Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The ethics of modern web ad-blocking Marco Arment, creator of Instapaper and, more recently, Overcast: This won’t be a clean, easy transition. Blocking pop-ups was much more incisive: it was easy for legitimate publishers to avoid one narrowly-useful Javascript function to open new windows. But …Monday, August 3, 2015
Can the FTC ban digital goods? Brent Kendall, writing at The Wall Street Journal: The current case is about patents, but the ITC also can take action against goods that infringe copyrights, an issue important to Hollywood and other rights holders. They are eyeing the ITC as a new venue for …Monday, August 3, 2015
Federal Court’s data breach decision shows new tilt toward victims, class-action lawsuits John Fontana writes at ZDNet: In an interesting twist, the Court said the fact Neiman Marcus offered free credit monitoring services was evidence that there was harm to these victims. The ruling turned …Friday, July 31, 2015
“Happy birthday” lawsuit takes a(n unexpectedly interesting) turn Did you know copyright lawyers have waged a legal battle over ‘Happy Birthday’ for a long time? They have, and, somehow, it recently got interesting. If this proposition is accepted by the judge, …Wednesday, July 29, 2015
China-Tied Hackers That Hit U.S. Said to Breach United Airlines This is starting to look like a concerted effort to gather a specific data set for some sort of coordinated use: The previously unreported United breach raises the possibility that the hackers now have data on the movements of millions …Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Drone regulation, firefighting and basic decency Michael Martinez, Paul Vercammen and Ben Brumfield report at CNN: Five such "unmanned aircraft systems" prevented California firefighters from dispatching helicopters with water buckets for up to 20 minutes over a wildfire that roared Friday onto a …Monday, July 20, 2015
Democracy.io - Contact your Members of Congress Great stuff from the Electronic Frontier Foundation: Failure to effectively reach members of Congress has disastrous consequences. Studies show that politicians fundamentally misconceive their constituents’ views, making it harder for them to …Sunday, July 19, 2015
Ex-Googler says she exposed company-wide pay inequality with crowdsourced spreadsheet Kristen V. Brown wrote for Fusion about Googler Erica Joy’s recent salary spreadsheet. Google had no response to her request for comment, which is the worst kind of response to something like this. Apple …Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Antitrust official inappropriately lauds Amazon’s “disruptive business model” DOJ antitrust head William J. Baer, speaking at a London antitrust conference: By conspiring with Apple, which was seeking a fail-safe way to enter the market, five major publishers and Apple reached an …Monday, July 13, 2015
Obama Plans Broader Use of Clemency to Free Nonviolent Drug Offenders Peter Baker of The New York Times: In his second term, Mr. Obama embarked on an effort to use clemency and has raised his total commutations to 43, a number he may double this month. The initiative was begun last year by James M. …Thursday, July 9, 2015
iOS 9 Public Beta coming today? I rarely cross-post from my geekery-focused Tumblr, but I’m so excited about this I had to share it here, where I have literally thousands more followers. I’ll be writing a proper post about the public beta after I’ve used it for a few days. There are some interesting …Wednesday, July 8, 2015
The Verge made a FAA drone exemption search engine Ben Popper reports at The Verge: We have partnered with the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College to collect data on every commercial exemption the FAA grants. It's a fascinating snapshot of a fast-growing industry still in its infancy. …Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Tor Project seeks Executive Director The Tor Project, makers of anonymizing browsing tools, is looking for a new Executive Director: The position provides the high-profile opportunity to assume the voice and face of Tor to the world, and particularly to the global community of Internet …Monday, July 6, 2015
When a Company Is Put Up for Sale, in Many Cases, Your Personal Data Is, Too I have written about this before, but it’s worth reminding you. These days many companies offer an official privacy policy and an easier-to-read but not so official abridged version. Sometimes the two do not agree: …Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Amazon AWS: Good enough for the CIA Leena Rao has a fascinating background story at Fortune on Amazon Web Services, built around a profile of its leader, Senior Vice President Andy Jassy. It’s worth reading the whole thing, but this bit was particularly interesting: Netflix’s adoption also …Monday, June 29, 2015
Philly diner’s SCOTUS-inspired brunch menu following same-sex marriage ruling Oh Philadelphia, how I miss you sometimes. Danya Henninger writes at Billy Penn: Over the weekend, Sam’s Morning Glory Diner ran a pair of specials that sold out faster than any dish in the South Philly restaurant’s …Thursday, June 18, 2015
Apple Revokes Monster’s Authority to Make Licensed Accessories Daisuke Wakabayashi writes at The Wall Street Journal: Mr. Tognotti said he told Apple that the move would significantly disrupt Monster’s business and that the two companies had worked well for years, with Monster paying Apple more …Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Petraeus' preferential punishment Mitch Weiss of the Associated Press reports: A federal judge in Charlotte unsealed the documents Monday, two months after the retired four-star general was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $100,000 for unauthorized removal and retention of classified …Thursday, June 4, 2015
NASA, Verizon developing tech to track drones via cell towers Mark Harris reports at The Guardian: That $500,000 project is now underway at Nasa’s Ames Research Center in the heart of Silicon Valley. Nasa is planning the first tests of an air traffic control system for drones there this summer, …Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Microsoft has acquired Wunderlist Amir Mizroch of The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft bought Wunderlist’s parent company 6Wunderkinder for between $100 and $200 million. Microsoft is on a roll, having recently acquired Sunrise calendar and purchased email app Acompli and rebranded …Saturday, May 30, 2015
Crisis shelter workers want Google Maps to hide the locations of their shelters Selena Larson reports at The Daily Dot: Crisis shelters provide a safe haven for victims and their families; they are a refuge away from abusers. By publicly listing shelter locations online, Google is endangering …Friday, May 29, 2015
Microsoft’s won’t rule out complying with potential UK encryption limits Danny Yadron at The Wall Street Journal quoted Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith: “It’s a big market, and it’s a country we believe has a fundamental rule of law in place,” Smith said at an event in Palo Alto, …Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Appeals court keeps immigration policy on hold Lyle Denniston writes at SCOTUSBlog: Under the policy, some 4.3 million individuals who entered the country illegally and remained without permission would be given a status of “lawful presence” in this country — well short of citizenship, and with no …Friday, May 22, 2015
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter I don’t write here as often as I’d like to, and while I’ve tried to alter my habits to incorporate more frequent posting it just hasn’t happened, at least not yet. But a weekly newsletter may be the sweet spot as far as time management and …Friday, May 8, 2015
The Amazon Noncompete Clause Here it is, in all its overbroad glory: During employment and for 18 months after the Separation Date, Employee will not, directly or indirectly, whether on Employee’s own behalf or on behalf of any other entity (for example, as an employee, agent, partner, or …Thursday, May 7, 2015
Apple under federal anti-competition scrutiny, again Micah Singleton writes for The Verge: Sources also indicated that Apple offered to pay YouTube’s music licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its songs on YouTube. Apple is seemingly trying to clear a path before its …Wednesday, April 29, 2015
“Super-cuts” from same-sex marriage arguments SCOTUSBlog contributor Tejinder Singh posted 36 minutes of audio highlights from yesterday’s oral argument in Obergefell v. Hodges. The case is one of several on the Court’s docket this term focused on two specific constitutional questions: …Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Re-engaging driver with questions after saying he’s free to leave is a second stop This is worth knowing if you’re a Pennsylvania resident or you find yourself frequently driving through the state. However, do yourself a favor and don’t throw it in the face of an officer whose behavior …Thursday, April 9, 2015
NJ lawyers need a social media policy for employees Jennifer Marino Thibodaux of Gibbons writes: The subject attorneys were retained to defend a town and its police sergeant in a personal injury action. One attorney directed his paralegal to conduct Internet research about the plaintiff. The …Thursday, April 2, 2015
Another blow to deceptively marketed “unlimited” data plans Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica: The FCC's new rules ban throttling except in cases of "reasonable network management." AT&T could argue that the throttling is necessary to keep its network running smoothly, but FCC Chairman …