March 29, 2024

Why Your Netflix Traffic is Slow, and Why the Open Internet Order Won't (Necessarily) Make It Faster

The FCC recently released the Open Internet Order, which has much to say about “net neutrality” whether (and in what circumstances) an Internet service provider is permitted to prioritize traffic. I’ll leave more detailed thoughts on the order itself to future posts; in this post, I would like to clarify what seems to be a […]

Google Spain and the “Right to Be Forgotten”

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) has decided the Google Spain case, which involves the “right to be forgotten” on the Internet. The case was brought by Mario Costeja González, a lawyer who, back in 1998, had unpaid debts that resulted in the attachment and public auction of his real estate. Notices of the auctions, […]

Revisiting the potential hazards of the 'Protect America' act

In light of recent news reports about NSA wiretapping of U.S. Internet communications, folks may be interested in some background on the ‘warrantless wiretapping’ provisions of the Protect America act, and the potential security risks such wiretapping systems can introduce. Here’s a 2007 article a group of us wrote entitled “Risking Communications Security: Potential Hazards […]

A Response to Jerry: Craig Should Still Dismiss

[Cross-posted on my blog, Managing Miracles] Jerry Brito, a sometimes contributor to this blog, has a new post on the Reason blog arguing that I and others have been too harsh on Craigslist for their recent lawsuit. As I wrote in my earlier post, Craigslist should give up the lawsuit not just because it’s unlikely […]

Are There Countries Whose Situations Worsened with the Arrival of the Internet?

Are there countries whose situations worsened with the arrival of the internet?  I’ve been arguing that there are lots of examples of countries where technology diffusion has helped democratic institutions deepen.  And there are several examples of countries where technology diffusion has been part of the story of rapid democratic transition.  But there are no […]