To have a sitting FTC Commissioner criticizing his own agency is stunning – and refreshing. Jan M. Rybnicek, attorney advisor at the FTC, and Commissioner Joshua D. Wright have an article in George Mason Law Review, Vol. 21, No. 5, 2014, “Defining Section 5 of the FTC Act: The Failure of the Common Law Method and the Case for Formal…
Category: Govt
Russia moves to block social networks
Roland Oliphant reports: Twitter, Gmail and Facebook have been warned they must comply with controversial Internet legislation in Russia, raising fears that Western social networks could be blocked from the country. On the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the three Internet giants have been given until January to register with authorities and establish servers…
White House plans to require federal agencies to provide details about drones
Craig Whitlock reports: The White House is preparing a directive that would require federal agencies to publicly disclose for the first time where they fly drones in the United States and what they do with the torrents of data collected from aerial surveillance. Read more on Washington Post.
Is Apple Picking a Fight With the U.S. Government?
Matthew Green responds to Orin Kerr’s concerns, writing, in part: Apple is not designing systems to prevent law enforcement from executing legitimate warrants. It’s building systems that prevent everyone who might want your data—including hackers, malicious insiders, and even hostile foreign governments—from accessing your phone. This is absolutely in the public interest. Moreover, in the…