Blog
No, California Net Neutrality Law Did Not “Nail” Veterans — Carriers Are Using Vets as Pawns
April 9, 2021 California, Data Caps, Litigation, Net Neutrality, Zero Rating
This is a lightly edited version of a blog post published on Harold’s personal blog, “Tales from the Sausage Factory,” on WetMachine.com. In any cliche villain scene, there’s a bad guy threatening to hurt someone else — an innocent bystander, perhaps — unless the protagonist does what the bad guy wants. Although no one would […]
Read MoreSupreme Court Gives Competition a Booster Shot in Landmark Fair Use Decision
April 6, 2021 API, Competition, Copyright, Fair Use, Google, Google v Oracle, Litigation, Oracle, Oracle v. Google, Supreme Court
I’m happy about the Supreme Court’s 6-2 decision in Google v. Oracle, affirming that Google’s reimplementation of the Java API for Android was a fair use and thus not copyright infringement. Google and Oracle’s competitions can breathe a sigh of relief, since a result that went the other way could have seriously inhibited the ability […]
Read MoreVideo: The Untold Story of SOPA/PIPA
March 22, 2021 accessible content, Anti-privacy, Bill, PIPA, SOPAIn January of 2012, an unprecedented coordinated protest took place online in opposition to two federal bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). More than 115,000 websites published protest content or even completely shut down for the day in an attempt to shut down these internet blacklist attempts. The […]
Read MoreWe Already Knew Broadband Should Be A Public Utility. The Pandemic Made It Obvious.
March 15, 2021 Broadband Access, Broadband Affordability, Congress, Digital Redlining, EBB, Emergency Preparedness, FCC, Net Neutrality, Network Resilency, Title II, Utility Regulation
Broadband allows people to participate in the digital world, which encompasses our daily lives. It connects people with their families and friends, news on what is happening in the country and abroad, and gives access to an unlimited amount of important information and resources. During the COVID-19 pandemic, broadband has been critical in supporting online […]
Read More20th Anniversary Kickoff: Public Knowledge’s Founding
February 24, 2021 20th Anniversary, anniversary, Founding history, Public KnowledgeTo kick off our 20th year, the founders of Public Knowledge discussed the history of the organization and how it’s grown over time. Panelists also discussed the role of public interest groups in tech policy, our wins and losses over the last 20 years, and how our work shifted over the years in response to […]
Read MoreWhy We Can’t Be Friends: We Need Interoperability in Digital Markets
February 23, 2021 interoperability, Platform Competition, Platform Regulation
Pop quiz! What wireless phone network are most of your friends and family on? I don’t have a clue and it’s likely you don’t either. While today’s three major wireless carriers are far from paragons of competition, there’s one thing they do well: interoperability. We can seamlessly message or call anyone on another network, a […]
Read MoreWe Need People of Color at the Table if We Want Technology Policy That Works for Everyone
February 15, 2021 diversity, Report, tech policy, tech policy advocacy
Join us for “A Seat at the Table: How Tech Policy Groups Can Welcome Diverse Talent” on Friday, February 19 and 1:30pm ET. Register at DiversityInTechPolicy.eventbrite.com. Technology is increasingly integrating into our daily lives at a breakneck pace. Although we love the latest apps and enjoy the ability to freely express ourselves online, we must […]
Read MoreHow an Internet Superfund Could Clean Up Vaccine Disinformation That Threatens Our COVID-19 Recovery
February 12, 2021 Communications & Pandemic Series, Communications and the Pandemic, Congress, Content Moderation, Disinformation, Fact-Checking, Internet Superfund, misinformation, Platform Regulation, Superfund for the Internet
Have you heard? The COVID-19 pandemic has entered a new phase. No, it’s not the new, more contagious “super strains” of the virus, or the beginning of the vaccine rollout. It’s the shift in focus of the disinformation peddlers, from the virus itself (remember the “infodemic”?) and the 2020 election to the ramping up of […]
Read MorePrinciples to Protect Free Expression on the Internet
February 11, 2021 Content Moderation, Section 230, Section 230 Series
Section 230 of the Communications Act has been dubbed the “twenty six words” that created the interactive free expression of the internet: No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. Yet in the past year or so, […]
Read MoreAmerica Needs a Public Interest Approach To Solving Big Tech Harms To News
February 9, 2021 Big Tech, EU, Facebook, Future of Journalism, Google, Internet Superfund, Link Tax, Local News, Platform Regulation, TV Blackouts
France and Australia have moved forward with plans to force Google (and, in Australia, also Facebook) to pay existing media companies for linking to news content. In theory, the laws adopted in France and Australia are designed to compensate these news organizations for the benefit Google and Facebook derive from linking to news. But both […]
Read More