While I was in Washington, D.C., I spoke to freedom maximalist and “Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff” author Matt Kibbe about online privacy and the Internet, the Kids Online Safety Act, Bitcoin and its enemies, central bank digital currencies, and the weaponization of the FTC. It was published on the Kibbe On Liberty RSS podcast feed and YouTube page. Won’t someone please…
I joined Stephen Kent on WIBC 93.1 to break down the case for a bill blocking the use of CBDC’s in Indiana. Sen. Eric Koch introduced Senate Bill 180 (SB180) to prohibit state agencies from accepting payments made with a central bank digital currency for any service, tax, license, permit, fee, information, or other amount due the governmental body. It would also bar government agencies…
When iPhone users see a green bubble pop up in their text messages, it has a way of dulling the experience. Emoji reactions, Facetime video calls, or even high-quality images over WiFi are immediately broken once a green-bubbled Android user slides into a group thread. This is the reality of Apple’s iMessage protocol, the default messaging app for its users. These consumers enjoy end-to-end encryption,…
Washington, D.C. – This week, a bipartisan cohort of US Senators unveiled a new version of the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill that aims to impose various restrictions and requirements on technology platforms used by both adults and minors. Yaël Ossowski, deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. responded: “This bill is constitutionally dubious and would…
Richmond, VA – In the name of “safety” and the “best interests” of children, the Virginia Senate this week passed a draconian age-verification bill for online platforms which would require youth who want to use social media to provide exhaustive proof of their age and to seek parental consent. This legislation is not as common-sense as its backers would have voters believe. SB 359 outlines…
Since when do government agencies applaud business deals that fall apart, resulting in hundreds of layoffs and loss opportunities for consumers who depend on those products? That’s what happened earlier this month, when the Federal Trade Commission issued a press release applauding the failed $1.7 billion acquisition of the technology firm iRobot by the ecommerce giant Amazon. The FTC, as well as Democratic Senators and…
February 5, 2024 – On February 2, the European Union’s ambassadors green lit the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). Next week, the Internal Market and Civil Liberties committees will decide its fate, while the European Parliament is expected to cast their vote in plenary session either in March or April. The European Commission addressed a plethora of criticism on the AI Act’s potential to stifle…
Banning products will not make them go away. It will only create incentives for illicit markets to offer them to adult or high school students alike. In 2013, Vermont became a New England leader by loosening its laws on cannabis possession, making it the first to do so by a legislative vote. Reporting on these events for Vermont Watchdog, I noted how this move was…
Dressed up as comedy, John Oliver dedicated an entire segment of his “Last Week Tonight” HBO program to focus on the ills of America’s freight rail industry. A self-professed train aficionado, Oliver had choice words for our commercial railroads on the matter of dangerous cargo loads, labor concerns, and an overall lackluster attention to safety. However, he doesn’t compare the industry to the troublesome safety…
I’m interviewed by Jim Lokay on Fox 5 DC on the latest legislative moves by Elizabeth Warren to undermine tech innovation. From grocery store mergers and sandwich monopolies to the breaking of phone encryption and Bitcoin, she is consistently singing a progressive, populist message that too often views technology as something to wrestle and regulate. However, this style of political campaigning is all too present…