The 463: Inside Tech

Reading List...

I recently asked for recommendations on blogs and sites for tech policy goodness that may have escaped my attention. A few readers have asked for a summary -- so here goes...

--Jim Puzzanghera of the Los Angeles Times goes far afield and recommends the The LA Times Technology blog. I kid. I like the blog a lot. Among the several writers, Puzzanghera posts about tech policy issues and Jon Healey covers digital media issues as well as anyone.

--Chris Soghoian tips us to his blog "Surveillance State". He notes that "while privacy/security is my main area, I do write about tech policy a fair bit." Chris is currently a student fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for the Internet and, incidentally, has an interesting post up on the current happenings with Berkman's Internet Safety Task Force.

--Not sure how I missed this one before, but I was tipped to Roy Mark of eWeek's tech policy blog, "On the Mark." It's now required reading.

--Robert Canon tells about "Cybertelecom" and says that it is primarily a website -- with associated blogs. Cybertelecom is a not-for-profit educational project focused on Federal Internet law and regulation.

--And, Robert Guera helpfully tells us "that the DC-based Freedom House is covering issues related to internet freedom. Their program website isn't up yet, but they are producing a news letter and delicious feed that could be of interest."

--Guera also recommends Ismael Peña's ICTology as a good site that covers "ICT4D" and tech policy.

Thanks all! And, keep the recommendations coming.

The Road To Eating Paste, Planning Bank Hold-Ups and an Eventual Suspicious Death at a Bottom of a Lake Begins with Selling Moisturizing Lotion on eBay

Brad Stone of the NYT Bits Blog reports on the National Retail Federation's insanity plea that came in the form of Congressional testimony today.

In prepared remarks, Joe LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention for the group, tells legislators that selling on the Internet is so addictive, amateur sellers are being sucked into a life of organized Internet crime. From Mr. LaRocca’s testimony:

In videotaped admissions of people who have stolen from retail stores and resold the product on eBay, for example, thieves often tell the same disturbing story: They begin legitimately selling product on eBay and then become “hooked” by its addictive qualities, the anonymity it provides, and the ease with which they gain exposure to millions of customers. When they run out of “legitimate merchandise,” they begin to steal intermittently, many times for the first time in their life, so they can continue selling online.

The thefts then begin to spiral out of control and, before they know it, they quit their jobs, are recruiting accomplices (some are even hiring “boosters”), and are crossing state lines to steal –- all so they can support and perpetuate their online selling habit....

Wow. Let's do the math real quick: Millions of online auction sellers for more than a decade = the fall of law abiding society by, hmmm.... let's see here..... next Thursday. And please don't tell the NRF that Mikey of the LIFE cereal ads died eating too many Pop Rocks at once -- they may seek a ban (of both the long-missed candy and television commercials).

Sadly, the joke is on eCommerce buyers and sellers for now. The NRF had a lot of influence in getting legislation introduced that supposedly addresses "organized retail crime" and "e-fencing." These bills were discussed in the congressional hearing today.

As our client NetChoice notes, the bills and the fear-mongering tactics of the NRF are really about "squashing competition, rather than cracking down on criminals." See NetChoice's testimony here.

IP Subcommittee Bingo

Andrew Noyes does some digging into who might be the next chair of one of the most important tech policy congressional committees...

With Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., planning to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee if Democrats retain control in the 111th Congress, the top spot at the Judiciary Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee will go to another lawmaker. In recent months, those who watch the panel closely have listed several potential candidates including Reps. Rick Boucher of Virginia, Zoe Lofgren of California, Jerrold Nadler of New York, and Mel Watt of North Carolina.

I'm sure tech lobbyists are quietly rooting for either Boucher or Lofgren. Nadler is known for being a piracy hawk -- on fashion.

The Queen of YouTube

Queen Rania of Jordan wins The 463's award for Most Interesting Use of YouTube to Break Down Stereotypes and International Misunderstandings. I'm sure she will be so proud.

Global Voices tipped me to the Queen's effort that has been going on since the spring and has received millions of viewers.

Here is the first video:

And, here is a recent one that uses Arab comedians to make a point...

The ITAA/AeA Thing

To little surprise, the ITAA and AeA yesterday singled that they are in merger talks.

To my mild surprise, this intent got a pretty decent pick-up by the media yesterday. The LA Times, WSJ, and even Valleywag wrote about it online. So did Washington Technology, ComputerWorld and other usual suspects.

The "Alphabet Soup" tech trade group problem has been a recurring theme on these pages. See here and here for two posts that provide history and opinions from 2005 and 2007, respectively. Looking back on those posts hits me in two ways. One is that beyond what Phil Bond has been able to do at ITAA in creating some first steps toward consolidation not much has changed since that 2005 post (and not much had changed well before that). And, two, wow, I was writing this thing in 2005?

Of course, the media's attention yesterday was on the most obvious need of streamlining tech's voice to policymakers so we can be more effective in the rule making and regulatory process. And, of course, this merger would be a helpful step in this process.

However, I can't help but focus on the "company dues" part of this quote from AeA's CEO as quoted in the ComputerWorld piece:

"Christopher Hansen, president and CEO of the AeA (formerly known as the American Electronics Association), said tech companies have been 'a little frustrated' with the duplication. Tech firms 'have to pay dues to too many organizations and realize that their voice has become diluted,' he said."

Let's be realistic. Companies of all stripes (not just tech firms) are self-motivated creatures when they join associations. The first priority is "what can I get out of this to help my company." Certainly attaining policy goals are essential. But, perhaps it is also giving a CEO a bigger platform; maybe it's PR opportunities; it could be access to other companies and new customers; and, lots of times its focused on getting air cover from a bigger group so you don't have to talk about a sensitive, but important, subject yourself. All of this is the first level of motivation.

The next more sophisticated level is centered around control. If a company (or a select few companies) have tacit control over what seems to be a much bigger group then they have every motivation to make sure that this group, the control and benefits derived from it live on.

Yes, companies want to have a positive impact on public policy that benefits the industry as a whole but they want to make sure that this goal is attained on their specific terms. Human nature.

Therefore, if a group gets too big, diffused or unfocused, then a member company chances of realizing the goals in those first set of motivations lessens and it has very little chance of gaining any control (subtle or not).

This is where the that mention of dues comes into play.

Companies can only justify so many memberships to associations. Therefore, my bet is that it will the bottom-line budget factor that will have the greatest impact on taking letters out of the tech association alphabet soup then secondary policy motivations. Of course, this will have secondary impact that will impact the diffusion issue.

Also remember that when talking about ITAA and AeA, we are dealing with two groups that do a hell of a lot more than the "lobbying" than the media know them almost exclusively for. In reading the joint release on this announcement, the following non-lobbying functions are prominently mentioned:

• business and capital development
• business services
• elite networking
• market forecasting
• standards development
• research
• procurement policy

Certainly, merging and optimizing these functions could carry just as much value or more than the more publicly prominent "lobbying" integration.

Thus, ITAA + AeA = good. And, Phil Bond deserves more kudos for his public leadership on the issue. But there is a lot more to this than lobbying efficacy.

(photo by lottery monkey)

A Cry For Help: Other Tech Policy Blogs

I am a big critic of the circle jerk that often occurs among a niche community of bloggers who constantly refer back to each other with praise and hat tips. But, I also find myself going back to the well of a select few blogs in my feed list that must number in the low hundreds.

So, I ask: Anyone have favorite blogs that cover tech policy that aren't obvious and/or are relatively undiscovered treasures?

Convention Wrap: Where Tech Meets the Pols (or not)

I have friends still drying up getting over the enthusiasm and energy from their time spent at the conventions the last couple weeks.

Thanks to the power of that neat technology called video, here's an easy way to do a recap without writing a lot of words.

First, here is CNET's high energy Charlie Cooper and the tranquilized Declan (The Iconoclast) McCullugh talking about the two presidential candidates and their respective tech policy positions...

Now, courtesy of Tech Daily's Andrew Noyes, here's Telecommunications Industry Association President Grant Seiffert talking geek meets politician stuff...

Speaking of Andrew, he covered the Republican RIAA party, and buried one of the great under-reported stories of the conventions. Headlining the RIAA Democratic convention party was Kanye West. The dude sitting on a stool and singing covers at the Republican party was American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry. It's pretty clear who the RIAA thinks is going to win.

Andrew also posted pretty pictures of the Republican Google party. Here's one...

Oh, and here's a found video on YouTube that gives you a walk around of the same Google party set in Denver. Feel free to name those tunes in the comments (did I hear Peaches?!). Great dancing. Woo.