Freedom of Information Act requests that compelled the FCC to release more than 50,000 consumer complaints, previously undisclosed, that drew renewed attention to the importance of preserving the 2015 Open Internet Order. Carmen also supervises NHMC’s legal fellowship program, which provides an opportunity for select students throughout the country to experience media, technology, and telecommunications law and advocacy. Before joining NHMC, Carmen worked at the Department of Justice and assisted in Medicare fraud investigations, including a False Claims Act case that resulted in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars. She also worked at the DOJ Office of Legislative Affairs on large document requests received from congressional oversight committees. Carmen, a native of Puerto Rico, earned her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law and her B.A. cum laude from New York University. Carmen also serves on the public policy advisory council to the American Library Association and is a member of the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee. She also sits on the Advisory Board for Full Color Future and was named as one of 2017’s Full Color 50. Carmen is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar, Hispanic National Bar Association, and the Federal Communications Bar Association. Resources National Hispanic Media Coalition Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil News Roundup Despite deeply flawed public record, FCC still plans net neutrality repeal The FCC is poised to repeal its net neutrality rules this Thursday despite tens of thousands of fake or fraudulent comments in the record. Both Democratic FCC Commissioners, several members of Congress, and protesters have called on the FCC to delay repealing the rules. However, Chairman Ajit Pai and his Republican colleagues are planning to overturn the rules anyway. The FCC on Monday announced a so-called framework under which it and the FTC would ostensibly work in partnership to weed out bad actors on the internet. However, this is more likely to be political maneuvering by the two agencies' Republican leadership, since FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeney wrote a widely-read op-ed in Quartz last week stating that the FTC does not have the expertise to regulate internet service providers. Additionally, Brian Fung noted in the Washington Post that a case that's currently pending in the 9th Circuit could restrict those who wish to file grievances against their internet service providers even further. In FTC v. AT&T Mobility, the court will decide, within days, whether a parent corporate entity can escape being classified as a common carrier even if one or more of its smaller subsidiaries is classified as such. This is important because the FTC does not have jurisdiction over common carriers--only the FCC does. So if the court defines AT&T as a common carrier, the notion that the FTC would have any kind of authority to enforce net neutrality principles against ISPs, is a joke, basically--since AT&T would be able to claim an exemption from FTC enforcement based on the fact that its subsidiary is classified as a common carrier. And, as Brian explains, overturning the net neutrality rules would effectively remove AT&T from the FCC's common carrier definition. Taken together, a decision in the 9th circuit that's favorable to AT&T, combined with the FCC overturning the net neutrality rules, would make it a great week for AT&T, as it would mean that the company isn't subject to regulation by either agency. House Democrats, including Elijah Cummings, are calling on the Government Accountability Office to investigate the fake comments. Former National Security Officials say Trump voter database could be hacked In an amicus brief filed in the DC Circuit in support of Common Cause's lawsuit against the Trump Administration, Former National Security officials are worried that the Trump administration's proposed database that's designed to prevent so-called voter fraud would be susceptible to large-scale hacking. The former officials, including former National Intelligence Director James Clapper say exposing the personal information of millions of Americans online would invite hacking by both nation-states and criminals. Cloudflare CEO backtracks on 'Daily Stormer' takedown Remember when Cloudflare decided to stop hosting the neo-Nazi website 'Daily Stormer' for mocking the woman who was mowed down during Charlottesville riots in August? Now, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince says that was a mistake because he's almost a "free speech absolutist" and that he let his emotions get the better of him. He says he's going to try not to be so impulsive next time. And, in the future, if the Southern Poverty Law Center reaches out to him to complain about hateful content Cloudflare is hosting, he's just going to delegate it to the Electronic Frontier Foundation--a privacy-focused non-profit that's based on the West Coast--and let those two duke it out. He's too busy to help curtail hate speech, basically. Meanwhile, Google announced that it will be hiring 10,000 people to help stamp out extremist content on YouTube.   SEC Crypto unit files first charges The Securities and Exchange Commission's new division that's focused on cryptocurrencies filed its first charges last week. They're against a company called PlexCorps, which was about to hold an initial coin offering (ICO) for which it claimed investors would receive 13 times their investment. The SEC alleged fraud and froze the company's assets. Meanwhile, the price of a single Bitcoin has jumped to over $17,000, from around $1,000 in January. Bitcoin futures also launched on the New York and London exchanges on Monday. Many experts are predicting that Bitcoin will eventually crash.   Facebook kids messenger app raises privacy red flags Facebook released a new app last week called Messenger Kids which lets kids under 12 "connect with people they love but also has the level of control parents want." Almost immediately, Democratic Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumentahl raised concerns, saying that the app raises privacy and security concerns. So they're asking Facebook for more clarity on how the app works. White House says warrantless NSA surveillance can continue after statute expires The NSA's warrantless surveillance program will expire on January 1st if Congress doesn't pass an extension. However, the White House says that it has the authority to keep the program going because the FISA court met on April 26th and made changes that would remain in place for a year. Charlie Savage reports in the New York Times.  Google blocks Youtube on Amazon devices Google has blocked YouTube on Amazon's streaming devices. Google says Amazon refuses to offer Amazon Prime through Google gadgets and has recently halted the sale of Google's Nest. AT&T/Time Warner merger trial set for March The trial between the Department of Justice against the AT&T/Time Warner merger is set to begin on March 19th. This is unlikely to meet that April 22 deadline for the deal to close, on which AT&T would have to pay Time Warner $500 million.        

Bio Victor Pickard (@vwpickard) is an Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication. His research focuses on the history and political economy of media institutions, media activism, and the politics and normative foundations of media policy. Before coming to Annenberg, he taught at New York University in the media, culture, and communication department. Previously he worked on media policy in Washington, DC as a Senior Research Fellow at the media reform organization Free Press and the public policy think tank the New America Foundation. He also taught media policy at the University of Virginia and served as a Media Policy Fellow for Congresswoman Diane Watson. Pickard’s work has been published in numerous anthologies and scholarly journals, including Critical Studies in Media Communication, Journal of Communication; Media, Culture & Society; Global Media and Communication; International Journal of Communication; Communication, Culture & Critique; New Media and Society; Journal of Communication Inquiry; Newspaper Research Journal; Journal of Internet Law; International Journal of Communication Law and Policy; CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Policy; Political Communication; Journal of Information Policy; Digital Journalism; Journalism Studies; Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies; and Communication Theory. He is a frequent commentator on public and community radio and he often speaks to the press about med ia-related issues. His op-eds have appeared in venues like the Guardian, the Seattle Times, the Huffington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Atlantic. In 2009, Pickard was the lead author of the first comprehensive report on the American journalism crisis, "Saving the News: Toward a National Journalism Strategy" (published by Free Press as part of the book Changing Media: Public Interest Policies for the Digital Age). He is the co-editor of the books Will the Last Reporter Please Turn out the Lights (with Robert McChesney, published by The New Press) and The Future of Internet Policy (with Peter Decherney, published by Routledge), and he is the author of the book America's Battle for Media Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform (published by Cambridge University Press). Resources University of Pennsylvania - Annenberg School for Communication  America's Battle for Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform by Victor Pickard (Cambridge University Press)   Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt (Penguin Books, 2011) News Roundup The FCC's effort to overturn net neutrality in one word: chaos The FCC's efforts to overturn the net neutrality rules have descended into total and complete chaos. First of all, it's hard to find anyone other than telecom companies, and the beltway insiders that represent them,  that support Ajit Pai's plan to overturn the rules at the December 14th meeting. A new Morning Consult poll finds that some 52% of Americans support net neutrality , with 29% who say they don't know. Just eighteen percent outright oppose. Further, the opposition to Ajit Pai's efforts appears to be bipartisan, with 53% of Republicans and Democrats coming in at just 2 points higher--55% who support the existing net neutrality rules. And then there's the Pew Research study showing that just 6% of comments submitted in the net neutrality docket are genuine, with others being fake and duplicates. Yet the FCC doesn't appear to be accounting for the onslaught of fake comments submitted in this proceeding.  And a man was arrested and charged for threatening to kill Congressman John Katko if he failed to support net neutrality. Twenty-eight year old Patrick D. Angelo left a voicemail for Katko saying "Listen Mr. Katko, if you support net neutrality, I will support you. But if you don’t support net neutrality, I will find you and your family and I will kill…you…all. Do you understand?" This is according to the U.S. Attorney's office. So the net neutrality debate has assumed a very unhealthy tone. Perhaps the FCC should wait on overturning the rules. That would certainly seem to be the most democratic way to go. Incidentally, some 200 businesses, including Airbnb, Tumblr, Pinterest and others sent a letter to Ajit Pai on Cyber Monday urging him to hold on overturning the rules.  Supreme Court hears location-tracking case The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in Carpenter v. U.S. --that's the cellphone location data tracking case. The defendant was suspected of serving as a lookout during several armed robberies in Detroit. Authorities used Carpenter's cell phone location data to determine his proximity to the robberies. They found that Carpenter was indeed nearby to where the crimes took place.  He was convicted and is now serving a 116-year sentence. But the justices seemed to lean in support of Carpenter's argument that his 4th Amendment rights were violated--despite the third party doctrine which holds that individuals give up their right to privacy in information disclosed to third parties. Robert Barnes covers this in the Washington Post.  Pushback against tattoo recognition technology The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is suing the U.S. government -- specifically the Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security--for its work on developing a tattoo recognition technology. EFF sees the effort as an intrusion into civil liberties. Harper Neidig reports in The Hill.  GAO: Tech severely lacks diversity A new Government Accountability Officer report found that people of color are disproportionately underrepresented within tech firms.  Congressman Bobby Scott--Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee--ordered the study. The report found that some 10% of Hispanic and 7% of Black workers had Bachelors or Masters-level technology degrees, yet they represent only 5% or less of tech companies.   Softbank bids for Uber Softbank has initiated a formal, $48 billion takeover bid for Uber--the embattled ride-sharing company. Softbank offered to purchase Uber shares despite 3rd Quarter losses of $1.5 billion, which was up from $1.1 billion Uber lost in the second quarter. Eric Newcomer reports for Bloomberg.  Bitcoin takes off Finally, the digital currency Bitcoin had banner week last week. It jumped to over $11,000, from just $1,000 in the spring. Is it a bubble? Should it be regulated? Should the Fed create its own cryptocurrency? And, most importantly, what the hell is it??? Those are the questions being asked this week as Nasdaq prepares to trade Bitcoin. Michael Derby reports in the Wall Street Journal.           

  Bio Emma Llansó (@ellanso) is the Director of CDT’s Free Expression Project, which works to promote law and policy that support users’ free expression rights in the United States and around the world. Emma leads CDT’s work in advancing speech-protective policies, which include legislative advocacy and amicus activity in the U.S. aimed at ensuring that online expression receives the highest level of protection under the First Amendment. Recognizing the crucial role played by Internet intermediaries in facilitating individuals’ expression, she works to preserve strong intermediary liability protections in the U.S. and to advance these key policies abroad. Emma also leads the Free Expression Project’s work in developing content policy best practices with Internet content platforms and advocating for user-empowerment tools and other alternatives to government regulation of online speech. The Project’s work spans many subjects, including online child safety and children’s privacy, human trafficking, privacy and online reputation issues, counter-terrorism and “radicalizing” content, and online harassment. Emma is also a member of the Freedom Online Coalition’s Working Group on Privacy and Transparency Online, which is developing best practices for transparency reporting by governments and companies regarding government demands to Internet companies for content removal and access to user data. Emma works with CDT’s Global Internet Policy & Human Rights Project on advancing policies that promote free expression in global fora; she also works with the Global project in advocating for decentralized, multistakeholder approaches to Internet governance. Emma earned a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Delaware and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Emma joined CDT in 2009 as the Bruce J. Ennis First Amendment Fellow; her fellowship project focused on legal and policy advocacy in support of minors’ First Amendment rights in the US. She is a member of the New York State Bar. Resources Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) SESTA Would Undermine Free Speech Online by Emma Llansó Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold (Microsoft Press, 2000) News Roundup FCC Chairman Ajit Pai releases draft orde rot overturn net neutrality Ajit Pai released a draft order to repeal the net neutrality rules last week, which the Commission will vote on at their December meeting. The order would overturn the 2015 net neutrality order by reclassifying internet service providers as "information service" providers rather than Title II "common carriers". Telecom companies applauded the new order while others, on the right and left, decried the draft order which will give telecom carriers broad discretion to throttle, block or require payment for services it doesn't favor. The order would also preempt the states from enacting their own net neutrality legislation. Cecilia Kang reports in the New York Times. NY AG Schneiderman callout FCC on net neutrality In an open letter published on his Medium page, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman wrote an open letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. In it, he called on Pai to respond to repeated requests Schneider's office made to the FCC to release information on the individuals who were responsive for corrupting the FCC's notice and comment system. Schneiderman wrote that thousands of Americans' identities may have been used to submit fraudulent comments. Schneiderman wrote that his office has made 9 requests to the FCC since June, even offering to keep the information confidential, but to no avail. Justice Department sues to block AT&T/Time Warner The Justice Department has sued to block the $85 billion AT&T/Time Warner merger. Mekan Delrahim--Chief of the DOJ's antitrust devision, says the vertical merger would harm Americans with higher prices and fewer content options. Brent Kendall and Drew FitzGerald report in the Wall Street Journal. Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in cellphone tracking case The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments this week in Carpenter v. U.S. In Carpenter, the FBI surveilled a defendant whom they suspected of acting as a getaway driver for several armed robberies in Detroit. The FBI tracked Carpenter without a warrant, using his cellphone location data. In the lower court, the FBI argued that it had broad authority to track anyone's location at anytime. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the FBI. Now the Supreme Court will consider the applicability of the so-called "third party doctrine" which holds that once you communicate your private information to a third party--you lose your privacy interest in that information. The third party doctrine already applies to things like your banking records. So the question before the court--for the first time--is whether that doctrine applies when you communicate your location to a cell tower. Matthew Tokson summarizes this case in New York Mag. FCC not done relaxing media ownership rules Two weeks ago, the FCC relaxed its Newspaper-Broadcast Cross-ownership rule. Soon, the agency may also relax the ownership limit that prevents a single corporation from reaching more than 39% of the national audience.FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated a proposal to his colleagues last week. If it is adopted at the December 14th Open meeting, the FCC will then commence to review the rule, which could take several months. The move is seen as being helpful to Sinclair Broadcasting, which is seeking to acquire Tribune Media. The combined company would reach 70% of U.S. households. Keach Hagey reports in the Wall Street Journal. Microsoft experiments with 'white spaces' to provide internet access in Puerto Rico Microsoft announced that it is attempting to provide internet access to Puerto Rico and other U.S. Virgin Islands that were devastated by Hurricane Maria. The plan is to provide the service via TV  "white spaces", which are the unused frequencies between tv stations.   Quartz: Android collects location data at all times Keith Collins at Quartz reported that Android devices collect location data and send it back to Google even when the location data option is switched off. Privacy advocates are concerned that if Google can access the information, hackers can too. Russia telecom czar plans retaliation against Google for de-ranking RT and Sputnik David Filipov and Hamza Filiban report for the Washington Post that  Russia is preparing to retaliate against Google if Google de-ranks the Russia-based propaganda outlets RT and Sputnik. At the Halifax International Security Forum over the weekend, Alphabet CEO Eric Schmidt said that Google is working to restrict websites, like RT and Sputnik, that have been "weaponized".   Russian telecom czar Alexander Zharov responded to the remarks saying that it would be investigating how Google ranks sites like RT and Sputnik and considering retaliatory measures. ProPublica: Facebook still allows race discrimination from advertisers A new ProPublica investigation found that Facebook still allows advertisers to target consumers based on race. ProPublica bought dozens of fake real estate ads on Facebook that allowed it to exclude audiences based on race. Julia Angwin reports in ProPublica. Multiple states are investigating a 2016 Uber data breach Uber is under fire yet again. This time it's because the company apparently suffered a massive data breach last year and didn't report it to anyone: drivers, customers, regulators--no one. Uber said the breach affected some 57 million customers. In addition to inflaming the Federal Trade Commission investigation which was already in progress, the company has already been sued by one user for deceptive business practices, for not disclosing the breach.  

  Bio Danielle Keats Citron (@daniellecitron) is the Morton & Sophia Macht Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law where she teaches and writes about information privacy, free expression, and civil rights and was the recipient of the 2005 “Teacher of the Year” award. Professor Citron is an internationally recognized information privacy expert. Her book Hate Crimes in Cyberspace (Harvard University Press 2014) explored the phenomenon of cyber stalking and how law and companies can and should tackle online abuse consistent with our commitment to free speech. The editors of Cosmopolitan included her book in “20 Best Moments for Women in 2014.” Professor Citron has published more than 20 law review articles appearing in California Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Harvard Law Review Forum, Boston University Law Review, Fordham Law Review, George Washington Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Texas Law Review, Washington University Law Review, Southern California Law Review, Washington & Lee Law Review, Wake Forest Law Review, Washington Law Review, UC Davis Law Review, among other journals. Her opinion pieces have appeared in media outlets, such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, Time, CNN, The Guardian, New Scientist, ars technica, and New York Daily News. In 2015, the United Kingdom’s Prospect Magazine named Professor Citron one of the “Top 50 World Thinkers;” the Daily Record named her one of the “Top 50 Most Influential Marylanders.” Professor Citron is an Affiliate Scholar at the Stanford Center on Internet and Society, Affiliate Fellow at the Yale Information Society Project, and Senior Fellow at the Future of Privacy, a privacy think tank. She is a technology contributor for Forbes. Professor Citron has advised federal and state legislators, law enforcement, and international lawmakers on privacy issues. She has testified at congressional briefings on the First Amendment implications of laws regulating cyber stalking, sexual violence, and nonconsensual pornography. From 2014 to December 2016, Professor Citron advised California Attorney General Kamala Harris (elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016) on privacy issues. She served as a member of AG Harris’s Task Force to Combat Cyber Exploitation and Violence Against Women. In 2011, Professor Citron testified about online hate speech before the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Semitism at the House of Commons. Professor Citron works closely with tech companies on issues involving online safety and privacy. She serves on Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council and has presented her research at Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. In addition, Professor Citron is an advisor to civil liberties and privacy organizations. She is the Chair the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s Board of Directors. Professor Citron is on the Advisory Board of Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, Without My Consent, Future of Privacy, Teach Privacy, SurvJustice, and the International Association of Privacy Professionals Privacy Bar. She is a member of the American Law Institute and serves as an adviser to the American Law Institute’s Restatement Third Information Privacy Principles Project. Professor Citron has presented her research at federal agencies, meetings of the National Association of Attorneys General, the National Holocaust Museum, Wikimedia Foundation, the Anti-Defamation League, major universities, and think tanks. Professor Citron has been quoted in hundreds of news stories including in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired,USA Today, HBO’s John Oliver Show, HBO’s Vice News, Time, Newsweek, New Yorker, New York Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Barron’s, Financial Times, The Guardian, Vice News, and BBC. She is a frequent guest on National Public Radio shows, including All Things Considered, WHYY’s Radio Times, WNYC’s Public Radio International, Minnesota Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Radio, WYPR’s Midday with Dan Rodricks, WAMU’s The Diane Rehm Show, and Chicago Public Radio. Resources Hate Crimes in Cyberspace by Danielle Keas Citron (Harvard University Press, 2014) Constitutional Coup: Privatization's Threat to the American Republic by Jon D. Michaels (Harvard University Press, 2017) University of Maryland Carey School of Law News Roundup DOJ sues to block AT&T/Tribune Merger The Department of Justice has sued to block AT&T's proposed $85 billion acquisition of Times Warner. The complaint states that the merger would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act. It refers to AT&T's objection to Comcast's previous acquisition of NBC/Universal, back in 2011, which was also a so-called vertical merger. AT&T argued that a "standard bargaining model" could have been used to show the harmful effect the merger would have had on pricing. If the case reaches the Supreme Court, it will be the first time a vertical merger case has reached the Court since 1972, in the Ford-Autolite case. The Trump administration has been vocal about opposing the AT&T/Time Warner merger and the president himself has railed repeatedly on Twitter about CNN's coverage of his administration. AT&T says it would not rule out using the judicial process in order to obtain correspondence between the White House and the DOJ which would help illustrate that the DOJ's lawsuit is politically motivated. Brian Fung reports in the Washington Post. FCC rolls back media regulations, Lifeline, cracks down on robocalls In its monthly meeting last week, the Federal Communications Commission killed long-standing media ownership rules, including the Newspaper/Broadcast Cross-Ownership rule which, since 1975, had prevented the owner of a  tv station from owning  a newspaper in the same market. The Commission also eliminated the so-called eight-voices test, which required at least eight independently owned TV stations to remain in the market before any entity could own two stations in the market. Critics say the rules were cancelled simply to pave the way for Sinclair Broadcasting, which has proposed to acquire Tribune Media for $4 billion. Two high-ranking Democrats--Frank Pallone and Elijah Cummings--are calling for an investigation into Ajit Pai's relationship with Sinclair. The Commission also restricted Lifeline support--that's the $9.25 per month subsidy for qualified customers who use it to help pay their internet bill. It restricted that support on tribal lands. The Commission is also seeking comment on a proposed plan to cap Lifeline expenditures. The Commission also voted unanimously to crack down on robocallers by giving phone companies more authority to block annoying phone calls from marketers who play a pre-recorded message when you answer the phone. Also at the November meeting, the Commission voted to expand broadcasters' ability to experiment with the Next Generation Broadcast Standard, which will enable closer targeting of viewers for advertising. The Commission also adopted several other rules and proposed rules ostensibly geared toward stimulating broadband infrastructure investment and deployment. In December, FCC Chair Ajit Pai is expected to overturn the net neutrality rules passed during the Obama administration. Wall Street Journal: Comcast seeks to acquire 201st Century Fox Comcast has joined a long list of companies, including Verizon, that are seeking to buy 21st Century Fox, according to the Wall Street Journal. Fox is looking to sell off everything except its news and sports assets. Verizon and Disney also also rumored to be potential suitors. Federal Elections Commission opens rulemaking on political ads The Federal Elections Commission put out a rulemaking for public comment on revisions to the political ad disclosure rules to apply them to internet companies. The rulemaking follows allegations of Russian efforts to sway the election in favor of Donald Trump by placing ads and sponsored content on on Facebook and Twitter. China's supercomputers surpass the U.S. The U.S. has dropped to second place, behind China, in its total number of super computers. The U.S. has 144 compared to China's 202. The number of China's supercomputers rose by 43 over just the last 6 months, compared to a drop in the U.S. by 25.

Bio Cheryl A. Leanza (@cleanza) is the President of her consulting firm, A Learned Hand, LLC, www.alearnedhand.com.  In this capacity she serves as policy advisor to the United Church of Christ’s historic media advocacy arm and as the Co-Chair of the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights Media & Telecommunications Task Force.  Her other clients have included the Progressive States Network, Leadership Conference Education Fund, National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Future of Music Coalition, Public Knowledge, and Native Public Media, among others. Ms. Leanza helped to lead the victorious effort to pass the Local Community Radio Act, and has been a leader in public interest advocacy for more than 15 years, including advocacy for diversity in media ownership, protection for children in media, and other policies furthering First Amendment principles, including open Internet.  She has represented non-profits before the Federal Communications Commission, in the U.S. Appellate courts and before Congress, and has been widely quoted in the trade and mainstream press on these issues. Ms. Leanza’s prior positions include a stint as Principal Legislative Counsel for telecommunications at the National League of Cities where she was lead lobbyist for local elected officials during the period when Congress was debating changes to local cable television franchising laws.  She also spent six and one-half years as Deputy Director of Media Access Project and began her career in the Federal Communications Commission’s honor attorney program. Ms. Leanza is a cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and the Ford School of Public Policy and teaches at Georgetown University’s Department of Communications, Culture and Technology.  Ms. Leanza serves on the board of the Prometheus Radio Project and has served as Vice Chair of the Media and Democracy Coalition, as well as on the Federal Communications Bar Association’s Executive Committee and the Foundation Board.  She is admitted in the District of Columbia and New York; and in the United States Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Third, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits. Resources A Learned Hand, LLC United Church of Christ Office of Communication The Leavers by Lisa Ko News Roundup Donald Trump Jr. communicated with Wikileaks Juilia Ioffee reports for the Atlantic that Donald Trump, Jr. exchanged direct messages via Twitter with Wikileaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. The exchange went on at least through July of this year. This is the first connection that Congressional investigators have established between the White House and the notorious leaking site which investigators believe Russia enlisted to interfere with last year's election. Wikileaks warned Trump, Jr. ahead of time about a new website that was to be released showing ties between Trump and Putin. Wikileaks requested favors of Trump, Jr. including access to Trump's tax returns.  House Democrats call for an investigation into FCC Pai's ties to Sinclair Top House Democrats including House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings and Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone are seeking an investigation into FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's ties to Sinclair Broadcasting. Pai is accused of passing rules changes that clear the path for Sinclair's pending acquisition of Tribune Media, which would give the combined company access to some 70% of the U.S. TV market. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill.  Qualcomm rejects Broadcom's acquisition bid The Qualcomm Board of Directors has unanimously rejected Broadcom's $103 billion acquisition bid. Qualcomm said that the bid is too low. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. Missouri's AG opens investigation into Google Prompted by a record, $2.8 billion fine against Google by the European Union, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley has issued subpoenas to Google as part of a state investigation to determine whether the company prioritizes its own search results over that of its competitors. Harper Neidig reports on this as well in the Hill.  Softbank to participate in $1 billion bid for Uber Uber has accepted an investment offer from Asian telecom conglomerate Softbank that is part of a total $1 billion investment being made into the ride-sharing company by a consortium of other companies. This investment will open up the possibility of Softbank acquiring up to $9 billion in equity from the company's shareholders. Softbank also owns a majority stake in Sprint. The deal with Uber is seen, in part, as an opportunity for Uber to expand into Asia as it struggles against stiff competition from Lyft in the U.S. for which Google parent Alphabet is leading a $1 billion investment effort. Ali Breland reports in The Hill. Senate Commerce Committee approves sex trafficking bill The Senate Commerce Committee has approved the Stop Online Sex Trafficking Act, or SESTA, which would limit the exception created by section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which grants immunity to web sites for illegal posts made by their users. The current bill would crack down specifically on websites that facilitate sex trafficking. The current version of the bill is now supported by the Internet Association, as well as Amazon, Facebook, and Google. But Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has placed a public hold on the bill, which will now require it to meet a 60-vote threshold before moving on to the full Senate.  DC Circuit Court of Appeals narrows warrants for data from inauguration daty protests The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked the Department of Justice's ability to obtain data from innocent, third party Facebook users who used a page dedicated to organizing a protest against Trump's inauguration. The court is seeking to institute what it terms as "procedural safeguards" to prevent innocent users' data from being sweept up with targeted suspects'. The Court will now be approving all of the DOJs search terms in connection with the investigation into criminal activity that occurred during inauguration protests. Silicon Valley disapproves of GOP tax plan Leading Silicon Valley figures are opposing the GOP tax plan to tax employee stock options once employees receive them. This is opposed to the current tax law providing that only the capital gains tax of stock options are taxable. Some five hundred Silicon Valley leaders from firms such as Facebook, Uber, Y Combinator and others criticized the plan in a letter to Orrin Hatch. Ali Breland reports in the Hill.   

Tiffany C. Li (@tiffanycli) is an attorney and Resident Fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project. She is an expert on privacy, intellectual property, and law and policy at the forefront of new technological innovations. Li leads the Wikimedia/Yale Law School Initiative on Intermediaries and Information, where she researches cutting-edge legal issues involving online speech, access to information, and Internet freedom. Additionally, Li is also an Affiliate Scholar at Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy.

  Bio Mary Madden (@mary_madden) is a veteran technology researcher, writer and public speaker, having studied trends in American internet users’ behaviors and attitudes for more than a decade. With the support of a grant from the Digital Trust Foundation, she is currently leading a Data & Society initiative to understand the privacy and security experiences of low-socioeconomic status populations. Mary is also an Affiliate at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University where she has collaborated with the Berkman Center’s Youth and Media Project to apply quantitative and qualitative research methods to study adolescents’ technology use and privacy management on social media. Prior to her role at Data & Society, Mary was a Senior Researcher for the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. She is a nationally recognized expert on privacy and technology, trends in social media use, and the impact of digital media on teens and parents. Mary is also a member of the National Cyber Security Coalition’s Data Privacy Day Advisory Committee and the Research Advisory Committee for the Future of Music Coalition’s Artist Revenue Streams Project. Resources Data & Society Privacy, Security and Digital Inequality by Mary Madden (Data & Society, 2017) Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte News Roundup Social media giants tidy up ahead of big day on Hill Ahead of appearances before the House and Senate intelligence Committees this coming Wednesday, social media giants appear to be tidying up. Reddit has announced that it will now ban content from Nazi and alt-right groups.  Twitter announced that it will now ban the online media outlets RT and Sputnik. Twitter says the two sites are platforms for Kremlin messaging. Both Facebook and Twitter said that they will be more transparent about who is placing political ads on their platforms. The companies said they will begin to include links and other information enabling users to know who sponsored a political ad. The companies will also vet advertisers to weed out bots. But some Senators, including Virginia's Mark Warner are noting that explicit ads may only represent a tiny percentage of ad spend. Many expenditures, they say, are coming from content that appears to be legit--organic content designed to stoke emotions in favor of a political party. Mark Zuckerberg also upped his pr game last week. The Hill reports that Zuckerberg will be investing $45 million of his own money to address mass incarceration and the housing crisis. Still, however, Facebook is expected to reveal at Wednesday's hearings that the number of views Russia-sponsored ads garnered is closer to 126 million. This is compared to the 10 million views it initially reported. And Politico reports that in August and September of 2016, Twitter made a bizarre change to its privacy policy amidst research into the way in which Russian operatives may have been manipulating the platform. The company updated its privacy privacy to require all users associated with deleted accounts to clear their tracks by deleting the content on their end as well. Also revealed last week by the Senate Intelligence Committee--Twitter actually pitched RT to buy ads during the 2016 campaign season--the problem is that the company didn't disclose it. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is also demanding that Twitter turn over information about Russia-linked accounts that targeted her. The Congresswoman said that she noticed several mysterious accounts tweeting lies about her every time she tweeted  something negative about Donald Trump. On top of everything else, Axios and Survey Monkey released a study saying 54% of Americans think the issue of Russian meddling is a "serious issue". However, those results were along party lines with Democrats tending to think the issue is more serious than do Republicans. Apple doesn't want shareholders to tie senior executive diversity to CEO performance  Apple is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to step in and prevent a shareholder proposal from taking effect which would base the assessment of the CEO's performance, in part, on the diversity of the ranks of Apple's senior executive team. The shareholder cohort that is pushing for the measure is said to hold almost $10 billion in Apple shares. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. Georgia wipes out election data after being sued for voting violations On July 3rd, election reform advocates concerned about the impact of Russian influence on the 2016 election filed a lawsuit against the state of Georgia which attempted to force the state to retire its antiquated election technology. And then Kennesaw State University, which runs the state election system, wiped everything on the voting system clean. The FBI is said to have taken a back-up image of the system back in March. But advocates say the State of Georgia must have had something to hide. Frank Bajak reports for the Associated Press on widespread concerns that outdated election systems in voting districts throughout the country may already be compromised by Russian actors and others seeking to undermine the electoral system. Facebook by lawsuit saying the company attempted to evade overtime pay rules Former Facebook employees are suing the company for deliberately evading overtime pay laws by misclassifying them as managers.  David Kravets reports in Ars Technica. Uber faces yet another discrimination lawsuit Uber is facing yet another discrimination lawsuit. This time, Latina engineers accuse Uber of not promoting or paying them at a rate that is comparable to their male, white and Asian counterparts. Joel Rosenblatt reports for Bloomberg. U.S. widened surveillance of "homegrown extremists" under Obama U.S. Air Force training slides obtained by a surveillance researcher at Human Rights Watch pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request show the U.S. expanded its surveillance of suspected "homegrown violent extremists" in August of last year.  The guidance states that physical or digital surveillance of such suspects is authorized whether or not they're tied to a foreign terrorist organization. Dustin Volz reports in Reuters. FCC to roll back media ownership rules/Lifeline The FCC announced its agenda for its November 16th Open meeting. Trump's FCC plans to eliminate the media ownership rule that prevents a company from owning a full power TV station and newspaper in the same market. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also wants to place a cap on Lifeline subsidies for low-income broadband subscribers. That subsidy now stands at $9.95/month. The cap would limit the availability of Lifeline support to new subscribers. Brian Fung reports for the Washington Post and Jon Brodkin reports for Ars Technica. Tech industry releases AI self-regulatory framework The Information Technology Industry Council, which boasts tech giants Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft and others as members, released a set of guiding principles around the industry's development of artificial technology. ITI President Dean Garfield says the  framework is intended to eliminate harmful bias, prejudice and discrimination from AI algorithms. Will Yakoqicz reports in Inc. SoftBank drops bid for T-Mobile SoftBank is ending its plan to merge its Sprint unit with T-Mobile, according to a report in the Asian Review.  This is the second time Softbank has abandoned its effort to acquire T-Mobile. The first time was during the Obama administration when the deal would have been faced with much harsher scrutiny.            

Bio Larry Miller (@larrysmiller) is a Clinical Music Associate Professor and Director of the Music Business Program at NYU. He is also a music and technology entrepreneur and advisor and host of the Musonomics podcast. He advises music creators and rights holders on public policy and litigation. Additionally, he has provided expert testimony before the Copyright Royalty Board and in arbitration. Larry supports media and technology companies and their financial sponsors on capital formation and growth strategy. Further, he advises on digital product & service development, as well as acquisitions and restructuring. Previously, Larry was a Partner at L.E.K. Consulting and a senior member of the firm’s media and entertainment practice. He later served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of MediaNet. Larry founded and operated Or Music, a Grammy Award winning independent record label and music publisher where he signed, recorded and published multi-platinum artists Los Lonely Boys and Matisyahu; he was Vice President of Market Development at AT&T Labs Research, and began his career as a broadcaster at Tribune, NBC Radio Entertainment and WHTZ/Z100 New York, regarded as the most successful startup in U.S. radio history as the station went from “worst to first” within 72 days of signing-on in the country’s most competitive radio market. Larry has commented on CBS, ABC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News and NPR; in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Time, Business Week, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times and Billboard. His article "Metadata: How to Develop the Foundation for the Music Business of Tomorrow" was published in The Licensing Journal and is available to NYU students on BobCat. He earned an MBA at Columbia Business School, and previously served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Adjunct Faculty member in the Music Business program at NYU-Steinhardt. Resources Paradigm Shift: Why Radio Must Adapt to the Rise of Digital by Larry S. Miller NYU Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions - Music Business Musonomics The Sound Machine:Inside the Hit Factory by John Seabrook News Roundup Senators announce bipartisan bill to require online political advertising disclosures Five Senators--3 Democrat and 2 Republican--unveiled a new bill that would require sites with more than 50 million visits per month to follow the same political ad disclosure rules that broadcasters follow. It would require disclosures for sponsored posts in addition to explicit ads. Sites would be required to include clear and conspicuous language stating which candidate sponsored the content. Further, it would require sites to keep a record of anyone who attempted to purchase a political placement worth $500 or more. The bill is supported by Senators Klobuchar, Warner, Kilmer, McCain and Coffman. Tech companies form 'Coalition for the American Dream' Major tech companies have lined up in support of young, undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. The companies will be lobbying Congress for bipartisan legislation to allow so-called "Dreamers" to continue working in the U.S. President Trump decided in September to allow the Dreamers program, which began under the Obama administration, to expire in March of next year. This would affect some 900,000 immigrants. Salvador Rodriguez and Jeffrey Dastin cover this in Reuters. Tech giants to send General Counsels to offer Hill testimony on Nov. 1 Google, Facebook, and Twitter are planning to send their General Counsels to the Nov. 1st House and Senate Intelligence Committee hearings on Russia's use of the platforms to influence the 2016 election. Critics say the company should instead be sending executives with more technical expertise. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. U.S. proposes new controls to secure the electrical grid The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week proposed new controls to protect the nation's electrical grid from hacks. Experts have long worried about the effect an attack on the electrical grid might have on everything from the water supply to cars. The proposed rulemaking focuses on mitigating the impact of malicious transient devices, like laptops and mobile phones. Back in January, the Department of Energy released a report warning of an imminent danger to the electrical grid from cyberattacks. Naureen Malik reports in Bloomberg.   FCC review of Sinclair-Tribune merger delayed The FCC's Media Bureau has pushed back the deadline for the public to submit comments regarding the Sinclair-Tribune merger. The public now has until November 2 to weigh in. Harper Neidig has the story in the Hill. EU: US Privacy Shield implementation is 'adequate' The European Union has found that the Privacy Shield framework it agreed to with the U.S. last year is working adequately. The Privacy Shield requires the U.S. to ensure the private information of European citizens is adequately protected when it reaches the U.S. However, the first annual report does make some recommendations. It notes that the U.S. could do a better job informing European citizens of their right to redress. Additionally, it says that U.S. agencies should do more to coordinate their compliance efforts. Joe Uchill reports in the Hill. CNN awarded first FAA waiver of rules pertaining to drone flights over crowds The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded CNN with the first unlimited waiver of rules pertaining to drone flights over crowds. The FAA generally prohibits drone flights over crowds for safety reasons. However, CNN's 1.37 pound Snap drone's rotors are internal and it is designed to break apart in the event of a crash. Alan Levin reports for Bloomberg.   Whole Foods breach affected 100 taprooms Amazon's Whole Foods announced that the data breach it reported last month affected about 100 of its taprooms. Hackers stole cardholder names, account numbers and security codes. The hack did not affect purchases made in Whole Foods retail stores or purchases made on Amazon.com. Heatlher Haddon reports on the Wall Street Journal.

Bio Jason Resendez (@jason_r_dc) directs the LatinosAgainstAlzheimer’s Network. LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's is the nation’s first-ever coalition of Latino organizations focused on raising awareness of Alzheimer’s disease within the Latino community. Previously, Jason served as senior manager of strategic partnerships at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). NCLR is the nation's largest Latino advocacy organization.  Prior to NCLR, he served as the director of corporate relations and development at LULAC National Educational Service Centers Inc. (LNESC). LULAC is the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization.  Jason has written about Latino issues for national and regional media outlets. Those outlets include NBC News, Huffington Post, and the El Paso Times. He graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Government. Resources UsAgainstAlzheimer's Slow Dancing with a Stranger:Lost and Found in the Age of Alzheimer's by Meryl Comer Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande News Roundup Researchers discover vulnerability in Wi-Fi protocol Researchers at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium have discovered a vulnerability in the WPA2 protocol that secures most modern Wi-Fi connections. The researchers call the proof-of-concept exploit KRACK, or Key Reinstallation attacks. What it does is it tells devices connecting to the network to reinstall the network key and replace the password with all zeros. This lets in criminals to steal essentially anything off of your computer. The hack is particularly effective against Android and Linux devices, although other devices aren't immune. Further, websites encrypted with https protocol are also vulnerable. Fortunately, you can still install updates even if your device has already been hacked using this method. Dan Goodin explains in Ars Technica. Black and Hispanic lawmakers challenge tech companies on diversity, racist ads In closed-door meetings, the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses met with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg last week. According to Politico, the CBC blasted Facebook for allowing Russian operatives to place ads designed to stoke racial resentment. The ads were intended to sway the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump. Additionally, the CBC challenged Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg about the lack of racial and ethnic diversity at the company. CBC Chair Cedric Richmond pointed to a persistent lack of staff and board diversity. Further, Sandberg met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. In addition to the diversity CBC raised issues, CHC reportedly focused on recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the status of 700,000 Dreamers. Heather Caygle and Elana Schor report in Politico. Also, Olivia Beavers reports in the Hill that Pinterest has joined a growing list of companies including Facebook, Twitter and Google, that reported ads and content tied to Russia during last year's election cycle. Federal Election Commission seeks comment on online ad disclosure rules The Federal Election Commission has opened a rulemaking on disclosure rules for online political ads. Facebook and Google had both received exemptions from the existing rules during the 2012 election cycle.  Comments are due November 9th. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. Supreme Court will hear Microsoft privacy case The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case regarding whether U.S. law enforcement officials can obtain a warrant to access digital evidence stored abroad. The case against Microsoft is up on appeal from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The Second Circuit had overturned a lower court decision upholding a warrant U.S. prosecutors served on Microsoft. The court issued the warrant for data stored on Microsoft's servers both in the US and in Ireland. Robert Barnes reports in the Washington Post. Supreme Court asks DOJ to weigh in on Apple case The Supreme Court has asked the Department of Justice to weigh in on whether the Court should hear a class-action against Apple.  The case involves the 30% commissions Apple charges app developers to be included in the App store. However, customers--people who download the apps--are the ones bringing the class-action. Apple is saying the customers don't have standing since they're not the ones being charged the commission. Andrew Chung has the story in Reuters. Facebook has suspended rapper Lil B for race-related post Ali Breland reports in the Hill that Facebook has removed rapper Lil B for posting race related material. Google unveils job training initiative Google announced a job training initiative last week called Grow with Google. Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, said Google will be investing $1 billion over the next 5 years in the effort. The program will allow anyone to access training and professional certificates to improve their businesses.  

  Bio Karan Chopra (@karchopra) a is Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of Opportunity@Work, where he  provides leadership on strategic direction and execution of Opportunity@Work’s priorities and the TechHire initiative. He co-founded Opportunity@Work because he believes that meaningful work is not just a matter of economic wellbeing but of individual dignity. Karan’s career has focused on building entrepreneurial ventures that increase upward mobility and provide opportunity for all. Prior to co-founding Opportunity@Work, Karan was the co-founder and director of GADCO (Global Agri-Development Company) -- a vertically-integrated agri-food business in sub-Saharan Africa. He led the company from business plan to building and operating the largest rice farm in Ghana, developing a processing center and launching a packaged food brand that contributed to domestic food security in Ghana and impacted the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Leading publications and institutions, including World Bank, UNDP, World Economic Forum, Financial Times and Guardian, have featured GADCO. Karan is also the co-founder of WAVE (West Africa Vocational Education), a social venture tackling youth unemployment in Nigeria. WAVE is empowering West African youth with industry relevant skills and access to jobs while improving outcomes for employers. Prior to this, Karan was at McKinsey & Company where he was awarded the social sector fellowship.  Prior to this, Karan was a software developer with Siemens. Karan holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with highest honors from Georgia Tech and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School with high distinction graduating as a Baker Scholar. In 2014, Forbes named Karan in its 2014 list of Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine and selected as a New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Resources Opportunity@Work Opportunity@Work Learn to Earn Application (Deadline October 15th) Mindset: the New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck News Roundup Social media still in spotlight regarding Russia Social media companies turned over more evidence linking Russia to ads placed across their platforms. According to the Washington Post, Google reported tens of thousands of dollars worth of Russia-linked ads  across YouTube, Gmail and search results. Facebook had reported 10 million views of Russia-linked ads on its platform. And Twitter suspended 201 accounts linked to Russia. Executives from Facebook, Google parent Alphabet, Twitter are scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on November 1st. The House Intelligence Committee has asked the executives to testify in connection with their own investigation the same day.  Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. More federal agencies breached A new report came to light last week that Russia hacked an NSA contractor's home computer back in 2015. We're just finding out about it now, but officials discovered it in Spring 2016. According to the Wall Street Journal, Russia stole sensitive information that lays out how the U.S. hacks into foreign governments' computer networks. The Russian hackers apparently got in via the Kaspersky antivirus software the contractor was running on his computer. A separate Fed Scoop report found that hackers breached the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corp. more than 50 times between 2015 and 2016. Hackers exposed the personal identifying information of hundreds of thousands of Americans in those breaches. Google crackdown on fake news draws protest from diverse media voices Google's crackdown on fake news is biased against smaller, independent content producers. That's a according to several smaller content producers that have noticed sharp declines in their web traffic. The declines have come since April. That's when Google announced its Project Owl initiative the company says it designed to boost more authoritative content. Daisuke Wakabayashi reports in the New York Times. FCC finally responds to Puerto Rico The FCC has finally developed a plan to help Puerto Rico's communications infrastructure get back up and running. On the advice of Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, the FCC has established a Hurricane Recovery Task Force, which will focus on all Hurricane-affected areas, including Puerto Rico.  The FCC has also approved $77 million to help repair Puerto Rico's communications networks. The agency also gave Google an experimental license to deploy its ballon-based communications system dubbed "Project Loon". IRS under fire for signing a contract with Equifax The IRS came under fire last week for entering into a $7  million contract with Equifax. The deal was for Equifax to help the IRS prevent tax fraud. The IRS and Equifax signed the agreement just three weeks after the Equifax data breach that exposed the personal information of 145 million customers. The IRS's Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Tribiano told the House Ways and Means Committee that the contract was a "bridge contract." The IRS had put the contract out for rebid and awarded the new contract to Experian. But Equifax protested that decision. As a result, Tribiano said, the IRS was under pressure to sign a bridge contract with Equifax since the existing one was set to expire on September 29th. Tribiano told members of Congress that if the IRS failed to sign the bridge contract, millions of Americans would be unable to get their credit transcripts. But the Government Accountability Office says the IRS could have moved forward with Experian. It said that the IRS could have moved forward with Experian if it considered doing so to be in the best interests of the United States.   The GAO is expected to decide the outcome of Equifax's protest against the Experian award on October 16th. Backpage.com settles with 3 women Backpage.com settled with 3 women who allege they were victims of sex trafficking that the now-defunct site facilitated. The women were between the ages of 13 and 15 when the alleged sex trafficking happened. The court did not disclose the amount of the settlement. The parties settled in Pierce County, Washington Superior Court, which is in the Seattle area. In the meantime, IBM has announced that it is backing Senator Rob Portman's bill to make websites amore accountable for content posted by third parties. Can algorithms draw district maps? The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford last week. The key question in the case is whether courts can throw out voting district maps for being too partisan. This will be a landmark decision. The outcome of this case is likely to have huge implications for American democracy for generations to come. But a recent paper published by computer scientists at the University of Illinois proposes letting algorithms do the work of redistricting. Daniel Oberhaus reports in Motherboard. EU orders Amazon to pay $295 million in back taxes The European Union has ordered Amazon to pay $295 million in back taxes to Luxembourg. The EU's Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager says that Luxembourg did not tax almost three quarters of Amazon's profits. Robert-Jan Bartunek reports in Reuters. Marsha Blackburn running for Senate Marsha Blackburn announced last week in a YouTube video that she's running for Bob Corker's Senate seat in Tennessee. But Twitter took down Blackburn's campaign ad because in it, she talks about having fought against "the sale of baby body parts". Verizon announces that hackers compromised ALL 3 billion Yahoo! accounts Verizon announced last week that, back in 2013, hackers compromised ALL of  Yahoo's 3 billion accounts. Before the acquisition, Yahoo! had said that the hacks affected just 1 billion accounts. Verizon acquired Amazon earlier this year for $4.5 billion. Nicole Perlroth reports in the New York Times.    

    Iris Recognition Technology and the U.S. Border Patrol One of Donald Trump's main campaign promises was to build a border wall on the U.S./Mexican border. But can iris recognition technology be used instead? Bio George Joseph (@GeorgeJoseph94) is a reporting fellow at Demos focusing on surveillance, immigration, law enforcement, and the entry of big data in criminal justice systems. His work has appeared in outlets such as The Guardian, NPR, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Verge, Slate, and CityLab. Resources Demos Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol by Kelly Lytle Hernandez   News Roundup Trump attacks Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg fires back President Trump attacked Mark Zuckerberg last week. The president complained on Twitter that “Facebook was always anti-Trump ... The Networks were always anti-Trump." He continued, " hence,Fake News, @nytimes(apologized) & @WaPo were anti-Trump. Collusion?” So Zuckerberg fired back "Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don't like. That's what running a platform for all ideas looks like.” Further, UNC Associate Professor Zeynep Tufekci wrote an op-ed for the New York Times. In it, she denounced Zuckerberg's rebuttal as more "both sides" false equivalency, pointing out Facebook's record ad revenues last year. Senate digs into social media's ties to Russia The Senate has called Twitter and Facebook to testify regarding Russian election interference. Facebook reports that 10 million users saw Russia-linked ads around the time of last year's election. One of the ads reportedly showed an image of a black woman shooting a rifle. In the meantime, Russia is threatening to ban Facebook unless the company stores Russian users' data on servers within Russia. Additionally, a new Oxford study has found that Twitter users shared more fake news, than real news, during the 2016 election. Senate confirms FCC's Pai to 5-year term On Monday, the Senate confirmed Republican Ajit Pai to a five-year term as FCC Chairman. The vote was 52-41 along party lines. Conservatives are railing against YouTube Conservatives are railing against YouTube for taking down ads appearing on content YouTube deemed to violate its terms of service. YouTube says the move was part of an effort to remove hate speech. But those on the right say YouTube is just discriminating against them. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. Senate unveiled driverless car bill The Senate unveiled a driverless car bill. However, it doesn't address driverless trucks. The bill places safety oversight with the federal government instead of the current patchwork of state laws. Moreover, the bill includes language on cybersecurity standards. Harper Neidig reports in theHill. Trump and tech sector team up on $500 million education plan Vindu Goel of the New York Times reports that a third of IBM's workforce is now based in India--more than any other country. Ivanka Trump last week announced a $200 million in Education Department grants to boost science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Further, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Salesforce are kicking in about $300 million. Cecilia Kang reports for the New York Times. U.S. intrudes into social media accounts Ron Nixon of the New York Times reports that he U.S. government will require all immigrants to turn over their social media data. Their social media data will become part of their immigration file. The order is set to take effect on October 18th. However, U.S. citizens are not immune from government scrutiny of their social media data. Zoe Tillman reports in Buzzfeed that the Department of Justice is seeking identifying information and data from three Facebook users. The users are now challenging the warrants. The Trump administration seeks to identify Facebook users who helped organize inauguration day protests. Apple reports spike in secret national security orders Apple reported an uptick in secret National Security orders in the first half of this year. Zack Whittaker at ZDNet reports that there was a threefold increase in secret orders issued against Apple users compared to the same period last year. TechNet backs Trump tax plan TechNet president Linda Moore wrote an op-ed piece for the San Francisco Chronicle in support of the the Trump administrations tax plan. Moore wrote that the current tax code is outdated and that the Trump proposal would clear the way for jobs and investment. Securities and Exchange Commission charges two crytocurrency scammers The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is charging two scammers in connection with their sale of cryptocurrencies. ReCoin Group Foundation and DRC world allegedly told investors they could expect huge returns for their investments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The problem is that the companies weren't actually in operation.  Ali Breland reports in the Hill. FCC's has lackluster response to Puerto Rico Puerto Rican victims of Hurricane Maria are stranded on the island without water, food, electricity or access to the Internet. What is Ajit Pai's only proposed solution? Telling Apple to open up iPhones to receive FM signals. FCC Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel called out the FCC on its non-response in Puerto Rico. She tweeted that during hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the FCC held network recovery hearings. But the FCC hasn't held network recovery hearings in response to hurricanse Irma, Harvey, or Maria. Ali Breland reports for the Hill. Senate confirms Makan Delrahim to DOJ Antitrust division The Senate has confirmed Makan Delrahim to lead the DOJ's antirust division. Previously, Delrahim worked in the White House counsel's office. Harper Neidig reports for the Hill that Delrahim will head up the review of the $85.4 billion AT&T/Time Warner Merger. EU threatens social media companies with fines for hate speech Ivana Kottasová at CNN reports that the European Union has issued a final warning against Facebook and Twitter regarding hate speech. Mariya Gabriel, the EU's top digital economy and society official, says flagged hate speech needs to come down quickly. Gabriel says that in almost a third of cases, it's taking more than a week.   Some European countries are cracking down on hate speech with or without the EU. Germany, for example, is instituting $59 million fines for failing to remove hate speech within 24 hours.  Dems propose $40 billion for rural broadband Democrats are proposing $40 billion to boost rural broadband. Democrats released the recommendation as part of their "Better Deal" agenda released in July. Harper Neidig reports in The Hill. Google separates shopping from search Google acted last week to separate its online shopping unit from its traditional search. Some experts see the move as a concession to European officials who fined Google $2.7 billion over the summer. The European Commission had found that Google had prioritized its shopping results over rivals. The new structure will allow officials to directly regulate Google shopping. James Kanter has the story in The New York Times. Equifax adds 2.5 million to data breach count Ali Breland reports in the Hill that Equifax as raised its estimate of the number of people affected by its massive data breach by 2.5 million. Equifax has now brought the total estimate of affected customers up to 145.5 million.    

Online Privacy Issues -- An Overview As online privacy issues mount in the U.S., regulators are pulling back. Earlier this year, Congress repealed the privacy rules the FCC passed under former Chairman Tom Wheeler. The rules would have required ISPs to obtain subscribers' permission before using their data for commercial purposes. The ISPs argued that they should be entitled to the same free reign over consumer data that large tech companies enjoy. But, of course, the FCC doesn't have jurisdiction to directly regulate tech companies. Jules Polonetsky discusses online privacy issues and where U.S. privacy law and policy now stand in light of recent data breaches. He also explains what consumers can do to protect their data from hackers. Bio Jules Polonetsky (@JulesPolonetsky) serves as CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF). FPF is a leading Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization focused on privacy. The chief privacy officers of more than 130 leading companies support FPF. Further, FPF is supported by several foundations. FPF has an advisory board comprised of the country’s leading academics and advocates. FPF’s current projects focus on Big Data, Mobile, Location, Apps, the Internet of Things, Wearables, De-Identification, Connected Cars and Student Privacy. Jules' previous roles have included serving as Chief Privacy Officer at AOL and before that at DoubleClick, as Consumer Affairs Commissioner for New York City, as an elected New York State Legislator and as a congressional staffer, and as an attorney.Previously, Jules served as an elected member of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 1997. From November 1992 through 1993, Jules was a legislative aide to Congressman Charles Schumer. Prior to that, he was also a District Representative for Congressman Steve Solarz.. Jules practiced law in the New York office of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan from 1989 to 1990. Jules has served on the boards of a number of privacy and consumer protection organizations. These include TRUSTe, the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and the Network Advertising Initiative. From 2011-2012, Jules served on the Department of Homeland Security Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee. He is also a member of The George Washington University Law School Privacy and Security Advisory Council. Jules is a regular speaker at privacy and technology events. He has has testified or presented before Congressional committees and the Federal Trade Commission. Jules is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Yeshiva University. He is admitted to the Bars of New York and Washington, D.C. Jules is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional. Resources Future of Privacy Forum Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking Machine Learning for Absolute Beginners by Oliver Theobald News Roundup Puerto Rico all but destroyed following Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico absolutely devastated last week. Puerto Ricans living in the mainland U.S. remain unable to reach friends and family members. Maria made landfall on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with 155 MPH winds, the likes of which the island hasn't seen in generations. The storm knocked off Puerto Rico's entire electrical grid leaving millions without power. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released a statement saying 95% of Puerto Rico's cell sites are out of service. The island is running out of supplies. Many were thunderstruck over the weekend by President Trump's silence about Puerto Rico. Instead, Trump spent the weekend news cycle railing against NBA and NFL players taking a knee against the national anthem. Tom McKay has the story in Gizmodo. Mother of slain sex trafficking victim testifies before Senate Commerce Committee Yvonne Ambrose, the mother of the 16-year-old girl who was raped and murdered by a 32-year-old Backpage.com user, testified on the Hill. Ambrose appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee in support of the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESA). The bi-partisan bill, introduced by Senator Rob Portman, would hold internet companies more accountable for content on their sites. Currently, the Communications Decency Act shields websites from liability for content posted by third parties. That's what enabled Backpage.com to post ads placed by criminals selling opportunities to sexually abuse children. So the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act would hold web companies more accountable. It would do so by making them liable for knowingly hosting sex trafficking content. Sabrina Eaton reports on cleveland.com. SEC reports hackers breached EDGAR last year So the Securities and Exchange Commission--the nation's top Wall Street regulator--was hacked. Last year. The SEC decided last week that it would finally get around to telling us.  In an eight-page statement, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton announced that hackers breached the agency's filing system--EDGAR. That breach may have enabled improper trading to take place. The statement doesn't explain either  the reason for the delay in notifying the public or the date on which the breach occurred. Renae Merle reports in the Washington Post. Google signs $1.1 billion "cooperation agreement" with HTC Google invested $1.1 billion in struggling device manufacturer HTC last week and is expected to announce the release of two new devices on October 4th. David Pierce, Jordan McMahon, Issie Lapowsky, Jack Stewart, Eric Niiler, Andy Greenberg, and Michelle Dean report in Wired. Facebook to change ad targeting In response to revelations that it was allowing advertisers to target racists, Facebook announced changes to its ad targeting system. For example, according to the New York Times, advertisers had the ability to target self-described "Jew Haters"  Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said the company would be adding more human review and oversight. Sapna Maheshwari reports in the New York Times. Facebook turning over thousands of Russia-linked ads to Congress In other Facebook news, Facebook announced last week that it would also be turning over some 3,000 advertisements placed by Russia-linked groups during the 2016 presidential campaign. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. U.S. and EU kick off first Privacy Shield review season EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova travelled to Washington last week to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The EU is set to release its first report on the efficacy of the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield on October 4th. The Privacy Shield allows data transfers between the U.S. and EU, which have entirely different standards when it comes to protecting consumer privacy. Privacy Shield replaced a previous framework that the EU overturned last year because it didn't provide enough oversight over U.S. mass surveillance practices.  Under the Privacy Shield, the U.S. is supposed to appoint an Ombudsman to review the U.S.'s mass surveillance tactics. However, the U.S. has yet to appoint anyone to the ombudsman role. Jimmy Koo reports for Bloomberg. Equifax breach happened months earlier than initially disclosed Ali Breland and Olivia Beavers report in the Hill that the Equifax breach happened in March rather than July. The breach exposed the personal data of an estimated 143 million Americans.  

The Cyberwarfare Capability of North Korea For decades, policymakers, journalists and the media have discussed, prevented, and continued to assess North Korea's nuclear capabilities. The United States and the United Nations have repeatedly issued sanctions against the country to prevent it from developing its nuclear arsenal.  But what is the cyberwarfare capability of of North Korea? The Council of Korean Americans' Jessica Lee sheds light on the cyberwarfare capability of North Korea and the current policy landscape affecting the Korean Peninsula. Bio Jessica Lee is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Council of Korean Americans (CKA)(@CouncilKA). Jessica works closely with the Executive Director and CKA members to define CKA’s policy agenda and advocacy strategy. Jessica leads research and analysis on leading issues of importance to Korean Americans. Prior to joining CKA, Jessica was a Resident Fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu, HI. At the Pacific Forum, Jessica published articles on security and economic relations in East Asia. She brings a decade of public and private sector experience in Washington. Previously, Jessica was the director of a nonprofit organization specializing in women’s leadership training and development. She was also a senior manager of The Asia Group, LLC, a strategy and capital advisory firm. Jessica previously served as a staff member in the House of Representatives. While she worked on the Hill, Jessica handled the Asia portfolio for the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. She was also a senior legislative assistant for a member of Congress on the Ways and Means Committee. Jessica received a B.A. in political science from Wellesley College. She also holds an A.M. in East Asian regional studies from Harvard University. Jessica is a Truman Security Fellow, a David Rockefeller Fellow of the Trilateral Commission​, and a Google Next Gen Policy Leader​. Jessica has advanced proficiency in Korean and lives in northern Virginia with her husband and daughter. Resources Council of Korean Americans Backchannel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Betweeen Washington and Havana by William M. LeoGrande News Roundup Equifax Hacked The credit reporting agency Equifax last week reported that its systems had been breached.  The breach potentially exposed the data of some 143 million Americans. Equifax CEO and Chairman Richard Smith made the announcement last week. However, the actual breach took place on July 29. Hackers got into Equifax's system by exploiting a flaw in a popular open source platform called Apache Struts. Equifax uses Apache Struts for the online form customers use to dispute errors in their credit reports. Equifax's initial attempt to repair the breach failed. Both the FBI and FTC are now investigating the data breach. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey also introduced a bill called the "Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act". MarketWatch reported on Saturday that now-fired Chief Security Officer Susan Mauldin doesn't have any educational background in information security. According to her LinkedIn profile, Mauldin has a bachelor's and Master of Fine Arts in Music Composition from the University of Georgia.  Equifax's stock price has fallen by more than 30% since Smith announced the breach. Experts suspect state actors played a role. AnnaMaria Andriotis, Michael Rapaport, and Robert McMillan report for the Wall Street Journal. Kaspersky ousted from federal agencies The Department of Homeland Security issued what's called a Binding Operational Directive that gives federal agencies 90 days to remove Kaspersky Lab technologies from federal networks. Officials suspect the Russia-based company has state ties to Russia and that they are a front for Russian spies. Agencies have 30 days to identify where they're using Kaspersky, and another 60 days to remove it. Jason Miller has the story on Federal News Radio. Alphabet may be considering a $1 billion investment in Lyft Greg Bensinger reports for the Wall Street Journal that Alphabet may be considering making a $1 billion investment in Lyft. This is still at speculation stage. Alphabet and primary Lyft rival Uber have been at odds over the last year or so. Tensions between Uber and Alphabet came to a head earlier this year when Alphabet sued Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets from Alphabet's self-driving car unit Waymo. Google pay discrimination lawsuit Three women who previously worked at Google are suing the company for pay discrimination. The former employees who worked in both tech and non-tech roles at the tech giant allege the company pays women less than men working in similar roles. The California lawsuit also alleges that Google hires women for roles less likely to lead to promotions. Daniel Weissner reports in Reuters. Congress considers adding driverless trucks to autonomous vehicles legislation Finally, Edward Graham reports in Morning Consult that Senators are considering adding language to its draft autonomous vehicles bill that would include driverless trucks. The House unanimously passed an autonomous vehicles bill on September 6th, which didn't include language on driverless trucks. In the meantime, a new Morning Consult poll shows consumers are still a bit wary of autonomous vehicles. Just 22% of those surveyed said they thought self-driving cars are safer than the average human driver. Thirty-five percent said they think they are less safe.  

Bio Licy Do Canto is founder and president of the Do Canto Group, a bipartisan government relations firm specializing in public health and health care legislative and regulatory policy, with a particular focus on underserved communities. An expert in health care policy with nearly 20 years of beltway experience, Licy has a track record of building bipartisan consensus, guiding federal legislation into law, and directing national issue campaigns and coalitions. Describing him as a “highly regarded healthcare lobbyist” among his peers, and Congressional officials and other decision-makers across the federal government, the prominent Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill named Licy one of Washington DC’s top lobbyists for seven consecutive years, earning the recognition in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010. Prior to founding the Do Canto Group, Licy was a principal at the Raben Group, where he lead the firm’s Health Practice Group, providing clients with a range of services, including policy development and analysis, coalition building, direct lobbying and strategic counsel and communications. Licy also served as chief executive officer of the AIDS Alliance for Children Youth and Families, a leading national, non-profit advocacy organization focused on improving access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment for underserved communities across the United States. Mr. Do Canto is largely credited with significantly strengthening the Alliance's operational and policy structure and considerably expanding and fortifying its relations with public and private sector partners. Prior to the Alliance, Licy served as the director of federal affairs for the National Association of Community Health Centers, the largest association of nonprofit clinics and health centers in the United States, representing over 1,000 clinics and 6,000 clinic sites that serve over 17 million people. Licy helped oversee the historic doubling of funding for the Federal Health Center program while also successfully managing the Association's legislative priorities on health center reauthorization and the Medicare, Medicaid and state Children's Health Insurance Programs. While at NACHC, Licy also founded and chaired the Association's Partnership for Medicaid, a nationwide coalition of eighteen safety net providers and other key organizations, including nursing homes, community health centers, public hospitals and unions, focused on improving the Medicaid program. In addition, he co-founded and served as chair of the Association's twenty-two member Partnership for Primary Care Workforce, a nationwide coalition of national professional, provider and educational organizations dedicated to strengthening the health care workforce. Before NACHC, Licy served as senior manager for federal affairs in the American Cancer Society's Federal Government Relations Department, directing the Society's federal legislative and executive branch advocacy efforts on health disparity issues. He also has extensive Capitol Hill experience, having served as senior legislative assistant for domestic policy to U.S. Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and held a number of positions in the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA). Licy is well known to key Congressional committee and non-committee staff with jurisdiction over health issues, having authored and successfully guided into law the $25 million bipartisan Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act (aimed at helping low-income patients overcome health system barriers), the first piece of health legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2005. He successfully advocated for, and authored an array of, other key bipartisan-supported health policy issues before Congress, including passage of the Native American Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Technical Amendment Act; passage of the "Rep. Deal" amendment preserving hundreds of millions in Medicaid funding for Community Health Centers; the creation of a $50 million medical home program in Medicaid; a $100 million Health Center Medicare payment system; a $85 million Health Center financing system in the State Children's Health Insurance Program; and the establishment of a $1.5 billion Federal Early Childhood Home Visitation program within the US Department of Health and Human Services. Licy also served as staff to Commissioner John Rugge on the 2005-06 US Department of Health and Human Services National Medicaid Advisory Commission, established to advise the HHS Secretary on ways to strengthen and modernize the Medicaid program. Licy is often quoted in the media, including Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Inside Health Policy, among others, on a broad range of issues relating to health and health care policy. The DoCanto Group’s current and former clients include First Focus, AARP, the Nurse Family Partnership, the California Endowment, the New York State Health Foundation, the Direct Care Alliance and The MENTOR Network, as well as the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery and the Climate Reality Project. A native of Boston and fluent in Spanish and Cape Verdean Portuguese, Licy is a 1995 graduate of Duke University, with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, International Affairs and Spanish Studies. He also holds a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Certificate in Public Health Leadership from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Public Health and Kenan-Flagler Business School. Resources The DoCanto Group America's Health-Inequality Problem by Olga Khazan (The Atlantic, 6/5/2017) The Head Game: High Efficiency Analytic Decision-Making and the Art of Solving Complex Problems Quickly by Philip Mudd News Roundup Facebook reports $100,000 in fake Russian political ads Facebook released new evidence last week that helps to illustrate Russia's role in impacting the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The social media company reported that a company called the Internet Research Agency spent more than $100,000 on 3,000 Facebook ads that ran between June 2015 and May 2017. While the ads did not endorse a particular political candidate, they did focus on divisive political issues such as race, LGBT rights, and gun control. They promoted views consistent with Donald Trump's platform. The New York Times' Scott Shane and Vindu Goel report on these and other suspicious ads appearing on Facebook that may have some connection to the Kremlin. Google, on the other hand, released a statement saying it has found no evidence of such advertising on its platform. Industry backlash against Trump's DACA decision A broad swath of major corporations and industry groups sharply rebuked President Trump for his decision to end  the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Obama-era program gave 2-year work permits to individuals who entered the United States illegally as children. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Telemundo, Univision and many others expressed disapproval. Trump says he'll re-review the program if Congress doesn't pass definitive legislation with 6 months. Megan Wilson and Ali Breland report in The Hill. Google appeals EU's $2.7 billion antitrust fine Google has filed its appeal of the European Union's $2.7 billion fine against it for allegedly prioritizing its own search results over its competitors. A spokeswoman for the European Court of Justice told TechCrunch that it could take anywhere between 18 months and two years for the case to reach a final judgment. Natasha Lomas reports in TechCrunch. Tesla hooked its customers up with more battery juice to escape Irma For an extra fee, Tesla lets its vehicle owners unlock unused battery space. But the car company temporarily removed the restriction for its car owners in Florida as they evacuated in anticipation of Hurricane Irma.  Brian Fung reports in the Washington Post. FCC Extends s706 comment deadline Every year the FCC is required to report on whether broadband speeds are fast enough and whether the ISPs are moving fast enough to deploy them. A big part of that debate has to do with whether wireless service is an adequate substitute for wireline broadband service. While democratic administrations have held that wireless is not a substitute, the current Republican-led FCC has indicated that it may go the other way. Before it releases the report, though, the FCC is required to allow the public to comment. The FCC extended that initial comment deadline to September 21st. So if you use the internet to run an online business or something else that requires the fastest speed possible, but you live in a remote area--you may want to weigh in. Wireless, at least from my own personal experience running this podcast, is not a replacement for wired broadband by any stretch of the imagination. Oracle supports sex-trafficking bill Oracle has decided to go against the grain in supporting a sex trafficking bill most other tech companies oppose.  The bill, which is entitled the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, was introduced by Republican Senator Bob Portman.  The bill has broad bipartisan support, with Senators McCain and McCaskill, among many others, on board. Precipitated by Backpage.com's advertisements of prostitutes and opportunities to sexually abuse underage victims, the bill seeks to hold websites more accountable for ads posted by third parties. Harper Neidig has the story in The Hill. FBI probes Uber over tactics against Lyft "Hell". That's the name of a now-defunct Uber program the New York Office of the FBI and U.S. Attorney are investigating. The program was the subject of a class-action lawsuit a Lyft driver brought earlier this year in a federal court in California. But the court threw out that case because the driver couldn't show any harm. But essentially the program allegedly created fake user accounts so Uber could see where Lyft drivers were going. This investigation adds to numerous legal matters Uber's new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi inherited when he took the helm last week. Rebecca Davis-O'Brien and Greg Bensinger report in the Wall Street Journal.

  The Power of WiFi for Business and Communities The potential for WiFi can't be understated. WiFi is beneficial not only for businesses, but also for communities that have traditionally lacked access. In this episode, Edgar Figueroa of the WiFi alliance helps us understand the different types of spectrum. Edgar also describes what WiFi is and how WiFi is playing an increasingly important role in telecom policy. Bio As president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance (@WifiAlliance), Edgar Figueroa has led an unprecedented period of growth for Wi-Fi®. Wi-Fi Alliance has grown to more than 700 member companiesUnder Edgar’s leadership. He has also maintained an aggressive development roadmap and adopted a vision of “Connecting everyone and everything, everywhere.” Edgar forged numerous strategic partnerships to facilitate penetration of Wi-Fi into established and emerging markets. Edgar also defined the Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ program development framework. He also guided the launch of several generations of interoperable Wi-Fi programs. These programs have proliferated Wi-Fi into mass markets such as mobile and consumer electronics. Prior to Wi-Fi Alliance, Edgar was at Ridgeway Systems & Software (now Cisco). He was instrumental in delivering the industry’s first session border controller. He also helped develop the H.460.18 and H.460.19 International Telecommunications Union standards for secure network traversal. Before Ridgeway, Edgar held product management and engineering roles at 3M Company. Edgar is a veteran of the United States Navy in which he served in a fighter pilot training squadron. Further, he received numerous awards including Sailor of the Year. Edgar has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin Community College, and various community programs in Austin Texas. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund inducted  Edgar into its Hall of Fame. Edgar is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a Masters in Technology Commercialization, and undergraduate degrees with honors in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics. Resources WiFi Alliance Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley News Roundup SEC warns the public on internet currencies The Securities and Exchange Commission warned the public last week about potential internet currency offering (ICO) scams. Internet currencies like Bitcoin have been on an upward trend lately, with Bitcoin trading at over $4,000. The SEC is worried about companies that prey on the public by "pumping" prices for new products related to internet currencies. China moved on Monday to outlaw internet currency trading. Eugene Kim reports for CNBC. Uber faces bribery law investigation Douglass McMillan reported for the Wall Street Journal last week that the Justice Department has begun a preliminary investigation into Uber's potential violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Uber experienced rapid foreign expansion under former CEO Travis Kalanick, and the DOJ apparently suspects that bribery may have been factor. Uber's new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, formerly the CEO of Expedia, took the helm of Uber last week. New America Fellow ousted after criticizing Google A New America Foundation scholar was ousted from the think tank after he criticized Google's market dominance. Barry Lynn, who ran New America's Open Market's program, praised the European Union's recent $2.7 billion fine against Google for allegedly favoring its own search results over its competitors. Last week, New America let Lynn go, along with several other staffers. Lynn says Google, which has donated some $21 million to New America in recent years, is pulling the strings. Lynn followed up by launching a separate organization that is "going to make sure Google doesn't get away with this". Kenneth Vogel reports for the New York Times. Tillerson to close State Department cyber division Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced his plans to close the State Department's cyber division. Tillerson made the revelation in a letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker . The division is responsible for protecting the United States' cyber security interests abroad.  Tillerson says he intends to roll the cyber division into a business and economic affairs bureau. Morgan Chalfant reports in the Hill. Net Neutrality hearing delayed The House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing on net neutrality that was scheduled for September 7th has been delayed. Not a single one of the eight tech companies the Committee invited responded to the invitation to testify. Edward Graham at Morning Consult reports. DHS warns of Harvey scams The Department of Homeland Security warned the public last week about possible scams related to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. The agency warned about phishing scams and other malicious activity designed to take advantage of good samaritans making email donations.  

  The FCC is currently considering whether it will overturn the long-fought net neutrality rules enacted under the Wheeler FCC. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia subsequently upheld the rules. If the Ajit Pai FCC undoes the rules, as it is likely to do, there will be, as always, winners and losers. Who will they be? Further, ISPs are arguing that they too believe in net neutrality principles. But does their purported support of net neutrality principles align with the original definition of net neutrality that was first advanced by their opponents? Bio Christopher Lewis (@ChrisJ_Lewis) is Vice President at Public Knowledge. He leads the organization's advocacy on Capitol Hill and other government agencies. Prior to joining Public Knowledge in 2012, Chris served at the Federal Communications Commission as Deputy Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs. At the FCC, Chris advised the FCC Chairman on legislative and political strategy. He is a former U.S. Senate staffer for the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Chris also has over 15 years' worth of advocacy experience. Previously, Chris worked as the North Carolina Field Director for Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign. Chris serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Local Self Reliance. He also represents Public Knowledge on the Board of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). Chris graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelors degree in Government. He lives in Alexandria, VA where he loves working on local civic issues and is elected to the Alexandria City Public School Board. Resources Public Knowledge Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle by Jeff Flake News Roundup Trump's manufacturing council disbands After he made insensitive remarks following racial unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia the weekend before last, Trump was forced to shut down his manufacturing advisory council. Several CEOs had decided to resign from the council after Trump failed to denounce the KKK and White Nationalists, saying instead that there had been "hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides." He then backtracked reading a prepared statement, only to go back to saying all sides were at fault for the violence.  Intel CEO Brian Krzanich was among the CEOs to resign from the council.  Steven Musil reports in CNET.  But the American Tech Council remains intact, although the CEOS of Google, Apple and Microsoft wrote internal memos distancing themselves from the administration. That's in next.gov. Tech companies ban extremist websites and causes Both Google and GoDaddy last week announced that they would not host sites like Daily Stormer that espouse white supremacist ideology. First Amendment advocacy groups, however, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argue that the move could backfire and set a bad precedent for civil rights groups. Andrew Morse reports for CNET. Sites like GoFundMe and Paypal are also banning white supremacists from raising funds on their platforms. Abbey White reports in Vox. But the LA Times reports that these groups are forming their own corporate ecosystem in defiance of Silicon Valley. DOJ seeks user info from Anti-Trump website Dreamhost wrote a blog post last week disclosing that the Justice Department has been demanding, for months, site visitor information from the anti-Trump website distruptj20.org. The warrant seeks all files from the site. Colin Lecher reports in the Verge. Trump bolsters U.S. Cyber Command President Trump is bolstering the U.S. Cyber Command making it a full combatant command. Now, administration officials will need to decide whether to spin out Cyber Command from the NSA. Jordan Fabian reports in The Hill. The cozy relationship between Sinclair Broadcasting and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai The New York Times reported last week on Sinclair Broadcasting's enormous influence on current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Sinclair, known for its right-leaning content, currently owns or operates 175 television stations nationwide. But it has also proposed to merge with Tribune Media, which would bring that number up to 215 stations. The deal would also give Sinclair a much larger presence in cities, including New York City, where it would own WPIX Channel 11.  When he was an FCC Commissioner, Pai even ripped language, almost verbatim, from Sinclair's own filings. Pai used the language to bolster his official legal arguments in support of Sinclair's opposition to the Wheeler FCC's crackdown on joint sales agreements. Then, just 10 days after he became FCC Chairman, Pai relaxed those restrictions. Since becoming Chairman, Pai has also relaxed some TV ownership limits.  Cecilia Kang, Eric Lipton and and Sydney Ember report in The New York Times. Trump orders China IP practices investigation President Trump has ordered an investigation into China's alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property. The administration estimates the alleged theft may have cost U.S. businesses some $600 billion. You can find the story in Fortune. Federal Judge: LinkedIn must allow startup access to data--for now U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen in San Francisco has ordered Microsoft's LinkedIn to open up its public data to a third-party startup. The startup, hiQ Labs, scrapes data LinkedIn users post publicly and uses it to predict which employees are likely to leave their jobs. Microsoft argues that hiQ's practices violate the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. But Judge Chen isn't buying it. He says that law doesn't apply to publicly available data. Jacob Gershman reports for the Wall Street Journal. Ninth Circuit says Spokeo is liable for posting wrong info In a 3-0 decision, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a man who sued Spokeo for posting the wrong picture and saying he was a married father, affluent, employed, in his 50s and with a graduate degree. The central issue was whether publishing this wrong information carried some particular harm. The Court ruled that it did . The case had already been up to the Supreme Court, which sent it back down to determine the degree of harm caused by the wrong information. While the damages in this case are minor, only around $1,000, it is seen as having significant implications for large tech companies like Facebook and Google that publish a variety of different types of consumer information. Uber agrees to FTC privacy audits Finally, Uber will now be subject to FTC privacy audits for the next 20 years. The company settled with the FTC last week after failing, in 2014, to prevent the theft of over 100,000 names and drivers license numbers. Anita Balakrishnan reports for CNBC.

How to Build a Lobbying Presence in Washington Before you build a lobbying presence in Washington, consider the fact that technology now touches almost every aspect of our lives. Accordingly, our policymaking has become more complex as companies develop new technologies and consumers use technology in ways that were unanticipated. What are the key issues that policymakers and businesses should be focused on as they seek to fine-tune their policy strategies? How are policymakers dealing with issues, like diversity, that policymakers have historically considered less "substantive" but which have begun to take on monumental importance in American business and politics? Why is Washington, D.C. relevant to start up and early stage ventures and how can they build a lobbying presence in Washington? You'll get answers to these questions and more on Ep. 102! Bio Named a “Top Lobbyist” by The Hill newspaper, Elizabeth Frazee (@EFrazeeDC) has a 30 year career in Washington. Elizabeth has worked in high-level jobs on Capitol Hill, as an entertainment executive, and policy representative of major companies. Elizabeth interweaves a thorough understanding of policy, communications, politics and an impressive network of contacts to manage campaigns and coalitions. A native of North Carolina, Elizabeth began her career working for her home state Senator. She then served as press secretary for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Additionally, Elizabeth ran the legislative office of then-freshman Representative Bob Goodlatte. Goodlatte now serves as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Following her time in Congress Elizabeth was director of government relations at the Walt Disney Company. There she served as the motion picture industry’s representative in Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) negotiations. Those negotiations resulted in revisions to the Copyright Act. Additionally, Elizabeth also negotiated with Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enact the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). She joined AOL in the late 90’s as vice president of public policy and ran its Congressional team. While at AOL she served on the front lines of Internet policy debates, helped AOL merge with Time Warner, and helped secure the passage of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. Then, in 2003,  Elizabeth built a private lobbying practice. That practice became TwinLogic Strategies when she and co-founder Sharon Ringley launched the firm in 2009. Elizabeth earned her law degree from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, while working full-time for Congress. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Resources TwinLogic Strategies Future Crimes by Marc Goodman News Roundup Members Slam Google on Tech Diversity Most of you are familiar by now with Google's firing of James Damore. Damore is the engineer who wrote the screed that reinforced stereotypes about women working at the company. Well, lawmakers are now urging Google to ensure its stated efforts to improve diversity lead to actual diversity. In a Medium post, Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna wrote that the incident highlights Google's diversity challenges. He called upon Google to do more. Further, eps. Jan Schakowsky, Pramila Jayapal, Jamie Raskin and Robin Kelly -- all Democrats -- also weighed in. They urged Google to address diversity more effectively. Tony Romm reports in Recode. In Punch to Disney, Netflix Signs Shonda Rhimes Disney announced last week that it would be ending its contract with Netflix in 2019. Disney plans to offer its content on its own standalone service. However, Netflix responded by signing hit showrunner Shonda Rhimes. Rhimes previously created such shows as Grey's Anatomy and Scandal for Disney. Rhimes has been a boon to Disney's ABC unit for more than a decade. Netflix is also negotiating with Disney the possibility of Netflix continuing to carry Marvel content after 2019. Meg James, David Ng and Tracey Lien report for the LA Times and Lizzie Plaugic reports for the Verge. Major Tech Firms Lining Up to Support "Extreme Vetting" Several tech firms are enthusiastically lining up to support President Trump's "extreme vetting" program.  Recall that on the campaign trail Trump advocated for the creation of an extreme vetting program.  The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE) division is now working on building the program.  The program's  goal is to determine, with pinpoint accuracy, which persons entering the country are most likely to engage in acts of terrorism. IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lexis Nexis, SAS and Deloitte are among the companies interested in building this out. Sam Biddle and Spencer Woodman report for the Intercept.   Benchmark Capital Sues Travis Kalanick Benchmark Capital--a major Silicon Valley investor and Uber investor--is suing former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick for fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. In  a complaint filed in Delaware, Benchmark says Kalanick deceived the board into expanding Uber's board from 8 to 11. Now, Benchmark says, Kalanick holds one of the very seats he created and is attempting to pack the board with members who are sympathetic to him. Dan Primack reports for Axios. More Tech Companies Oppose Anti-Sex Trafficking Bill We reported last week that the House introduced a bill, with the support of 24 members, that seeks to curtail online sex trafficking. The bill is a response to Backpage.com, a site that hosted prostitution and sex abuse ads. Now the bipartisan bill is up to 27 sponsors. However, joining the opposition are Engine Advocacy and the Copia Institute which spearheaded a letter campaign that was signed by 30 tech companies including Kickstarter, Meetup, Medium and Reddit. They argue that the bill goes too far in restricting legal third-party content. Wendy Davis Reports in Media Post.  

How will Artificial Intelligence (AI) Affect Warfare? In today's episode we discuss the role of artificial intelligence in the future of warfare. What are the risks? How is the United States likely to fare in confrontations involving the use of AI? In a recent paper, Center for a New American Security Fellow Greg Allen and his co-author, Taniel Chan, illustrate both the risks and opportunities for the use of AI in warfare. We discuss these findings plus lessons learned from previous revolutions in the use of military technology. Bio Greg Allen (@Grecory_C_Allen) is an Adjunct Fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. He focuses on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics, and national security. Additionally, Mr. Allen's writing and analysis has appeared in WIRED, Vox, and The Hill. In 2017, The Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs published  his report entitled “Artificial Intelligence and National Security”. Allen and his co-author, Taniel Chan conducted this  study on behalf of the U.S. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). Mr. Allen currently works at Blue Origin, a space exploration and technology company. Prior to working at Blue Origin, he worked at Avascent, where he advised senior executives in government and the private sector. Mr. Allen holds a joint MPP/MBA degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Business School. Further, his Master’s Thesis was honored with the Belfer Center Award for Excellence in International and Global Affairs. In addition, he graduated magna cum laude from Washington University in Saint Louis, where he was awarded the Arnold J. Lien prize for outstanding graduate in Political Science. Resources DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER:   Center for a New American Security Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari NEWS ROUNDUP After August 31, the feds don't have to tell you how they're storing your biometric data If you're concerned about how federal law enforcement officials are storing your biometric data, you'd better act fast. After August 31, they will no longer have to tell you. The FBI's Next Generation Identification system stores things like iris scans and fingerprints that you gave during things like employment background checks.  Currently, you can find out how the feds are storing your biometric information. However, the FBI becomes exempt from the Privacy Act provision that allows this on August 31. You can find the story in next.gov. Senate confirms Rosenworcel and Carr The Federal Communications Commission is now up to 5 Commissioners. So it finally has a full panel of Commissioners. The Senate confirmed Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Brendan Carr last week. Rosenworcel previously served as a Commissioner during the Tom Wheeler FCC for three years from 2012 to 2015. Carr is the the FCC's current General Counsel. In addition, President Donald Trump had also nominated Chairman Ajit Pai. However, the Senate did not take up Pai's nomination before the recess. The three Republicans at the Commission will now be Pai, Carr and Michael O'Rielly. And the two Democrats are Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn. Edward Graham has the story in Morning Consult. Tech sector opposes legal immigration restrictions The tech sector is opposing the GOP immigration bill President Trump endorsed last week which would cut legal immigration in half over 10 years. The so-called RAISE Act prefers highly skilled workers and English speakers and moves extended family members of immigrants to the back of the line. The Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC)-- the trade group that lobbies on behalf of tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and others--opposes the measure. ITIC president Dean Garfield said in a statement “This is not the right proposal to fix our immigration system because it does not address the challenges tech companies face, injects more bureaucratic dysfunction, and removes employers as the best judge of the employee merits they need to succeed and grow the U.S. economy.” Tony Romm has the story in Recode. Meanwhile, Canada is emerging as the "New" New Colossus, welcoming Emma Lazaraus's "huddled masses yearning to breathe free". Canadian business and government leaders are seizing on the opportunity to welcome tech talent to Canada. David George-Cosh and Jacqui McNish report in the Wall Street Journal. Apple and Amazon bow to China, Google complies with Russia The tech sector is coming under increased pressure to conform to multinational norms. Paul Mozur at The New York Times reports that Apple has removed Chinese censor-evading VPN apps from its Chinese app store. Amazon also warned its Chinese customers to stop using software that evades China's Great Firewall. Further, in Russia, Google has begun implementing terms it settled on in a dispute with its Russian competitor, Yandex. The agreement stipulates that Google would give Russians a choice of which browser to use on Android phones. In accordance with the agreement, Google began suggesting other browsers to Russian Android users last week. David Meyer reports in Fortune. Senate passes 6 bills before recess The Senate passed 6 bipartisan technology and communications bills before they departed for recess. They include bills  to expand spectrum availability (MOBILE NOW Act S. 19), improve service in rural areas ( S. 96) , and make it easier to call 911 from hotel rooms (Kari's Law Act of 2017, S. 123). Congress wrote the latter bill in response to Brad Dunn's fatal stabbing of his wife, Kari Hunt, in a hotel room in Marshall, Texas as Hunt's 9-year-old daughter tried to call 911.  Unbeknownst to the young girl, the hotel room phone required callers to dial 9 before 911, and she was unable to reach a dispatcher. Other bills include: Spoofing Prevention Act of 2017 (S. 134): Legislation to stop misleading or inaccurate caller ID information.  Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2017 (S . 174): Legislation to require the FCC to condense duplicative reports on competition in the telecommunications market into one comprehensive report released every two years.  Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things Act (DIGIT Act)(S. 88): Legislation to bring together private sector and government entities to assess the needs of the Internet of Things (IoT) and study the readiness of government to support the IoT. Senators introduce the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 Several advocacy groups are opposing a new bipartisan bill entitled the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017. The bill has the support of six Senators--3 Republican and 3 Democrat--including Senators Portman, McCain, Cornyn, Blumenthal, McCaskill, and Heitkamp. The new law would allow victims of sex trafficking to sue and press charges against any website that "knowingly or recklessly" enabled sex trafficking. Additionally, it would criminalize conduct by websites that “assists, supports, or facilitates a violation of federal sex trafficking laws”. Further, it would allow the states to prosecute sites under federal sex crimes laws. Advocates argue that this new legislation would eviscerate Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 shields websites from liability stemming from content posted by their users. Without section 230, these advocates say, the internet as we know it simply would not exist. Further, the advocates argue that it would simply be too risky for sites like Facebook or Twitter to host user-generated content. Sarah Jeong covers this in The Verge. Facebook's new diversity report shows little progress Facebook released its fourth annual diversity report. Eighty-nine percent of its workforce self-identifies as white or Asian. However, the number of women working at Facebook has increased by 2 percentage points since last year to 35%. Nevertheless, women hold just 19% of tech positions at Facebook, although the company reports that 27% of its engineering hires are women. Looking at the senior ranks ... 70% are white, 72% are male and of the women who have cracked the glass ceiling into the c-suite, 68% are white. However, the percentage of Facebook employees who identify as black went from 2 to 3%. Hispanics when from 4 to 5%. Clare O'Connor reports in Forbes. Crowdfunding platforms block alt-right groups Blake Montgomery at Buzzfeed reports that leading fundraising platforms like PayPal, GoFundMe, and Patreon have banned or limited some members of the alt-right from using their sites. Researcher proves Amazon Echo can be a spying tool A British researcher has demonstrated how he has been able to successfully install malware on an Amazon Echo that allowed him to eavesdrop. But the hack requires physical access to the target Echo and only works on pre-2017 Echo devices. Andy Greenberg has details in Wired.

Lobbying and Advocacy for Entrepreneurs: The Business Case Lobbying and advocacy is not necessarily something that most entrepreneurs think about when they venture out on their own. Despite the fact that my business focuses on tech policy, when I launched WashingTECH.com,  lobbying and advocacy couldn't have been further from my mind. I was more concerned with the minutiae: configuring and registering domains, setting up my workflow, designing my own site, etc. While I intended to include lobbyists on the podcast, I was more concerned with lobbying and advocacy issues as content. I did not remotely consider that a small business like mine would have any pull amidst the many "white shoe" lobbying firms up and down K St.: The big guns were for huge corporations, not businesses like mine. But as I have progressed and interviewed 100 guests, I have learned that these issues indeed affect me. For example, I conduct most of my interviews via Skype. Buffering issues that I encounter during my guest interviews affect the quality of my work product, and thus my bottom line. That is a net neutrality issue. This is not "ivory tower" net neutrality. This is net neutrality from the perspective of how it affects my business. How Regulations Can Affect Your Business There are literally hundreds of laws and regulations, in addition to net neutrality, that could potentially affect your business. Changes to intellectual property frameworks like trademarks, copyright and patents are federal policy issues. If you operate an online business, you are subject to all federal regulations regarding how you collect and utilize customer data, register email subscribers, and many other consumer regulations. Differences and conflicts between U.S. regulations and those abroad could affect your business to the extent that you engage with international customers. The number of regulations, new and old, that you could be affected by are essentially limitless. Congress and the federal agencies are continuously introducing and revising policies that could directly impact your profits. Joining Forces: The Power of Strength in Numbers The sheer number of entrepreneurs complicates our ability to organize and respond collectively to policy issues affecting out interests. However, just as the end of World War II brought with it the need for labor organizations to advocate on behalf of the workforce, the need for effective lobbying and advocacy on behalf of entrepreneurs will also grow. These advocates must be at least as effective at representing entrepreneurs' interests as those post-war labor advocates who preceded them. Consider the growing number of Americans who are pursuing entrepreneurship as either a supplement to or substitute for full-time income. According to the U.S. Census's 2015 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs released in July of this year: the number of minority-owned employer firms grew by 4.9% (from 949, 318 in 2014 to 996, 248 in 2015). firms owned by women increased by 3.0% since 2014 to approximately 1.1.million. veteran-owned firms totaled approximately 398, 453. most firms in the U.S. (78.2%) have fewer than 10 employees. Start-up entrepreneurs also need a place to belong. Networking and developing the right relationships is a breeze for powerful corporations. Small businesses are powerful in scale, but not as powerful in scope in terms of the expansiveness of their networks. Melissa Blaustein is working to change all that by leading lobbying and advocacy efforts for startup firms around the world. I hope you'll consider joining her in her efforts. BIO Melissa Blaustein (@MentionMelissa) is the Founder of Allied for Startups, a global network of startup policy associations whose goal is to make the voice of startups heard in government. Allied for Startups counts more than 19 countries on four continents as members, including 13 in the EU alone. Her background in digital policy and advocacy spans the local, national, and international levels, having held roles at The White House, UN Women, the UNEP, the G20 Research Group, with Fmr. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and on the team of many San Francisco politicians. Melissa's entrepreneurial spirit has led her to take on challenges in the startup and technology space, including advising the French government on a taxation structure for the digital economy, serving as an ambassador at an accelerator in Paris and working at the Vice President of International Outreach at France Digitale, an association dedicated to lobbying the government on behalf of startups in France. Blaustein holds a Masters Degree Cum Laude from Sciences Po in Paris and an undergraduate degree with honors from UC Berkeley. She speaks four languages and has lived in four countries. RESOURCES Allied for Startups--The Voice for Startups in Politics and Government King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild    NEWS ROUNDUP House Panel Green-lights Self Driving Car Legislation The  54-member House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously to advance legislation to speed the commercialization of self-driving cars. The legislation would clear the way for the sale of up to 100,000 self-driving cars. It would also pre-empt state laws dealing with performance standards. States would continue to regulate things like licensing, liability, safety and insurance. David Shepardson has the story in Reuters. Lyft announced last week that it too has created a self-driving car division. Read more from Heather Somerville in Reuters. Congress seeks more government data on Kaspersky Labs Members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology,  have asked some 22 cabinet-level government agencies for any information they have on Kaspersky Labs. Kaspersky is the Moscow-based cybersecurity firm. Several U.S. officials and members of Congress don't trust Kaspersky. They allege that Kaspersky could be a front that Russian officials use to spy on the U.S. It's an assertion that Kaspersky has vehemently denied. Dustin Voltz reports in Reuters. Russian Citizen Indicted for Bitcoin Laundering The Department of Justice has indicted a Russian citizen for money laundering. The DOJ alleges that Alexander Vinnick laundered $4 billion through the digital currency Bitcoin to fund drug trafficking, identity theft and hacking. Ali Breland at the Hill reports that Vinnick was arrested in Greece for allegedly using BTC-e--one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges--to carry out the crimes. Is FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's FCC 'Full of Sh*t'??? Remember when the FCC's site went down after John Oliver urged his viewers to submit comments regarding net neutrality? Ajit Pai claimed it went down because of a DDos attack. Gizmodo said, "Yeah right" and filed a FOIA request asking the FCC to provide documentation showing it was indeed caused by a DDos attack. Well, thus far, the FCC has apparently failed to corroborate the Chairman's story. So Oregon Senator Ron Wyden took the FCC to task last week, accusing the FCC of playing "word games". Wyden also suggested the FCC may be violating the Freedom of Information Act by failing to provide the information Gizmodo seeks. If there was indeed a 3,000 percent increase in network traffic at the FCC as FCC Chair Ajit Pai claimed, why wasn't anyone at the FCC freaking out??? Surely there would have been emails. But Gizmodo hasn't found emails, or anything else for that matter, to suggest that Chairman Pai was telling the truth. The FCC's net neutrality docket has thus far received over 10 million public comments. Jon Brodkin has the story in Ars Technica. Tech Earnings Reports Off-Target Major tech stocks showed lower than expected results in the second quarter. Amazon took a 77% hit to profits even though its sales were up. Google's parent Alphabet's profit fell 28%. The Wall Street Journal attributes the shortfall to the $2.74 billion fine the EU levied against Google last month for allegedly pumping its own search results. And while the number of clicks per ad were up at Google, revenues per click were down. Further, Twitter's stock dropped 12%. The company also reported flat user growth, which is stuck at 328 million, and a $116 million loss. Foxconn to build a U.S. plant in Wisconsin President Donald Trump indicated that Foxconn -- the  iPhone component maker-- would be spending $10 billion to build a Wisconsin plant. The president claims the plant would create 3,000 jobs.  Foxconn CEO Terry Gou did join Trump, Vice President Pence, House Speaker  Paul Ryan, and Wisconsin Senators Walker and Johnson at the White House. But it's not clear exactly what was discussed. Walker claims that the average job created by the plant will pay $53,000 per year. Google to Spend $50 million to help displaced workers Google announced last Wednesday that it would be spending $50 million to help workers displaced by technology to find new jobs. The company's head of philanthropy, Jacqueline Fuller, made the announcement in a blog post last week. Ali Breland has more details in the Hill. In other Google news, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has joined the board of Google's parent company Alphabet. The move comes as Alphabet seeks to accelerate many of the other initiatives it has been working on, such as Fiber X and self-driving cars. Dieter Bohn has the story in the Verge.   Will Amazon's Whole Foods Alleviate or Promote Food Deserts? New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and 11 members of Congress are asking the DOJ and FTC to investigate the Amazon-Whole Foods merger. The lawmakers are concerned about how the merger would affect underserved-communities' ability to access quality groceries. Many consumers live in so-called "food deserts"leaving them isolated from quality supermarkets. Airbnb and NAACP Team Up Airbnb and The NAACP have teamed up to open up the Airbnb platform to underserved communities. The company has come under fire for helping to facilitate an environment in which hosts routinely refuse to rent to people of color. Some cases are more explicit than others. In California in recent weeks, a host was fined $5,000 for explicitly refusing to rent to an Asian woman for no other reason other than the fact that she's Asian. The host will also have to take a college-level racial sensitivity course. The NAACP will work with Airbnb to identify underserved areas in which residents can learn more about how Airbnb can generate extra needed income. NAACP will be compensated 20% of all revenues that come from this initiative. No word yet on how much of that extra revenue will go to fund local schools and other need services. Nick Statt has the story in The Verge.

The Rise of Technology is a Double-Edged Sword for many African Americans Recent reports suggest that African Americans have the most to gain, and yet the most to lose, from advances in technology. The digital divide persists. Recent Pew research shows 86% of blacks reported being internet users, compared to 90% of all respondents. However, just 65% of Black survey respondents to the Pew study have access to broadband at home, compared to 73% of Internet users overall, and 78% of white users. African Americans are both disproportionately impacted by climate change, and underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations. Paradoxically, the Koch brothers' lobbying efforts have tended to focus on increasing STEM skills among African Americans to prepare them to work in the fossil fuels industry. African American citizens have as much to gain as anyone else from law enforcement's proper implementation of technology. However, newer law enforcement technologies, such as facial recognition technologies, have proven to be less accurate in correctly identifying African Americans than they are at identifying others. A recent Global Policy Solutions report entitled Stick Shift: Autonomous Vehicles, Driving Jobs, and the Future of Work illustrates the ways in which African Americans, who are highly represented in driving occupations, will could be negatively affected by a poorly-regulated self-driving vehicles industry. How can local officials, particularly mayors, address these and other concerns? Stephanie Mash Sykes shares her insights. Bio Stephanie Mash Sykes (@StephMashSykes) is the Executive Director and General Counsel of the African American Mayors Association. Prior to joining AAMA, she served as the Director of Governmental Affairs for African Americans working with the Office of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. Stephanie has also worked as an executive compensation and employee benefits attorney in top law firms in New York City, NY and Palo Alto, CA. As an attorney, she also devoted many pro bono hours to advising non-profit organizations and small businesses. She has received the New York Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Publico Award for outstanding pro bono legal service. Prior to law school, Stephanie worked as a policy analyst at the New Jersey General Assembly where she focused on legislation related to municipal governance, consumer affairs, and economic development. Stephanie also assisted with the Black Caucus of the General Assembly. Stephanie received her J.D. from Duke University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University . At Princeton, she majored in Politics and received certificates in African American Studies and Latin American Studies. Resources African American Mayors Association The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Compton, CA Mayor Aja Brown Stockton, CA Mayor Michael Tubbs News Roundup Federal Judge reports sevenfold increase in warrantless searches Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia released information last week showing a sevenfold increase in warrantless data searches by law enforcement. Judge Howell released the previously sealed information following a petition by BuzzFeed investigative journalist Jason Leopold. According to the data release, law enforcement requests for phone location and internet activity jumped from 55 in 2008, to 1,136 in 2016. Spencer Hsu has the story in the Washington Post. WH supports overturning net neutrality The White House has endorsed overturning the FCC's net neutrality rules. Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Congress needs to weigh in with new legislation instead of having the FCC write the regulations. Sheriff's to implement iris scanners along U.S./Mexico Border Demos's George Joseph reports for The Intercept that every sheriff's department along the U.S./Mexico border will now be using iris detection scanners. That's right. Trump's campaign promise to build a border wall has stalled, but the "digital wall", of sorts, is moving forward. Apparently iris scanners can detect as many as 240 unique identifying characteristics, compared to just 40 to 60 for fingerprints. And, of course, what would new law enforcement technology be without the typical disproportionate impact on communities of color? Check out the Intercept for more. House approves self-driving car legislation By a voice vote last week, the House Commerce consumer protection committee approved self-driving car legislation. The bill would set the annual number of autonomous cars that automobile companies can manufacture to 100,000. The legislation would also preempt state laws pertaining to autonomous vehicle manufacturing. Harper Neidig has the story in the Hill. House passes bill to re-authorize the Department of Homeland Security The House last week passed a new bill to re-authorize the 15-year old Department of Homeland Security. The bill includes provisions for TSA and the US Coast Guard to issue reports on cyber risks to airlines and ports. You can find the story in Next.gov. Elon Musk claims provisional approval to build "hyperloop' Finally, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted last week that he had obtained verbal pre-approval from regulators to build a "hyperloop" that would link New York and Washington. Musk claims this hyperloop would send commuters speeding in pods through vacuum tubes allowing them to travel from midtown Manhattan to downtown Washington in just 29 minutes. The increased speed would be achieved by having the pods travel on magnetic cushions. Of course, the first obstacle would be getting the cost to build down from $1 billion per mile. Peter Henderson has the story in Reuters.  

   Philanthropists in Silicon Valley Want Your Ideas The provincial Silicon Valley that was loathe to step outside of Northern California is practically ancient history. An industry that once shunned Washington, D.C.'s buttoned-up bureaucrats now leads in lobbying and campaign contributions. Increasingly, philanthropists in Silicon Valley are making investments that in many ways are changing the very structure of our institutions. The New York Times is running a series on the institutional investments Silicon Valley titans are making.  For example, Netflix's Reed Hastings and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg are making investments to enhance and experiment with innovative new educational tools and models. Other tech philanthropists have long invested billions to fight more global, humanitarian problems, such as climate change and malaria. They also offer microloans to small businesses in developing nations. The election of Donald Trump to the presidency as not caused the mass tech exodus from Washington that was initially feared. Indeed, while Big Tech and the Trump administration remain worlds apart on net neutrality, there is some common ground. Issues like cybersecurity, government efficiency, and the effect of artificial intelligence on jobs are largely bipartisan. It is now inside-the-beltway institutions that are struggling to tweak their own insular tendencies. What should policy professionals be thinking about as they develop their outreach efforts to philanthropists in Silicon Valley? How does tech sector philanthropy work? The goal of this episodes is to help answer these questions and more as you structure your efforts. Bio Gina Dalma (@ginadalma) is Special Advisor to the CEO and vice president of government relations at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF). SVCF is the largest community foundation in the world, with more than $8 billion in assets under management. Gina is responsible for leading SVCF’s ongoing lobbying efforts in Sacramento and its emerging efforts in Washington, D.C.  SVCF’s California lobbying work is currently centered around education, affordable housing, immigration and economic security. In Washington, D.C., SVCF hopes to be a leading voice on topics that have the potential to advance the philanthropic sector. Gina was pivotal in the passage of the California Mathematics Placement Act of 2015, which Gov. Brown signed into law on Oct. 5, 2015. SVCF sponsored this legislation. She serves as a member of the California Department of Education’s STEM Taskforce Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the National Common Core Funders Steering Committee and an Advisory Board Member of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. Prior to her promotion to special advisor in 2015, Gina was SVCF’s director of grantmaking. In that role, she led the grantmaking team in using a diverse set of tools, including strategic investments, to solve our region’s most challenging problems. She also led SVCF’s education grantmaking strategy, as well as the Silicon Valley Common Core Initiative. Prior to joining SVCF, Gina was director of innovation at the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. Before moving to the United States, Gina held several positions related to urban economic development and regulatory economics in the federal and state public sector in Mexico. She holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from ITAM in Mexico City, a Master of Science in economics from the University of London and a Master of Arts in international policy studies from Stanford University. Resources Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963 by Taylor Branch News Roundup FCC's Net Neutrality Initial Comment Window Closes The FCC's initial comment period regarding its proposed rules to overturn  the Obama-era net neutrality rules closed on Monday. The comments span the gamut. Some commenters favor overturning the existing rules. Other commenters advocated for new legislation that would replace the FCC's rules. Still others advocated for upholding the existing rules entirely, without new legislation. A couple of data points this week on net neutrality -- Civis Analytics released one showing 81% of Americans are against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization of some sites over others. Interestingly, Civis Analytics counts Verizon Ventures and Alphabet Chair Eric Schmidt among its investors. Another poll, this one by INCOMPAS and the GOP-polling firm IMGE, showed 72% of Republican voters oppose throttling and blocking sites like Netflix. Further, a Morning Consult released a report showing Senators who support net neutrality enjoy high approval ratings. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey has a 55% approval rating, and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has an approval rating of 61%. America's Cybersecurity Issues Intensify Verizon announced that "human error" that resulted in misconfigured security settings caused the personal data of some 6 million Verizon customers to be leaked online. We're talking customer phone numbers, names, and PIN codes. Apparently, an Amazon S3 storage server's settings were set to public instead of private. Selena Larson has the full story at CNN Money. As far as Russia is concerned--President Trump keeps equivocating. One day he says he thinks maybe Russia interfered with the election. The next day, he's publicly less sure. This is all amidst an intensifying investigation that has zeroed in on Trump's son, Donald Jr. Trump senior also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany 2 weeks ago, as you know, at the G20 Summit in Hamburg.  After that meeting, Trump talked about needing to move forward with forming a cybersecurity unit with Russia. President Trump said he had questioned Putin about the hacks and that Putin had vehemently denied them. Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned the president's statements, questioning  the president's trust of Russia. Then, 3 days later, the Trump administration moved to limit federal agencies' use of Kaspersky Labs. Kaspersky Labs is the Russia-based cybersecurity firm.  Several officials believe the Kaspersky may be a Trojan Horse the Kremlin uses to hack government data. You can find coverage in the Washington Post by Phillip Rucker, as well as Politico, by Eric Geller, and Reuters' Phil Stewart.   Meanwhile, Joe Uchill reported in the Hill on a new poll conducted by the cyberscurity firm Carbon Black which shows 1 in 4 voters do not plan on voting due to cybersecurity concerns. Feds Uphold NSA's Gag Orders The gag orders the National Security Agency routinely uses when it requests identifying information from tech companies don't violate the 1st Amendment. That was the holding of a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision last week in a matter brought by Cloudflare and Credo Mobile. The companies wanted to notify customers when the National Security Agency obtained their information. The companies argued that notifying customers of such inquiries is their First Amendment right. But the Court disagreed. As long as certain civil liberties protections are in place, those gag orders that prevent companies from notifying customers that the NSA is investigating them are Constitutional. Joe Uchill has the story in the Hill. New Documents Suggest Backpage.com Facilitated Sex Advertising/Trafficking New evidence suggests Backpage.com did know alleged prostitution was going on on its website and that it indeed allegedly helped facilitate it,. Johnathan O'Connell and Tom Jackman report for the Washington Post. Documents show Backpage apparently did things like troll its competitors' websites for sex ads. After finding sex ad buyers, Backpage allegedly had staffers and contractors contact those buyers and offer them free advertising .  A 16-year-old girl the FBI says was being trafficked on the site was found dead in a Chicago-area garage on Christmas eve. Again, you can find long form coverage in the Washington Post. To report sex trafficking happening anywhere--you can contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888. That's 1-888-373-7888. You can also text HELP or INFO to 233733. That's 233733. And those coordinates are available 24 hours a day 7 days per week. DraftKings/Fanduel Merger a No-Go DraftKings and FanDuel--the two leading fantasy sports sites--have dropped merger talks. The Federal Trade Commission was blocking the merger after finding the merged company would have controlled between 80 and 90% of the fantasy sports market. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. Musk: AI is "Biggest risk we face as a civilization" At a meeting of the National Governor's Association last week, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Artificial Intelligence is "the biggest risk we face as a civilization". He called for more effective regulations. The Economist also published a report that shows China and the U.S. in head-to-head competition for dominance in the Artificial Intelligence market.  The article suggests China may account for up to half of the world's Artificial Intelligence-attributable GDP growth by 2030. By 2030, AI is expected to comprise some $16 trillion of total global GDP. Racist Airbnb host to pay Asian customer $5,000 Finally, Tami Barker, the Airbnb host who denied a UCLA law student her reservation because she is Asian will have to pay $5,000 in damages to the student, Dyne Suh, and take an Asian American studies course. "It's why we have Trump", is what Barker wrote to Suh via the Airbnb app. "I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners," she said.

African American Women Engineers' Silent Struggle Against Indifference I had a hard time finding a title for this post. I wanted to come up with something that would speak to what people were already searching for. So I went to Google Trends and entered "black women in engineering". The results showed zero interest over the past 5 years. I tried "African American women in engineering". Again, no one was searching for these terms, according to Google. I tried narrowing the search to just the United States. Still, there was nothing. It takes me an average of about 4 hours to produce each podcast episode. This includes curating the news, writing the news summaries, recording the interview, editing the interview, writing the script for the show, recording the show, and a host of other tasks. Suddenly I found myself spending 45 minutes on the title alone. I thought that perhaps I wasn't entering the correct search terms, or that something was wrong with Google's algorithm. Then, after a longer period of time than it probably should have taken, I realized that this is exactly the problem.  I concluded that the lack of search inquiries for "African American women in engineering" over half a decade is further proof of an epidemic. African American women engineers are almost completely invisible. To make matters worse, no one cares. My Google Trends results for "African American women in engineering" But you're going to find out today that only part of my conclusion was true. While African American women engineers are indeed working in near-anonymity, my guest today does care about them. Nicole Yates cares about the dearth of African American women engineers and she wants to do something about it, which is why she edited a recent paper entitled Ignored Potential: A Collaborative Roadmap for Increasing African American Women in Engineering. The paper pulls together insights from some of the best minds working on improving diversity, inclusion and retention in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.   The paper is solutions-focused, but its recommendations address two central statistics: African Americans comprised just 4% of engineering degrees awarded in 2015, which is down a full percentage point, from 5%, in 2006. The number of engineering bachelor's degrees awarded to African American women has declined from 1,100 in 2005, to 809 in 2011 (Slaughter, J. B., Tao, Y., & Pearson, W. (2015). Changing the face of engineering: The African American experience. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press). I hope you'll take some time to explore this issue further and include Nicole and her colleagues in your efforts. Bio Nicole Yates is the National Society of Black Engineers' Senior Research Analyst and Applications Specialist. In this role, she conducts training, produces original research, and coordinates with an external network of researchers who support NSBE's mission.   Nicole holds a Master’s degree in Psychology from Stanford University. Her original thesis research focused on the dearth of women in STEM fields, an issue that personally concerns her. Nicole also completed her undergraduate degrees at Stanford (B.A., Psychology and B.A., Drama), where she participated in numerous activities including political advocacy, volunteer tutoring, and service-oriented trips. Prior to joining NSBE, Nicole served as an adjunct faculty member at Grand Canyon University in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. Resources Reports Ignored Potential: A Collaborative Road Map for Increasing African-0American Women in Engineering edited by Nicole Yates (NSBE, 2017) Websites National Society of Black Engineers 10K Black Engineers Annually by 2025 Books Working Smarter Not Just Harder by Carl Reid Changing the Face of Engineering  edited by Dr. John Brooks Slaughter, Yu Tao and Willie Pearson, Jr. News Roundup The Department of Homeland Security and FBI issued a joint report warning that hackers have penetrated the computer networks of companies that operate nuclear power plants. Ellen Nakashima at the Washington Post confirmed on Saturday that government officials have officially attributed the hacks to Russia. Russia has taken down entire electric grids in Ukraine, leaving hundreds of thousands without power. At this time, however, U.S. officials are not reporting an imminent threat to civilians as the hacks were executed against administrative and business systems rather than nuclear power operations. However, the hack could be part of larger scale planning operations. Further, the report came with an amber alert, which is the second highest threat level. The U.S. is gradually lifting its laptop ban on flights into the U.S. from majority-Muslim countries. Qatar Airways announced last week that the U.S. government has lifted the laptop ban against it. Qatar Airways joins Emirates, Turkish Airlines, and Etihad Airways on the list of airlines on which the U.S. has lifted its laptop ban. The laptop ban on direct flights originating in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey is still in effect on passengers traveling with Royal Jordanian, Kuwait Airways, EgyptAir and Royal Air Maroc. Amazon and Reddit have joined the list of companies that will be participating in an organized, online protest on July 12th against the FCC's proposed measure to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality rules. Details of what the protest will entail have been kept under wraps. However, Etsy, Mozilla and others will also be participating. Microsoft has announced more layoffs. The company, which is in the midst of a reorganization, announced last week that it would be cutting some 18,000 sales jobs.  This is in addition to the nearly 3,000 jobs the company announced it would be cutting last July.The company is shifting its focus and strategy to cloud-based services according to a memo leaked to the press back on June 30th. Diane Bartz at Reuters reports that President Trump is supporting Apple in the company's appeal against a European Union decision ordering it to pay 13 billion euros ($14.8 billion) in back taxes to Ireland. The Trump administration filed an application to intervene in the appeal which is likely to take place in 2018. The European Commission ruled last year that Ireland granted Apple illegal tax subsidies. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California is allowing Twitter's lawsuit against the United States government to proceed. The U.S. government routinely makes data requests in the course of criminal investigations but only allows Twitter and other tech companies to report to the the public the number range of requests it has received from the feds rather than the exact number. For example, if the government made 2, 700 data requests from Twitter, Twitter might only be able to disclose to the public that the government made between 2,000 and 3,000 data requests. Twitter is arguing, among other things, that this is tantamount to a prior restraint on free speech and that it should be allowed to disclose the exact number of data requests the government has made. The phrase "only in New York" has special meaning for Uber and Lyft. Noam Scheiber at The New York Times reported that the ride sharing companies may have been ripping off their drivers by manipulating their collection of sales tax in New York City. Actual ride receipts show Uber deducted New York State sales tax from what drivers were paid rather than passing the sales tax on to passengers, which is what is required by law. Uber argues the sales tax is built into the base fare. But taxi advocates aren't buying it because receipts from other states show Uber added sales tax to the passengers' final bill. A local investigation into Uber's taxi receipts also showed Uber used the same base rate in both New York City and Connecticut even though Connecticut has different tax laws. The FCC has a new Chief Economist. Jerry Ellig was a Senior Fellow at the conservative Mercatus Center at George Mason University where he had worked since 1996. The Department of Homeland Security is delaying a rule that would help make it easier for foreign entrepreneurs and investors to enter the United States. The rule -- the International Entrepreneur Rule-- was set to go into effect on July 17, but DHS announced today that it's pushing it back at least until March 14, 2018. DHS claims this will give it enough time to solicit comments from the public on the new rule. Harper Neidig in the Hill has the story.    

Can Using Emojis Get You in Trouble? You know what emojis mean. Otherwise, you wouldn't use them. Right? One recent University of Minnesota study found that there can be vast differences between what you and your recipient think that emoji means.Use the wrong emoji, and you may have some explaining to do.  What you think is a smile on your iPhone could look more like a grimace on the recipient's end who is using a different device. Cases in which courts must determine what emojis mean are few and far between, but they do appear from time to time. In one case, a University of Michigan law student accused a fellow student of stalking. The fellow student had texted the victim messages calling himself a "petty bastard" and saying that he wanted to make her "feel crappy". The fellow student attempted to argue that the "wry" emoticons he used negated the threatening and harassing nature of the other texts.   The court disagreed and held that the emoticons did not change the meaning of the texts. My guests today believe that while litigation involving emojis is sparse, uncertainty around what emojis mean could have important implications in legal proceedings down the road. Bios Joe Sremack (LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joesremack) is the Owner of Boxer Analytics. Joe has over a decade of information technology and consulting experience. He develops and implements solutions to advise corporate and legal clients in matters involving complex technology issues. Mr. Sremack’s expertise is in IT assessments, electronic discovery, and complex data analytics involving transactional and disparate data. A computer scientist by training, Mr. Sremack has conducted numerous matters involving system investigations, data analysis, and the evaluation of technology solutions. He has advised clients across the United States and internationally in matters such as class-action settlement distribution, intellectual property theft, bankruptcy, financial fraud, healthcare regulatory investigations, and antitrust disputes. He has worked with clients in industries including telecommunications, finance, healthcare, energy, government, retail, and insurance. He is a frequent publisher and speaker on issues related to electronic discovery and transactional data. He attended the College of Wooster where he majored in Computer Science and Philosophy, and North Carolina State University, where he earned his Masters in Computer Science. Gabriella Ziccarelli (@IPwithGZ) is an Associate specializing in Intellectual Property at the law firm of Blank Rome. Ms. Ziccarelli has extensive experience advising and securing successes for her clients on a wide array of intellectual property matters. She provides full service intellectual property strategic guidance to her clients in a wide range of industries, including hardware and software, broadcast television, electrical power, and government contracting. Prior to joining private practice, Ms. Ziccarelli served as a volunteer law clerk to the Honorable Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal of the Northern District of California. She has also worked in-house at a variety of high-technology companies. During law school, she was an active member of the intellectual property community where she helped forge important relationships between intellectual property students, academics, and practitioners through symposia, speaking engagements, and hiring events. She also served as the editor-in-chief of the nationally ranked Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal.  Ms. Ziccarelli was recognized for her excellence in the field as a 2013 nominee for the prestigious American Intellectual Property Law Education Foundation Jan Jancin Award for excellence in Intellectual Property Law. Before law school, Ms. Ziccarelli was an advocate for higher education initiatives and served as student body vice president to a more than 40,000-person constituency at the University of Arizona while working closely with the Arizona Board of Regents and Arizona Students’ Association. She co-founded the Junior Cats Youth Mentoring program for at-risk youth and was a volunteer for the Pima County Attorney’s Office Community Justice Board. Ms. Ziccarelli is an engaged member of both the intellectual property and high-tech communities. Ms. Ziccarelli speaks on a variety of issues that pertain to women in the technology profession and women in the law. She is also a regular contributor to American Intellectual Property Law Association publications. Ms. Ziccarelli is an Inaugural Fellow of the Internet Law and Policy Foundry. She is also a graduate of the Leading Women in Technology Wilpower program for female leaders in the technology industry. Ms. Ziccarelli currently serves as an advisory board member for Seed Spot DC, a startup accelerator serving minority entrepreneurs. Ms. Ziccarelli a graduate of the University of Arizona and the Santa Clara University School of Law. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Resources Websites Blank Rome LLC Boxer Analytics IP with GZ Books Bossypants by Tina Fey Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis Truth in Comedy: The Manual for Improvisation by Charna Halpern News Roundup Cybercriminals executed another massive, worldwide ransomware cyberattack last week which primarily hit the Ukraine, but also reached Russia, India, the United States and several other countries. The so-called Petya virus again used an exploit that was developed by the National Security Agency. Even Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Pavlo Rozenko was hit. Andrew Roth and Ellen Nakashima report in the Washington Post. Many experts suspect Russia is responsible. Dustin Volz and Justin Menn report for Reuters that U.S. Senators are highly suspicious of Russia-based cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs and they are seeking to ban the U.S. military from using Kaspersky. The E.U. has fined Google $2.7 billion. The E.U.'s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said Google suppressed its competitors' shopping search results in favor of its own. According to a blog post by Google SVP and General Counsel Kent Walker, the company is considering an appeal.  The implications for Google in the U.S. are unclear as, in recent weeks, President Trump has sought to engage Alphabet and Google in his effort to revamp government technology.   Michael Birnbaum reports in the Washington Post. Wireless and cable companies are trying to figure out how to consolidate in an increasingly saturated and competitive marketplace. Cable companies are concerned about cord-cutters. Wireless companies are worried about a saturated mobile market in which most customers are already spoken for. To address these challenges, Sprint is in talks to provide wireless service to Charter and Comcast, according to the Wall Street Journal. Comcast and Charter would invest in Sprint's network, and Sprint would give Comcast and Charter access to its wireless network. Shalini Ramachandran, Ryan Knutson and Dana Mattioli report this in the Wall Street Journal. Julia Floretti at Reuters reports that major social networks are combining efforts to take down terrorist content.  Facebook, Google's YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft have formed a working group dubbed The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. The group will share solutions for dealing with content posted by terrorist organizations and individuals. In a separate matter, German lawmakers have passed a measure which would fine social networks up to $57 million for failing to take down hate speech within a reasonable period of time. That's set to take effect on October 1st . Anton Troianovsky and Schechner report in the Wall Street Journal. A federal court in Northern California is allowing the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust case against Qualcomm to proceed. The federal government is accusing Qualcomm of anticompetitive practices in the mobile device chip market in which Qualcomm has a near monopoly. Stephen Nellis has the story in Reuters. Dan Primack at Axios reported last week that Uber is in the process of negotiating with the Securities and Exchange Commission a way to allow Uber to share equity with its drivers. Industry experts see such an arrangement as a way to slow down driver turnover rates. Finally, a new GAO report has found significant fraud and abuse with the FCC's Lifeline program. The Lifeline program subsidizes broadband for low-income consumers. The GAO audit found that it couldn't verify whether some 36% of subsidy recipients were actually eligible. As much as $1.2 million went to recipients who didn't exist or who were dead. Mike Snider has the story in USA Today.  

America's History of Recalcitrance De jure discrimination Racism online is evolving in a way that is consistent with the way racism has always evolved--from explicit to subtle. Plaintiff-side civil rights lawyers have found it easiest to win -- if civil rights cases can ever said to be "easy"--  in cases in which they can convincingly demonstrate defendants' explicit discriminatory policies. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the United States Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, and their subsequent cases and amendments comprise the bulk of American civil rights law.  The Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Brown held segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. In interpreting a statute, judges will consider Congressional intent, which includes the circumstances under which Congress enacted the law. Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act  in an era of widespread de jure segregation in the South. Every 6th grader knows that, prior to Brown, state and local authorities in the South required "colored" and "white" students to attend segregated schools. Black students usually attended inferior schools with old books and in dilapidated buildings.  Southern authorities also required colored and white citizens to use separate facilities such as water fountains, restrooms, waiting rooms, and buses. They also enabled most private establishments, such as restaurants and hotels, to segregate as they pleased. Following  Brown, Southern racists remained undeterred. For example, on June 11, 1963, fully 9 years after Brown, Alabama Governor George Wallace famously "stood in the schoolhouse door" to prevent Vivian Malone and James Hood from entering and registering for classes at the University of Alabama. President Kennedy deployed the National Guard to remove Wallace, which they did. Virginia's response to Brown is also illustrative of the Southern response to it. Virginia Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr. and his brother-in-law, Virginia General Assembly leader James M. Thomson, together pursued a  "Massive Resistance" strategy to oppose desegregation. Under Massive Resistance, the Virginia Assembly passed laws to prevent and punish local school districts for integrating in accordance with Brown. Further, Virginia authorities continued to enforce Massive Resistance initiatives well into the 1960s, even after federal and state courts ordered them to end their recalcitrance. The Civil Rights Act finally codified the nation's civil rights policy. Given the context in which the Civil Rights Act was enacted, courts are most likely to strike down laws and policies that contain explicit "suspect" classifications; namely, those that refer to race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Indeed, courts subject such de jure discrimination statutes and policies to the Constitutional "strict scrutiny" standard--the highest standard of judicial review. Paradoxically, laws designed to help traditionally marginalized groups, and which mention those groups explicitly, are also subject to strict scrutiny and thus likely to be struck down. (The intricacies of the strict scrutiny standard go well beyond the scope of this post. However, if you are interested in learning more about strict scrutiny and the other levels of scrutiny courts are likely to apply in interpreting the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause, click here.) De facto discrimination After many years of resisting civil rights laws, racists in the North and South had an a-ha moment. If they could figure out a way to maintain their supremacy using things that looked like something else, but achieved the same ends, they were golden! And so de facto discrimination--laws and policies that are not discriminatory on their face, i.e. they are facially neutral, but have discriminatory effects, have been the order of the day ever since. Stop-and-frisk? Check. Insanely long prison sentences for minor offenses? Check. School segregation based on merit? Check. Proposed cuts to Medicaid? Check.  Voter re-districting? You get the point. Welcome to the age of stealth racism. "I thought this post was about racism online." It is. The same racist ideologies that prevailed in 1964 prevail today. Since 1964, opponents of the Civil Rights Movement, many of whom are still alive today, and their descendants and allies, have persisted in their efforts to preserve their supremacy. They have taken racism online. This is the story of some of the measures the tech sector has taken, such as Google's Conversation AI, to curtail racism online and how defiant hate speakers have evaded those measures by creating their own code language. Hate speech is indeed protected speech and that's the problem. Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology peeled back the top layer of the internet and found hate speech teeming underneath. My guest today is Rijul Magu (@RijulMagu). Rijul co-authored, along with Shitij Joshi and Jiebo Luo at the Rochester Institute of Technology, a report entitled "Detecting the Hate Code on Social Media". He's the lead author. Rijul is currently a Masters Student at RIT and he earned his undergraduate degree at Jaypee Institute of Information Technology in Noida, India.   Resources University of Rochester School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Department of Computer Science (homepage of Graduate Studies Faculty Advisor Jiebo Luo) Detecting the Hate Code on Social Media by Rijul Magu, Kshitij Joshi, and Jiebo Luo Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel News Roundup The New York State Commission on Forensic Science has adopted a new controversial policy regarding the use of suspects' DNA evidence.  The Commission voted 9-2 to allow police to collect not just suspects' own DNA evidence, but also the DNA evidence of close relatives. While the measure has the support of prosecutors, opponents of the bill pointed out procedural flaws with some describing the new policy as a kind of genetic stop and frisk. Nathan Dempsey has the story at Gothamist. A Department of Homeland Security official --Jeanette Manfra, acting deputy undersecretary of cybersecurity and communications for the agency’s National Protection and Programs Directorate --  told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee last week that Russia targeted election systems in 21 states during last year's presidential election. Ranking Member Mark Warner wrote Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to make public the names of the states that were targeted. However, Secretary Kelly has thus far not released that information claiming that to do so would harm national security. Edward Graham covers this in Morning Consult. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has resigned following the fallout from former Attorney General Eric Holder's report on the company's frat boy culture. However, several employees have attempted to have Kalanick reinstated. Rebecca Savransky has the story in the Hill. The Congressional Black Caucus wrote a letter Monday to Uber leadership urging them to improve racial and ethnic diversity in hiring and promotions at the company. A new Politico and Morning Consult report shows 60% of Americans either strongly or somewhat support the FCC's current net neutrality rules the new Trump-era FCC under Ajit Pai appears to be in the process of overturning. Two-thousand and fifty one registered voters were surveyed. The FCC has recommended a $122 million fine on a suspected robocaller--the highest-ever FCC fine. Officials suspect the alleged robocaller, Adrian Abromovich, a Florida man, made some 100 million robocalls over three months. Harper Neidig has the story in The Hill. The FCC also unanimously passed a rule change last week that will allow law enforcement to bypass blocker called IDs belonging to callers making imminent threats. Harper Neidig has this one in The Hill as well. We may soon be able to access Internet via an internet connection made from space. Doing so would significantly speed up upload and download speeds. The FCC approved a plan of Greg Wyler who plans to link up 720 satellites to deliver high speed broadband from space as soon as 2019. Brian Fung has the full story in the Washington Post. President Trump met with tech executives, including drone developers last week. The president said he'd work to give tech companies the "competitive advantage they need" and "create lots of jobs". David Shepardson covers the story in Reuters. In a unanimous 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled last week that a North Carolina law that prevents registered sex offenders from going on Facebook is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Lydia Wheeler covers this in the Hill. FCC Chaiman Ajit Pai testified at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week about the agency's budget. Pai recommended a budget cut of over 5.2% since last year, or $322 million, which Chairman Pai conceded would come from the elimination of over 100 Commission jobs.

What is a SLAPP Suit? Let's say you own a small business called "Policy Town Fajitas". You think your business is second-to-none. You've invested in it--time, sweat, money and otherwise ... But then, all of a sudden, one of your customers doesn't fancy your business as much as you do. So they post a negative review about your business on a site like Yelp. They say your "chicken fajitas taste like pigeon and that's how I know it's not authentic Mexican food." If you're like most businesses, you try to improve (such as by switching to chicken meat). But some businesses try to turn the tables by putting the reviewer on the defensive. Let's call the reviewer Mrs. Davis. So you file a lawsuit against Mrs. Davis that is simply designed to drive her absolutely nuts. Eventually, you hope, Mrs. Johnson will decide to delete her review. That lawsuit is called a "strategic lawsuit against public participation", but we just call them SLAPP suits.    Now, we know you would NEVER serve up pigeon fajitas. But what are the policy implications of SLAPP suits, particularly as they relate to online freedom of speech? Here to discuss SLAPP suits is Laurent Crenshaw (@LCrenshaw), Yelp's head of Federal Public Policy in Washington DC. At Yelp Laurent has championed the company’s federal efforts to protect consumer freedom of speech on the Internet, and worked to implement Yelp as a tool for the federal government. Prior to joining Yelp in 2013, Laurent worked in the House of Representatives for over 11 years. During his tenure he served as the Legislative Director for Representative Darrell Issa focusing on technology policy issues, particularly in the areas of intellectual property, telecommunications and Internet law; and also worked in the offices of the House Majority Whip and House Republican Conference. Laurent successfully worked on numerous legislative efforts including the passage of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act in 2011 and the fight to defeat SOPA and PIPA in Congress. Additionally, Laurent also serves on the board of directors for Public Knowledge and as a member of the American Library Association’s Public Policy Advisory Council. Laurent obtained his undergraduate degree in International Relations from Stanford University in 2002 and his Juris Doctor degree from American University’s Washington College of Law in 2010. Resources Yelp's Public Policy Blog SPEAK FREE Act (Congressional Anti-SLAPP Suits legislation) Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel News Roundup Amazon is acquiring Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.  Experts see the move as a direct hit on big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, whose shares tumbled sharply on news of the announcement. Analysts see it as a significant step by Amazon to substantially expand its warehouse and local supply chain operations. Laura Stevens has more at the Wall Street Journal. One interesting thing to note is that on May 30th, Amazon filed a patent for technology that allows it to block customers from using their phones to "window shop", or check the prices of other stores, while they're on site at an Amazon property. Brian Fung reports on that in the Washington Post. President Trump has officially nominated former Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to return to the agency.  Rosenworcel has strong Democratic support. Her previous four-year term ended last year when the Senate failed to reconfirm her term before it expired. Still open at the FCC is the third Republican seat. Brendan Carr--a current advisor to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai -- is considered the front-runner for that seat although, as of Monday evening, the White House has not yet made the official nomination. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security released a joint announcement saying North Korea has been executing cyberattacks against institutions  worldwide since 2009. North Korean government actors calling themselves "Hidden Cobra" are the culprits, according to the statement, and they have been attacking aerospace, financial and other institutions in the U.S. and around the world. Deb Reichmann reports for the Associated Press. Verizon has completed its $4.5 billion acquisition of Yahoo. Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer resigned with a $23 million package. Alina Selyukh has the story at NPR. The Federal Trade Commission will be opposing the proposed merger of DraftKing and FanDuel--the two largest fantasy sports  sites. In a statement released Monday, the FTC wrote that the combined company would control more than 90% of the market. The families of prison inmates could see their phone charges for calling incarcerated loved ones shoot back up to as much as $14 per minute. The Obama-era FCC had placed caps on those calls that ranged to between 14 and 49 cents per minute. But the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the FCC did not have the authority to regulate those rates. The Court ruled that the FCC lacked the authority to regulate those rates because they pertained to intrastate calls, and not interstate calls, and thus they fall outside the FCC's federal jurisdiction. Zoe Tillman covers this for BuzzFeed. The Indian woman who was raped by an Uber driver in India is suing the company in the U.S. for violating her privacy and for defamation of character. The plaintiff, a Texas resident, has filed as a Jane Doe. Apparently, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had said publicly that the company would do everything it could to ensure the rapist would be brought to justice. However, behind the scenes, the victim alleges that Uber obtained her medical records in India and then worked to use the information to claim the rape was all a ruse that was orchestrated by Uber's main competitor in India.  Julia Carrie Wong summarized this story in the Guardian. Uber has been embroiled in numerous controversies of late. These culminated last week  in Kalanick being placed on an indefinite leave of absence and top ranking executives being let go. These latest developments were in response to a report spearheaded by former Attorney General Eric Holder that recommended these and other changes at Uber. Facebook has outlined a strategy for weeding out terrorist content on its platform. The company released a blog post last week saying that it has about 150 people on staff nationwide whose job it is to remove all content posted by or in support of terrorists. The company also uses artificial intelligence and other technology to take down content that promotes terrorism on Facebook and its other properties, according to the post. Finally, remember President Trump's Twitter typo a few weeks ago, when he tweeted the word "covfefe" instead of "coverage"? Well, The Hill's Harper Neidig noticed last week that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had more than 30 trademark requests containing the word "covefefe" since the flub. 

Privacy, Searches, Seizures and the Law The digital age is challenging the way our judicial system balances privacy against the needs of law enforcement. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” Our devices, as well as cloud-based services like Dropbox, have revolutionized our concept of what information should be considered private. For example, in U.S. v. Graham, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland applied the so-called "third party doctrine". In that case, the court held that the Fourth Amendment does not protect historical cell site location data. Therefore, law enforcement officers do not require warrants to obtain access to that data. The court reasoned that the defendant communicated the data to a "third party", namely the cell phone provider. These technologies also pose significant Constitutional challenges. For example, who should set the standard of what constitutes a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in the first place? Should judges or the public determine such reasonableness? My guest today is Professor Bernard Chao --a professor at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law, where he co-Directs the law school's Empirical Justice Program. Chao has written that, up until now, judges have had to guess about what constitutes reasonableness. Historically, judges have had to place themselves in the shoes of a hypothetical reasonable person. However, according to Chao, judges are now in a position to gather empirical data via public surveys.  This data has the potential to inform judges about what members of the public actually think constitutes reasonableness in a given context. Further, the demographic characteristics of most judges in no way reflects the far more diverse demographics of the population as a whole. Judges are often white, male and wealthier than the average citizen. Thus, their notions of reasonableness exclude other diverse perspectives. Indeed, some of Chao's research has shown that members of certain minority groups had higher standards of privacy than did the control group. Professor Chao is the lead author  of a forthcoming California Law Review article he is co-authoring along with Catherine Durso, Ian Farrell and Christopher Robertson entitled "Why Courts Fail to Protect Privacy: Race, Age, Bias, and Technology". Resources Denver Empirical Justice Institute HUGO Consulting Intellectual Privacy: Rethinking Civil Liberties in the Digital Age by Neil Richards News Roundup Uber, as you know, has a laundry list of controversies ... Susan Fowler a former Uber engineer, accused the company of fostering a hostile, sexual harassment  culture. Google is suing Uber for stealing trade secrets from its self-driving car unit, Waymo. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has been caught on video berating an Uber driver.  The company has been hemorrhaging money, showing billions in losses, in quarter after quarter, despite revenue growth … Now, Covington and Burling Partners Eric Holder-- who is former President Barack Obama’s former Attorney General-- and Tammy Albarrán are wrapping up an independent investigation they’ve been conducting on behalf of the company. It looks like Uber may be on the brink of requiring Kalanick to take at least a 3 month leave of absence. We’ll know more when Uber releases Holder’s report to employees on Tuesday. But the Board has already indicated that it would be accepting all of Holder’s recommendations. One of the recommendations is to fire Emil Michael--Kalanick’s chief deputy.  In the meantime, you can check out Ali Breland’s complete summary in the Hill. -- Tony Romm at Recode reported that current FCC General Counsel Brendan Carr and former FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel are the two front-runners President Trump is considering to fill the two remaining Commissioner slots at the FCC. - The federal government is accusing yet another NSA contractor with leaking classified information to the public. Last week, federal agents arrested twenty-five year old Reality Leigh Winner, who had a top secret security clearance. The feds have accused Winner of sending information about Russian hacking activities to the Intercept--the online newspaper. She had served in the Air Force for 6 years prior to becoming a contractor at Pluribus International Group in Augusta, Georgia. The leaked documents revealed that Russia may have hacked a U.S. voting system manufacturer just prior to last year's presidential election. Madison Park has a full summary at CNN.com. -- Finally, Jon Brodkin reported in Ars Technica on comments made by FCC Chair Ajit Pai and Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson on WTMJ Radio last week in which both Pai and Johnson called net neutrality a “slogan”. Johnson seemed to advocate for fast lanes (paid prioritization). But paid prioritization is a practice the Wheeler-era net neutrality rules specifically prohibits. The DC Circuit has upheld those rules, and the current FCC is now in the midst of a proceeding to overturn them. Brian Fung reports in the Washington Post that several tech companies including Etsy, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Reddit, Y Combinator, and Amazon will change their websites on July 12th to protest the FCC’s apparent plan to reverse the net neutrality rules.

The London Bridge terror attacks that occurred this past weekend are causing policymakers to once again re-evaluate the efficacy of their counterterrorism efforts against ISIS. ISIS counterterrorism expert Audrey Alexander (@aud_alexander) is a Research Fellow at The George Washington University Program on Extremism. Before joining the Program on Extremism, she worked at King’s College London’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR). At ICSR, Audrey used open source intelligence to identify instances of Western women relocating to enemy-held territories. Previously, Audrey worked at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), where she studied online radicalization and “lone-actor” terrorism. She contributed to the widely acclaimed “Till Martyrdom Do Us Part: Gender and the ISIS Phenomenon” report published by ISD and ICSR. Alexander holds a Masters in Terrorism, Security & Society from the War Studies Department at King's College. In this episode, we discussed: how American institutions have tried and failed to contain the ISIS threat online. alternatives to current technological approaches to containing the enemy's online recruitment efforts. how policymakers can identify warning signs pertaining to potential activity by non-ISIS groups. Resources: The George Washington University Program on Extremism Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick Deep Work by Cal Newport NEWS ROUNDUP Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers partner Mary Meeker released her annual Internet Trends report last week. Key findings include a slow down in smartphone growth, to just a 3% growth in shipments last year, down from 10% the year before. There's also an uptick in voice searches, which have reached about a 95% accuracy rate. The report found voice searches to be well on their way toward replacing text-based search inquiries. Meeker's report also reveals that some 60% of the most highly valued tech companies in the U.S. were founded by first- or second-generation Americans. These findings only scratch the surface. Here's a link to the slides. Elon Musk announced in a tweet last week that he has decided to leave president Trump's advisory councils following the president's announcement last week that he would be pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. The Agreement is a multinational accord that brings together 195 countries in a commitment to fight climate change. The U.S. joined Nicaragua and Syria among the nations that will not participate if Trump has his way. However, the earliest possible date the U.S. would be able to make an effective withdrawal from the agreement is November 4, 2020, or one day after the 2020 presidential election. Tech giants Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and hundreds of other businesses have also formed an initiative dubbed "We're Still In", which was organized by Michael Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Sierra Club, and the Center for American Progress, to express their commitment to the Paris Agreement and local and state authorities whom they see as being more influential than the federal government on climate change. The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear a key case regarding law enforcement's ability to obtain cell phone data without a search warrant. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Carpenter v. U.S. upheld the district court which sentenced defendant Timothy Carpenter to some 116 years in prison for committing a string of armed robberies of TMobile and Radio Shack stores in Michigan and Ohio back in 2010 and 2011. The evidence admitted at trial against Carpenter included cell phone records showing he was in close proximity to the stores when the robberies occurred. Lydia Wheeler has the story in The Hill. Once again, Booz Allen, the same firm that employed Edward Snowden as an NSA contractor, is the subject of a data breach. Some sixty thousand sensitive documents related to a US military project were found unsecured on on a public Amazon server.  Gizmodo reports the compromised files also contained the encrypted passwords of officials with top security clearance. Dell Cameron reports at Gizmodo. Democratic leaders in Congress have asked Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to probe the cyberattack that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai claims caused the agency's commenting site to go down. The site went down shortly after John Oliver directed his viewers to go to site domain gofccyourself.com, which redirected to the FCC's actual commenting page. But Chairman Pai said the site went down due to an external cyber attack. Senators Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Al Franken (Minn.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Ed Markey(Mass.), and Ron Wyden (Ore.) want answers from the FBI by June 23rd. Morgan Chalfant has the story in The Hill. Finally, Uber fired the former Google engineer accused of stealing secrets from Alphabet self-driving car unit Waymo and bringing them with him when he started his own self-driving car company, Otto, which Uber then acquired. Anthony Levandowski apparently became too much of a liability for Uber, which is currently embroiled in litigation Google brought against it because of Levandowski's alleged actions. Daisuke Wakabayashi and  Mike Isaac report in the New York Times. Greg Bensinger at the Wall Street Journal reports that Uber also posted a $708 million loss in the first quarter. This was on top of the $991 million the company lost in the 4th quarter of 2016. Uber Head of Finance Guatam Gupta will be leaving the company in July to work for an unnamed startup.

How can policymakers balance consumers' need for targeted, relevant content against such consumers' desire for privacy? Anindya Ghose (@aghose) is a Professor of Information, Operations and Management Sciences and a Professor of Marketing at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He is the Director of the Center for Business Analytics at NYU Stern, and the co-Chair of the NYU-AIG Partnership on Innovation for Global Resilience. He is the NEC Faculty Fellow and a Daniel P. Paduano Fellow of Business Ethics at NYU Stern. He has been a Visiting Associate Professor at the Wharton School of Business. He also serves as the main Scientific Advisor to 3TI China . He was recently named by Business Week as one of the "Top 40 Professors Under 40 Worldwide" and by Analytics Week as one the "Top 200 Thought Leaders in Big Data and Business Analytics". His rise from assistant to full professor in 8.5 years at NYU Stern is widely regarded as one of the fastest in the history of the entire Information Systems and Marketing academic disciplines in business schools globally. He has consulted in various capacities for Berkeley Corporation, CBS, Dataxu, Facebook, NBC Universal, OneVest, Samsung, and 3TI China, and collaborated with Alibaba, China Mobile, Google, IBM, Indiegogo, Microsoft, Recobell, Travelocity and many other leading Fortune 500 firms on realizing business value from IT investments, internet marketing, business analytics, mobile marketing, digital analytics, social media, and other areas. He has published more than 75 papers in premier scientific journals and peer reviewed conferences, and has given more than 200 talks internationally. He is a frequent keynote speaker in executive gatherings and thought leading events globally. His research has received 12 best paper awards and nominations. He is a winner of the NSF CAREER award and has been awarded 14 grants from Google, Microsoft and several other corporations. His research analyzes the economic consequences of the Internet on industries and markets transformed by its shared technology infrastructure. He has worked on product reviews, reputation and rating systems, digital marketing, sponsored search advertising, wearable technologies, mobile commerce, mobile advertising, crowdfunding, and online markets. He also plays a senior advisory role to several start-ups in the Internet space. He has been interviewed and his research has been profiled numerous times in the BBC, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, China Daily, The Economist, Financial Times, Fox News, Forbes, Knowledge@Wharton, Korean Broadcasting News Company, Los Angeles Times, Marketplace Radio, MSNBC, National Public Radio, NBC, Newsweek, New York Times, New York Daily, NHK Japan Broadcasting, Reuters, Time Magazine, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Xinhua,and elsewhere. He teaches courses on social media, digital marketing, business analytics and IT strategy at the undergraduate, MBA, EMBA, MSBA, and Executive Education level in various parts of the world including the US, India, China, and South Korea. He is on the Research Council of the Wharton Customer Analytics Institute, a faculty affiliate with the Marketing Science Institute and the Sloan Center for Internet Retailing at the University of California, Riverside. He serves as an Associate Editor of Management Science and a Senior Editor of Information Systems Research. Before joining NYU Stern, Dr. Ghose worked in GlaxoSmithKline, as a Product Manager in HCL-Hewlett Packard, and as a Senior E-Business Consultant with IBM. He has a B. Tech in Engineering from the Regional Engineering College (NIT) in Jalandhar, and an M.B.A in Finance, Marketing and Systems from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. In this episode, we discussed: the 9 key forces shaping the mobile economy that entrepreneurs and policymakers alike need to know. the future of mobile technology as a key driver of marketing. how policymakers should balance privacy policy against consumers' desire for targeted and relevant content. Resources Tap: Unlocking the Mobile Economy by Anindya Ghose (MIT Press: 2017) Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance (Ecco: 2017)   NEWS ROUNDUP The Federal Communications Commission released the text of its proposal to undo the Obama-era net neutrality rules. The rules classify internet service providers as "common carriers", thus bringing ISPs within the FCC's jurisdiction. The rules also outlaw blocking, throttling and paid prioritization of site traffic. Comments are due to the Commission by August 17th--they even seek comment on whether such rules are necessary--which, of course, the Commission settled on two years ago when it pulled together countless comments from members of the public who said, "yes--they are necessary"--So it's like we're just going around and around--net neutrality is the gift that keeps on giving--for lobbyists, that is. President Trump released his fiscal year 2018 budget request last week, which calls for numerous cuts to entitlement programs, as well as education. However, the budget calls for $228 million to modernize the federal government's IT--or phase out clunkier technologies in favor of technologies that are more secure and efficient. That $228 million amount is significantly less than the $3.1 billion called for by the Obama administration. Billy Mitchell covers this story in FedScoop. Apple reported last week that the federal government's requests for user data skyrocketed in the second half of 2016 to almost double what it was in the first half of the year. Apple reports on the number of requests using ranges instead of revealing the exact number of data requests.  In the first half of 2016, the federal government made between 2,750 and 2,999 data requests. However, during the second half of 2016 the number of requests jumped to between 5,750 and 5,999. Joe Uchill reports in the Hill. Private drone users will no longer need to register their drones with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is following a DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision to overturn the rules. The court held that the rules violated another statute that precluded the FAA from promulgating rules pertaining to model aircraft. Tim Wright covers this in Air & Space. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union and Wikimedia Foundation can indeed pursue a lawsuit the two parties brought against the National Security Agency. They argue that the NSA violated Wikimedia's First and Fourth Amendment rights when the agency tapped into Wikimedia's backbone network because Wikimedia has such a large footprint, tapping into just a part of it can have constitutional implications. Adi Robertson has the story in The Verge. Finally, big box retailer Target has settled with 47 states in connection with a widespread data breach in 2015 in which hackers obtained the credit card information of millions of customers. The settlement amount was $18.5 million and is being distributed based on each state's size.Wyoming, Wisconsin and Alabama don't appear to be part of the settlement.  The terms of the settlement also require Target to separate cardholder data from the rest of its computer network, as well as undergo an independent assessment of its data security practices.  Rachel Abrams has the story in The New York Times.

Yosef Getachew (@getachew2) is a Policy Fellow at Public Knowledge where he works on a variety of technology and communications issues. Prior to joining Public Knowledge, Yosef worked as a law clerk for several technology and communications organizations including the Federal Communications Commission, Comcast, Facebook, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Yosef has also served as a Project Coordinator and Research Assistant for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Yosef received his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School. In law school, he was an Articles Editor for the Federal Communications Law Journal. Yosef was born and raised in Washington D.C. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, watching basketball, and spending time with friends. In this episode, we discussed: what 5G is and what it will mean for consumers. the potential of 5G for job creation, particularly for communities with disproportionately high unemployment rates. how to ensure underserved communities have access to 5G technology when it is deployed. Resources Public Knowledge Federal Trade Commission Privacy Law & Policy by Chris Jay Hoofnagle NEWS ROUNDUP The Republican-controlled FCC -- which is, by the way, still sitting with only 3 of its 5 Commission seats filled -- moved to roll back the Obama-era net neutrality rules last week. The new NPRM released Thursday is ostensibly designed to solicit comments it will actually be considering. But policy experts see this as just an administrative formality FCC Chair Ajit Pai needs to adhere to before doing what he has already made clear he is going to do anyway: eviscerate the net neutrality rules. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat, called the NPRM a "political rush job". Mariam Baksh has additional coverage in Morning Consult.  The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that plaintiffs can no longer "forum shop" -- a practice by which plaintiffs look to pursue their case in a venue that will be most favorable to them -- which, for patent trolls, is a jurisdiction like the Eastern District of Texas which often rules in favor of patent trolls. In TC Heartland v. Kraft, the decision the Supreme Court reversed on Monday, the lower court had ruled that plaintiffs could bring a lawsuit anywhere the companies conduct business. Now, as a result of the Supreme Court's reversal of the lower court's decision, the standard will now limit plaintiffs to bringing suit where the company is incorporated. The outcome of this case has significant implications for so-called patent trolls that bring often frivolous lawsuits against companies for violating patents they hold but don't use to produce anything--they just profit from suing companies that violate them. Ali Breland covers this for the Hill. Tennessee Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn introduced a bill Friday that would require both broadband providers as well as internet companies to obtain consent from consumers before selling their internet data. In a set of FCC privacy rules President Trump nullified last month, only broadband providers were required to obtain such consent. Ali Breland has this story as well in the Hill. Last week, Democratic members of the House Science committee wrote a letter to president Trump urging him to appoint a Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The lawmakers weighted in after Politico published an article revealing the fact that Trump's staffers occasionally pass fake science news to the president to sway him on certain issues -- it's all part of these little games they like to play jockeying for position within the White House. "We are concerned about the process by which you receive information," the letter begins. "Disseminating stories from dubious sources has been a recurring issue with your administration ... Until the OSTP is adequately staffed and the director position filled by a qualified, objective scientist who understands the difference between alternative news peddled on alt-right websites and legitimate well-vetted scientific facts, we fear that you will continue to be vulnerable to misinformation and fake news." Next.gov has the full story. Congress has responded to the recent ransomware attack that affected computers around the world with a new bill that would require the federal government to report security flaws much sooner so that companies like Microsoft will have a chance to fix them before they are exploited.  Jeremy Kirk outlines the the bipartisan PATCH Act at Bankinfosecurity.com. Finally, The European Union has slapped Facebook with a $122 million fine over the social media company's purchase of WhatsApp. Back in 2014, Facebook indicated  in its filing that it wouldn't be able to reliably link WhatsApp and Facebook accounts--and then last year it did just that. So the European Commission cried foul. Ali Breland reports in the Hill.

Matt Cagle is a Policy Attorney for Technology and Civil Liberties at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Matt attended law school at Stanford and has a BA in Latin American Studies and Political Science from the University of Arizona. Before joining the ACLU as a Policy Attorney, Matt worked as an associate with BlurryEdge Strategies, a San Francisco-based law practice advising startups on privacy issues. In this episode, we discussed: how the police use social media to track American citizens.  Resources: ACLU of Northern California The Philipp K. Dick Collection by Phillip K. Dick   NEWS ROUNDUP A massive hack infected hundreds of thousands Microsoft Windows-based computers, disabling several large hospitals in the UK, requiring them to turn away some patients, as well as Fedex, Telefonica, and several other institutions. The ransomware, which is a program called "WannaCry", encrypts files so users can't access them and then demands payment, in the form of the digital currency known as Bitcoin, from victims to decrypt their files. WannaCry spread around the world beginning on Friday, although it did so to a lesser degree in other countries than it was felt in the UK. An engineer that goes by the screen name "Malware Tech" found a kill switch in the ransomware. The ransomware relies on infected computers not being able to access a particular domain name. Since the domain name wasn't registered, no computers could access it. Therefore Malware simply registered the domain, stopping it from spreading to additional computers. The U.S. was barely affected by the cyberattack, but researchers are on the lookout for copycats. Microsoft issued a statement saying the cyberattack should be a wake up call for governments as the hack was executed using stolen government data. U.S. Cyber Command head Admiral Mike Rodgers told the Senate Armed Services Committee just last Tuesday that Congress needed to provide clearer guidance as to how his agency should fight cyberattacks. Rogers also told the Senate panel that his agency witnessed Russian intrusions into French systems in the midst of the French election last week.  On Thursday, President Trump had signed an executive order authorizing a sweeping review of all federal agencies to identify the holes that hackers have been exploiting. The ransomware hack happened on Friday.   The Hill reports the ransomware attack has made the perpetrators over $57,000 worth of bitcoins thus far. A federal judge on Monday of this week ordered Uber to turn over some 14,000 documents to Waymo--the self-driving company owned by Google--which Waymo says were stolen by a former Google engineer by the name of Anthony Levandowski. The Waymo lawsuit alleges that Levandowski left Google to start a self-driving truck company called Otto, taking the documents with him. Then Uber subsequently acquired Otto, taking the documents with it.  Waymo also announced a new collaboration with Lyft on Monday of this week. Ali Breland has the story in The Hill. Finally, A number of policymakers are concerned about the ways in which Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) might begin to surveil immigrants or develop a database to track immigrants for deportation. But in an exclusive report for NPR, George Joseph outlined specific ways in which ICE is already using databases maintained by local law enforcement to accomplish the same ends.  Remember last week's John Oliver bit criticizing FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to scale back the net neutrality rules? The one where Oliver urged viewers to go to a site the show created called gofccyourself.com, which redirected to the FCC's comments section, and then the comments section crashed? Well the incident left FCC Chairman Pai scrambling to contain his agency's embarrassment, and there was some confusion as to whether the site crashed because of the influx of comments provoked by the show, or by some kind of contemporaneous hack designed to prevent comments from being submitted. Well, the FCC maintains that it was indeed a hack and that the crash wasn't caused by John Oliver's segment. Democrats are saying, "yeah right"-- Senators Ron Wyden and Brian Schatz wrote Chairman Pai saying cyberattacks are a very serious matter and urging the agency to turn over any evidence of a cyberattack happening a few minutes after Oliver's segment. No word yet. But Oliver again this past Sunday rallied his viewers to submit comments.  Harper Neidig has more in The Hill.

Shayna Cook (cook_shayna) is a policy analyst with the Education Policy program at New America. She is a member of the Learning Technologies project. Shayna researches and reports on innovation, new technologies, and digital equity issues concerning children from birth through third grade. She is a former teacher who graduated from American University with a master’s degree in education, focusing on policy and leadership. She holds a bachelor’s degree in classics from Howard University. In this episode, we discussed: how states can use federal funding to promote family engagement. how schools can more effectively incorporate technology to promote family engagement. how to evaluate engagement programs to determine how they improve learning outcomes. Resources: New America's Education Policy Program New Guidance on Using the Every Student Succeeds Act to Support Early Learning by Shayna Cook (New America, 2016) Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy by Tressie McMillan Cottom NEWS ROUNDUP Sinclair is acquiring Tribune broadcasting, the companies announced on Monday, for a cool $3.9 billion. Tribune owns 42 tv stations in 33 markets, WGN, digital multicast network Antenna TV, minority stakes in the TV Food Network and CareerBuilder, and a variety of real estate assets, according to the companies' press release. Even after the Republican controlled FCC threw it a bone at its last open meeting by reinstating the UHF discount, which lets broadcasters half the size of the audience their UHF stations reach, thereby enabling broadcast companies to own more stations, Sinclair may still need to divest some its stations to fall under the 39 percent cap on the national audience. Sinclair is Chaired by David Smith--a key supporter of Donald Trump. ---- President Trump signed an executive order establishing a new American Technology Council which will be tasked with coming up with ways to transform and modernize the federal government. It's not clear yet which companies will participate, but Tony Romm at Recode notes that Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft have huddled with the administration in the past.  Mike Allen at Axios reported the creation of the Council was spearheaded by Trump advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner and that the council will hold a summit in June to map out a plan for the duration of the Trump administration. Two lawmakers also created a bi-partisan Digital Trade Caucus last week which is aimed at protecting cross-border digital trade from protectionism. Minnesota Republican Erik Paulsen and Washington Democrat Suzan DelBene made the announcement last week. The Department of Justice has announced a criminal investigation into Uber.  The New York Times reported in March that the company was using a software called Greyball to circumvent local authorities in areas where Uber hasn't been approved yet. Now a grand jury in Northern California has subpoenaed documents from Uber related to the matter. Dan Levine has the story in Reuters. The State Department wants to intensify its scrutiny of visa applicants. The agency published a document last week, in line with the Trump administration's efforts to subject visa applicants to "extreme vetting", which outlines plans to require visa applicants to provide five years worth of their social media handles, phone numbers and email addresses. The public will have a chance to comment on the new proposed rules until May 18th. Yaganeh Torbati and Mica Rosenberg report in Reuters. The reined-in National Security Agency still collected 151 million phone records in 2016. Charlie Savage reports in the New York Times that the NSA previously collected billions of phone records per day, according to a transparency report released last week. The Department of Homeland Security warned of an emerging espionage campaign led by Chinese hackers. The hacker group APT10 or MenuPass group has targeted construction, aerospace, engineering and telecom companies in the past, but security analysts are now saying they found evidence that the group could now be working in tandem with the Chinese government to collect military secrets from the United States.  Chris Bing has the story in CyberScoop. Elon Musk's SpaceX boosted a classified U.S. Spy Satellite into orbit on Monday May 1st at 7:14AM. The payload is a National Reconnaissance Office satellite. SpaceX is trying to ramp up its commercial space flight program following an explosion last September that halted it. However, last week's launch was SpaceX's 4th successful launch since January, and it was flawless. Andy Pasztor reports in the Wall Street Journal. Finally, a report by an engineer at Facebook found the company rejects code submitted by female engineers at a rate that is 35% higher than their male counterparts. Facebook's most recent diversity report shows women comprise just 17% of Facebook's technical workforce. Deepa Seetharaman reports in the Wall Street Journal.

Jeff Binder (@JeffBinder) is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Layer3 TV, a next generation cable company, founded in 2013. Most recently Jeff was a general partner at Genovation Capital, a stage-agnostic private equity and venture group focused on Technology, Media and Telecom. In addition, Jeff served as an advisor to TPG and Silver Lake, two of the most respected names in private equity.  Prior to Genovation, Jeff led Broadbus Technologies as its founding CEO, pioneering the concept of television on-demand to become the leading supplier of cable industry on-demand video streams. In 2006, within four years of its first institutional round of financing, Motorola purchased Broadbus for $200 million and Jeff joined the company as a senior executive of M&A/Strategy and GM On-Demand Solutions. In addition to day-to-day operations, Jeff spearheaded several key initiatives within the office of the CEO including the first smart phone eco-system, code named Photon. As Chairman and CEO, Jeff led the Leading Golf Companies from 1996-2000, then the largest marketing and technology network of high-end golf courses in North America including Pebble Beach, the TPC Courses, Blackwolf Run and Pinehurst. LGC operated the largest US golf affinity travel program in partnership with American Airlines, US Airways, Northwest and a joint venture with Jack Nicklaus. Prior to LGC, Jeff was founding CEO of Nanosoft, a leading digital design and development firm with offices in Chicago, Seattle and Beijing. Jeff’s first entrepreneurial venture was Magic Music, which pioneered memory based technology and supplied digital duplication systems accounting for more than 30% of the world’s digital audio cassette production with systems in 15 countries on five continents.   Jeff has been named a Next Generation Leader by MultiChannel News, a Top 100 Heavy Hitters by CableFax and 40 under 40 by the Boston Business Journal.  A graduate of Harvard University, Jeff studied Government and Environmental Science. Jeff Binder is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Layer3 TV, a next generation cable company, founded in 2013. Most recently Jeff was a general partner at Genovation Capital, a stage-agnostic private equity and venture group focused on Technology, Media and Telecom. In addition, Jeff served as an advisor to TPG and Silver Lake, two of the most respected names in private equity.  Prior to Genovation, Jeff led Broadbus Technologies as its founding CEO, pioneering the concept of television on-demand to become the leading supplier of cable industry on-demand video streams. In 2006, within four years of its first institutional round of financing, Motorola purchased Broadbus for $200 million and Jeff joined the company as a senior executive of M&A/Strategy and GM On-Demand Solutions. In addition to day-to-day operations, Jeff spearheaded several key initiatives within the office of the CEO including the first smart phone eco-system, code named Photon. As Chairman and CEO, Jeff led the Leading Golf Companies from 1996-2000, then the largest marketing and technology network of high-end golf courses in North America including Pebble Beach, the TPC Courses, Blackwolf Run and Pinehurst. LGC operated the largest US golf affinity travel program in partnership with American Airlines, US Airways, Northwest and a joint venture with Jack Nicklaus. Prior to LGC, Jeff was founding CEO of Nanosoft, a leading digital design and development firm with offices in Chicago, Seattle and Beijing. Jeff’s first entrepreneurial venture was Magic Music, which pioneered memory based technology and supplied digital duplication systems accounting for more than 30% of the world’s digital audio cassette production with systems in 15 countries on five continents. Jeff has been named a Next Generation Leader by MultiChannel News, a Top 100 Heavy Hitters by CableFax and 40 under 40 by the Boston Business Journal.  A graduate of Harvard University, Jeff studied Government and Environmental Science. In this episode, we discussed: the businesses case for a new cable TV provider. how Layer3 TV distinguishes itself from traditional cable providers. the current regulatory environment from the perspective of new entrants to the cable marketplace. Resources: Layer3 TV--The New Cable Wisdom from the Robbert Barrons: Enduring Business Lessons from Rockefeller, Morgan, and the First Industrialists by George David Smith and Frederick Dalzell NEWS ROUNDUP The FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules are now in the hands of the Republican majority at the FCC. The DC Circuit upheld the rules on Monday by declining to review the 3-judge panel that found that the FCC's net neutrality rules are legally sound. This opens the door for a possible Supreme Court appeal. However, as policy expert Gigi Sohn noted in a tweet, the Supreme Court is unlikely to hear the case since the FCC has its own plans. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced last week  that the FCC would vote on a proposal at the May Open Meeting to reverse the Obama-era net neutrality rules. The announcement has been met with resistance from Democrats as well as public interest advocates who say undoing the net neutrality rules would favor a handful of large internet service providers at the expense of everyone else. Conservatives see the net neutrality rules--which classified broadband internet service providers as so-called common carriers, thus bringing them under the FCC's jurisdiction--as a power grab over the internet orchestrated by Democrats who were more aligned with internet-based content producers such as Netflix.  Harper Neidig reports in the Hill. In a victory for Hollywood and other holders of large copyrights, the House passed a bill that would make the Register of Copyrights a presidential appointment, rather than someone who is appointed by the Librarian of Congress. The bill comes after current Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who was appointed by Obama, demoted the Register of Copyrights--Maria Pallante--who was seen as someone who sided with large content companies. The bill passed the House on a vote of 378-48. In an attempt to bury fake news, Google has rewritten its search algorithm. The 10,000+ Google staffers who rate content will now begin to flag, inappropriate, misleading, false and low quality content. A new Verizon report has found an uptick in cyber breaches that appear to be related to espionage. Of the 2,000 breaches Verizon found, 300 were tied to espionage. Morgan Chalfant has more in the Hill. Facebook reported a 9 percent increase in government data requests in the second half of 2016 compared to the first half of that year. About half of the data requests by U.S. government officials included a non-disclosure agreement requiring Facebook to refrain from telling its users that the government requested information about them. Sarah Perez has the story in TechCrunch. Finally, a federal judge in New York has cleared the way for the NYPD to use police body cameras. Public interest lawyers had attempted to prevent the roll-out of the body cams. Ashley Southall at The New York Times reports that one group -- the Center for Constitutional Rights -- had argued that the draft policy was too unclear as to how the NYPD planned to use, retrieve and store the footage obtained from the body cams.

Dr. Maya Rockeymoore (@MayaRockeymoore) leads Global Policy Solutions, a Washington, DC-based policy firm that makes policy work for people and their environments. A former adjunct professor in the Women in Politics Institute at American University, Maya has also served as the vice president of research and programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), senior resident scholar at the National Urban League, chief of staff to Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), professional staff on the House Ways and Means Committee, and as a CBCF legislative fellow in the office of Congressman Melvin Watt (D-NC) among other positions. Maya’s areas of expertise include health, social insurance, income security, education, women’s issues and youth civic participation. She is the author of The Political Action Handbook: A How to Guide for the Hip-Hop Generation and co-editor of Strengthening Community: Social Insurance in a Diverse America among many other articles and chapters. Rockeymoore serves on the board of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and the National Association of Counties and is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. The recipient of many honors, she was named an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow in 2004 and is the recipient of Running Start’s 2007 Young Women to Watch Award. A regular guest on radio and television shows, Maya has appeared on NPR, CNN, Black Entertainment Television, ABC World News Tonight, Fox News, Al Jazeera and C-SPAN. Her opinions have also been quoted by the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, LA Times, Boston Globe, Black America Web, and Houston Chronicle among other prominent national news sources. In this episode, we discussed: the potential impact of autonomous vehicles on driver jobs. how the impact of autonomous vehicles will affect people of color, particularly men, in the driver job market. policy recommendations for ensuring the downside economics of autonomous vehicles will not disproportionately impact drivers along racial and gender lines. Resources Center for Global Policy Solutions PAPER: Stick Shift: Autonomous Vehicles, Driving Jobs, and the Future of Work by Dr. Algernon Austin, Cherrie Bucknor, Kevin Cashman, and Dr. Maya Rockeymoore (Center for Global Policy Solutions, 2017) Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance   NEWS ROUNDUP The Department of Justice is now officially considering charges against individual members of WikiLeaks. The Obama administration did not press charges against WikiLeaks on First Amendment grounds, saying that WikiLeaks should be considered a news organization. The Trump DOJ is looking to reverse that course. Matt Zapotsky and Ellen Nakashima report in the Washington Post. The FCC deregulated broadcasters and companies offering business data services in orders released during the Commission's open meeting last week. The FCC voted to allow market forces to solely govern the prices for business data services that small businesses, schools, police departments, schools and other organizations pay for data. Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn issued a strong dissent saying it is "one of the worst she has seen in her years at the Commission". The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy opposed the changes, as did the EU ambassador to the U.S., who said the changes would favor U.S. companies in violation of World Trade Organization norms. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and supporters of the rule changes argued the FCC had accumulated plenty of data over the last 12 years to make an informed decision about the BDS rules. And as far as the broadcast rules -- the Commission reinstated the UHF discount allows broadcasters to count only half of viewers who receive tv broadcasts via UHF towards the 39 percent market ownership cap. Amir Nasr has this story in Morning Consult. FCC Chair Ajit Pai has publicly stated that he wants his agency to stay out of the federal government's review of AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner. The way to do that is to ensure that no broadcast licenses are at stake, since broadcast licenses are firmly within the FCC's jurisdiction. Well, the FCC last week approved Time Warner's sale of WPCH-TV in Atlanta to Meredith broadcasting, thus removing a broadcast license, but as Jon Brodkin notes in Ars, Time Warner still holds several additional licenses that enable Time Warner to transmit its cable network programming on HBO, CNN and its other properties. At over $2 million, AT&T contributed more than any other company to Trump's transition team.   The FCC is still working on overturning net neutrality, but Ajit Pai reportedly held meetings with several tech companies to get their insights on what revised rules might look like. Last week, Pai spoke with representatives from Facebook, Oracle, Cisco and Intel--Cecilia Kang has more in The New York Times.

Roberta Rincon is the Society of Women Engineers' (SWE) Manager of Research. Before joining SWE, Roberta Rincon was a Senior Research and Policy Analyst at The University of Texas System. She has over 15 years of experience in higher education policy research, coordinating various award and faculty recruitment programs, analyzing the impact of state legislative actions, and preparing white papers on topics ranging from classroom utilization to student success. Roberta received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, an MBA and an M.S. in Information Management from Arizona State University, and recently completed her Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning from UT Austin. In this episode we discussed how to: reduce gender bias in STEM. prevent the attrition of women away from STEM fields. improve the representation of women in tenured, full-time STEM professorships. improve school compliance with Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 (prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding). Resources Title IX at 45 Chapter on Women and STEM (National Coalition for Women and Girls in STEM, 2017) Bossy Pants by Tina Fey NEWS ROUNDUP The FCC announced the winners of its wireless spectrum auction last week. The auction involved creating incentives for broadcasters to sell their spectrum back to the FCC, with the FCC, in turn, auctioning that spectrum to wireless carriers hungry for spectrum to expand their networks. T-Mobile won the most licenses after spending $8 billion for the spectrum, followed Dish at $6.2 billion, Comcast at $1.7 billion, and 59 other bidders. Maggie Reardon has the story in CNET. Remember the Wheeler FCC's plan to allow travelers to make mobile phone calls in-flight? Well, it looks like you're going to have to keep that phone in airplane mode when you fly. Current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai put an order on circulation that would kill the plan, and since the FCC still only has 3 commissioners instead of the usual five, and 2 are Republican, the order is likely to pass. Laura Hautala reports in CNET. CIA Director Mike Pompeo pledged to crack down on sites like Wikileaks and activists like Edward Snowden. Pompeo said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event last week that these so-called transparency activists "champion nothing but their own celebrity." Pompeo did not state specifically what specific measures the CIA would take, but said the agency's approaches will be constantly evolving. Catch the story in next.gov. The man who continued to robocall consumers on the Do-Not-Call registry will have to pay at least $65,000 to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC announced the settlement on Thursday. Justin Ramsey will have to pay up to $2.2 million if the agency finds that he and his company lied about their finances. Brian Fung has the story in the Washington Post. Microsoft reported that the number of foreign intelligence surveillance requests it received from the federal government for the first 6 months of 2016 was nearly double what it was the previous year. The number of requests last year stood between 1,000 to 1,499. Dustin Volz reports in Reuters. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an order banning commercial and hobby drones from flying over 133 U.S. military bases. The drones can come within 400 feet but no more. Penalties will include fines and prosecutions. David Krevets reports in Ars. In Google's lawsuit against Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets pertaining to Google's autonomous vehicle technology, Uber attempted to claim Fifth Amendment protection for the due diligence report it put together when it was developing its self-driving car initiative. But the Court isn't buying it and the due diligence report will be admitted. Google claims the report will prove Uber stole 14,000 files from Google. Johana Bhuiyan and Tess Townsend have the story in Recode.

My guest today is Dr. Melissa A. Rasberry (@MelRasberry).  Melissa is senior technical assistance consultant at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), where she serves as the principal investigator for the CS10K Community, an online community of practice for computer science teachers sponsored by the National Science Foundation. She has created and facilitated over 35 virtual communities throughout her career, providing effective online professional learning experiences for educators. Dr. Rasberry began as a third grade teacher and a principal intern at two diverse elementary schools in Durham NC. Her professional interests span the teaching continuum—from recruitment and preparation to professional development and retention. In this episode, we discussed: how to train computer science teachers with non-CS degrees. how to inspire students who do not initially see the relevance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). how parents can prevent the “summer melt” and encourage their children to build on their STEM skills throughout the summer. Resources: CS10K Community Code.org Scratch Evernote You’re a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero (2013)

Jane Taylor is the Founder and President of Bot Shop LLC. Bot Shop is an innovative one-stop shop specializing in integrating Robotics and Energy Education into K-12 public schools, informal education, non-profits and outreach programs. As a full-service consulting firm, Bot Shop provides turnkey solutions for effectively engaging youth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through making. BotShop supports robots in education from the classroom to competition. Jane Taylor began teaching middle school science in HISD in 2000 after graduating from Lamar University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and joining Teach for America-Houston. She used robotics as an instructional tool in her science class in 2001 after securing a community grant which purchased LEGO Mindstorms RCX robots and registration fees for First LEGO League. In response to the amazing reaction from students to this new technology, Jane created a course called Project Based: STEM in 2004 and established one of the first robotics elective courses in the Houston Independent School Districts. She went on to successfully design, develop, and implement grassroots robotics competitions, after school programs, and course curricula throughout Greater Houston. Jane currently chairs the SHEbot Initiative for Girls in STEM, is an advisor to the 4H SET AgriBotics Robotics Challenge, and has been recognized by Teach for America for her “Energy in Education” and numerous "National Teacher of the Year" awards. She earned her Bachelor’s in Biology from Lamar University and studied educational robotics at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy. In this episodes we discussed: how to talk to kids about STEM subjects to help them see their relevance. which toys and activities teach STEM skills and which are a waste of money. how parents can help foster a home environment that is conducive to STEM achievement. Resources Botshoprocks.com Arduino Leg WeDo 2.0 Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy Code.org Boss Women Pray by Kachelle Kelly   NEWS ROUNDUP Republicans are bracing for a backlash from Democrats over Congress' repeal of the FCC Privacy Rules, which the President signed on Monday night. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has already been running attack ads against members who are up for re-electiom next year and who supported the repeal of the privacy rules. These members include Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dean Heller of Nevada. Daniel Strauss, Zack Kopplin, John Farrell, Jeff Greenfield, David Sliders, Alex Byers, Austin Wright, and Martin Matishak cover this in Politico.   At least one state, however, is developing its own set of privacy rules. The state of Minnesota passed its own privacy bill last week. The FCC's net neutrality rules are expected to be on the chopping block next. -- Wikileaks has struck again, this time releasing details about the CIA's Marble Framework, which shows how the CIA obfuscates itself when it is surveilling targets. This leak is considered to be especially damaging because it demonstrates how the CIA is able to mask its identity and cover its tracks when it conducts online surveillance. Ellen Nakishima reports in The Washington Post. -- Federal Law enforcement officials now say terrorists have figured out how to hide bombs in laptops and other devices in a way that evades airport screeners. So authorities are now considering expanding the device ban the White House began implementing a couple of weeks ago. Evan Perez reports for CNN. -- The once-thriving White House Office of Science and Technology Policy--OSTP--which was active under the Obama administration and staffed with elite Silicon Valley insiders and technologists, is now a ghost town. Michael Shear and Cecilia Kang report for The New York Times that the office is down from 24 to just 1 staffer. -- In another blow to the affordable internet access program known as Lifeline, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said last week that he would allow states to decide which companies can participate to dole out discounts to help low-income people afford broadband. The decision came a few months after Pai announced he'd cut 9 companies from the program. Now, in a shift, he doesn't think the federal government should be involved in providing broadband to the poor at all via the Lifeline program. Ali Breland reports in the Hill. -- Finally, Rebecca Ballhaus at the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House has stopped keeping visitor logs. Under the Obama administration, the log was freely shared with the public online.

Faiza Patel (@FaizaPatelBCJ) serves as co-director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program. She has testified before Congress opposing the dragnet surveillance of Muslims, organized advocacy efforts against state laws designed to incite fear of Islam, and developed legislation creating an independent Inspector General for the NYPD. Ms. Patel is the author of five reports: Rethinking Radicalization (2011); A Proposal for an NYPD Inspector General (2012); Foreign Law Bans (2013); What Went Wrong with the FISA Court (2015); and Overseas Surveillance in an Interconnected World (2016). She is a frequent commentator on national security and counterterrorism issues for media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Guardian, MSNBC, Al-Jazeera, NPR, the New York Daily News, and the National Law Journal and has published widely in academic outlets as well. Before joining the Brennan Center, Ms. Patel worked as a senior policy officer at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, and clerked for Judge Sidhwa at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Born and raised in Pakistan, Ms. Patel is a graduate of Harvard College and the NYU School of Law. In this episode, we discussed: a comparison of candidate Donald Trump's proposals to surveil Muslims to President Trump's policies. a description of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program and its prospects under the Trump administration. the Fourth Amendment implications of police surveillance issues on the local level that potentially impact innocent civilians within the United States. Resources: Brennan Center for Justice Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama NEWS ROUNDUP The U.S. Senate passed a resolution last week by a vote of 50-48 to overturn the FCC's ISP privacy rules. The rules were designed to prevent ISPs from using sensitive data about their subscribers for the companies' own commercial purposes. Ali Breland and Harper Neidig have the story in The Hill. -- Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law who is also a senior advisor to the president, will lead a new White House Office of American Innovation which, the President says, is indented as a sort of SWAT team that will seek to apply solutions from the world of business to the world of government. The new office will focus in things like Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure plan, which includes a broadband buildout component, as well as modernizing the federal government's technology and improving government operations. Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker report in the Washington Post. -- The Trump administration issued a ban of electronic devices on flights coming from 8 countries including Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The UK followed up with a similar ban. Authorities suspect a plot to bring down a plane with explosives hidden in an iPad, according sources cited by Ewen Macaskill in The Guardian. -- Google has been battling over the past week to prevent ads from showing up adjacent to hateful and offensive content. The glitch led major advertisers to withdraw spots from YouTube. AT&T and Verizon were among the companies that pulled their advetising from the platform. Google responded by giving advertisers greater control over where their ads appear. Google's Chief Business Officer Phillipp Schindler also apologized. But reports of ads placed next to offensive content were still coming in as of Monday. Mark Scott reports in The New York Times. -- Apple has succeeded in persuading a Chinese Court that its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus don't infringe the patents of Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services, a now-defunct Chinese smartphone manufacturer. If the patent infringement decision against Apple had been upheld, it was seen as threatening to Apple which is under intense competition in China. But Baili is expected to appeal. Eva Dou and Yang Jie report in the Wall Street Journal. -- Mark Bergen and Eric Newcomer reported in Bloomberg that an accident in Tempe has prompted Uber to suspend its autonomous vehicle tests in Arizona. According to police, Uber was not at fault and no injuries resulted from the accident. -- A New York attorney named David Thompson has discovered via a Freedom of Information Act request that on over 400 occasions between 2011 and 2013, the New York City Police Department deployed officers to videotape or surveil activities of Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter protesters. Importantly, the NYPD was unable to produce documentation showing the surveillance was authorized by a judge or higher ups within the NYPD. George Joseph has the story in the Verge. -- Aida Chavez of the Hill covered a House Oversight hearing last week in which lawmakers grilled witnesses from the FBI about how they use facial recognition technology. Lawmakers were highly concerned about the impact the FBI's facial recognition database would have on communities of color as well as the public in general -- The FCC voted unanimously Thursday to clamp down on robocalls. The National Do Not Call list has failed to prevent robocalls. Phone companies will now themselves be permitted to identify numbers associated with robocalls and block the calls from ever reaching their customers.

The man who viciously attacked long-time New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald back in December has finally been arrested, according to Cecilia Kang at The New York Times. The FBI picked up twenty-nine year old John Rivello of Salisbury, Md. on Friday for sending Eichenwald, who suffers from seizures, an electronic file containing strobe lights and bearing the words "you deserve a seizure for your posts". Eichenwald did in fact suffer a seizure. Rivello now faces a possible 10 year sentence if he is convicted of criminal cyberstalking with the intent to kill or cause bodily harm. -- President Trump is sticking to his guns, but no one in Congress has been able to find any evidence that former President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. The Republican Senator Richard Burr who Chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee and Democratic Vice Chair Mark Warner issued the following statement last week: “Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016."  House Intelligence Chair David Nunes issued a similar statement, saying that President Trump's tweet shouldn't be taken literally.On Monday, FBI Director James Comey testified before a House panel that the FBI has found no evidence that former President Obama wiretapped Trump tower. -- A county judge in Minnesota has issued a warrant requiring Google to reveal who searched the name of a victim of financial fraud. The victim's image was used to obtain a fake passport to trick a credit union to transfer $28,500 out of an account. Minneapolis police say the victim's image was clicked on in the search. David Kravets has the story in Ars. -- Greg Besinger at the Wall Street Journal reports that Uber is trying to prevent their drivers from unionizing in Seattle. The effort to unionize is supported by the Teamsters and the Seattle City Council. Uber has allegedly been trying to get drivers not to unionize via company podcasts, text messages and phone surveys. It's a complex case that the Communications Workers of America is also involved in. Uber has threatened to leave Seattle if the unionization effort succeeds. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is also trying to prevent the drivers from organizing, and the chamber has sued the Seattle City Council for an ordinance it passed in 2015 that gave drivers the right to vote on whether to form a union. -- FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai is urging Congress and the White House to include broadband buildout within the infrastructure bill. He says infrastructure spending should prioritize rural areas and be paid for via the Universal Service Fund. Maggie Reardon has the story in CNET. -- The City of New York is suing Verizon because it says the company failed to deliver on a 2008 agreement to provide broadband to every single home in the city. But the company, though its GC Craig Silliman, said the company has already spent $3.7 billion to place fiber throughout the city and that the fiber passes every home in the city. Patrick McGeehan has the story int he New York Times. -- CA Technologies, the technology firm and government contractor, will pay a $45 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by a former whistleblower employee alleging that the company failed to inform the the General Services Administration that certain discounts were available. The former employee, who filed the lawsuit under the False Claims Act, will receive $10.92 million of the settlement. Evan Fallor has the story in FedScoop. -- Ride-hailing company Lyft, Inc.  is now on the hook to pay $27 million to drivers who filed a class-action lawsuit on federal court to change their classification from independent contractors to employees. The settlement will be paid to the  drivers, however they will remain classified as independent contractors. -- The European Commission--which is the executive arm of the European Union--has given the greenlight to the $85 billion AT&T/Time Warner merger. The merger is still working its way through the regulatory approval process in the U.S. -- Finally, President Trump has released  draft budget which includes $61 million to fight cybercrime and encryption plus $1.5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security. Joseph Marks has the story in Nextgov. Stay with us.

Dr. Christopher Hooton (@Hooton_Chris) is the Chief Economist at the Internet Association, which represents the interests of the world's leading Internet companies in the advancement of public policy solutions to strengthen and protect Internet freedom, foster innovation and economic growth, and empower users.  He is an economist and policy expert specializing in economic development, urban economics, spatial analysis, and evaluation. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank as well as other leading international organizations and was formerly a Lecturer at the Social Science Research Methods Centre University of Cambridge. His work has been featured in several international news organizations including the Financial Times, Reuters, the Financial Post, the Huffington Post, and more.  Chris is a graduate of University of Miami, earned a Masters degree from the London School of Economics, and received a PhD in economic development from the University of Cambridge.   In this episode, we discussed: the size of the internet economy in the U.S. and abroad.  how various sub-sectors, industries and activities might be more accurately classified under the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) to more accurately reflect the influence of the internet. Resources Refreshing Our Understanding of the Internet Economy by Christopher Hooton (Internet Association, 2017) Observance by Christopher Hooton (2017) ChrisHooton.com News Roundup Wikileaks last weak released a trove of CIA documents in what the New York Times said appears to be the largest C.I.A. document leak in the agency's history. The hack revealed information regarding the C.I.A.'s ability to hack into things like Smart TVs, and even Apple iPhones, which are widely considered the gold standard of device encryption. The leak also revealed that the agency has the ability to read messages sent via encrypted messaging apps, such as Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp, simply by intercepting them before they are encrypted. The leaks did not reveal information on what the C.I.A. is doing to conduct surveillance of other nations. Check out full coverage in The New York Times. -- Facebook has announced that it will no longer allow anyone to access its data, including the police, for the purpose of surveillance. However, the company will continue to allow the police to use the platform and assisting law enforcement on a case-by-case basis. But some advocates say the changes don't go far enough.  Elizabeth Dwoskin has the story in the Washington Post. -- Trump revised his ban on immigrants from majority-Muslim countries last week. The revised version exempts permanent U.S. residents, dual nationals and those already living in the U.S. as refugees or who have been granted asylum. The revised measure was met with condemnation from the tech sector, by Uber, Lyft and Airbnb. Nick Statt has the story in The Verge. -- The Securities and Exchange Commission has denied an application for what would have been an exchange for the digital currency Bitcoin. The Commission found that the coin is not sufficiently regulated around the world to justify setting up the exchange, which was to be called Bitcoin Trust. Dave Michaels and Paul Vigna have the story in the Wall Street Journal. -- The FCC is also investigating a 911 outage that prevented AT&T customers from dialing 911. AT&T did not indicate how widespread the outage was. Harper Neidig has the story in the Hill. -- A new report written by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and Connect Your Community accuses AT&T of deliberately failing to build out broadband to low-income communities in Cleveland. The report analyzes data AT&T submitted to the FCC which shows robust high speed internet service in suburban areas and sparse build out in low-income areas. -- A Morning Consult/Politico poll found a growing number of Americans now believe Russia did in fact interfere with the 2016 election. Forty-one percent now believe Russia influenced the results, up 9 percentage points from December. -- President Trump has nominated FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for another term. It's a five-year term that requires Senate approval. If confirmed, Pai's Chairmanship would be retroactive to July 1st, 2016, which was when Pai's term as Commissioner expired. Pai has remained on board though because FCC rules allow Commissioners to keep their jobs for 18 months past the expiration of their term. Trump appointed Pai Chairman after Pai officially endorsed Trump's nomination of Jeff Session for Attorney General. Prior to announcing the nomination, Trump and Pai had a closed door meeting. The Electronic Privacy and Information Center swiftly responded with a FOIA request to obtain details about that meeting. -- Neither Ajit Pai nor the Republican-controlled Congress are fans of the FCC's internet sevice provider privacy rules passed under previous FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. But Ajit Pai stated last week at a Senate hearing, in a departure from the Republican line, that the FCC would still be obligated to protect consumers' privacy even if Congress eliminates the privacy rules. A measure to eliminate the privacy rules using the Congressional Review Act has the support of 23 Republican co-sponsors. --   The National Science Foundation has pledged $100 million for tech hubs focused on 5G wireless. The initiative is called the Platform for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) and will be led by NSF and Northeastern University.  

Sander van der Linden, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor (University Lecturer) in Social Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, where he is also a Fellow in Psychological and Behavioral Sciences at Churchill College. Other academic affiliations include the Yale Center for Environmental Communication at Yale University. At Cambridge, Dr. van der Linden lectures mainly in statistics and social psychology.  Dr. van der Linden's research has received awards from institutions such as the American Psychological Association (APA), the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) and the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP). He was nominated by Pacific Standard Magazine as one of the "top thinkers under 30" and his work has been widely publicized in the media, including outlets such as Time Magazine, the Washington Post, NPR, the BBC, and the New York Times. Prior to Cambridge, van der Linden directed the Social and Environmental Decision-Making (SED) Lab in the Department of Psychology and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton University and was a visiting scholar (2012-2014) at Yale University. He received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). In this episode, we discussed: How users can be scientifically inoculated to reject fake fews. Resources: The Cambridge Social Decision Making Lab The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis NEWS ROUND UP You've heard by now that Trump claimed, with no evidence, on Twitter over the weekend that Obama wiretapped his office in Trump Tower. Not only did Obama deny it through a spokesperson, former Director of National Security Director James Clapper said he too can deny the wiretaps. Current FBI Director James Comey was also said to have rejected the assertions in Trump's tweets, which President Trump was said to have not accepted, putting the two men at odds. The White House has asked Congress to investigate whether his office was indeed wiretapped. So what gave Trump the idea that his office had been wiretapped? No one knows. -- The Senate confirmed Rick Perry as Energy Secretary. The former Texas governor once vowed to abolish the department he will now lead. -- Google has announced that it will be launching a $35/month broadcast tv streaming service that will carry ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as several cable networks including ESPN, FX, Fox News and MSNBC. -- Several tech companies filed a joint amicus brief before the Supreme Court in support of a transgender student in Virginia who is challenging the Glouchester County School board for for not letting him use the boy's restroom. IBM, Slack, Lyft, Yahoo, Tumblr and Salesforce all signed the brief. Google, Facebook and Uber, though, sat this one out.  But the Supreme Court ended up sending the case back down to the lower court because the Trump White House rescinded an Obama-era progressive interpretation of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of sex. -- Snapchat surged 44% after its IPO last week. The stock was introduced at $17 a share on Thursday and closed that day at $24.48. -- The Senate confirmed Wilber Ross as Commerce Secretary with a vote of  72-27. The 79-year old billionaire earned his wealth rehabilitating steel companies. Democrat Bill Nelson supported Ross' nomination, but other Democratic Senators including New Jersey's Corey Booker and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren question Ross' ties with Russia. -- The FCC put a halt on data security regulations that would have required ISPs to protect their customers from hackers. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said privacy is more properly handled by the Federal Trade Commission. -- Vice President Mike Pence caught some heat last week for using a private, consumer email account to conduct official state business when he served as Governor of Indiana. Pence had criticized Hillary Clinton throughout the campaign for using a private email server. Pence's email was via AOL. But Indiana law still requires state business communications to be preserved. In fact, Pence's emails were indeed hacked last summer, according sources cited in IndyStar. --   The Trump administration has decided it is going to slow processing of H1B visas for specialized workers. Many companies in the technology sector rely on H1B visas to recruit highly-skilled labor from abroad. Currently, companies can opt for premium processing of H1B visa applications which cuts the processing time down from several months, to as few as 15 days. But beginning on April 3rd, U.S. Citizenship and Naturalization services will suspend premium processing for up to 6 months. -- Sprint has won $139.8 million in damages in its patent lawsuit against Time Warner Cable. The jury in the U.S. District Court of the District of Kansas found Time Warner Cable to have violated Sprint's Voice over IP patents. The jury also found Time Warner Cable's infringement of Sprint's patents was willful, which means the judge could triple the damage award. -- The European Union Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova has warned the United States that if it doesn't comply with the terms of the Privacy Shield, the European Union may pull out of it, which would be catastrophic for the tech sector. The long-fought over Privacy Shield is designed to ensure data flows seemlessly between the U.S. and Europe, while at the same time protecting European Citizens' privacy. Jourova is expected to come to the U.S. to meet with the Trump administration at the end of March. She indicated that she would not hesitate to suspend the Privacy Shield if Eurpeans' privacy is put too much at risk by the unpredictable Trump administration. -- The FCC issued an emergency order last week to help law enforcement identify individuals calling in bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers around the country.  The emergency order waives rules that ordinarily prevent carriers from disclosing the identity of callers who have requested anonymity. The waiver only applies to calls to Jewish Community Centers. -- Finally, Trump has withdrawn the re-nomination of former FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. The previous Senate had let her confirmation lapse, prompting Obama to re-nominate her. Now it looks like Rosenworcel has no chance of returning to the FCC, which is missing 2 commissioners. Rosenworcel had bipartisan support, including  a lukewarm endorsement from Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Thune who said he supported Rosenworcel, but said the decision should be left to the president.

Taylor Moore (TayMoore_CDT) is the Center for Democracy & Technology's (CDT) Free Expression Fellow. Her work focuses on preserving the Internet as a global platform for speech and association, democratic accountability, the free exchange of information and ideas, and the freedom of thought.She previously served as the Google Policy Fellow for Public Knowledge, where she was involved in advocacy work related to net neutrality, intellectual property, and internet governance. Taylor also served as the fellow for the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice, where she supported new paradigms for the creation, management, and exploitation of knowledge resources, and worked within a wide spectrum of IP stakeholders. Before graduating from Howard University School of Law, she worked as a law clerk for Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at the FCC and the American Civil Liberties Union. In this episode, we discussed: the social justice and civil rights implications of fake news. how algorithms affect the way social media companies moderate content. how citizens can stop the spread of fake news. Resources: Center for Democracy & Technology How Algorithms Can Impact Civil Rights Movements blog post by Taylor Moore (CDT, 2017) Many Americans Believe Fake News is Sowing Confusion by Michael Barthel, Amy Mitchell, and Jesse Holcomb (Pew, 2016) The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney (Ecco, 2016) A Gentleman of Moscow by Amor Towles (Viking, 2016) NEWS ROUNDUP Google announced number of public interest research and initiatives last week. The Google subsidiary Jigsaw has developed, along with the help of The New York Times, a new app that allows site operators to weed out hate speech and other harmful speech in comment sections. The app is called Perspective and is available for free for a limited time. Google.org also announced last week that the company is investing $11.5 million in 10 organizations focused on racial justice. Five million will go to the Center for Policing Equity in New York, a think tank focused on research around how to improve interactions between the police and their communities. Also, a Google team in collaboration with a Dutch research team, cracked the cryptographic technology known as SHA-1, which has long been central to internet security. For full reports on these stories, check out Daisuke Wakabayashi's story in the New York Times, Sara O'Brien at CNNTech, and Robert McMillan at the Wall Street Journal. -- In November of 2015, in Bentonville, Arkansas, Victor Collins was found dead, lying face-up in a hot tub belonging to a man named James Andrew Bates. Bates has an Amazon Echo,  speaker that hooks up to a Alexa, a digital personal assistant that accepts voice commands. Now, Bates is the suspect, and the police want Amazon to release records of Bates' Echo comnunications. Amazon is challenging the warrant, saying that being forced to turn over those communications would violate Bates' First Amendment rights. Ashley Carman has the story in The Verge. -- Kara Swisher reported for Recode that Salesforce has joined Apple and Google in opposing Donald Trump's repeal of federal guidelines regarding transgender bathroom use in public schools. -- On Valentines Day, Free Press delivered 200,000 petitions from its members asking the FCC to defend net neutrality. But last week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai demonstrated that their love is unrequited, begnning what he promised: taking what he termed a "weed whacker" to the net neutrality rules. In a 2-1 vote along party lines, the FCC ruled that it would go ahead and exempt net neutrality reporting requirements regarding fees and data caps for broadband providers with fewer than 250,00 subscribers. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn noted that smaller ISPs owned by larger carriers with billions of dollars in capital would also be exempted. Ali Breland has the story in the Hill, as well as Jon Brodkin in Ars Technica. -- Despite the Trump administration's crack down immigration from majority-Muslim countries as well as Mexico, the FCC's Media Bureau gave two Australian citizens 100% ownership in radio stations licensed in America. Just last month, foreign owners were only allowed to own 49% of Univision, up to 40% of which would be by Mexico-based Televisa. Jon Eggerton has the story in Broadcasting & Cable. -- Cox Communications and the American Library Association announced last week that they will be teaming up to provide enhanced digital literacy training for K-12 students in Cox's 18-state footprint. -- Remember back in December when the FBI figured out how to hack into the iPhone of one of the San Bernadino shooters, thus bypassing Apple's refusal to do it? Well, the Associated Press, Vice Media and Gannett have now submitted a court filing asking the judge to require the FBI and Justice Department to disclose which third party they worked with or how much it cost, which the agencies have thus far refused to do. Eric Tucker has the story in the Associated Press.

Helen Nissenbaum (@HNissenbaum) is on the faculty if Cornell Tech, on leave from NYU where she Professor of Media, Culture and Communication and Director of the Information Law Institute. Her eight books include Obfuscation: A User's Guide for Privacy and Protest, with Finn Brunton (MIT Press, 2015), Values at Play in Digital Games, with Mary Flanagan (MIT Press, 2014), and Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life (Stanford, 2010). Her research has been published in journals of philosophy, politics, law, media studies, information studies, and computer science. Grants from the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator have supported her work on privacy, trust online, and security, as well as studies of values embodied in design, search engines, digital games, facial recognition technology, and health information systems. Recipient of the 2014 Barwise Prize of the American Philosophical Association, Prof. Nissenbaum has contributed to privacy-enhancing software, including TrackMeNot (for protecting against profiling based on Web search) and AdNauseam (protecting against profiling based on ad clicks). Both are free and freely available. Nissenbaum holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University and a B.A. (Hons) from the University of the Witwatersrand. Before joining the faculty at NYU, she served as Associate Director of the Center for Human Values at Princeton University. In this episode, we discussed: the commercial and political contexts that animate policy discussion around privacy. the means by which citizens may use technology to obfuscate their lawful online activity and activism. points of alignment between consumer privacy advocates and the tech sector. policy recommendations. Resources: Cornell Tech NYU Steinhardt Department of Media, Culture and Communication Obfuscation: A User's Guide for Privacy and Protest by Finn Brunton and Helen Nissenbaum (MIT, 2016) The Crooked Timber of Humanity by Isaiah Berlin (Princeton, 2013) Ad Nauseum TrackMeNot   NEWS ROUNDUP Republican California Representative David Nunes, who is Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which has been investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election, has said he'd like to know why the FBI recorded former national security advisor Michael Flynn's conversations with the Russian ambassador in the first place. He said it was an invasion of Flynn's privacy. Trump forced Flynn to resign two weeks ago, after it was revealed that Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about Flynn's contacts with Russian officials days before the election. Trump himself did not inform Pence about Flynn's conversations until at least 2 weeks after Trump knew about them, according to the Washington Post. House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chafetz also said his committee had no plans to conduct a further investigation. Mike Debonis has the story in the Washington Post.  Politico reports that conservatives worried about leaks from federal employees have asked federal agencies to look into employees' use of the encrypted data app Signal. -- Amidst intense competition from T-Mobile and Sprint which have long offered unlimited data plans, Verizon will now itself offer unlimited data once again. Verizon had stopped offering unlimited data in 2011. -- The Chief of Samsung Group was arrested last week in South Korea. Forty-eight year old Jay Y. Lee, a member of South Korea's richest family,  is accused bribing individuals connected with South Korean President Park Geun Hye, who was impeached in December on corruption charges. Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee cover this in Reuters. -- Amid increased cyber warfare, Microsoft President Brad Smith is calling for a "digital Geneva Convention". At the RSA security conference last week, Smith noted “Let’s face it, cyberspace is the new battlefield." Smith said the convention should define rules of engagement, such as rules under which nation's would pledge not to disrupt civilian infrastructure. Elizabeth Weise covers this in USA Today. -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a 5,800 word missive last week in which he took a stand in support of globalization and Facebook's role in it. The wave of nationalism that has swept the Western world has prompted a debate about the merits of globalization. Mike Isaac has the story in The New York Times. -- Snapchat set its valuation between $19.5 and $22 billion ahead of its long-anticipated IPO. In that range, it would be the largest IPO since Alibaba's in 2014. -- At the RSA conference last week, Assistant FBI Director Scott Smith said the federal law enforcement agency will be ramping up its use of predictive policing technology. Smith said, "It’s where we are moving, and hope to go when you talk about predicting as opposed to proactive and reactive. Reactive is consistently where we have been, proactive means we’re really trying to get ahead of it. But predictive is where we want to be. And that’s where I know FBI Cyber Division is strongly moving towards as we speak ..." Catch Chris Bing's full story is in FedScoop. -- Finally, Senator Orrin Hatch--Utah Republican and head of the Republican High Tech Task Force--offered up his tech agenda last week. The agenda targets H1B visa reform and improving cross-border digital trade. Hatch also supports the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which passed the House earlier this month, which would require law enforcement officials to obtain search warrants for emails. Hatch's plan was praised by tech sector leaders, including Consumer Technology Association president Gary Shapiro. Alexis Kramer has more at Bloomberg BNA.

Harold Feld (@haroldfeld)  is Public Knowledge's Senior Vice President. Before becoming Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge, Harold worked as Senior Vice President of Media Access Project, advocating for the public interest in media, telecommunications, and technology policy for almost 10 years. Prior to joining MAP, Harold was an associate at Covington & Burling, worked on Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, and accountability issues at the Department of Energy, and clerked for the D.C. Court of Appeals. He received his B.A. from Princeton University, and his J.D. from Boston University Law School. Harold also writes Tales of the Sausage Factory, a progressive blog on media and telecom policy. In 2007, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin praised him and his blog for "[doing] a lot of great work helping people understand how FCC decisions affect people and communities on the ground." In this episode, we discussed: early trends from the Ajit Pai FCC. what to expect on FCC reform from the 115th Congress. where consumer advocates and the Trump administration can find common ground. Resources Public Knowledge Slack The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith The Federalist Papers   NEWS ROUNDUP The Federal Trade Commission found last week that Vizio--the TV manufacturer--has been spying on its 11 million customers. The company had apparently been collecting and selling customers' locations, demographics and viewing habits. Vizio will now have to pay a $2.2 million settlement to the FTC and New Jersey Attorney General's office.  Hayley Tsukayama covers this in the Washington Post.--The Department of Homeland Security is considering requiring refugees and other immigrants from the 7 Muslim Ban countries to turn over their social media usernames and passwords before entering the United States. DHS Secretary John Kelly made the announcement last week before the House Committee on Homeland Security. But of course a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling last week which blocked the President's ban on refugees entering the country. Next steps include possible appeals to the full 9th Circuit, or to the U.S. Supreme Court. David Kravets has the story in Ars Technica.--The White House mysteriously let go its Chief Information Security Officer, Cory Louie, last week. Louie, who is Asian, had been appointed to the position by former President Obama and was one of the few minorities on Trump's staff. Check out Zack Whittaker's coverage in ZD Net.--A federal grand jury has indicted the National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing highly sensitive materials from the United States government, which he then collected at his Maryland home. Harold Thomas Martin faces up to 200 years in prison if convicted of all 20 criminal counts he has been charged with. Dustin Volz covers this for Reuters.--The House passed last week the Email Privacy Act, which would update existing law to require law enforcement to get a search warrant before asking technology companies for their users' emails. The bill is expected to get some resistance in the Senate. Dustin Volz has this story as well, in Reuters.--Benjamin Herold reports for Ed Week that the Ajit Pai FCC has rescinded a report the previous administration put out illustrating the success of the E-rate program. The E-rate program is a multi-billion dollar initiative designed to help schools and libraries access high speed internet service. Democratic leaders as well as consumer and tech advocates took Pai to task accusing Pai of paying lip service to the digital divide, while pursuing contradictory policies.--Finally, Amazon expressed serious concerns Friday about President Trump's "America First" agenda. The company said this more protectionist attitude has the potential to harm its business. Jeffrey Dastin has the story in Reuters.

John Breyault (@JammingEcono) is Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud at the National Consumers League (NCL). John’s focus at NCL is on advocating for stronger consumer protections before Congress and federal agencies on issues related to telecommunications, fraud, technology, and other consumer concerns. In addition, John manages NCL’s Fraud Center and coordinates the Alliance Against Fraud coalition. John is also Research Director for the Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC), a project of NCL. In his role with TRAC, John advocates on behalf of residential consumers of wireline, wireless, VoIP, and other IP-enabled communications services. John was a member of the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2007 and served on the Board of the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless. He is a graduate of George Mason University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in International Relations. In this episode, we discussed: top issues facing consumer advocates in the new administration. the risk of scaling back the FCC's privacy rules. Resources: National Consumers League (NCL) NEWS ROUNDUP The tech sector is hitting hard against the Trump administration's ostensibly temporary travel ban against 7 predominantly Muslim countries including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen . Ninety-seven companies including, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and even Levi Strauss filed an amicus brief on behalf of the State of Washington in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals late Sunday. The State of Washington is appealing to a 3 judge panel of the court to uphold the District Court's decision to halt the travel ban. Oral arguments in this case will take place Tuesday at 6PM. The brief is a culmination of a number of developments last week in the the growing resistance against the Trump administration's travel ban by the tech sector. Among them was Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's departure from Trump's economic advisory council.  The move follows major protests by tech employees, including Uber's employees, against Trump's Muslim travel ban, which the district court in San Francisco has temporarily suspended. Uber employees were wondering why Kalanick was still on Trump's advisory board. Two hundred thousand Uber users wondered the same thing, and deleted Uber's app from their phones. Kalanick sent a letter to Uber employees on Thursday announcing that he had quit Trump's advisory council.  Mike Isaac reports in The New York Times. Meanwhile, Tony Romm reports that Silicon Valley leaders are organizing against Trump. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus are among those leading the effort. They have set up organizations like Win the Future which will seek out progressive candidates for future elections.  Sam Altman from Y Combinator also set up a new site called Track Trump -- a running dashboard of the Trump administration's policy changes. -- So on the one hand, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is claiming he's going to be all about closing the so-called digital divide. He's announced small, closed-door meetings with organizations like the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and HTTP, he's created a broadband adoption advisory board ... but on the other, his policies, thus far, can't be much more against closing the digital divide.  In fact, the moves he's been making suggest he's going in the complete opposite direction. Take for example his decision last week telling 9 companies that they can't offer broadband pricing subsidies of $9.95 per month to the poor--a program otherwise known as the Lifeline program.  The decision states that the Wheeler FCC allowed these 9 companies to provide Lifeline subsidies at the last minute and that the new FCC needs more time to consider the waste, fraud and abuse concerns the Republican commissioners have about the program. -- A U.S. magistrate judge in Philadelphia has held that Google must comply with an FBI search warrant seeking access to emails stored on Google servers abroad. This departs from a decision in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last year holding that Microsoft did not have to comply with such a warrant. A Google spokesperson says the company will appeal. Jonathan Stempel has the story in Reuters.  -- FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has closed the set-top box proceeding. The proceeding, introduced under former Chairman Tom Wheeler, was intended to promote competition in the set-top box market by allowing consumers to choose to receive the programming they had already subscribed to on a set-top box of their choice, rather than being stuck with the one from their cable provider. Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee had asked Pai to close the proceeding on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Pai also explicitly stated at a press conference that he "favors an open Internet but opposes Title II."  The Chairman, however, would not answer as to whether the Commission would be enforcing the FCC's net neutrality rules, which were upheld in the DC Circuit last year. -- Finally, The commission also closed the zero-rating proceeding. The Wheeler FCC had begun an inquiry into carriers' zero-rating practices towards the end of its term. Zero rating, or so-called "sponsored data", plans are ones in which carriers offer access to their own preferred content without it counting against subscribers' data caps. But net neutrality advocates argue zero-rating is a back-door to violate the FCC's net neutrality rules.  For example, Sprint has announced it will be acquiring a 33% stake in Jay-Z's streaming music service, Tidal. Net neutrality advocates are worried about what this might mean for companies like Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music if Sprint turns Tidal into a zero-rated service--offering their customers music streaming without it counting against their data caps. Chris Brantner has the story in Motherboard and David Shepardson reports on this in Reuters.

Alexandria McBride is Director of Environment and Sustainability at ITI. Alexandria develops and advocates positions on domestic and international policies related to energy efficiency and environmental priorities. She currently serves on the Board for the Center of Diversity and the Environment and is the Chair of the NAACP-DC Climate and Environmental Justice Committee. Prior to ITI, Alexandria coordinated the re-launch of the Tishman Environment and Design Center, an academic hub based at The New School that utilizes design, policy and social justice approaches to solve pressing environmental issues. She was also a manager at The Engine Room, an international NGO using technology and data to support social and environmental causes. Alexandria was formerly the Chief Financial Officer at Groundswell, a D.C.-based nonprofit aimed at unlocking communities’ economic power to grow sustainability on the local level. As the CFO and Executive Management Team member, Alexandria oversaw the organization’s financial and operational functions and worked closely with program directors to identify and implement systems that improve the efficiency and quality of Groundswell’s impact. Prior to joining Groundswell, Alexandria served in multiple project and operational management roles at the ExxonMobil Environmental Services Company, where she helped steward environmental cleanup projects across the Mid-Atlantic. She also managed the transfer of environmental responsibility during ExxonMobil’s multimillion dollar divestment of properties in New York and New Jersey. In addition to this work, Alexandria was nominated to support ExxonMobil’s STEM education and diversity efforts. Alexandria holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environment from Howard University and a M.S. in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy.   In this episode, we discussed the top 3 environmental tech policy issues policymakers should be focusing on. a review of environmental legislation ITI is advocating for. how advocates can work most effectively with a potential Scott Pruitt Environmental Protection Agency. Resources ITI Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes News Roundup   Tech sector leaders reacted in strong opposition to Trump’s immigration ban on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries. The leaders of major tech companies cited not just the effect the ban would have on their bottom lines, but on what they personally felt. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said it is time for the nation to link arms and that the ban is un-American. Lyft CEO Logan Green said the ban runs counter to Lyft’s inclusive culture and said the ban conflicts with both Lyft and the nation’s core values. Google’s Sergey Brin, whose family fled Russia in 1979, participated in the protest at San Fracisco International Airport saying that he too is a refugee. The company also released statement. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg released a statement opposing the measure, as did Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who is an India-native. But President Trump has not budged, although Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham  -- both Republicans -- publically opposed the executive order on Monday. -- Journalists covering violent protests during Trump's inauguration parade were arrested and charged with felony rioting. Journalism advocates have been denouncing the charges. Jonah Engles Bromwich has the story in The New York Times. -- As late as Wednesday, Trump Senior Advisors Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon had active private email address on the Republican National Committee domain. While there is nothing illegal about using an RNC domain to keep political and state business separate--the George W. Bush administration was accused of using RNC domains to quote-unquote "lose" 22 million emails. And the Trump campaign of course accused Hillary Clinton of breaking the law when she used her own private email domain for official State Department Business. The RNC was also hacked into last summer, raising questions about the security of the RNC's email server. Nina Burleigh covers this for Newsweek. -- FBI Director James Comey will be staying on under Trump. Comey is 4 years into his 10-year term. Matt Zaptosky and Ellen Nakashima at the Washington Post note that it would be extremely unusual for a president to remove an FBI director, even though Comey is see by many in Washington to have interfered with the U.S. election by making public specious claims about Hillary Clinton's emails just 11 days before the election. -- The White House ordered the Environmental Protection Agency and Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Health and Human Services to stop making social media posts, blogging, and updating official content until getting approval from White House officials, according to a report by the New York Times' Coral Davenport. So-called black ops websites of the White House and the National Park Service, which claim to be operated by actual federal employees posting to Twitter anonymously, emerged following the order. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denies the White House gave any such directive.  The black ops Twitter handles include @RoguePOTUSStaff and @AltUSNatParkService. -- Russian officials have arrested on suspicion of treason a Russian cyberintelligence official whom Americans said oversaw hacks that interfered with the U.S. presidential election. It's not clear what Sergei Mikhailov, a senior officer of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B.,--basically the new KGB--actually did, but Andrew Kramer has the story in the New York Times. -- Verizon is reportedly making a bid for Charter Communications. Charter is valued at around $80 billion. Charter acquired Time Warner Cable last year. Shalani Ramchandran, Ryan Knutson and Dana Mattioli have the story in the Wall Street Journal. -- Finally, Brian Fung reports for the Washington Post that Trump has named Maureen Olhausen acting Federal Trade Commission Chair. Olhausen, a free-market Republican, has been with the agency since 201. Her term expires in 2018.

Carmen Scurato (@CarmenScurato) is Director of Policy and Legal Affairs at the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC). As a native of Puerto Rico, Carmen is a passionate advocate for policies that address the needs of the Latino community. Prior to joining NHMC, Carmen worked as a contractor for the Department of Justice and assisted in investigations alleging financial fraud against federal agencies and federal healthcare programs. Most notably, Carmen helped recoup millions of dollars in a national False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit alleging Medicare fraud. She also worked at the DOJ Office of Legislative Affairs on large document requests received from Congressional oversight committees. Carmen earned her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law where she was an Associate Editor for the Villanova Law Review and a Co-Chair of the Honor Board. She also participated in Lawyering Together, a pro bono program that pairs student with attorneys to assist low income clients with their legal needs. She worked closely with an attorney to foster open communication with the client by acting as a Spanish-to-English translator. Carmen received her B.A. cum laude from New York University where she majored in both History and Political Science. Her History Honor thesis was entitled Preserving the Puerto Rican Culture after 1898: The Realization of a National Culture in the Face of Americanization. In this episode, we discussed: the history and policy objectives of the Lifeline program and its prospects under the Trump administration. Resources: National Hispanic Media Coalition Microsoft OneNote Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead by Laszlo Bock The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis NEWS ROUNDUP   President Trump has officially named Ajit Pai as the 34th Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Pai has served as an FCC Commissioner since 2012, following stints as a Partner at Jenner & Block, and various roles at the FCC, Department of Justice, Senate Judiciary Committee and as an Associate General Counsel at Verizon. He clerked for Judge Martin Feldman in the Eastern District of Louisiana and is a graduate of Harvard and the University of Chicago Law School. Pai, a Republican from Kansas, has also endorsed Jeff Sessions for Attorney General. --   The Trump administration is planning to cut $741 million in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment of the Arts, according to a report by Christina Marcos (@cimarcos) in The Hill. The plan would be to abolish the NEH and NEA and privatize CPB. Conservatives have long opposed funding these programs because they have considered them to be too controversial and examples of unnecessary government spending. Donald Trump, however, has expressed support for arts education, and Vice President Pence received a Champion of Public Broadcasting award in 2014. -- Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica and John Eggerton at Multichannel News reported last week that the Trump transition team is considering an overhaul of the FCC which would remove "duplicative" functions within the agency, such as consumer protection, to other agencies, such as the FTC. Eggerton reports that the transition team has signed off on the approach. However, Jon Brodkin notes that any overhaul to the FCC would require Congressional approval. -- The Trump administration will be keeping U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Michelle Lee on board following speculation as to whether Director Lee would step down. The Obama appointee's views align with companies like Google which have been pushing for stronger policies to thwart patent trolls. Lee attended Stanford Law School at the same time as Trump supporter Peter Thiel. Ali Breland has the story in the Hill. -- Andrew Chung in Reuters reports that the Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by women who sued BackPage.com for child sexual abuse trafficking. The lower court had held that BackPage.com, which accepts classified ads from third parties, was shielded from liability under the Communications Decency Act  of 1996 which offers free speech protection for websites when others post unlawful content. The women allege that, starting at age 15, Backpage.com facilitated their engagement in forced, illegal sex transactions with pimps who advertised on Backpage.com. Backpage shut down its adult classifieds section two weeks ago following a Senate report showing evidence that supports the women's allegations. -- Before leaving office, former President Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning. Manning is a transgendered woman and former Army Soldier named Bradley Manning who has been serving a 35 year sentence in a male security prison for disclosing 750,000 pages in secret government documents to WikiLeaks. Manning also released a video showing a U.S. helicopter attacking civilians and journalists in Iraq in 2007. Manning's sentence will expire on May 17th. Unlike Edward Snowden who is living at a secret location in Moscow, the information Manning released was not considered Top Secret. Laura Jarrett has the story for CNN. -- A coalition of 77 social justice groups--including the Center for Media Justice, Color of Change and DailyKos--sent a letter to Facebook Director of Global Policy Joel Kaplan last week asking the company stop discriminating against posts made by Movement for Black Lives activists. The coalition wrote "Activists in the Movement for Black Lives have routinely reported the takedown of images discussing racism and during protests, with the justification that it violates Facebook’s Community Standards. At the same time, harassment and threats directed at activists based on their race, religion, and sexual orientation is thriving on Facebook. Many of these activists have reported such harassment and threats by users and pages on Facebook only to be told that they don’t violate Facebook’s Community Standards." -- The FCC concluded its auction of TV airwaves last week, securing just $18.2 billion in bids from wireless companies--far short of $66 billion the Commission had hoped to raise. -- Before leaving the FCC Chairmanship to join the Aspen Institute, Tom Wheeler accused AT&T and Verizon of violating the net neutrality rules with their so-called "zero-rating" programs which allow customers to access preferred content without affecting their data caps. But FCC Chair Ajit Pai issued a release calling the FCC's report a "regulatory spasm" and saying the issue will be dropped under Trump. -- Finally, Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez has announced her resignation. She will leave the agency effective February 10th. Ramirez has served at the agency since 2010 and became Chairwoman in 2013.    

Tiffany Cross (@tifcrossmyheart) is brings 20 years of relationships, outreach, and storytelling to The Beat, Washington's inclusive political pulse.  Having spent significant time working in newsrooms, covering Capitol Hill, managing in-house corporate public affairs, working on campaigns, and navigating communities of color, she brings a unique set of skills that casts a wide net of influence. Understanding the intersection of press, partnerships, politics, and policy, Tiffany has a proven record of excellent relationships in the private and public sectors, media, the entertainment industry, and civic and social justice organizations.  Most recently, Tiffany served as a Senior Advisor for the National Education Association (NEA)  and its three million members. In this capacity, she liaised with the public sector, traditional and niche media markets, constituency groups, and civic and social justice organizations. She worked with NEA leadership on branding and positioning and was responsible for forging strategic partnerships, internal and external messaging, conducting scans on grassroots and grasstop organizations, and engaging communities in bilateral conversations on education, labor, and civic and social justice issues.  Before joining the NEA, Tiffany served as the Manager of News & Public Affairs and the Liaison to the Executive Branch for Black Entertainment Television (BET) Networks. Her work at BET included coordinating with the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention in 2008, executing the network’s participation in the 2008 Presidential election, brand enhancement for the network, and advising on BET’s political and social agenda.  Tiffany’s broad experience includes guest booking for CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz, covering Capitol Hill for Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, and working as an Associate Producer for Capital Gang. She was also a former Producer at America’s Most Wanted and Director of Communications for Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies where she worked on the Obama for America Presidential Campaign and secured high-level visibility for company president Cornell Belcher. In this episode, we discussed: how Tiffany's personal journey has informed her approach to creating value for her network. Tiffany's key strategies and mindset hacks for building powerful professional relationships in Washington.  how 'The Beat' is helping policy professionals in Washington stay on top of what's happening and find relevant networking opportunities.     Resources: The Beat (send news leads to: info@thebeatdc.com) The Raben Group Task Rabbit The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver   NEWS ROUNDUP Donald Trump named former New York City Mayor and early Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani as an informal cybersecurity advisor. He'll head the President-elect's cybersecurity working group. Abby Phillip in the Washington Post writes that, since leaving the New York City Mayorship, Giuliani has started his own cybersecurity consulting firm-Giuliani Partners. Now a bunch of people are saying, "What the hell does Guiliani know about cybsecurity?" Well, Motherboard's Jason Koebler and Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai looked into it and found some folks familiar with Giuliani and Partners' work ... It turns out their expertise is more along the lines of telling companies how to legally cover their asses if they're the victim of  cyberbreach, as opposed to advising on actual cybersecurity solutions. So it's looking like this job is more of a thank you for to Giuliani for his help during the campaign. It also turns out, as Rob Price at Business Insider found, that Giuliani's company website--giulianisecurity.com--is replete with vulnerabilities. -- You've heard all about Trump's dossier--people calling him PEEOTUS and things like that on Twitter, so we won't go into all the details on that--especially since the dossier is still largely unsubstantiated. But Scott Shane put together a nice summary just in case you don't want to sit there all day trying to figure out what's going on with this. Basically, this all started when the Republicans retained a company called Fusion GPS to look into Trump to figure out how to hurt him politically. Then, when it turned out he was going to be the Republican nominee, the Clinton campaign took over and retained Fusion to continue the investigation. The dossier has been floating around Washington for quite sometime, but the President and President-elect were briefed on it, and  that's when it made its way to the public via BuzzFeed and other sites. Mr. Trump says the entire dossier is a total fabrication. But if it's a total fabrication--it's pretty detailed, so someone must have had a lot of time on their hands. In any case, the FBI is investigating the claims ... although no one knows if Trump will authorize that investigation to continue. Some are also wondering why FBI Director James Comey was so interested in Hillary Clinton's email but not this. So this issue isn't going away anytime soon, basically, is the takeaway here. -- Matt Hamilton at the LA Times reports that BackPage--the classified ad website -- shut down its adult section last week after the U.S. Senate released a scathing report accusing the company of hiding targeted search terms related to prostitution and child abuse. BackPage Founders Michael Lacey and and James Larkin were scheduled to testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland and Governmental Affairs' subcommittee on investigations. The committee's report alleges that its review of some 1.1 million documents revealed evidence that the company facilitated sex trafficking and child abuse. Testimony from a BackPage site moderator seems to show the company actively removed search terms so they wouldn't lose ad revenue, but still keep the ads posted without actively promoting crimes. But BackPage says it adheres to the the Communications Decency Act which provides immunity to websites that host content by third parties. The company also claimed the government investigation was an violation of its First Amendment Rights One children's advocate--Lois Lee--founder of Children of the Night--even said the site has actually helped law enforcement identify predators and locate missing children. But Senators Bob Portman--the Republican from Ohio and as Democratic Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill--both of who led the bi-partisan investigation-- say BackPages's decision to shut down the adult section shows how damning the evidence they uncovered was.   -- Congress has selected its leadership for its communications and tech-related committees. Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Tune announced that Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker will lead the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Greg Walden announced Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, who opposes net neutrality and prevented efforts to build municipal broadband networks, will lead the House Communications and Technology subcommittee. Jon Brodkin reports in Ars Technica. -- Aaron Smith at Pew reports that a record number of Americans have smartphones and access to broadband at home. Seventy-seven percent of Americans have smartphones, with explosive growth among adults over age 50. Americans with access to broadband at home increased 6 points to 73%. Also, Seventy percent of Americans use social media and half own a tablet. -- iPhone app purchasers may sue Apple for not allowing them to purchase apps outside of the Apple store, according to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, overturning the lower court's ruling. The decision doesn't affect the merits of the case brought against Apple, but if the plaintiff's win, it could open the door for more competition in the app market. Stephen Nells and Dan Levine have the story in Reuters. -- The independent prosecutor in South Korea investigating the corruption scandal that has led to the suspension of the country's first female president -- Park Geun-hye -- has asked a local court to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae--yong--the head of Samsung. The prosecutors allege Lee used corporate money to bribe Park for favors. The court is expected to review the request on Wednesday. Anna Fifield has more at the Washington Post.  -- Finally, The Email Privacy Act is alive again, after passing unanimously in the House and dying in the Senate last year. The bill would require authorities to get warrants for emails as well as social media data, including data older than 180 days. It would also allow providers to notify their customers that their information was requested. The bill was introduced by Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.). John Eggerton has the story in Multichannel News. 

Debra Berlyn (@dberlyn) is the Executive Director of The Project to Get Older Adults onLine (GOAL), and President of Consumer Policy Solutions. Debra is a seasoned veteran of telecommunications and consumer policy issues and an advocate for consumers of technology services. She represented AARP on the digital television transition and has worked closely with national aging organizations on several Internet issues, including online safety and privacy concerns. Prior to launching Consumer Policy Solutions, Debra was senior legislative representative in the Federal Affairs Department of AARP, responsible for all communications and energy matters. She advocated on behalf of the members of AARP before Congress, the federal agencies (FCC, FERC, FEC, Department of Energy, Department of Commerce), and the Administration. Ms. Berlyn has served as a faculty instructor with Boston University’s Washington Program. She received a B.A. from American University and a M.A. from Northwestern University. In this episode, we discussed: key barriers older adults face in getting online. how Lifeline can help improve older adults' access to technology. Resources: Project GOAL Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff NEWS ROUNDUP By now you've probably heard about the Director of National Intelligence report that came out last week which conclusively establishes that Vladimir Putin ordered a quote "influence campaign" to sway the election in favor of Donald Trump. But, as David Sanger notes in the Washington Post, there is no information in the declassified version of the report about how U.S. intelligence officials conducted their investigation. Trump, even after seeing a classified version of the report, still says the Obama Administration is engaging in a witch hunt, as does Vladimir Putin who calls the report amateurish. Here's the report. --  China's National Energy administration last week released its 3 -year, $360 billion plan to invest in renewable energy sources like solar and wind. On the other hand, President-elect Trump, who has expressed skepticism about climate change, appears to be headed in the opposite direction. China expects their effort to create as many as 13 million new jobs in China, as well as reduce the level of greenhouse gases China emits into the atmosphere. Here in the U.S., Trump has said the notion of human-caused climate change is a "hoax", threatened to dismantle the Paris Accord, and nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who is himself a human-caused climate change denier, to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Michael Forsythe has the story in the New York Times. -- Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson is calling for Uber to release its diversity numbers. In a letter to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, Jackson called on Uber to follow the lead of companies including Facebook, Google and Apple and do its part to "change the face of technology" by releasing its hiring data to the public. Melanie Zanona has the story in The Hill. -- Last week, NCTA -- The Internet & Television Association, which is the leading lobbying association representing cable companies like Charter, Comcast and Cox, opened a new front in its war against Obama-era telecom regulations by filing a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to overturn the consumer privacy rules the FCC issued last year. The rules are designed to prevent the industry from exploiting its vast stores of user data to favor its own content at the expense of edge providers like Netflix, Facebook and Google.  The telecom industry's fight against the Commission's 2015 net neutrality rules, which were upheld by a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last year, was already underway: the carriers are requesting a review by the full court. The telecom industry thinks the net neutrality and privacy rules give disproportionate protection to the tech sector. The tech sector argues that cable companies have access to far more user data and, if that market power is left unchecked, would give carriers monopoly power over both content and infrastructure.  Brian Fung has more in the Washington Post. -- The House has passed a bill that would allow Congress to repeal any rule President Obama passed during the last 6o legislative days of his administration. The bill had been approved by the previous Congress in November. The bill is basically the Select All+Delete of lawmaking: as Lydia Wheeler notes in the Hill, the bill would allow Congress to bundle together a whole bunch of rules and overturn them en masse with one vote.   The House also adopted rules last week which would prevent members from livestreaming sit-ins and other protests on the House floor. Members had been ignoring existing rules prohibiting members from taking any photos or videos on the House floor, but now there will be a $500 fine for the first offense and $2,500 for each offense thereafter. The new rule was passed in response to a sit in members, including John Lewis, livestreamed last year as a protest against Republicans' failure to consider gun control legislation. -- Gabriel Sherman reported in New York magazine that his sources told him that Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch is advising the Trump transition team on who should Chair the Federal Communications Commission once Tom Wheeler steps down. This alignment could impact how a Trump administration would treat the AT&T/Time Warner Merger --to which President-elect Trump has already expressed opposition -- since Murdoch is the Executive Chairman of News Corp, Executive Co-Chair of 20th Century Fox, and the Acting CEO of Fox News. Sherman notes that Fox News has already begun to double-down on its alignment with the incoming far-right administration by installing Tucker Carlson in the 7pm slot to replace Greta van Susteren. -- A new Pew Research analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data conducted by Monica Anderson shows African-American and Hispanic 12th graders are significantly less interested in math and science than their Asian and White counterparts. Overall, 71% of 12th graders surveyed agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "I like science." That's compared to 78% for Asians, 73% for Whites, 70% for Hispanics, and just 62% for Black students. An overwhelming number of Asian students actually want jobs in science, at 59%,  compared to just 39% of Black students, 40% of Hispanic students, and 45% of White students. -- Reuters reports that the U.S. Labor Department has sued Google to obtain its compensation data. The Labor Department claims the company has ignored repeated requests to submit the data as part of a routine Equal Opportunity compliance investigation which has been going on since 2015. A Google spokesperson said Google had repeatedly told Labor that the request was too broad in scope but didn't receive a response back from the Labor Department. -- On Christmas Eve in 2014, five-year-old Moriah Modisette died in a car crash. The other driver was allegedly using FaceTime immediately before impact. Now, Moriah's parents --James and Bethany Modisette -- are suing Apple in Texas for failing to include a mechanism that disables FaceTime during driving. The lawsuit points to one of Apple's patents. You can find this story at BBC.com. -- Finally, the White House has re-submitted the nomination of former FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel after Rosenworcel vacated her seat at the Commission in December because her term expired and Congress failed to re-confirm her for political reasons. Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Thune has said he is open to reconfirming Rosenworcel but not without a Republican Majority. Currently the Commission is comprised of two Republican (Ajit Pai--who endorsed Jeff Sessions' Attorney General nomination, and Michael O'Rielly) and one Democratic Commissioner--Mignon Clyburn.  

Tom Kamber (@thomaskamber) is the founder and executive director of OATS, where he has helped over 20,000 senior citizens get online, built more than 30 free technology centers, created the seniorplanet.org digital community, and launched the Senior Planet Exploration Center—the country’s first technology-themed community center for older adults. His work has been covered in major national media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, Univision, MSNBC, and the TODAY Show. Tom is active in shaping technology policy and serves on the City of New York’s Broadband Task Force, and on the State of New York’s Broadband Adoption Task Force. Tom teaches courses on social entrepreneurship and philanthropy at Columbia University and has published widely in academic journals on topics including housing policy, crime and geography, advertising strategy, broadband technology, and technology adoption by senior citizens. Prior to founding OATS, Tom worked as a tenant organizer working with low-income residents in Harlem and the South Bronx. He has a B.A. in Latin from Columbia College and a PhD in Political Science from the City University of New York. In this episode, we discussed: key challenges older adults face getting online. how OATS helps older adults use technology to stay engaged and enhance their overall quality of life. specific policy recommendations for ensuring older adults are both connected and actively using technology.  Resources   OATS Senior Planet This Chair Rocks by Ashton Applewhite SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard NEWS ROUNDUP Missy Ryan, Ellen Nakashima and Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post report that the Obama administration has announced sanctions against Russia for executing cyberattacks on American institutions, including the Democratic National Committee, and releasing sensitive material to the public, in an effort to sway the November presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. The sanctions include the shutting down of two Russian facilities in Maryland and on Long Island which U.S. officials believe were used to collect intelligence. President Obama also expelled 35 Russian agents believed to be involved in the hacks. The President also said the U.S. may undertake covert activity to undermine Russia. But the Kremlin has vigorously denied the hacks, with Russsian President Vladimir Putin calling President Obama's response "irresponsible diplomacy". Yet, Putin has said Russia will hold off on a tit-for-tat response and not expel U.S. agents working in Russia or close American facilities there, until they see how Trump will respond following the inauguration on January 20th. Camila Domonoske has the story for NPR. Here's the link to the DHS and FBI report on the Russian intrusion, which has been dubbed Grizzly Steppe. Andrew Kramer has a nice piece in the New York Times describing how Russians recruited hackers for its cyberwar against the United States.  -- Ellen Nakashima also reported in the Washington Post that President Obama has signed a bill that would work to split U.S. Cybercommand from the National Security Administration in order to promote administrative efficiency. But the split can't happen unless it is approved by the defense secretary and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of staff, which may or may not happen under the Trump administration.  -- House Speaker Paul Ryan wants to stop sit-ins by members of Congress on the House floor. Speaker Ryan introduced a rules package last week which would attempt to curtail live streaming on the house floor by imposing sanctions of $500 for the first livestreaming offense and $2,500 for each subsequent offense, with ethical citations also a possibility. Back in June, Democrats had live-streamed a sit-in on the House floor to protest Republicans' failure to introduce gun control legislation. The livestream was organized in response to the fact that Republican leaders had turned off tv cameras in the chamber, preventing the public from viewing the sit-in on C-Span.     

Alondra Nelson (@alondra) is the Dean of Social Science at Columbia University. An interdisciplinary social scientist, she writes about the intersections of science, technology, medicine, and inequality. She is author of the award-winning book Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination. Her latest book, The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations and Reconciliation after the Genome, was published in January. In this episode, we discussed: the meaning and importance of "racial reconciliation" and the potential for genetic research in helping to promote it. the extent to which the concept of race is based on biology as opposed to being socially-constructed. the role of DNA evidence in historical analysis. key national priorities policymakers ought to focus on as they consider ways in which genetic research can help to advance social equality. Resources Columbia University Division of Social Science The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome by Alondra Nelson Dark Matters on the Surveillance of Blackness by Simone Browne   NEWS ROUNDUP FCC Republican Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly sent a letter to associations representing Internet Service Providers saying they plan to roll back the FCC's net neutrality rules. The FCC passed the landmark rules which state that ISPs must treat all internet traffic equally, without prioritizing their own content, in 2015. The rules were subsequently upheld by a 3-judge DC Circuit Panel. A complete reversal of the rules would take some time, since a public comment period would need to be conducted first. Ajit Pai, who is expected to serve as the interim FCC Chairman once current Chairman Wheeler resigns in January, has said the days of the net neutrality rules are quote-unquote "numbered". -- The FCC has passed new rules enabling consumers who are deaf and hard of hearing to communicate. Previously, those who are deaf and hard of hearing had to rely on clunky, so-called teletype (TTY) devices to communicate with others. TTY devices converted tones into text and required the recipients to read on paper. Under the new rules, the FCC will now require wireless carriers and device manufacturers to enable "real time" text messaging, or RTT standard, which allows messaging recipients to see, in real time, what deaf and hard of hearing individuals are communicating. Sam Gustin has the story in Motherboard. -- Researchers at Google, UT Austin, and the Toyota Technological Institute in Chicago have devised a new way to test algorithms for biases. Examples of biases in machine learning have included computer programs that take data and target black neighborhoods, show advertisements for payday loans to African Americans and Latinos, or display executive-level jobs only to white male applicants. The approach developed by the researchers, entitled the Equality of Opportunity in Supervised Learning, would enable algorithms to determine that particular demographic groups were more likely to have particular behaviors, but would not target or exclude all individuals based on their race, ethnicity or gender, simply because some individuals within a particular sample had the behaviors. For example, if the algorithm determined that white women were in general more likely to buy wine, and then conclude that someone who bought wine was likely to be a white woman, that would be less biased than excluding non-white women from ad campaigns for white wine. Hannah Devlin has the story in The Guardian. Separately, the White House released a report warning of the dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the workforce. The report concludes AI can lead to significant economic opportunities, but have detrimental impact on millions of workers. -- Nokia has sued Apple for patent infringement in Germany and in a federal court in Texas, accusing Apple of not renewing some patents the mobile industry relies on, and which Nokia now relies on for profit. Apple is stating that Nokia is acting like a patent troll by extorting Apple and not licensing the patents on reasonable terms. Nate Lanxon, Ian King and Joel Rosenblatt have the story at Bloomberg. -- Two consumer groups have filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint against Google accusing it of privacy violations after the company updated its privacy policy back in June. Consumer Watchdog and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse claim the company had its users opt-in to a privacy change in which the company allegedly merged data from several Google services without providing adequate notice. Craig Timberg has the story in the Washington Post. -- Pinterest released its diversity data, and while the company hit some of its internal hiring goals, black employment at the company remains at 2% with Hispanic employment at 4% of the company's total, tech and non-tech workforce. -- Facebook released its annual Global Government Requests report showing a 27% uptick globally in the number of government requests for user data, to over 59,000 total requests. -- Finally, HUD Secretary Julian Castro announced a major White House initiative to help students living in HUD-assisted housing to gain access to computers and the internet at home. In the partnership between HUD, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, the New York City Housing Authority and T-Mobile, 5,000 families living in public housing in the Bronx will get internet connected tablets. The ConnectHome program has thus far reached 43 states, with other major partners including Google Fiber, Comcast, AT&T, Sprint, Best Buy, the Boys and Girls Club of America, PBS, and others.

Dr. Sepehr Hejazi Moghadam (@sepurb), Head of Research and Development, K-12 Pre-University Education at Google. Previously, Sepehr was an Associate at both A.T. Kearney and Booz Allen. He also served as Associate Director of Teacher Effectiveness for the New York City Department of Education. He has broad experience leading key components of strategic human capital plans in the public and government sectors. He has led the design of human capital policies, programs, and practices; and managed the implementation of highly effective, performance-based systems. He is an expert on research methods, data analytics, emerging technologies, business development, program management, high-level negotiation and partnership strategy, data visualizations, performance reporting and education policy. Sepehr received a PhD from Columbia University, where his dissertation was on the Treatment of African Americans in Education Research. He also has a Masters from Stanford and Bachelors from UC Santa Barbara. In this episode, we discussed: Google's research on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) achievement gaps. The two key factors affecting African-American and Latino participation in STEM careers. How Google is using this research to make the company and the tech sector more inclusive. Resources Google for Education - Computer Science Education Research Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates NEWS ROUNDUP The FBI announced last week that it agrees with the CIA's finding that Russia deliberately hacked into the Democratic National Committee's servers in order to help Donald Trump's candidacy for president. At first, the President-elect called the allegations "ridiculous", but on Fox News Sunday, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus suggested Trump may consider accepting the accusations if the CIA and FBI issue a joint report. But, of course, the report would be done under the Trump administration, spearheaded by a Director of National Intelligence who would be nominated by Trump. It is not clear whether FBI Director James Comey, although he is a Republican, would stay on board at the FBI, but the head of the Department of Justice, under which the FBI sits, would also be selected by Trump. For an analysis of how Russia carried out the intrusions into the DNC, check out Eric Lipton, David Sanger, Scott Shane's coverage in the The New York Times, which you can find the link for in the show notes. -- The Department of Defense's Office of Inspector General has concluded that the DOD is almost totally deficient when it comes to cybersecurity. The report on 21 audits and reports found the DOD isn't up to par on 7 out of 8 cybersecurity metrics. Sean Carberry has more in FCW. -- President-Elect Trump invited Silicon Valley luminaries to Trump Tower last week to discuss working together after the tech industry snubbed Trump on donations during the campaign season. In attendance were Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Tesla's Elon Musk, Tim Cook from Apple, Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt of Google, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and others. Although diversity has been a major topic of discussion in tech, no black or Latino tech executives were present at the meeting. Donald Trump assured those in attendance that he's "here to help" them do well. As a side note, all the gentleman in attendance wore ties to the meeting except for Paypal founder Peter Theil. Thiel supported Trump with more than a million dollars late in the campaign season, roiling tech sector diversity and inclusion advocates. David Streitfeld has the story for The New York Times. -- Yahoo revealed yet another hack. This time it affected 1 billion accounts. The hack took place in 2013. Yahoo is currently negotiating an acquisition by Verizon, with Verizon asking for either a reduction in the sale price or exit from the deal given this breach, plus another breach the company revealed in September that affected 500 million users. -- Twenty-two social justice organizations sent a joint letter to tech companies urging them to refuse participation in helping the Trump Administration build a Muslim Registry. The groups take aim at the so-called National Security Entrance Exit Registration System or NSEERs, a post-9/11 program that requires Muslims entering the U.S. on non-immigrant visas to register. According to the groups, the NSEERS registry hasn't led to a single arrest. Thus far, Twitter is the only company that has refused to participate in building up the registry. Sam Biddle has the story in The Intercept. -- Google has announced a new agreement with Cuba to improve internet speeds there. The agreement gives Cuba access to Google's Global Cache Network, which brings YouTube and Gmail closer to end users. It's not clear how Cuba's commercial relationship with the U.S. will evolve under the Trump administration. Mark Frank at Reuters writes the Obama-era Executive Agreements  that have normalized relations with the communist country can be easily reversed. -- Justin Ling at Motherboard reports that blacklivesmatter.com suffered some 100 DDoS attacks between January and July alone. -- Senate Republicans failed to confirm Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to another term at the agency. Rosenworcel, who is a highly-regarded public servant who fought on behalf of underserved communities, will end her term at the end of the month. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will leave the Commission on January 20th, giving the Republicans a 2-1 majority at the agency. Sam Gustin has the story in Motherboard. -- Free Press released a study tying systemic racial discrimination to the digital divide. The report finds lower investments in broadband in both rural and urban areas hit by high rates of unemployment and low incomes. Sam Gustin has the story in Motherboard. -- Finally, Twitter has reinstated white supremacist Richard Spencer, President of the National Policy Institute who has advocated that the United States was created by and for white people. Twitter reinstated Spencer because he was not found to have violated Twitter's policy against inciting violence.

Alan S. Inouye heads public policy for the American Library Association (ALA). In this role, Alan leads ALA’s technology policy portfolio ranging from telecommunications to copyright and licensing, to advance the ability of libraries to contribute to the economic, educational, cultural, and social well-being of America’s communities.   Alan is a recognized expert in national technology policy, published in various outlets such as The Hill, Roll Call, and the Christian Science Monitor. He serves on advisory boards or committees of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the U.S. State Department, Library For All, and the University of Maryland.   From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Inouye served as the Coordinator of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) in the Executive Office of the President. At PITAC (now merged into the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology—PCAST), he oversaw the development of reports on cybersecurity, computational science, and other topics.   Prior to PITAC, Alan served as a study director at the National Academy of Sciences. A number of his major studies culminated in book-length reports; three of these are LC21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress, The Digital Dilemma: Intellectual Property in the Information Age, and Beyond Productivity: Information Technology, Innovation, and Creativity.   Dr. Inouye began his career in the computer industry in Silicon Valley. He worked as a computer programmer for Atari, a statistician for Verbatim, and a manager of information systems for Amdahl (now Fujitsu). Alan completed his Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley and earned three master’s degrees, in business administration (finance), systems engineering, and computer systems.   In this episode, we discussed: the role of libraries in creating opportunities. library resources for entrepreneurs. how libraries and the incoming Tump administration might align on tech policy.   Resources:   American Library Association's Office for Information Technology Policy The Future of the Professions: How Technology will Transform the Work of Human Experts by Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind     NEWS ROUNDUP   What a mess. The CIA has officially concluded that Russia hacked the 2016 presidential election not just to undermine voter confidence, but to get Donald Trump elected.  This is according to a widely reported secret assessment conducted by the agency. The FBI on the her hand, isn't going that far. The FBI acknowledges that Russia did something--it's just saying it's not clear about Russia's motive: it thinks Russia carried out the intrusions for a mix of different reasons. The National Security Agency is due to release its own findings in the coming weeks before the election. The investigation is getting bi-partisan support from Chuck Schumer and Democrats, but it is also getting support from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, as well as John McCain and Lindsey Graham.   Here's what we know. We know the Director of the FBI, James Comey, sent a letter to Congress 11 days before the election saying more of Hillary Clinton's emails found on Anthony Weiner's computer could lead to a new investigation. Of course, that inquiry was dropped after a few days but, by then, the damage had already been done. Outging Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is calling for a Congressional investigation of Comey.   We know Trump said many times that the election was rigged.   We know that Trump called on Russia during the campaign season to leak Hillary Clinton's emails.   And now, Trump wants to appoint ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, whom the Wall Street Journal reports has close ties to Russia.   We also now know that hackers got into the Republican National Committee's servers as well but, for whatever reason, only the DNC's emails were released to the public.   Trump and others on his transition team called the CIA's conclusions "ridiculous". Ridiculous or not, whether those advocating to get 37 Electors to change their votes in favor of Hillary Clinton win or not, this isn't going away.   The electoral system of the country that prides itself on being the greatest democracy the world has ever seen, has been, according to the CIA, hacked to favor a particular candidate. And that particular candidate, by the name of Donald J. Trump, won. He won! This is is crisis mode.   --- Andrea Wong reports in Bloomberg that Apple is taking advantage of a massive tax loophole that allows it to earn free money from American taxpayers without paying any taxes. The loophole lets Apple stash its foreign earnings, untaxed, overseas, and then use the money to buy U.S. bonds. The Washington Post reports that this has yielded Apple some $600 million in payments from the U.S. Treasury over the last 5 years.   --   The Wall Street Journal reported that the State of Georgia allegedly sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security accusing the agency of attempting to hack the state's voter database. The State of Georgia opposes Federal efforts to declare election systems critical infrastructure, which would enable more robust federal monitoring for cyberattacks.   --   USA Today reports that the Trump transition team has scheduled a meeting with the tech sector for Wednesday, December 14th in New York City. Should be interesting since most of the tech sector essentially opposed Donald Trump during the campaign, with the exception of Peter Thiel who now sits on President-elect Trump's transition team. Interestingly, Google has posted a job posting for a conservative outreach manager. e   --   Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are partnering to weed on content posted by terrorists. The companies will be creating a shared database that will included "hashes" or digital encoding or fingerprints, which will enable the companies to alert each other as to the offensive content. Each company will retain the power to make decisions for themselves as to whether to take down the content.   -   The White House has announced further investments in science, technology, engineering and math education in 2017. The National Science Foundation will spend $20 million in addition to the $25 million it spent in 2016. Ali Breland has the story in The Hill.   --   John Horrigan at Pew  released survey results last week showing those who lack access to smartphones, broadband and tablets actually report more stress and lack of confidence accessing information than those who have access to the technologies. Conventionally, we tend to think of having all of these devices at our constant disposal as the contributing factor to information overload.     -- Finally, the FCC set letters to Verizon and AT&T about their so-called zero-rating practices. With zero rating, multichannel video providers select which programming their customers will have access to without it counting against their data caps.  Net neutrality advocates argue this is a Trojan horse against the net neutrality rules, allowing the companies to prioritize the content they choose over competing content. Colin Gibbs has the story at Fierce Wireless.

Hannah Putman (@nctq) is the Director of Research at the National Council on Teacher Quality. Hannah's recent work includes a study on trends in teacher diversity in collaboration with researchers from the Brookings Institution, an examination of 100 early childhood teacher preparation programs, and a report that quantified the rigor in coursework offered by teacher preparation programs. She has also worked on all editions of NCTQ's Teacher Prep Review. Prior to joining NCTQ, Hannah conducted education research with Westat, a social science research company. Her projects included work on informal science education and teacher incentive programs. Previously, Hannah taught seventh and ninth grade English for three years in the Bronx, New York, as a Teach For America corps member. Hannah holds BA's in English and Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, an MS in Teaching from Pace University, and an MPP from the George Washington University with a focus on education policy and evaluation. In this episode we discussed: how teacher diversity affects student performance. statistics policymakers should be focusing on as they consider how to address teacher diversity. how teachers and administrators from a different racial and ethnic background than their students can help offset the effects of low teacher diversity. Resources: National Council on Teacher Quality High Hopes and Harsh Realities: The real challenges to building a diverse teacher workforce by Hannah Putman, Michael Hansen, Kate Walsh and Diane Quintero (Brookings, 20016) The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown NEWS ROUNDUP Fake news has gone too far. Here in Washington, D.C. Sunday, a man armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, a Colt .38 and a shotgun entered Comet Ping Pong--a popular family restaurant in Chevy Chase. The restaurant has been targeted by conspiracy theorists who have claimed, with no evidence, that Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager were running a child sex ring out of the restaurant. Twenty-eight year old North Carolina resident Edgar Maddison, said he decided he was going to QUOTE "self investigate", and so he got all his guns together then went up to Comet Ping Pong, pointed the assault rifle at an employee, and started shooting. Police said there were no injuries, but they have charged Welch with assault with a deadly weapon. Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis released a statement saying "What happened today demostrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. I hope thatbthose involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away." Faiz Saddiqui and Susan Svrluga have the story in the Washington Post. -- The controversial Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal procedure went into effect last week, giving judges the power to issue search warrants for computers located anywhere outside their jurisdiction. The rules got the Supreme Court's stamp of approval earlier this year, and several legislative attempts to scale back the rules all failed. -- The U.S. Customs and Border Control (CBP) came under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union last week, after the ACLU learned that border patrol agents seized an award-winning Canadian photojournalist's smartphone without a warrant, as he was on his way to cover the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. The photojournalist, Ed Ou, said the agents had asked him to unlock his phone and, when he refused, confiscated the smartphone. The ACLU said the phone's SIM card had been tampered with, suggesting the agents copied the phone's data. Normally, the police must obtain a warrant before searching smartphones, but CBP claims an exception at the border. Andrea Peterson has the story in the Washington  Post. -- Google warned several prominent journalists that their gmail accounts may have been hacked by foreign-based hackers. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, GQ correspondent Keith Olbermann and others received e notification. Dan Goodin has the story in Ars Technica. -- Trump has a new telecommunications advisor who opposes Title II regulation for Internet service. Rosyln Layton is a Visiting Fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and joins Trump's other two advisors--Jeffrey Eisenach and Mark Jamison, who also oppose the net neutrality rules. Jon Brodkin has this story in Ars Technica. -- Trump also named his nominee for Commerce Secretary last week. The 80-year-old billionaire Wilbur Ross made is fortune in real estate by investing in distressed properties. He is own as the King of Bankruptcy. Jim Puzzanghera has this in the Washington Post. -- Finally, House Republicans have elected Oregon Representative Greg Walden to Chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Walden opposes most if not all Obama-era regulations including net neutrality.  

Melinda Epler (@changecatalysts) is Founder and CEO of Change Catalyst, a certified B Corp whose mission is to empower diverse, inclusive and sustainable tech innovation through education, mentorship and funding. Change Catalyst won a Certified B Corporation "Best for the World” award for community impact in 2014 and “Best in the World” overall in 2015. Melinda has more than 20 years of experience elevating brands and developing business innovation strategies for social entrepreneurs, mature social enterprises, Fortune 500 companies and global NGOs. As Founder & CEO of Change Catalyst, Melinda empowers diverse, inclusive and sustainable tech innovation through events, education, mentorship and funding. Through Tech Inclusion, an initiative of Change Catalyst, she partners with the tech community to solve diversity and inclusion together. Her work spans the full tech ecosystem, from Education to Workplace, Entrepreneurship and Policy. Melinda speaks, mentors and writes about diversity and inclusion in tech, social entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs and investing. She is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker – her film and television work includes projects that exposed the AIDS crisis in South Africa, explored women’s rights in Turkey, and prepared communities for the effects of climate change. She has worked on several television shows, including NBC’s The West Wing. In this episode, we discussed: building bridges toward inclusiveness in tech after a damaging and divisive presidential campaign season key areas the diversity and inclusion and policy communities should focus on in a Trump administration. Resources Insight Timer Headspace Tara Brach Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall B. Rosenberg NEWS ROUNDUP Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and members of the intelligence community want President Obama to fire National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers, according to Ellen Nakashima at The Washington Post. Clapper and Rogers cite numerous instances of security breaches under Rogers' watch, including one by Booz Allen Hamilton contractor Harold T. Martin III, who was arrested in August for the largest ever theft of classified government data. There was also another breach in 2015 allegedly carried out by an individual whose name has not been disclosed, but who has since been arrested. President-elect Trump is considering putting Rogers in charge of all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies, and Congressional Republican leaders have come out in support of Rogers, including California Representative David Nunes who also serves on Trump's transition team, who praised Rogers in the Washington Post. Rodgers is also the head of U.S. Cyber Command. Ash Carter has not been impressed with Rogers' performance in that role, either, as the cyber command's operations in Syria and Iraq have been largely unsuccessful, according to Carter. Further annoying Carter and Clapper is the fact that Rogers met with Trump last week unbeknownst to the White House. Further complicating matters, Clapper and Carter are also looking to split Cyber Command from the National Security Administration, a move opposed by Senate Republicans including John McCain. Meanwhile, as Mallory Shelbourne at The Hill reports, at a news conference in Peru last week, President Obama called Rogers a "patriot". In separate comments, Obama told German newspaper Der Spiegel that he had no plans to pardon Edward Snowden. The president said Snowden would first need to appear before a court. -- Mark Jamison, a member of Trump's tech policy transition team, suggested in a blog post last week that maybe the FCC shouldn't exist. Jamison wrote, "Most of the original motivations for having the FCC have gone away." He also said there are few monopolies in telecom, an assertion with which FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has disagreed. Brian Fung has this story in the Washington Post. -- A new Stanford University report found that most students from Middle School to college are unable to tell the difference between sponsored content and real news. The study of 7,804 students found 82% could not tell what was sponsored and what was real. Seventy percent of middle schoolers also found no reason to distrust a finance article that was written by the CEO of a bank. Amar Toor has the story on The Verge. -- Downloads of the encrypted messaging app Signal have soared by 400% since Donald Trump's election, according to Signal founder Moxie Marlinspike. Governments have the ability to tap unencrypted text messages for intelligence gathering. Paresh Dave has the story in the LA Times. -- Following a successful effort to get the FCC to clear its entire November meeting agenda, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton and Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Thune have now asked Federal Trade Commission Chair Edith Ramirez and Consumer Product Safety Commission Chair Elliott Kaye not to move forward on any controversial regulations. Upton and Thune wrote that the American people decided to make a change on November 8th and that agencies should this refrain from passing new regulations. Trump, of course, lost the popular vote by over 2 million. -- Finally, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai issued a statement last week praising Trump's Department of Justice nominee Jeff Sessions. The Washington Post reports that Sessions is widely seen as a climate change skeptic and his entire career has been dogged by accusations that Sessions is a virulent racist, which cost him a federal judgeship back in '86. Sessions has been quoted as saying that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was "okay, until he learned that they smoked marijuana." Pai is reportedly on the short list to become Trump's nominee to Chair the FCC.  

Andrew Jay Schwartzman (@aschwa02) is the Benton Senior Counselor at the Institute for Public Representation of Georgetown University Law Center. He directed Media Access Project, a public interest media and telecommunications law firm, for 34 years. Mr. Schwartzman serves on the International Advisory Board of Southwestern Law School’s National Entertainment & Media Law Institute and on the Board of Directors of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and was the Board President of the Safe Energy Communications Council for many years. Mr. Schwartzman’s work has been published in major legal and general journals, including Variety, The Nation, The Washington Post, COMM/ENT Law Journal, the Federal Communications Law Journal, and The ABA Journal. He has also been a frequent guest on television and radio programs. In recognition of his service as chief counsel in the public interest community’s challenge to the FCC’s June, 2003 media ownership deregulation decision, Scientific American honored Schwartzman as one of the nation’s 50 leaders in technology for 2004. Schwartzman was the 2002 Verizon Distinguished Lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University, the 2004 McGannon Lecturer on Communications Policy and Ethics at Fordham University in 2004, and the Distinguished Lecturer in Residence at the Southwestern University School of Law Summer Entertainment and Media Law Program at Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge (2004). In this episode we discussed: possible scenarios regarding the AT&T/Time Warner merger. what an FCC under an Ajit Pai Chairmanship might look like. the possible future of net neutrality under a Donald Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress. Resources Andy's Schwartzman's 'The Daily Item' Newsletter (subscribe here) Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross Yuge!: 30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump by G.B. Trudeau NEWS ROUNDUP A BuzzFeed analysis of news stories appearing on Facebook found fake news stories received more engagements during the final three months before the presidential election than news stories from the leading real news outlets. The difference was some 1.4 million combined likes, shares and comments. At a news conference in Germany, President Obama expressed concern about the spread of fake news saying Q“If we are not serious about facts and what’s true and what’s not ... if we can’t discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems". On the Washington Post's The Intersect Blog, a fake news writer by the name of Paul Horner, who has written numerous fake news stories which have gone viral, expressed regret for the stories he wrote and said he thinks President-elect Trump won the election because of him. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg  was initially dismissive, saying the week before last that the notion of fake news having impacted the election in any significant way is a "pretty crazy idea". Since then, Zuckerberg has announced initiatives to identify fake news, such as through user generated reports. Meanwhile, a group of students participating in a hackathon at Princeton last week developed a Chrome plug-in that allows users to assess the veracity of news stories. -- Policymakers are increasingly concerned about the role that mobile apps play in distracted driving incidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that between January and June of this year, highway fatalities were up 10.4% to 17,775, compared to the same period in 2015. Neal Boudette reports in The New York Times on goals set during the Obama administration to eliminate highway fatalities by 2047. -- SnapChat filed for an initial public offering last week. The IPO is expected to be valued at around $20 billion. It is the largest IPO since Facebook's in 2012.  Reuters has more. -- Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has submitted his resignation after a 50- year U.S. intelligence career. In October, Clapper's office formally concluded that Russia was behind cyberattacks intended to sway the U.S. presidential election, and that Rusian President Vladimir Putin has almost certainly approved them. Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee that submitting his resignation "felt pretty good." Greg Miller has the story at the Washington Post. -- A new Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure--Rule 41--which would give federal authorities sweeping powers to search devices, is set to go into effect on December 1st. Currently, federal judges can only authorize searches within their own jurisdictions. Once Rule 41 goes into effect, judges will have the authority to issue search warrants for computers located outside their jurisdictional boundaries, potentially allowing a single judge to issue searches of millions of computers.  Civil rights groups are concerned about the rule would intrude on innocents, particularly communities of color. Senator Ron Wyden has proposed legislation to scale back Rule 41, but it hasn't even gotten a committee hearing. On Thursday, Delaware Senator Chris Coons introduced legislation that would delay Rule 41's implementation. David Kravets covers this for Ars Technica. -- Twitter has suspended several accounts linked to the alt-right--super-conservative ideologues, many of whom promote white nationalism. The Southern Poverty Law Center had asked Twitter to remove about 100 accounts expressing white nationalist views for violation of Twitter's terms of service. Among the suspended accounts -- Richard Spencer, President of the National Policy Institute--an organization whose website says is "dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of  people of European descent in the United States." Spencer said Twitter's deletion of his account was akin to a "digital execution". USA Today notes that Spencer has called for removing blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Jews from the United States. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also apologized last week for allowing an ad promoting a white supremacist group. Jessica Guynn has the story at USA Today. -- Amar Toor at the Verge reported that China has threatened to cut iPhone sales if President-elect Trump follows through on his threat to declare China a currency manipulator and impose a 45% tariff on Chinese exports. China also threatened to limit automobile and other sales. -- It appears that the Trans-Pacific Partnership--the trade deal that would have enhanced American ties with 11 countries, counterbalancing China's influence in the region--appears to have been defeated even before President-elect Trump has taken office. The deal simply doesn't have enough votes in Congress, and President-elect Trump has stated he would oppose the deal. Elise Labott and Nicole Gaouette reported this for CNN. -- The GOP has successfully forced the FCC to cancel nearly its entire November open meeting agenda, which was supposed to take place last Thursday. Up for consideration were bulk data caps, the Mobility Fund, and a proposed rule on roaming obligations of mobile providers. One Freedom of Information Act request remained on the agenda. Senate Commerce Committee Chair John Thune had sent a letter to the FCC Tuesday warning against “complex, partisan, or otherwise controversial items.” Massachusetts Senator Markey blasted Thune's heavy-handed approach, with Thune responding that he was only referring to the most controversial items. Brendan Bordelon has the story in Morning Consult. -- Finally, the hold on Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel's nomination has been lifted. Democrats Ron Wyden and Ed Markey had put a hold on the Commissioner's nomination following her rejection of the set-top box competition proposal. Rosenworcel will need to be confirmed before the end of the Commission in order to stay on. Some analysts are speculating that Rosenworcel might vote in favor of the set-top box rules currently on circulation.  Brendan Bordelon covers the story in Morning Consult.

In this episode, we discussed: how traditional and social media platforms perpetuate stereotypes. the role of the advertising industry in promoting accurate portrayals of underrepresented groups in the media Resources: Reality TV: Entertaining But No Laughing Matter (AAF, 2015) American Advertising Federation (AAF) American Advertising Federation's Mosaic Council Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison NEWS ROUNDUP The tech sector and tech-related progressive thinks tanks are reeling following the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. At Benton.org, Robbie McBeath discusses the totally changed political landscape in which Republicans will now control all three branches of government. South Dakota Senator John Thune is expected to continue to Chair the Senate Commerce Committee. Three Congressmen--Greg Walden, John Shimkus and Joe Barton are expected to pursue the House Energy and Commerce Chairmanship, with Walden being the favorite since House speaker Paul Ryan credits Walden, who served as Republican Congressional Committee Chair, with helping Republicans maintain control of Congress. Anticipated legislative initiatives include rewriting the Communications Act and an effort to override the FCC’s net neutrality rules, as well as expanding mobile and internet access to rural areas and capping Lifeline expenditures to $1.5 billion. President-elect Trump will of course nominate a new FCC Chair to replace Tom Wheeler who is expected to leave before the inauguration on January 20th. Tech sector stocks declined following last week’s election, as investors anticipated a new administration that would be less friendly to tech than Obama. The tech sector opposed Trump vigorously during the campaign, contributing barely anything to his campaign, outside of PayPal founder Peter Thiel who contributed $1.25 million late in the election season. Companies like Apple are concerned about what a new Trump administration will mean for encryption and the company’s resistance to law enforcement requests for access to iPhone data during criminal investigations. Almost all of the Valley is concerned about what the new administration will mean not just for things like net neutrality and science-based policymaking, but also the sector’s influence in Washington, which had grown exponentially during the Obama era. ---- Facebook announced that it will no longer allow advertisers to exclude audiences based on their race and ethnicity for ads related to housing, credit or employment. The company will also require advertisers to pledge not to place any discriminatory ads on Facebook. The company had come under fire from civil rights activists, the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses, as well as several attorneys general after Pro Publica released a report showing how Facebook allowed advertisers selling real estate to exclude racial and ethnic groups. Two plaintiffs also sued Facebook under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ---- Following the 2016 presidential election, Facebook executives are now evaluating the role the platform plays in the dissemination of fake news, and the extent to which misinformation on the social network led to the election of Donald Trump. One piece of fake news shared over 1 million times falsely claimed that Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump. Facebook has been under fire for bias in its newsfeed over the past year, and earlier this year was accused of suressing conservative news from its trending news results. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg denies fake news on Facebook impacted the election in any way.  Mike Isaac has the story in the New York Times. ---- John Wagner reported in the Washington Post on Hillary Clinton’s data driven campaign, one that was far more sophisticated than both Romney and Obama’s, but which ultimate failed. It appears that both the Democratic establishment and the complex algorithm they used known as Ada, completely missed opportunities to campaign in Rust Belt states like Michigan and Minnesota, which Clinton lost. Campaign managers will look at this as a case study for many years to come into both how biases are reflected in algorithms and the extent to which campaigns should continue to rely on alogrithms to determine which states they should campaign in. --- A group of hackers known as Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear, widely believed to be affiliated with Russia, launched an attack on the servers of several NGOs, think tanks, universities, government agencies and other institutions on Wednesday, shortly after Trump claimed victory in Tuesday’s election. The hackers sent phishing emails to the targets containing malicious links and zip files. Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai at Motherboard has the story. ---- Finally, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit blocked the FCC’s prison phone rate cap last week, granting a petition for stay by a company called Securus technologies. The rate caps were set at 13 cents to 31 cents per minute. The Court stated that these caps were significantly below what prison phone providers need to fulfill their contractual obligations to prisons. John Brodkin has the story in Ars Technica.  

David Robinson (@dgrobinson) is a Principal at Upturn, a public interest technology and policy consulting firm. Prior to co-founding UpTurn, David was the Associate Director of Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy. He also launched The American, a national magazine of business and economics at the American Enterprise Institute, growing The American's website to more than 1.5 million unique visits in its first year. David holds a JD from Yale, was a Rhodes Scholar, and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Philosophy from Princeton. In this episode we discussed: what predictive policing is. how predictive policing technologies fall short of their marketing claims. how predictive policing enables disparities within the criminal justice system. what policymakers should consider as they incorporate predictive policing technologies into their law enforcement activities. Resources: UpTurn Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey Asana NEWS ROUNDUP Julia Angwin and Terry Parris Jr. at Pro Publica raised a lot of red flags last week when they reported that Facebook allows advertisers to exclude audience segments on the basis of race. Angwin and Parris discovered a chilling echo of race-based redlining in real estate where African Americans and other minority groups were prevented from buying real estate in predominantly white neighborhoods. Angwin and Parris purchased an ad on Facebook targeting Facebook users who are house hunting and allowed them to exclude anyone who was African American, Asian-American or Hispanic. But the Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes it illegal “"to make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.” Facebook says it does what it can to prevent discrimination. ---- Did FBI Director James Comey break the law when he announced 11 days before the election that his agency was re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails? Several leading experts say it was. Passed in 1939, the Hatch Act limits federal employees, with a few exceptions, such as the President, from engaging in activities that would impact the outcome of an election. Legal experts such as former Chief White House Ethics attorney Richard Painter, who filed a formal ethics complaint against Comey and the FBI last week, think there was no other reason for Comey to make the disclosure other than to impact the outcome of the election. Comey did, however, announce to members of Congress on Sunday that the agency will not recommend charges against Hillary Clinton based on the emails discovered on former Congressman Anthony Weiner's computer. Lauren Hodges has the story reporting for NPR. You should also read Painter’s Op-Ed in The New York Times. ---- 1.4 million people “checked in” to Standing Rock on Facebook, even though they weren’t actually there, to support opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Rumors had spread that the police were monitoring Facebook to crack down on protesters. But how exactly do the police use social media data to surveil protests?  Jeff Landale has the analysis in Christian Science Monitor. ---- A new University of Washington and Stanford study of 1,500 rides found Uber and Lyft drivers discriminate against black passengers. For example, blacks waited 30% longer for rides--5 minutes and 15 seconds--versus 4 minutes for white passengers, according to the study. The ride cancellation rate was also 6 points higher, or 10.1 %, for black sounding names compared to white sounding names. Elizabeth Weise has the story at USA Today. ---- Mobile browsing as surpassed desktop browsing for the first time. This is according to a new report from StatCounter. Mobile browsing now accounts for over 51% of all online browsing actvitiy. Check Samuel Gibbs’ story in the Guardian. ---- Black Lives Matter is opposing the Trans Pacific Partnership arguing the trade deal would further disenfranchise blacks by sending capital to nations with lower wages and poorer working conditions,  allowing employers to avoid domestic courts, increase mobility for workers with higher paying jobs but no one else, and prevent the formation of unions. ---- AT&T had a tough legal and regulatory week The Dodgers Channel, owned by Time Warner Cable, offered customers exclusive access to live Dodgers games.  Even though Time Warner Cable owned the Dodgers Channel, the company attempted to license it to other cable providers, which would have provided each licensees’ customers access to the games.  But, as Brian Fung reports in the Washington Post, the Department of Justice is now suing AT&T and its subsidiary, DirectTV, for colluding with their LA competitors, including Cox and Charter, to make sure none of them agreed to license the Dodgers Channel from Time Warner Cable. This way, the three companies could take comfort in knowing they wouldn’t lose subscribers.  Charter of course has now acquired Time Warner Cable. ---- Finally,  the FCC says AT&T incorrectly interpreted FCC rules when it sued the City of Louisville in federal court for granting Google access to utility poles in order to build out its fiber network. AT&T had said the FCC’s pole attachment rules pre-emept state rules.  However, the FCC submitted a statement of interest to the Department of Justice saying the federal pole attachment rules do not pre-empt state rules at all and, in fact, defer to state regulations where states show they have the situation under control with its own regulations. John Brodkin has the story in Ars Technica.

Nate Yohannes (linkedin.com/in/nateyohannesgovernmentaffairs) is Senior Advisor to the Chief Investment and Innovation Officer at the US Small Business Administration. He was appointed by the White House Office of Presidential Personnel as a Presidential Appointee in the Obama Administration. As the Senior Advisor, Mr. Yohannes assists with managing the Small Business Investment Company, a $25 billion private equity/venture fund and the SBIR program, a $2.5 billion per year grant program to high growth domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) that has the potential for commercialization. Mr. Yohannes sits on President Obama’s Broadband Opportunity Council, a multi-agency team responsible for providing counsel to President Obama on how to advance the United States as the most broadband accessible country in the world. In addition, Yohannes held a leadership position and played a pivotal role with the first ever White House Demo Day. Mr. Yohannes regularly works with staff at the White House’s Business Council, Domestic Policy Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Innovation Cohort and National Economic Council on issues that directly affect high growth small businesses across the country. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Mr. Yohannes was the Vice President – Associate General Counsel at the Money Management Institute (MMI). Earlier in his career he clerked for Chief Justice Paula Feroleto of the New York State Supreme Court. Mr. Yohannes received his JD from the University at Buffalo Law School and a BA from SUNY Geneseo and is a member of the New York State Bar.   In this episode, we discussed:  government resources available to entrepreneurs looking to access capital. Resources: SBIC SBIR SBA Growth Accelerator Competition U.S. Economic Development Administration Audacity of Hope, Barack H. Obama *A special thanks goes to the following contributors to this episode: Elias Aseged, Accenture Brittany Déjean, AbleThrive Jessica Eggert, Medley Sumayyah Emeh Edu, Sumayyah Emeh Edu Consulting Chioke Mose-Telesford, Grand Circus Jon Pincus, A Change is Coming Courtney Seiter, Buffer Terrell Sterling, Oracle Michael Young, BLOC   THE NEWS The FCC passed new privacy rules Thursday requiring internet service providers to obtain their subscribers’ permission before collecting and distributing their private information. Telecom industry giants like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon object to the new rules, saying they will harm the Internet ecosystem. Privacy advocates, though, applaud the rules. Critics of the rules say so-called edge providers like Netflix and other companies should also be restricted from freely sharing their users’ information without permission. But the FCC, of course, doesn’t have jurisdiction over internet companies like Netflix. Cecilia Kang has the story in The New York Times. ----Eric Lipton at The New York Times reported last week on AT&T’s lobbying influence within the beltway. Lipton reports that AT&T is Congress’ biggest donor, contributing a total of over $11 million to most members of Congress since 2015, which is 4 times that of Verizon. The company also has almost 100 registered lobbyists, not including non-profit organizations it contributes to. AT&T announced two weeks ago that it has agreed to purchase Time Warner for $85.4 billion. Time Warner’s properties include HBO and CNN. ---- Senator Elizabeth Warren is leading progressive members of Congress who are pushing Hillary Clinton to crack down on large tech companies if Clinton becomes president. Warren says companies like Google, Amazon and Apple have too much market power. But according to the Center for Responsive Politics, tech companies have contributed some $39 million to the Clinton campaign, compared to just $787,000 for Trump. Shane Goldmacher has the story in Politico. ---- A new Pew Report finds that a fair number of people loathe the political dialogue that happens among friends, family members and acquaintances on social media. Almost twice as many social media users reported being “worn out” by political discussions on Facebook, compared to those who like seeking lots of political content. The report also found a large percentage of people found political discourse on line to be angrier, less respectful and less civil than political conversations in public. You can find these and other findings at Pew. ---- Finally, Alphabet, Inc.--the parent company of Google, is putting the brakes on further build out of its fiber network in places it’s not already committed. Google Access CEO Craig Barrett announced he is stepping down in a surprise blog post last week. Google Fiber will continue to be available in Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Charlotte, NC; Kansas City in MO and KS; Nashville, TN; Provo, UT; Salt Lake City, UT; and North Carolina’s Triangle region. In addition, Comcast is suing the Nashville metro government, including the city’s mayor, in the U.S. District Court in Nashville. Comcast argues that Google, when it comes into Nashville, shouldn’t just be able to come in and reconfigure wires on utility poles without first waiting for incumbent providers to adjust the wires themselves. Sam Gustin at Motherboard and Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica have the story.

Dr. Tracy Weeks (@tracyweeks)  is the Executive Director for the State Educational Technology Director’s Association (SETDA). Prior to joining the team at SETDA, she served as the Chief Academic and Digital Learning Officer for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the first senior state leadership position of its kind in the nation. In that role, Dr. Weeks oversaw the areas of: K-12 Curriculum and Instruction, Career and Technical Education, Exceptional Children, and the North Carolina Virtual Public School. She also served as the state agency lead on the development of the North Carolina Digital Learning Plan. From 2008-2014, Tracy led the North Carolina Virtual Public School, the second largest state-led virtual school in the nation, as the Chief Academic Officer and subsequently the Executive Director. She holds a bachelors degree in Secondary Math Education from UNC-Chapel Hill, a Masters of Education in Instructional Technology with a Statistics minor and a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction from NC State University. She is a NC Teaching Fellow, NC Education Policy Fellow, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi. In this episode we discussed: the importance of high speed internet in schools. challenges school districts are facing when it comes to providing high speed internet in classrooms. how to use school broadband resources to enhance access to broadband outside of the classroom. recommendations for ensuring schools have appropriate infrastructure to accommodate growing demand for broadband bandwidth. Resources: SETDA Slack Mindset by Carol Dweck Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson   NEWS A large scale DDOS attack affected a large number of important and widely used sites on Friday, causing users to lose access to sites like Spotify, SoundCloud, Twitter and Shopify. The way these attacks usually work is that a hacker will overwhelm a particular site with junk traffic. However, in between the URL you enter into your browser, and the site’s IP address, are what are known as DNS providers that route you to where you want to go. This time, the attack was made on one of those DNS providers--a company called Dyn--making the hack even worse and more widespread affecting many different sites instead of just a single one. In addition, the hack was executed by aggregating notoriously insecure Internet of Things devices, like home security cameras, into botnets. The White House says the Department of Homeland Security is looking into the breach. To make things even creepier, one security researcher told Techcrunch that the attack looks more like probing-- a deliberate attempt to test the defense capabilities of the sites. Darrell Etherington has the story in TechCrunch. ---- AT&T has agreed to buy Time Warner Cable in an $85.4 billion deal. The deal comes amidst a wave of consolidation in the media industry, including Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUNiversal and Verizon’s acquisition of Huffington Post and proposed acquisition of Yahoo. AT&T also recently acquired DirectTV for $48.5 billion. Time Warner’s media properties include HBO, CNN, TNT and TBS. Michael De La Merced has the story for The New York Times. ---- A new study by Girls who Code and Accenture finds that, without significant intervention by educators, parents and policymakers, the proportion of computer scientists in the workforce who are women will decline from 24% to 22% by 2025. The proportion of women computer sciences has fallen from 37% in 1995. The report is optimistic, however, and concludes that women could account for 39% of computer scientists by 2025 if appropriate measures are taken. Jessica Guynn has the story in USA Today. ---- A Russian hacker suspected of intruding into American targets has been arrested in Prague, but the authorities have not released the suspect’s name. But American officials familiar with the matter, but who asked for anonymity, told Ricky Lyman and Hana de Goeij at the New York Times that the suspect has not been linked to Russian intrusions into the Democratic National Committee. Two weeks ago, the Obama administration officially accused Russia of attempting to sway the U.S. elections by hacking into the DNC. ---- There is a sex scandal at the FCC. Fred Campbell at Forbes reports that a female employee working in the Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO), which works to increase opportunities for minorities and women working in the telecommunications sector, was subjected to her male co-workers watching porn in the office. When she complained to her boss, Thomas Reed, the employee’s complaint alleges that she was given lower quality assignments. An Inspector General’s report into the employee’s complaint conducted in 2012, which we’re just finding out about now, concluded that watching porn, and the agency’s subsequent response to it, violated various ethical and administrative rules. And Still, as Fred Cambpell at Forbes reports, the FCC did nothing outside of forcing the employee watching porn to resign. The FCC’s legal team even attempted to dismiss the employee’s case in federal court--a court that found that the employee had been subjected to “discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult”. Fred Campbell has the story in Forbes. ---- Finally, The Center for Responsive Politics reported last week that Silicon Valley-based tech companies are outspending Wall Street on lobbying activities in DC by more than 2 to 1. According to the Center, Silicon Valley spent $49 million on lobbyists last year compared to just $19.7 million for the five largest banks. Seleha Moshin has the story for Bloomberg.

Courtney R. Snowden (@DMGEOSnowden) is Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity for the District of Columbia. A sixth-generation Washingtonian born at Howard University Hospital, Courtney was raised in the Shepherd Park neighborhood of Ward 4, and now lives east of the river (EOTR) in Ward 7 with her young son, Malik.  The Washington Post has recognized Courtney for her “keen understanding of the need to connect neighborhoods if the city is to thrive. She understands policy, is adept at building coalitions and is both smart and passionate about education reform.”  Courtney is a graduate of DC Public Schools and received her B.A. in Political Science in 2000 from Beloit College. After graduating, Courtney returned home to the District to join the legislative staff of Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) on Capitol Hill. Courtney has devoted her life to making Washington, DC, a better place for all its residents, corner to corner. She has a record of coalition building and bringing people from different backgrounds together from across the city. As a principal at The Raben Group, a premiere progressive government relations firm, she advises the firm’s clients on a variety of public policy issues through direct lobbying, strategic planning, and coalition building. Her diverse client portfolio includes Google, the Committee for Education Funding, the National Urban League, and Graham Holdings. An active leader in the city’s LGBT and African-American communities and a staunch public education advocate, Courtney served as the first female board chair of DC Black Pride in 2008, and was an active member of the DC GLBT Advisory Committee. In this episode, we discussed: how the City of Washington has changed over time and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser's economic development vision going forward. how the Mayor's office is working with educators to prepare students who live in the District for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). efforts in the District to promote diversity and inclusion in the City's growing start-up sector. Resources: DC.gov - Office of the Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie On Beauty by Zadie Smith NEWS ROUNDUP The FCC has fined Comcast $2.3 million--the largest ever civil penalty on a cable operator for a practice called “negative option billing” where customers were charged for equipment and services they never requested. Comcast’s response to the fine? Sorry--we didn’t do anything wrong--it’s just that we had some isolated incidents where our customer service representatives were just kind of confusing. Richard Gonzalez has the story for NPR. ---- The nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research is crediting  Facebook for registering thousands of new voters nationwide. Just in California, the 17-word reminder led to over 123,000 new voter registrations on the first day alone. While Facebook was unable to provide demographic data about the new registrations, Facebook’s users are generally seen as leaning female, young and Democratic. Niraj Chokshi has the story in The New York Times. ---- The American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Media Justice and Color of Change reported last week that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter provided data access to a company called Geofeedia--a company sells a product that monitors social media activity, and which has been marketed to law enforcement officials looking for intel on protesters. The advocacy groups obtained emails of Geofeedia corresponding with law enforcement about the success the company has had monitoring recent protests in Ferguson and elsewhere. Facebook and Instagram have cut off Geofeedia’s access to its main public feeds. Twitter hasn’t cut off access, but the ACLU’s press release notes the social media network has taken steps to rein in Geofeedia. ---- Finally, it looks like billionaire investor Peter Thiel has alienated himself from a major diversity and inclusion partner after he donated $1.25 million to Donald Trump, days after Trump was caught on tape making lewd comments about sexually assaulting women. Project Include co-Founder Ellen Pao, a leader in the tech diversity debate in Silicon Valley, wrote in a Medium post that she was cutting ties with the incubator Peter Thiel Founded--Y Combinator, saying Project Include and Y Combinator’s values are no longer aligned given Thiel’s continued affiliation with Y Combinator.

Chad Marlow (@ChadAaronMarlow) is Advocacy and Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where his focus is on privacy and technology. Mr. Marlow’s work on issues ranging from police body cameras, to government surveillance, to data privacy has been the subject of media coverage throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and South America. Mr. Marlow holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.A. in Government from Connecticut College. In 2007, City & State (New York) newspaper named Mr. Marlow to its “Rising Stars: 40 Under 40” list. In this episode, we discussed: surveillance tactics by police that disproportionately affect racial, ethnic and religious minorities. how dispersed police departments coordinate with other jurisdictions in a way that collectively infringes privacy and civil rights. what municipalities should do to ensure their surveillance practices are transparent and informed by local communities. Resources: American Civil Liberties Union   THE NEWS Yahoo secretly scanned emails at the behest of the U.S. government, reports Joseph Menn at Reuters. Last year, Yahoo apparently built a secret program designed to scan all emails coming into Yahoo’s servers for keywords determined by the NSA or FBI. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer reportedly agreed to develop the software over objections by other Yahoo Senior Executives. This news comes during a difficult month for Yahoo, and it all comes as Yahoo and Verizon have been negotiating what started out as a $4.8 billion acquistion of Yahoo by Verizon.  But late last month, Yahoo announced hackers accessed personal information in some 500 user accounts, causing Verizon to ask for a $1 billion discount on the purchase. ---- David Sanger and Charlie Savage at the New York Times reported that the Obama administration -- namely, National Intelligence Director James Clapper -- has formally accused Russia of hacking into the servers of the Democratic National Committee and servers belonging to other influentials in order to influence the U.S. presidential elections. Clapper’s statement noted that only Russia’s QUOTE “senior most officials could have authorized these activities. Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta was hacked soon after the statement was released. It is not clear how the Obama administration will respond. ---- A federal contractor by the name of Harold Thomas Martin, III who worked for Booz Allen Hamilton was arrested in August at his home in Glen Burnie, MD for stealing highly classified data and information -- according to information provided by U.S. officials just last week.  Booz Allen is also Edward Snowden’s former employer. Officials are trying to figure out whether Martin played a role in posting online a cache of top secret NSA hacking tools. Ellen Nakashima has the full story for the Washington Post. ---- Senate Commerce Committee Chair Republican John Thune joined a chorus of cable industry lobbyists and several civil rights groups last week by going after FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, asking him to release the latest version of the set top box rules. The FCC delayed a vote on the new set-top box rules which would open up the set-top box market to more competition, giving consumers a choice between the set-top box they lease from their carrier, and a set-top box they can use to access the content they have already paid their provider for as well as content from so-called over-the-top providers such as YouTube and Netflix. Chairman Wheeler has kept the current rule under wraps and cable industry advocates are challenging him to release a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the set-top box rules -- rules they are expected to oppose anyway. So it’s  basically like like “come on punk! Come on punk! I dare you to release the rules! I dare you!” Schoolyard bully stuff. Ali Breland has the story at the Hill. ----FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler also announced last week that the Commission will vote on new Internet Service Provider privacy rules at its next open meeting on October 27th. In a blog post, the Chairman wrote QUOTE “Under the proposed rules, an ISP would be required to notify consumers about what types of information they are collecting, specify how and for what purposes that information can be used and shared, and identify the types of entities with which the ISP shares the information. In addition, ISPs would be required to obtain affirmative ‘opt-in’ consent before using or sharing sensitive information. Information that would be considered ‘sensitive’ includes geo-location information, children’s information, health information, financial information, social security numbers, web browsing history, app usage history, and the content of communications such as the text of emails. All other individually identifiable information would be considered non-sensitive, and the use and sharing of that information would be subject to opt-out consent.” END QUOTE---- Today, for the first time in 120 years, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a design patent case -- this one between Samsung and Apple. The lower court awarded Apple some $584 million back in December. Samsung wants to claw back about $400 million of that, saying it's excessive because it's based on Samsung's total profits, rather than the profits attributable to the 3 patents the court found Samsung to have violated (the rounded corners on the face of the smartphone, the metal rim around the phone, and the display grid).

Christine Haight Farley (@Prof_Farley) is a Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law. She teaches courses on Intellectual Property Law, Trademark Law, International and Comparative Trademark Law, International Intellectual Property Law, Design Protection Law and Art Law. Professor Farley served as Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs from 2007 to 2011 and as Co-Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property from 2005 to 2009. She is the author of numerous articles on intellectual property law and a forthcoming casebook on international trademark law. Professor Farley has taught at law schools in France, India, Italy and Puerto Rico. She has given lectures on intellectual property law in more than twenty countries across every region of the world. Professor Farley frequently appears in the media as an IP expert and is regularly invited to speak at ABA, AIPLA and INTA conferences. She currently serves on an INTA Presidential Task Force on Brands and Innovation, and has recently been selected as a Fulbright Specialist for intellectual property law. Before teaching, Professor Farley was an associate specializing in intellectual property litigation with Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman in New York. She holds a B.A. (State University of New York at Binghamton), J.D. (State University of New York at Buffalo), LL.M. (Columbia University), and a J.S.D. (Columbia University). In this episode, we discussed: historical examples of offensive marks. the First Amendment implications of The Lanham Act Section 2(a). how U.S. trademark laws compare to international trademark laws in the context of offensive speech. Resources: American University Washington College of Law Christine Haight Farley, Registering Offense: Morality and Public Order in the U.S. Trademark Act, in Protecting and Promoting Diversity With Intellectual Property Law (Irene Calboli & Srividhya Ragavan, eds., Cambridge U. Press 2015) Lee v. Tam via Scotusblog Pedigree: How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs by Lauren Rivera THE NEWS FBI Director James Comey doesn't want anyone to think his agency is comprised of “weasels”--his words not mine. Comey appeared at a hearing before a House Judiciary Committee panel last week to explain why presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was never charged during the investigation into a private server she used as Secretary of State. Comey said the agency hasn’t uncovered any additional evidence that would necessitate re-opening the investigation. Matt Zapotosky has more at the Washington Post. ---- John McKinnon at the Wall Street Journal reports The FCC has delayed a vote on proposed rules to overhaul the set-top box marketplace. FCC CommissionerRosenworcel, a Democrat, was the swing vote. The plan would require cable providers to make content available to set-top boxes that compete with the ones issued by cable companies. The proposed rules faced a firestorm of criticism from the cable industry and Hollywood who claimed, among other things, that the rules would exceed the Commission’s authority and violate copyright. The good news, as Harold Feld at Public Knowledge has noted, is that the proceeding is far from dead and still open for comment. ---- Several consumer groups are crying foul about WhatsApp’s recent announcement that it would begin sharing user data with its parent company, Facebook. WhatsApp has long held itself out as a secure and encrypted messaging service. Groups including the Center for Digital Democracy and Demand Progress, along with 15 other groups, sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission last week asking the agency to investigate. Grant Gross has the story at Computer World. ---- Four Republican attorneys general from Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma,and Nevada filed lawsuits against the Obama administration for its plan to transfer oversight of the Internet’s domain systems from the U.S. to an international body. They’re alleging violations of the what they believe to be the U.S. property interest in the systems, that the transfer is a First Amendment violation, amd that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act. Ali Breland at The Hill has the full story. ----Finally, the FCC released an NPRM last week which would prohibit cable companies from bullying independent content producers with clauses in their contracts saying that programmers have to give the cable company the best deal and not allow anyone else to carry their content without permission from the cable company. These are known as most favored nation and alternative distribution method clauses. The cable industry is pushing back, but this is still an NPRM, not an official ruling, and thus it is still open for comment.

Mitch Stoltz (@mitchstoltz) is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Mitch works on cases where free speech and innovation collide with copyright and trademark law. His current projects include improving the legal environment for mobile software developers and tinkerers, fighting the use of copyright as a tool for censorship, litigation on the copyright status of mandatory safety codes, and legal analysis in the field of Internet television and video. Mitch also counsels clients on Internet video technology and open source software licensing. Before joining EFF, Mitch was an associate at Constantine Cannon LLP in Washington DC, where he worked on antitrust and copyright litigation on behalf of consumer technology, advertising, medical, and transportation companies. He also represented technology companies and trade associations before the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies. Long ago, in an Internet far far away, Mitch was Chief Security Engineer for the Mozilla Project at Netscape Communications (later AOL), where he worked to secure Web browsers against malicious Internet content and coordinated the security research efforts of hackers on three continents. Mitch has a JD from Boston University and a BA in Public Policy and Computer Science from Pomona College, where he co-founded the student TV station Studio 47. When not working, he can be found tinkering with electronics or chasing new levels of suffering on a bicycle. In this episode we discussed: key issues in the FCC's controversial set-top box proceeding. why copyright law does not apply in the context of set-top box manufacturers providing access to content consumers have already paid for. Resources: Electronic Frontier Foundation OmniFocus The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires by Tim Wu THE NEWS Yahoo! was the latest target of what Yahoo company officials say was yet another state-sponsored hack into the servers of American institutions. It’s believed to be the largest hack of a single company, according to David Gelles of The New York Times. Some 500 million Yahoo user accounts were breached. The intrusion came as company officials were putting the final touches on Verizon’s proposed $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoo! Now experts are wondering whether the transaction is going to go through. ---- Jessica Guynn at USA Today obtained an email from Google revealing the tech giant’s plans to open a diversity-focused tech lab in Oakland, California. The city is more than half African American and Latino. The tech lab, which is a partnership with MIT Media Lab, is called Code Next, and it is slated to open in October. Code Next is expected to work with the Oakland Unified School District in its efforts to bring more minority students into the tech sector pipeline. ---- Jessica Guynn at USA Today also reported on Facebook’s new voter registration drive, which the company launched on Friday in the U.S. The company sent out voter registration reminders that sends users to vote.usa.gov, where they are guided through the registration process. ---- VR Company Oculus is doing damage control after it was discovered that the company’s co-Founder, Palmer Luckey, donated $10,000 to a group called Nimble America, which is basically a trolling site that calls itself a QUOTE “shitposting” meme generator to help drump up support for Donald Trump among younger voters. Luckey apologized to his company and its partners. He says he is a libertarian who supports Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson. Kyle Orland and Ars Technica has the full story. ---- Dating app Tinder and music streaming site Spotify announced a new partnership last week. Jacob Kastrenakes at the Verge reported last week that Tinder users will now be able to see each others’ last few songs they listened to. All users, whether they are Spotify users or not, will be able to feature their one favorite song on their profile. ---- Catherine Ho at the Washington Post reports that John Boehner is headed to Squire Patton Boggs-a major lobbying and law firm. Boehner has also joined the board of Reynolds American--the maker of Camel cigarettes. Boehner will reportedly not be lobbying congress but will instead be advising corporate clients on global business development. ---- Last week, the Government Accountability Office reported grim news to the President’s Commission on Enhancing Cybersecurity. The report states the number of cyber incidents involving the federal government has jumped 1,300% between 2005 and 2015. Joe Davidson at the Washington Post has the story.

My guest today is Yolanda Rondon (@yolandarondon)—Staff Attorney for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). Her work focuses on immigration and on issues related to the surveillance, racial profiling, employment discrimination and hate crimes committed against Arab Americans. Prior to joining ADC, Yolanda worked for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and as a clerk for Chief Administrative Judge Charetta Harrington at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. While in law school, she served as a law clerk in Israel, working on cases involving Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees. Yolanda has written numerous briefs and appeared in an amicus brief before Supreme Court of the United States in EEOC v. Abercrombie and Fitch: This was the case in which a devout Muslim woman applied for a job at clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch and didn’t get the job—she was told it was because she wore a headscarf and the company had a no caps policy. Yolanda is a graduate of the State University of New York College at Buffalo and received a SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. She earned her Juris Doctor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2013. In this episode, we discussed: Historical examples of the surveillance of Arab Americans pre- and post-September 11th. How incidental data collection practices circumvent Constitutional due process and Fourth Amendment requirements. Key policy considerations policymakers should consider regarding the surveillance of Arab-Americans and other people of color. Resources: Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted by Ian Millhiser THE NEWS Michael Shear at the New York Times reported that last week that DCLeaks.com released Colin Powell's emails to the public, and the Democratic National committee was hacked into once again, an act many officials still believe was committed by the Russian government. Powell's emails revealed how he *really* feels about Donald Trump and the Clintons. He wrote that Trump embraced a QUOTE "racist" movement when he questioned President Obama's nationality. About Hillary, Powell wrote about his resentment towards Clinton "minions", as he called them, who sought to QUOTE "drag" Powell into the Clinton email controversy by revealing the fact that Powell himself kept at least some of his official communications off the State Department’s servers when HE served as State Secretary. He said he had to  QUOTE “throw a mini tantrum” in the Hamptons to get Clinton staffers to keep him out of it. Powell also called Dick Cheney an idiot in one of the emails and referred to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as “the idiot Rummy”. But Powell saved his worst vitriol for Bill Clinton, suggesting that Clinton still cheats on Hillary. Also, William Cummings at USA Today reports that Guccifer 2.0 hacked into the DNC once again last week, this time revealing information on the DNC’s finances as well as personal contact info, including Clinton running mate Tim Kaine’s personal mobile phone number. Interim DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile is urging DNC staffers not to visit Wikileaks for fear the site would install malware on their computers. --- Nicholas Fandos at The New York Times reports that the 14th Librarian of Congress took the helm last week when she was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts. Dr. Carla D. Hayden is the first African American and first woman to serve in the role Previously, Dr. Hayden was the Chief Librarian for the City of Baltimore, where she overhauled the library system.Dr. Hayden kept a branch of the library open during the violent aftermath of the police involved killing of Freddie Gray. Two protected the library while stores in the area were looted and burned. Dr. Hayden plans to improve digital access to the Library of Congress. She is the first new Library of Congress since 1987, but Congress passed a bill last year imposing a ten-year term limit on the position. ---- Ben Sisario over at The New York Times reported thatsongwriters are now suing the Justice Department for the DOJ’s decision last month to uphold the 1941 consent decree the agency entered into with music rights clearinghouses ASCAP and BMI. The songwriter want what is known as fractional licensing whereby, if multiple songwriters contribute to a song, they can all get paid royalties based on their individual contribution. But the Department of Justice basically said, listen, that’s too complicated -- each license is a 100% license and we’re not going to cut up the license into little pieces. We’re gonna do it the way we’ve always done it: ASCAP and BMI must have a 100% right to license the song--anything less and the music can’t be included it in the blanket licenses broadcasters and streaming music services rely on to play the music. The songwriters say this arrangement has them earning a pittance for songs they wrote. ---- Facebook and Israel are working together to reduce incitement on the social media site. The Associated Press in Jerusalem reports the collaboration comes amidst the Israeli government pushing for new anti-incitement legislation. Some advocates say this is a slippery slope towards censorship. ---- For the first time, theCity of New York coordinated with the Office of Emergency Management to send out a city-wide emergency alert to millions of New Yorkers that described the suspect responsible for the bombs that detonated in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood and in New Jersey, Ahmad Khan Rahami. The text contained a description of Rahami and is credited with putting the entire city on high alert, leading to Rahami’s apprehension on Monday morning. An FCC working group released a report recommending improvements to the nation’s Emergency Alert System on Monday. Kavell Waddell has the full story in the Atlantic. ---- Chris Isidore at CNN Money reports that, apparently,AT&T was charging customers in poor areas $30 or more per month for shoddy broadband speeds below 3 megabits per second, even though customers whose speeds were just a couple of megabits higher got it for as little as $5. The average high speed internet in the U.S. is 15 megabits per second. ATT’s discounted prices for customers getting at least 3 megabits per second were part of the company’s merger conditions when the FCC approved its acquisition of DirectTV. AT&T first said it was sticking to the strict parameters of that condition, but then when it got some negative press for jacking customers with even slower speeds, the company said, “Ok, ok, ok, ok … we’ll change the policy.” ---- Oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that oversees .com and .net registrations, is set to transfer from the U.S. to a multistakeholder model on October 1st. Conservatives are trying to prevent that from happening while progressives and leading tech companies wrote in a letter to Congress QUOTE “a global internet is essential for our economic and national security” END QUOTE Dustin Volz at Reuters has the story. Senator Ted Cruz held up the government funding bill on Monday in an attempt to delay the transition. —— Finally, Senior White House Official Valerie Jarrett visited San Quentin state prison to acknowledge the efforts of the Last Mile, which teaches prison inmates how to code. Jessica Guynn at USA Today reports that Jarrett said the program is critical for preventing recidivism rates by ensuring inmates can find a job once they’re released. Last Mile co-Founder Beverly Parenti has appeared on this podcast, which you can find on ... episode Episode 33. Michael Shear at the New York Times reported that last week that DCLeaks.com released Colin Powell's emails to the public, and the Democratic National committee was hacked into once again, an act many officials still believe was committed by the Russian government. Powell's emails revealed how he *really* feels about Donald Trump and the Clintons. He wrote that Trump embraced a QUOTE "racist" movement when he questioned President Obama's nationality. About Hillary, Powell wrote about his resentment towards Clinton "minions", as he called them, who sought to QUOTE "drag" Powell into the Clinton email controversy by revealing the fact that Powell himself kept at least some of his official communications off the State Department’s servers when HE served as State Secretary. He said he had to  QUOTE “throw a mini tantrum” in the Hamptons to get Clinton staffers to keep him out of it. Powell also called Dick Cheney an idiot in one of the emails and referred to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as “the idiot Rummy”. But Powell saved his worst vitriol for Bill Clinton, suggesting that Clinton still cheats on Hillary. Also, William Cummings at USA Today reports that Guccifer 2.0 hacked into the DNC once again last week, this time revealing information on the DNC’s finances as well as personal contact info, including Clinton running mate Tim Kaine’s personal mobile phone number. Interim DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile is urging DNC staffers not to visit Wikileaks for fear the site would install malware on their computers. --- Nicholas Fandos at The New York Times reports that the 14th Librarian of Congress took the helm last week when she was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts. Dr. Carla D. Hayden is the first African American and first woman to serve in the role. Previously, Dr. Hayden was the Chief Librarian for the City of Baltimore, where she overhauled the library system.Dr. Hayden kept a branch of the library open during the violent aftermath of the police involved killing of Freddie Gray. Two protected the library while stores in the area were looted and burned. Dr. Hayden plans to improve digital access to the Library of Congress. She is the first new Library of Congress since 1987, but Congress passed a bill last year imposing a ten-year term limit on the position. ---- Ben Sisario over at The New York Times reported that songwriters are now suing the Justice Department for the DOJ’s decision last month to uphold the 1941 consent decree the agency entered into with music rights clearinghouses ASCAP and BMI. The songwriter want what is known as fractional licensing whereby, if multiple songwriters contribute to a song, they can all get paid royalties based on their individual contribution. But the Department of Justice basically said, listen, that’s too complicated -- each license is a 100% license and we’re not going to cut up the license into little pieces. We’re gonna do it the way we’ve always done it: ASCAP and BMI must have a 100% right to license the song--anything less and the music can’t be included it in the blanket licenses broadcasters and streaming music services rely on to play the music. The songwriters say this arrangement has them earning a pittance for songs they wrote. ---- Facebook and Israel are working together to reduce incitement on the social media site. The Associated Press in Jerusalem reports the collaboration comes amidst the Israeli government pushing for new anti-incitement legislation. Some advocates say this is a slippery slope towards censorship. ---- For the first time, the City of New York coordinated with the Office of Emergency Management to send out a city-wide emergency alert to millions of New Yorkers that described the suspect responsible for the bombs that detonated in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood and in New Jersey, Ahmad Khan Rahami. The text contained a description of Rahami and is credited with putting the entire city on high alert, leading to Rahami’s apprehension on Monday morning. An FCC working group released a report recommending improvements to the nation’s Emergency Alert System on Monday. Kavell Waddell has the full story in the Atlantic. ---- Chris Isidore at CNN Money reports that, apparently, AT&T was charging customers in poor areas $30 or more per month for shoddy broadband speeds below 3 megabits per second, even though customers whose speeds were just a couple of megabits higher got it for as little as $5. The average high speed internet in the U.S. is 15 megabits per second. ATT’s discounted prices for customers getting at least 3 megabits per second were part of the company’s merger conditions when the FCC approved its acquisition of DirectTV. AT&T first said it was sticking to the strict parameters of that condition, but then when it got some negative press for jacking customers with even slower speeds, the company said, “Ok, ok, ok, ok … we’ll change the policy.” ---- Oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that oversees .com and .net registrations, is set to transfer from the U.S. to a multistakeholder model on October 1st. Conservatives are trying to prevent that from happening while progressives and leading tech companies wrote in a letter to Congress QUOTE “a global internet is essential for our economic and national security” END QUOTE Dustin Volz at Reuters has the story. Senator Ted Cruz held up the government funding bill on Monday in an attempt to delay the transition. —— Finally, Senior White House Official Valerie Jarrett visited San Quentin state prison to acknowledge the efforts of the Last Mile, which teaches prison inmates how to code. Jessica Guynn at USA Today reports that Jarrett said the program is critical for preventing recidivism rates by ensuring inmates can find a job once they’re released. Last Mile co-Founder Beverly Parenti has appeared on this podcast, which you can find on ... episode Episode 33.

Chelsea Collier (@ChelseaMcC) is dedicated to fostering collaboration across the public and private sector in order to connect and engage communities to solve civic challenges. Her current focus on Smart Cities unifies her experience in tech, policy, social impact, civic engagement and entrepreneurship. Chelsea is a Zhi-Xing Eisenhower Fellow and will travel to China this Fall to study Smart City innovation. She documents her research on a community platform she created, Digi.City, and is a contributor to RCR Wireless and Industrial IoT 5G. Chelsea is a Co-Founder of Impact Hub Austin, a local co-working and community space for social and civic enterprises that is a part a global network of more than 80 Impact Hubs around the world. She is also co-Founder of two other start-ups, Wake Up, a professional and personal development company and Mable, a social enterprise that produces modular furniture from sustainable materials manufactured in the USA. Through her consulting company, Intercambio, she advises multiple startups and projects that seek to make a positive impact on the world. From 2012-2015, Chelsea was the Executive Director Texans for Economic Progress (TEP) and now engages as a Strategic Advisor where she continues to facilitate dialogue between the statewide technology community and elected officials, advocating for greater access to tech education, entrepreneurship and infrastructure. Prior, she served as the Founding Director for RISE, an annual Austin-based entrepreneurs conference, Marketing Director at Rev Worldwide. a mission-focused fintech start-up; and served in the Texas Governor’s Office in Economic Development. She is active in several organizations that encourage economic solutions to global challenges including St Edwards’ University’s Dean’s Advisory & Development Council for The Bill Munday School of Business, an Executive Committee member of The Seton 50, Advisor to the World Economic Forum Global Shapers, UnltdUSA and Food + City. She served as Vice Chair and Commissioner for the City of Austin Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission from 2013 - 2015. She is a Leadership Austin graduate (2010); Austin Under 40 Award recipient in Science & Technology (2015) and a BPE Ascendant Award recipient (2013), and an ABJ Profiles in Power Finalist (2013).  Chelsea has masters and bachelor degrees in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin. In this episode, we discussed: what "Smart Cities" are and how they are making cities more livable and citizen-friendly. examples of ways in which cities are using next-generation technology to improve law enforcement and city services. key political, regulatory and political challenges cities face as they seek to apply smarter uses of technology. Resources: InterCambio Group Digi.City YouCanBook.me (scheduling app) Full Contact (contact management) Give and Take by Adam Grant TECH POLICY NEWS US officials are investigating a potential Russian effort to disrupt this year’s US presidential elections, according to Dana Priest at the Washington Post. The investigation was precipitated by alleged Russian hacks into the Democratic National Committee and Wikileaks release of 20,000 hacked DNC emails. Russia has denied the accusations, although, as Bloomberg notes, Russian President Vladimir Putin did say the DNC hacks were a public service. Julian Hattem at The Hill noted last week that Department of Homeland Security Chief Jeh Johnson attempted to downplay the Russian threat. Johnson said the vastness of all of the nation’s dispersed local and state voting systems would make it difficult for any hack to alter the ballot count. But officials are still worried that even a hint of the ballots being compromised could cause unrest.----The FCC has proposed rules that would open up the set top box market to competition. Currently, subscribers are paying an average of $231 per year to lease set top boxes from cable providers. And these set top boxes aren’t required to list content from over-the-top competitors like Netflix. The new rules would clear the way for cable subscribers to buy a set top box of their choice, they would also require cable providers to develop free apps that enable consumers to download all their programming to their chosen devices. The cable industry is obviously incensed. The Commissioners will vote on the new rules at the next Open Meeting on September 29th at the FCC. If you want to file comments, it’s proceeding 16-42. In the meantime, you can check out my interview with Brian Woolfolk on episode 36 to get caught up on the basics of this proceeding.----According to a new FBI report, Hillary Clinton and her staff were lackadaisical about keeping confidential communications secure while Clinton served as Secretary of State, even though Clinton herself had authorization to decide which communications were confidential and which weren’t. But former Secretary of State Colin Powell also indicated last week that his communications weren’t kept all that secure either, stating that he had used a separate internet connection over a private phone line to communicate about State Department business off the State Department’s servers. Sean Gallagher at Ars Technica and Quartz have the coverage here.----President Obama has announced the appointments of the nation’s first Chief and Deputy Chief Information Officers.  Retired Brigadier General Gregory J. Touhill, who currently serves as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security, will take the helm as CISO and Grant Schneider, current Director of Cybersecurity on the National Security Council staff at the White House will serve as Deputy.---- Finally, another Obama administration staffer is leaving the White House to join the tech sector. Rachel Racusen, who last week ended her stint as White House strategic communications adviser, will join Snapchat’s New York team next week to serve as Director of Communications at the growing social media company.  Juliet Eilperin at the Washington Post notes that Racusen joins a long line of former White House officials to join the tech sector, including former press secretary Jay Carney who went to Amazon and Dan Pfeiffer at GoFundMe.

Jose A. Marquez-Leon (@LISTA1) is the National President, CEO, and Founder of Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA). In this role he serves as lead advocate on state and federal issues related to the role of Latinos in the technology sector. He is also charged with coordinating organization-wide strategic planning for LISTA initiatives and is executive director of 15 LISTA TechLatino Councils nationwide. Since LISTA’s inception the organization has developed programs to take the Latino community from the “schoolroom to the boardroom.” These programs are designed to introduce technology into classrooms, encourage information technology and science professions among young adults, facilitate technology-related professional development through certification training and job-matching programs, leverage online communications for continued collaboration, and recognize Latinos within the IT industry that are making a difference. Jose has received several achievement awards including Politics 360 GameChangers Award, Hispanic Trends Magazine Technology Trendsetter 2007, National Hispanic Achievers Award, and the Greater NY Chamber of Commerce Advocate of the Year 2003, among others. In 2008, the Federal Communications Commission appointed Jose to serve on its Committee on Digital and Media Inclusion. In this episode, we discussed: how to cultivate Latino developers. diversity on Capitol Hill. Resources: Tech Latino General Assembly THE NEWS Ellen Nakashima at the Washington Post reports on an FBI alert to states to secure their election systems.  The report didn’t name the states that were targeted, but the Post points to two reported instances of hacks into election systems in June and July in Illinois, which resulted in the state having to shut down voting registrations, and Arizona, where hackers obtained access to voting records. Some experts suspect Russia may be the culprit. Evan Perez at CNN also reported that the FBI is investigating a series of cyberattacks against news organizations including the New York Times. Several US officials believe the attacks on reporters, as well as attacks on the Democratic National Committee, have been the work of the Russians. ---- For the first time in its nearly a quarter century existence, Wired magazine--the tech sector’s leading trade and lifestyle publication -- has endorsed a presidential candidate. Editor-in-Chief Scott Dadich praised Hillary Clinton’s support for net neutrality, student loan forgiveness for entrepreneurs, easing entry for people abroad who are skilled at science, tech and engineering, and strengthening the Affordable Care Act. Dadich painted Donald Trump as someone who is more interested in generating attention for himself than leading the country. Nick Gass reports in Politico that Hillary Clinton’s tech agenda closely aligns with Silicon Valley. ---- Hillary Clinton’s praise from Wired was marred by a new FBI disclosure that revealed Clinton failed to turn over nearly 15,000 emails to the State Department. These emails will plague Clinton’s campaign until Election Day, because a federal judge has ordered the emails to be released to the public beginning in October. Steven Lee Myers has the story in The New York Times. ---- The Cybersecurity firm Lookout and the University of Toronto have discovered three previously unknown security flaws in Apple’s iOS mobile operating system. The report states the flaws made it possible for foreign governments to tap into users’ phones and spy on them using spyware that targeted journalists and activists. Andrea Peterson at The Washington Post has the story. ---- The American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Democracy and Technology and 26 other organizations sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security last week opposing the agency’s proposal to use social media to review visa-waiver applications. The groups say the proposed rules would unfairly target Arab-Americans and Muslims. Ali Breland has the story in the Hill. ---- Thirty-two tech and telecom companies including AT&T, Verizon, Google and Apple have formed a Robocall Strike Force to develop a self-regulatory approach to dealing with annoying calls from telemarketers, researchers and others. FCC Chairman Tom.Wheeler says the FCC receives 200,000 robocall complaints each year. The group’s plan for dealing with robocalls is due to the FCC on October 19th. ---- Finally, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has set its deadline for the FCC to respond to petitions telecom companies filed asking the full court to review the court’s 3-judge panel decision to uphold the FCC’s net neutrality rules. The FCC’s response is due September 12th.

Nicole Reitz-Larsen (@reitzlarsen) is a secondary classroom teacher with 15+ years teaching experience. She has taught everything from AP/IB Computer Science, to German, Multimedia and Business related courses. She loves working with students and is passionate about equity in education and providing opportunities for all students to be successful. She works with teachers nationwide on the CS10K.org site and with Code.org to promote the importance of computer science, assist districts in implementing computer science K-12 in schools to broaden participation of underrepresented students of color and females. You can often find her facilitating Computer Science workshops nationwide, presenting at teacher conferences or meet ups because she loves working with educators to provide them with resources, and teaching strategies around equity and inquiry, while creating an environment that is inclusive of all students, as well as in the classroom which she calls home.   In this episode, we discussed: the key challenges students face in the computer science classroom and best practices for helping them overcome them. tools parents can use to help their kids learn computer science. Resources: Code.org CS10K Made with Code Scratch Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg NEWS Anonymous hackers some experts believe have Russian ties released a trove of tools the National Security Agency uses to exploit bugs on the Internet to conduct spying operations. For years, the NSA has resisted efforts by institutions to reveal the bugs it was exploiting so they could be fixed. Now, those bugs are on full display for all the world to see. Ellen Nakashima covers this story at the Washington Post and Andy Greenberg is covering it for Wired.----Hackers believed to have Russian ties also got into billionaire George Soros and his Open Society Foundations’ files last week, according to Julian Hattem at the Hill. Two thousand documents were released giving an inside look into how the powerful Democratic supporter and his Foundations operate. ---- Google isn’t out of the woods yet regarding the way it scans emails to serve up ads. Google scans not just Gmail messages, but also anyone interacting with Gmail, from any domain. The plaintiffs sued Google in the Northern District of California alleging that the company’s email scanning practices violate wiretapping provisions of both the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and California’s own state privacy laws. Google argued the practice is within the ordinary course of business. But US District Judge Lucy Koh disagreed, ordering the case to move forward. Joe Mullin covers this for Ars Technica.----It looks like internet service providers are going to have to start putting some of its users on blast for copyright infringement-even before they have been convicted of it. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled last week that Cox must pay $25 million to BMG Music for failing to notify users that they had infringed music copyrights by participating in illegal file sharing. BMG enlisted a 3rd party to monitor Cox’ users for infringement and when it found infringement, notified Cox. But Cox then prevented its users from receiving notifications. So the court ruled Cox now owes BMG a $25 million penalty. Brian Fung has that story at the Washington Post. ---- Univision has won the bid for Gawker Media’s bankruptcy assets. Gawker announced last week it would be ceasing operations. The announcement was made after months of speculation about the fate of the company, following a devastating $140 million judgment against Gawker in favor of Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan sued Gawker for posting a video showing Hogan having sex with radio Bubba the Love Sponge’s wife. Keepin it classy, baby! Anyway, Univision’s bid for Gawker’s assets was $135 million, pending approval by the Bankruptcy Court. Lukas Alpert has the story in the Wall Street Journal.----Finally, The DOJ and FTC are seeking comment on proposed rules to update the guidelines we use to license intellectual property. The comments are due September 26th.

Rachel Rodgers (@RachelRodgersEsq) is a business lawyer turned business coach, intellectual property strategist, and the creator of Small Business Bodyguard. In 2013, she created the Small Business Bodyguard: Cover Your Bases, Cover Your Assets, Cover Your Ass. This game-changing legal resource has been called “fun and engaging” by New York Times bestselling author Chris Brogan and a “graduate-level course on how to build a strong foundation for your business” by CEO of OurDeal, Kyle Durand. Rachel is known in the legal industry and beyond for being an innovator and master of productizing services and creating high-quality, high profit products. SBB and the other legal kits she has created have been transformative, generating half a million dollars in revenue in just two years and serving 1,700 small businesses around the country. And she achieved those results with almost no active marketing because she simply didn’t have the time (she literally launched SBB with a newborn in her arms). When she’s not taking care of clients, she enjoys baking in the kitchen (barefoot, with rosé in hand), lifting weights, juicing (the green kind, not the steroid kind), reading to her toddlers, being a “dance mom” to her girls and going on new adventures with her family (her favorite destination being the South of France, of course!). In this episode, we discussed: Critical first steps every business owner should take to prevent legal headaches. How to stop working "in your business" and start working "on it" to catapult your success. How to establish strategic partnerships and alliances with other entrepreneurs. Resources The Rodgers Collective Small Business Bodyguard Slack Helpscout Mastermind Dinners by Jason Gaignard The Alchemist by Paul Coehlo The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks NEWS Julia Love at Reuters reports that neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton are pulling in Silicon Valley funding anywhere near what Mitt Romney and Barack Obama did in 2012. Trump has pulled in less than 6% of what Romney did and while Clinton has significantly outraised Trump in the Valley, she’s raised less than half of what Obama did there. The full story is at Reuters.com. ---- Curt Woodward at the Boston Globe reports that, as financial firms and retail outlets have significantly tightened their fraud prevention tactics, criminals have now turned to hacking health care records. The health care records of 4.5 million people have been compromised this year, and while this is down from last year, the long term consequences are much more severe than those of financial data breaches. ---- Security software maker Check Point has uncovered a huge security flaw in Android phones known as Quadrooter. The breach affects as many as a billion phones, including high-end phones like the Samsung Galaxy 7 and HTC 10. Ina Fried at Recode has more. ---- Three House Democrats are calling for GOP leaders to investigate Donald Trump for encouraging Russia to hack into the 30,000 emails still missing from the private email server Hillary Clinton used when she served as Secretary of State. Congressmen Patrick Murphy from Florida, Andre Carson from Indiana and Eric Swalwell from California are all asking a House panel to investigate. Check out Haroun Demirjian’s (DE-MEER-JOHN'S_ full coverage in the Washington Post. —— Privacy advocates are getting worried about customers exchanging their privacy for lower-priced internet services. David Lazarus at the LA Times points to Comcast and AT&T who offer customers lower prices in exchange for tracking their online behavior. Advocates are worried the model is creating a society of privacy haves and have-nots in which privacy will only be available to people willing to pay for it. ---- The federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled last week that entities that mimic government agencies must observe the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement for searches and seizures. The case involved a defendant who sent child pronography via his AOL account, which AOL then flagged and sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which it was required to do. A Department of Homeland Security special agent then obtained a tip through NCMEC’s system and then a search warrant to search the suspect’s home. The court found that NCMEC should never have opened the email without a warrant in the first place, since it was acting on the government’s behalf. Cyrus Farivar has more full coverage at Ars Technica. --- A federal judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued a largely sealed ruling last week criticizing the FBI’s new gag order rules. Gag orders demand secrecy from companies regarding data requests the FBI makes to investigate national security cases. The new gag order rules require the FBI to review either on the “close of an investigation” or on the “three year anniversary of an investigation”, whether a gag order is still necessary. So this means the FBI could, theoretically at least, at the close of every single investigation, deem the gag orders to still be necessary, and keep them in place indefinitely. But these are just criticisms. The judge did not order a revamping of the rules. Ellen Nakashima at the Washington Post has the story. ---- Finally, Greenberg Traurig—the international law firm— will be lobbying on behalf of the Pokemon Company International, which has come under scrutiny after the release of its widely popular Pokémon Go game. The game has caused concern among lawmakers regarding distracted driving and the potential for pedophiles to exploit the game to harm children. For example, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo banned sex offenders on parole from using Pokemon Go for fear they would put down lures to entice children to come to a particular location. Greenberg Traurig will work to counter that negative perception among federal lawmakers. Megan Wilson at the Hill has more.  

Jermane Bond (@JermaneBond) is a Senior Fellow at the National Collaborative for Health Equity where he leads efforts to address the determinants of health for boys and men of color. His research interests include men’s preconception health and reproductive life planning, paternal involvement in pregnancy outcomes and racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality. With funding from the Office of Minority Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Bond formed the Commission on Paternal Involvement in Pregnancy Outcomes, (a transdisciplinary working group of social scientist and public health professionals) to raise awareness for the importance of paternal involvement in pregnancy and family health by reframing debates, informing research, policy and practice to support greater involvement of expectant fathers in pregnancy. Dr. Bond is a member of the American Public Health Association, the American College of Epidemiology and serves on several editorial boards, including the Maternal and Child Health Journal and the American Journal of Public Health. He received a B.A. from Morehouse College, and a Ph.D. from Howard University. In this episode, we discussed: Health disparities within the black community. Specific health disparities affecting black men. How health technology can play a vital role in creating better outcomes for black men. Resources: National Collaborative for Health Equity Lagging Life Expectancy for Black Men: A Public Health Imperative by Jermane Bond  and Allen A. Herman (American Journal of Public Health, 2016) The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson ---- This Week's News The Federal Trade Commission plans to crack down on celebrity product endorsements on social media. The agency thinks the endorsements aren’t transparent enough because they often don’t contain an explicit statement that the endorsement is actually a paid advertisement. So this will affect celebrities like DJ Khaled who promotes Ciroc vodka on Snapchat and other celebrities who earn revenue from sponsorships in exchange for giving products their stamp of approval.   The FTC has brought lawsuits against several companies that secure product endorsements from celebrities.   But marketing executives think this is an overreach, saying the these celebrity influencers recognize the trust their audiences place in them and would never violate that rapport by endorsing products they don’t actually believe in.   Experts are advising celebrity endorsers to know include hashtags in their sponsored posts, with #ad being the preferred indicator, although these hashtags often get jumbled up with a bunch of other hashtags.   Sarah Frier and Matt Townsend at Bloomberg have more.   ----   The U.S. is concerned that voting machines will be hacked on election day. Remember that crazy 2000 election that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court? Well, picture that scenario—except no one even knows where to start counting—since the entire system was hacked.   The problem is that with more than 9,000 voting districts in the U.S., it’s quite a task to monitor all those. So the Obama administration is considering whether to designate voting machines as “critical infrastructure”.   Check out Julie Hirschfeld Davis’ Coverage in The New York Times.   ----   So if you’re in or around a court house, you may want to watch what you say—even if you’re talking to your own lawyer. Apparently, the FBI placed bugs in and around the San Mateo County courthouse while they were investigating an alleged foreclosed homes bid-rigging scheme. The FBI started out sending under-cover agents with wires, but apparently the agents fell out of favor with the suspects who began sharing less information with the undercover agents. So the FBI decided to try and capture the suspects’ conversations at the courthouse. But they went ahead and captured EVERYONE’S conversations—including people discussing their sex lives.   In any case, US District Judge Charles Breyer issued an order last week suppressing over 200 hours of audio recordings because he found the suspects had a legit expectation of privacy and so the surveillance tactic violated the Fourth Amendment. But technically, the FBI can keep placing bugs outside courthouses, since another federal judge in San Mateo issued the exact opposite ruling in another case—saying the suspects didn’t adequately protect their own privacy.   Joe Mullen covers this story over at Ars Technica.   ----   Privacy Shield went into effect last week. That’s the privacy deal worked out between the U.S. and European Union after lawyer and PhD student Max Schrems — who is Austrian — successfully challenged Facebook’s privacy protection practices. Schrems filed 22 complaints against Facebook in Ireland, which ultimately led the EU to strike down the so called Safe Harbor—which for 16 years had governed transatlantic data exchanges between European citizens and servers in the United States. After the Safe Harbor was struck down, tech companies had to make individual agreements, which proved cumbersome, while the U.S. and E.U negotiated an alternative arrangement that would protect Europeans’ private data from the prying eyes of the National Security Agency.   The result is the Privacy Shield. But 28-year-old Schrems thinks Privacy Shield still isn’t good enough.   Adam Satariano and Stephanie Bodoni covered this for Bloomberg.   ----   In a letter to Congress, the U.S. Copyright Office weighed in on the Federal Communications Commission’s proposed rules to open up set-top boxes to competition. The goal is to allow consumers to choose which set-top box they access content from, instead of being stuck with the box that they lease from their cable provider for an average of $231 per year. The U.S. Copyright Office wrote that the FCC’s proposed rules would give rise to widespread copyright infringement.   The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Mitch Stolz argues that the Copyright Office’s legal analysis is full of holes, mainly because it fails to account for the fact that copyright law doesn’t confer any rights with respect to how the technology that consumers use to access the actual, copyrighted material, is designed.   Check out Mitch Stolz’ analysis at EFF and John Bergmayer analysis at Public Knowledge.   ----   The Justice Department has decided it will not update the consent decrees performing rights organizations ASCAP and BMI entered into back in 1941. Those agreements set the standard for how media outlets would pay royalties. But, of course, the Internet wasn’t around then, and ASCAP and BMI had sought to have the consent decrees updated for the digital age. The Department of Justice declined and actually are adding a rule requiring ASCAP and BMI to get clearance from all of the artists who contributed to a song, and pay each of them their share of royalties. This is known as 100% licensing.   ASCAP and BMI, of course, were not happy with the decision, arguing that it would lead to musicians being paid less for their works.   Ben Sisario has the full story and analysis in the New York Times.   ---   Finally, a former technician a the FBI has pled guilty to charges that he spied for the Chinese government, providing sensitive intelligence to Chinese officials, in exchange for travel reimbursements, cash and even prostitutes. Kun Shan Chun, a Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen faces 10 years in prison.   Camila Domonoske covered this story for NPR.

Jessica Gonzalez (@JGonzalezNHMC) is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. Jessica oversees all NHMC operations from headquarters in Pasadena, California. Jessica has testified before the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and has been interviewed on television and radio. Additionally, she played an instrumental role in drafting the historic Memorandum of Understanding between Comcast Corporation and leading national Latino leadership organizations. Before joining NHMC, Jessica was a staff attorney and clinical teaching fellow at Georgetown Law’s renowned Institute for Public Representation (IPR). At IPR Jessica represented NHMC and other consumer, civil rights and public interest organizations before the FCC, the NTIA and in the Courts of Appeal. While in law school, Jessica clerked at the Media Access Project in Washington, DC, and prior to law school she was a public high school teacher in Los Angeles, California. Jessica earned a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Georgetown Law, a JD from Southwestern Law School, where she worked on the Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas and the Journal of International Media and Entertainment Law, and a BA in Communication Studies and Spanish from Loyola Marymount University. She is licensed to practice law in California and the District of Columbia. Jessica serves on the Executive Board of Directors of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and sits on the FCC’s Diversity and Open Internet advisory committees. In recognition of her public service accomplishments and commitment to mentoring, Harvard Law School selected Jessica as a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow for the 2013-2014 school year. In this episode, we discussed: the relationship between media ownership diversity and hate speech. the FCC's role in promoting media ownership diversity and where it has fallen short. the psychological impact of hate speech. how making broadband more affordable can help counter the effects of hate speech. Resources: National Hispanic Media Coalition Why Not Me?  by Mindy Kaling

Jennifer Pozner (@jennpozner) is founder and executive director of Women In Media & News (WIMN), a media analysis, education and advocacy group. She’s also the author of  Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV.   A widely published journalist, Jennifer serves on the board of editors of In These Timesmagazine. Her work has appeared in corporate media outlets such as Newsday, Chicago Tribune and the Boston Phoenix, independent magazines such as Ms. magazine, The American Prospect, and Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, and online media such as WomensEnews, AlterNet, and Salon, among others. Jennifer has appeared as a media commentator on NBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC News Now, GRITtv, Democracy Now!, National Public Radio, and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” She’s gone head to head with Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Joe Scarborough. Forbes has named Jennifer one of “20 Inspiring Women To Follow On Twitter” and BizTech Day’s list of “25 Influential Business Women in New York City You Should Follow on Twitter” has included Jennifer  alongside Tyra Banks, Martha Stewart and Vera Wang. In this episode we discussed: tropes and archetypes in reality tv. reality TV as anti-civil rights propaganda. how reality TV affects young girls' perceptions of themselves in relation to the world. Resources: Reality Bites Back The Crunk Feminist Collective The Establishment Feminist Blogosphere We Were Feminists Once by Andi Zeisler

Matt Wood (@mattfwood) is Policy Director at Free Press. Matt helps shape Free Press’ efforts to protect the open internet, prevent media concentration, promote affordable broadband deployment and safeguard press freedom. He’s served as an expert witness before Congress on multiple occasions. Before joining Free Press, he worked at the public interest law firm Media Access Project and in the communications practice groups of two private law firms in Washington, D.C. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, worked for PBS, and spent time at several professional and college radio and television stations. Matt earned his B.A. in film studies from Columbia University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. In this episode, we discussed: how the telecom sector is likely to respond to the D.C. Circuit's recent decision to uphold the FCC's net neutrality rules. legislative approaches and emerging business models which are potentially harmful to net neutrality principles despite the ruling. how the relationship between traditional civil rights organizations and progressive groups is likely to evolve following ruling. Resources Free Press U.S. Telecom v. FCC (D.C. Cir. 2016)

Marcus Jiménez is  Founder and CEO of Sticky Docs—a content creation, data visualization and publishing platform for enterprises of all kinds. In 2014, Sticky Docs was the winner of the Tabby Business Award for Best Enterprise Marketing app.  Marcus has also been recognized by Agency Post, the American Marketers Association, the Art Director’s Club, The Society of Publication Designers, and the ADCOLOR® Industry Coalition, where he was honored as a Change Agent Award Recipient, and currently serves on its Board of Directors. In this episode, we discussed:  a process for better storytelling to make your white papers and other information products more relevant and engaging. Marcus' new incubator that helps entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups learn to run successful companies. the top 3 things you should be doing to make your content stand out from the pack. Resources StickyDocs HueCoLab The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future by Steven Case FlipBoard (iOS|Android)

Melissa A. Rasberry (@MelRasberry) is the senior technical assistance consultant at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), where she serves as the principal investigator for the CS10K Community, an online community of practice for computer science teachers sponsored by the National Science Foundation. She has created and facilitated over 35 virtual communities throughout her career, providing effective online professional learning experiences for educators. Dr. Rasberry began as a third grade teacher and a principal intern at two diverse elementary schools in Durham NC. Her professional interests span the teaching continuum—from recruitment and preparation to professional development and retention.  In this episode, we discussed: how to train computer science teachers with non-CS degrees. how to inspire students who do not initially see the relevance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). how parents can prevent the "summer melt" and encourage their children to build on their STEM skills throughout the summer. Resources: CS10K Community Code.org Scratch Evernote You're a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living and Awesome Life by Jen Sincero (2013)

Viola Llewellyn (@VALlewellyn) is co-founder, President and CEO of Ovamba Solutions Inc. Based in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Ovamba matches global investors to qualified African Small and Medium Sized Enterprises who need short term funding. Ovamba is backed by Crowdcredit in Japan, Courtyard Capital in the UK, and GLI in Guernsey who themselves are backed by Blackrock Global, AXA Investment Managers, and Barclays Wealth. Average size investments in businesses across Ovamba's portfolio is around $50,000, with as little as $3,000 all the way up to $500,000 invested. The success rate of the companies Ovamba works with is 98%, delivering between a 13 and 18 percent return on investment. In this episode, we discussed: the role of financial technology ("fintech") in helping Africa-based business access capital. how to cultivate a mindset that will help you overcome obstacles in your career. Resources: Ovamba African Business Angel Network (ABAN) Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss The Storytelling Book by Anthony Tasgal

Victor Yocco (@VictorYocco) is a User Experience researcher working for EY Intuitive out of Philadelphia. He has written several articles for the likes of A List Apart and Smashing Magazine and has recently written a book about user experience research called Design for the Mind: 7 Psychological Principals for Persuasive Design, which will be available this month. He earned both his undergraduate degree and PhD at Ohio State. In this episode, we discussed: The 7 key psychological principals for effective user interface design and how to apply them to websites focused on policy. How organizations can reduce alcoholism in the workplace. Resources: victoryocco.com Design for the Mind: Seven Psychological Principals for Persuasive Design by Victor Yocco (2016) COUPON CODE FOR 39% oFF THE COVER PRICE: SMAYOCCO Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (2011)

Congressman Bobby Scott and Ximena Hartsock Hon. Bobby Scott United States Congressman Representing Virginia's 3rd Congressional District Ranking Member, Committee on Education and the Workforce Ximena Hartsock (@ximenahartsock) is co-founder and President of Phone2Action. Phone2 Action’s digital grassroots platform makes it easy for your organization to attract and engage supporters. Social media, calling and email advocacy tools connect supporters to elected officials at every level, from city council to federal delegations, as well as to civic programs. Ximena is an advocate at heart and has been involved in social advocacy campaigns since she was 11. Prior to co-founding Phone2ACtion, she managed membership and outreach for a national advocacy organization, where she ran hundreds of campaigns across the US. She has also held numerous leadership positions in Washington, DC, including spending time as a Principal, Assistant Superintendent and Agency Director. In 2009, she was appointed to the Executive Cabinet of then-DC Mayor Adrian Fenty. She earned her Doctorate in Policy Studies from the George Washington University and was born and raised in Santiago, Chile. In this episode, we discussed: The right mindset to adopt to overcome your limitations (real and perceived) to reach your fullest potential. How to effectively incorporate mobile into your advocacy campaign. How to combine advocacy and entrepreneurship in a way that is profitable but also keeps you connected to the communities you care about. Resources: Phone2Action Phone2Action on Medium Ninja University by Gary Shapiro Schools that Learn by Peter Segne, et al. The Fifth Discipline by Peter Segne

Joe Torres (@JosephATorres) is Senior External Affairs Director at Free Press. Joseph advocates in Washington to ensure that our nation’s media policies serve the public interest and builds coalitions to broaden the movement's base. Joseph writes frequently on media and Internet issues and is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. He is the 2015 recipient of the Everett C. Parker Award, which recognizes an individual whose work embodies the principles and values of the public interest. In this episode, we discussed: The historic underpinnings of today's racial narrative in the media. How net neutrality and the internet can circumvent persistent gaps in traditional media ownership diversity. The policy implications arising from how consumers access news on modern platforms such as Facebook and Google. Resources: Free Press News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media by Juan Gonzalez and Joseph Torres (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (2012) Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness by Simone Brown (2015) Forgotten Dead: Mob Violence Against Mexicans in the United States by William D. Carrigan (2013) Latino USA Podcast Microphone Check Podcast Alt.Latino Radio

Bruce Lincoln (@brucelincoln) is the co-founder of Silicon Harlem, which is focused on transforming Harlem into a hub for tech and innovation. He is also a senior fellow of the Columbia University Institute for Tele-Information at the Columbia Business School, and was previously the entrepreneur in residence at Columbia’s Center for Technology, Innovation and Community Engagement (CTICE).   Bruce has been involved in cutting edge technology product development and technology commercialization since the late 80's, when as the first Ford Fellow in Educational Technology, he was one of the early CD ROM content developers for Apple. He also developed the first program to bring broadband to public schools in New York City.   In this episode we discussed: How New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has worked to ensure New York City's tech sector is as diverse as the city itself. How local community organizations such as Silicon Harlem can help ensure youth are engaged in tech from an early age. How to use technology to stimulate mom-and-pop businesses in Harlem and beyond. Resources Silicon Harlem The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn Constructivism, Technology, and the Future of Classroom Learning by Erik F. Strommen and Bruce Lincoln (Education & Urban Society, 1992)

Wayne Sutton (@waynesutton) is a serial entrepreneurCo-founder of Change catalyst . Change Catalyst is dedicated to exploring innovative solutions to diversity and inclusion in tech through the Tech Inclusion Conference, consulting and workshops. Wayne’s experience includes years of establishing partnerships with large brands to early stage startups. As a leading voice in diversity and inclusion in tech, Wayne shares his thoughts on solutions and culture in various media outlets where he has been featured in TechCrunch, USA Today, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal. In addition to mentoring and advising early stage startups, Wayne’s life goal is to educate entrepreneurs who are passionate about using technology to change the world. In this episode we discussed: The critical pain points tech companies are experiencing when it comes to diverse hiring. Which tech companies are blazing trails in diversity, setting the standard for the rest of the industry. How recent grads can cope with issues related to workplace discrimination and harassment. How policy can help impact trends in diverse hiring in tech. Resources Change Catalyst Diversity in High Tech Report by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2016) Mindset by Carol Dweck Trello Slack Evernote Headspace Insight Timer (iTunes|Android) Jawbone - Up 24 Nuzzle

Catherine McCullough (@TechonTires) ( is Executive Director of the Intelligent Car Coalition. Ms. McCullough was raised in Washington and has worked in politics and policy for over twenty-five years. She speaks regularly on issues such as data use, privacy, cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles, driver attention, the government’s role in technological innovation, and more. Ms. McCullough is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post; serves on panels for conferences such as SXSW Interactive, CTIA Super Mobility, and CE Week-New York; has appeared on shows such as The Communicators; has published op-eds for beltway publications; and is regularly interviewed by media outlets that cover connected car issues. She is an attorney and also holds degrees in Journalism and Political Science. Prior to her work with the Coalition, Ms. McCullough advised leading companies on critical public affairs matters and served as a Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. At the Commerce Committee she worked on subcommittees that oversaw many Internet, privacy, auto safety, insurance, and consumer product liability issues. In this episode, we discussed: how the Department of Transportation classifies the different types of autonomous vehicles. the likely timeline on which the auto industry will release autonomous vehicles to consumers. the dangers of autonomous driving, particularly with respect to cybersecurity and distracted driving. Resources Intelligent Car Coalition (@TechonTires) Drive Mode

Sarah Morris (@sarmorris) is Senior policy counsel for the Open Technology Institute at New America, Sarah Morris leads the policy team's strategic efforts on issues related broadband access and adoption, online consumer protections, and preserving the open Internet. Her work on network neutrality has been widely quoted in a number of national publications, and she has appeared as an expert on radio and television outlets. She is a regular contributor for The Hill, and frequently writes for a variety of other national outlets. Prior to joining New America, Ms. Morris was a Google Policy Fellow with the public interest law firm Media Access Project, where she assisted with research and drafting of FCC comments on a wide range of key communications issues. She earned a B.A. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a J.D. and LL.M. in Space, Cyber and Telecommunications Law from Nebraska Law, completing her thesis on privacy and security concerns related to Smart Grid technology. She currently serves on the Alumni Council for the LL.M. program.   In this episode, we discussed: What internet service providers (ISPs) know about you and how that data can potentially be used against you. How some ISPs attempt to buy and sell your data. The FCC's legal authority to regulate privacy. The specific types of data the FCC should seek to protect. Resources: Open Technology Institute at New America The FCC's Role in Protecting Online Privacy: An Explainer (OTI) Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, Family by Anne Marie Slaughter

Katja Schroeder (@schroek) is an Adjunct Professor at St.Francis College where she teaches International Marketing andSocial Media Marketing. She is the Managing Director of Bloom, atransmedia  startup agency within the Ruder Finn globalnetwork that helps companies thrive with integrated marketingcommunications campaigns across social channels and digitalscreens. Katja has developedaward-winning integrated communications and marketing programs forcompanies  of all sizes in North America, Europe and Asia.Katja holds a M.A. in Communications andBusiness Administration from the FU Berlin (Germany) and a M.A. inCommunications and Information Sciences from CELSA/Sorbonne, Paris(France).  She is a published author and frequently blogsabout entrepreneurship, digital media and  the way technologyinnovation enables sustainable development. She is on the Board ofthe St. Francis College's Center for Entrepreneurship. In this episode we discussed The one thing organizations do wrong when it comes to theircontent and social media marketing and how you can avoid it. How to go from zero engagement to having an active and engagedsocial media following. How to grow a POWERFUL social media presence, no matter howsmall your organization. Resources St. FrancisCollege Center for Entrepreneurship [Twitter] Bloom PR Hootsuite Small Data: The Tiny Clues that Uncover HugeTrends by Martin Lindstrom Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and ReneéMauborgne

Brian Woolfolk (@brianpwoolfolk) is a seasoned attorney with over 20 years of government relations and congressional investigations experience. He represents a broad array of clients with matters before Congress and federal agencies. Brian also counsels clients involved in high profile Congressional Investigations. In addition, he advises clients on compliance with federal election, lobbying disclosure and gift ban regulations. Prior to his tenure in private practice, Brian served as a Democratic counsel on the US House Judiciary Committee and advised members and staff on constitutional, environmental, antitrust, criminal justice and investigative issues. Brian also served as legislative counsel to Congressman Robert C. (Bobby) Scott of Virginia, currently the Ranking Member of the Education and Workforce Committee. In this episode we discussed: How cable networks make money outside of advertising. How the FCC's proposed set-top box rules can help improve content diversity. The "big picture" of policies affecting modern media diversity. Resources: Unlock the Box The Black Count by Tom Reiss

Patrick Gusman (@Lancieux) is the Chief Operating Officer of Sasha Bruce Youthwork (SBY). Prior to joining SBY, Patrick was the President and Managing Director of the Equal Footing Foundation, and Managing Director of Social Sector Innovations' Startup Middle School a pilot program that trains and develops a sustainable pipeline of early-stage masters of disruptive technologies from underrepresented backgrounds at the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science (MS)2. Prior to his work with the Equal Footing Foundation and Social Sector Innovations, he was the Executive Director of the TechNet Foundation, Inc. (ConvergeUS) and Chief innovation Officer at the National Urban League. At ConvergeUS he helped give birth to a series of social innovation including MyMilitaryLife. In his work at the National Urban League, Gusman managed strategic planning and was responsible for introducing a groundbreaking social media effort, www.iamempowered.com. Gusman received a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and a concentration in French from the University of Notre Dame. He serves on the board of the Kenya Village North Project. In this episode we discussed: the key misconceptions about youth homlessness. primary reasons for youth homelessness in Washington, D.C. how Sasha Bruce works with homeless youth and their families to help homeless youth get back on their feet. Resources Sasha Bruce Youthwork (Twitter|Facebook|Instagram|LinkedIn) The Chosen by Chaim Potok

Natalie Cofield (@ncofield) has carved a niche for herself as an entrepreneur, advocate, and speaker on all things business and diversity. Her work has spanned continents, communities and corporations and can currently be found impacting lives and bottom-lines at organizations in cities including Austin, New York, DC, LA, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg, Nairobi and beyond.    A converted management consultant, economic fellow, and economic development director she is the Immediate Past President of the Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce, Founding President of the Austin Black Technology Council and Founder of Walker’s Legacy a national women in business collective.    Natalie recently co-founded urban-co lab-- urban innovation focused co-working space and startup incubator designed for community change-makers and innovators looking to create solutions for urban problems throughout the nation.   A graduate of Howard and the Baruch School of Public Affairs in New York, her work has been featured in Forbes, BusinessInsider, Black Enterprise, Essence and Ebony among others.   In this episode we discussed: How to persevere in your business, job and life even when all you want to do is quit. How Natalie has achieved EPIC success by putting others first. How Natalie maintains balance even while running two profitable companies. Resources: Walker's Legacy (Twitter) Urban Co-Lab Google for Business Docusign On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker by A'leia Bundles The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss  

Beverly Parenti (@thebev) is co-founder and Executive Director of The Last Mile—a nonprofit focused on providing education and training inside prison that can result in gainful employment upon reentry, thereby reducing recidivism and helping redirect spending from prisons to education.    Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan recently visited San Quentin prison to spend time with inmates who are participating in Last Mile’s coding boot camp called Code.7370. On the day of his visit, Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook QUOTE “We can’t jail our way to a just society.” END QUOTE   Last Mile’s programming is one of the most requested prison education programs in the U.S. It’s the FIRST program to offer a computer programming curriculum that teaches men and women to become software engineers. The Last Mile will be in six prisons (including 2 women’s facilities by the end of this year, and expand outside of California next year.     In this episode we discussed: The critical need for programming to not only train inmates on technical skills, but also help them find redemption through their work. How The Last Mile grew from an entrepreneurship training program into a program that includes software engineering as a central component. How policymakers can begin to develop similar programs to help train inmates in their local detention facilities. The Last Mile's revolutionary inmate training method that is spreading nationwide. Resources: The Last Mile The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

Yondi K. Morris-Andrews (@YondiMorris) is a founding partner of Knight, Morris & Reddick Law Group (@KMRLawGroup). She specializes in various practice areas including corporate, entertainment, and real estate transactions. With her corporate clients, Mrs. Morris-Andrews works mostly with start-up companies, offering them advice on how to form as an entity, while drafting and negotiating contracts on the company’s behalf. Morris-Andrews offers creative solutions for her entrepreneur clients, and is able to guide them as they grow from the start-up phase to experienced businesses. She has been hired by her clients to act as general counsel, handling any needs that might arise from the day-to-day responsibilities of running a business. For her entertainment clients, Morris-Andrews drafts and reviews contracts including licensing, agent and artist agreements, and will negotiate deals on her client’s behalf. Ranging from an independent play writer to a talent management company, Morris-Andrews assists her clients in whatever their legal needs might be. Another area of great interest to Morris-Andrews is real estate; representing clients in the buying and selling of both residential and commercial properties. Morris-Andrews works closely with clients and agents on her deals, and as a Chicago native, has insight regarding various neighborhoods and what her clients should consider when buying or selling their home. Morris-Andrews is also a co-founder of KMR Legal Staffing. Morris-Andrews earned her B.A. from Spelman College and J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law. In this episode we discussed: KMR Law Group's amazing story about how they started and the road ahead. How to choose a business structure. Intellectual property pitfalls every startup should look out for. Resources: Knight, Morris & Reddick Law Group, LLC KMR Law Group on Facebook KMR Law Group on Instagram KMR Legal Staffing Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes Wunderlist

John Bergmayer (@bergmayer) is a Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge, specializing in telecommunications, Internet, and intellectual property issues. He advocates for the public interest before courts and policymakers, and works to make sure that all stakeholders--including ordinary citizens, artists, and technological innovators--have a say in shaping emerging digital policies. In this episode we discussed: a brief history of net neutrality, what it means and how we got to where we are today. what "zero rating" is and how it affects media diversity, competition and consumers. how Comcast's Stream TV may violate one of the promises Comcast made in exchange for the FCC's approval of its merger with NBC/Universal in 2011. the factors the FCC will use to determine whether Comcast's "Stream TV" violates the FCC's net neutrality rules. Resources Public Knowledge Public Knowledge's FCC Complaint Regarding Comcast's Stream TV Service Google Inbox The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff The Deal of the Century by Steve Coll

Lateef Mtima is a Professor of Law at the Howard University School of Law. After graduating with honors from Amherst College, Professor Mtima received his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, where he was the co-founder and later editor-in-chief of the Harvard BlackLetter Journal. He is admitted to the New York and Pennsylvania bars and has practiced intellectual property, bankruptcy, and commercial law, including a decade in private practice with the international law firm of Coudert Brothers. Currently a member of the Advisory Council for the United States Court of Federal Claims, Professor Mtima has held the post of Distinguished Libra Visiting Scholar in Residence at the University of Maine School of Law, is a past President of the Giles S. Rich Inn of Court for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and was a member of the founding Editorial Board for the American Bar Association intellectual property periodical Landslide. Professor Mtima is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice, an accredited Non-governmental Organization Member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In this episode, we discussed How intellectual property laws and policies can affect social justice outcomes. The FCC's net neutrality rules and what's at stake for diverse content producers if the DC Circuit Court of Appeals strikes the rules down. The state of play of the law regarding how the NCAA compensates student athletes. Resources Howard University's Intellectual Property Law Program Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice Intellectual Property, Entrepreneurship and Social Justice by Lateef Mtima (2015) Diversity in Intellectual Property, Edited by Irene Calboli and Srividhya Ragavan (2015)

Susan Walters is the Senior Vice President of the California Emergency Technology Fund a non-profit that focuses on closing the digital divide in California. She was previously the Regional Director of Community Relations for Citibank in Greater Southern California. Prior to Citibank she operated a small consulting practice in corporate social responsibility. The work focused on building strategic partnerships between nonprofit organizations and corporations, strategic planning, communications and marketing. She has worked in myriad areas ranging from telecommunications policy, disability access to multimedia projects. Examples of her work include designing a highly successful technology job training program for low income adults and youth, creating a brand strategy for a buy local food campaign and marketing programs to reach emerging markets. Her firm's clients included: AOL, Verizon, Microsoft, Independent Television Service (ITVS), San Francisco Giants, Freddie Mac Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the FoodRoutes Network. Susan has held senior positions in Communications and Marketing with Odwalla and Pacific Bell. Prior to her work in the private sector Susan served as a senior staff member to Willie L. Brown, Jr. during his tenure as Speaker of the California Assembly. She is an alumna of the Coro Fellows Program, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters of Public Policy degree from Claremont University. She serves of the Board of Directors for CD Tech, Bay Area Video Coalition, World Institute on Disability and the Center for Accessible Technology.   In this episode we discussed the homework gap. the history of the FCC's Lifeline program. how to expand Lifeline to make high-speed Internet more affordable. Resources California Emerging Technology Fund Internet for All Now The Good Lord Bird by James McBride