Innovation Law Beyond IP
Yale’s ISP has a call for papers for “Innovation Law Beyond IP:” Intellectual property law is only one of many… Read More »Innovation Law Beyond IP
Yale’s ISP has a call for papers for “Innovation Law Beyond IP:” Intellectual property law is only one of many… Read More »Innovation Law Beyond IP
First Monday recently published an issue on social media monopolies. These lines from the introduction by Korinna Patelis and Pavlos Hatzopolous are particularly provocative:
A large part of existing critical thinking on social media has been obsessed with the concept of privacy. . . . Reading through a number of volumes and texts dedicated to the problematic of privacy in social networking one gets the feeling that if the so called “privacy issues” were resolved social media would be radically democratized. Instead of adopting a static view of the concept . . . of “privacy”, critical thinking needs to investigate how the private/public dichotomy is potentially reconfigured in social media networking, and [the] new forms of collectivity that can emerge . . . .
I can even see a way in which privacy rights do not merely displace, but actively work against, egalitarian objectives. Stipulate a population with Group A, which is relatively prosperous and has the time and money to hire agents to use notice-and-consent privacy provisions to its advantage (i.e., figuring out exactly how to disclose information to put its members in the best light possible). Meanwhile, most of Group B is too busy working several jobs to use contracts, law, or agents to its advantage in that way. We should not be surprised if Group A leverages its mastery of privacy law to enhance its position relative to Group B.
Better regulation would restrict use of data, rather than “empower” users (with vastly different levels of power) to restrict collection of data. As data scientist Cathy O’Neil observes:
Read More »Privacy & Information Monopolies
Michael Carrier’s recent op-ed on patent trolls had many valuable points, but this one in particular grabbed my attention: Much… Read More »Could a Troll’s Patent Portfolio Be a Trade Secret?
I do think that the letter Mike noted below was insensitive about the politicized prosecution of Aaron Swartz. But I… Read More »Allocating Revenues Between Platforms and Content Providers
I found this article on MOOC over-enthusiasm well worth reading: Friedman continued his great quest to unmake the system of… Read More »EdTech Takedown