General
U.S. Senate readying legislation on semiconductors, Biden says
Jeff Mason and Doina Chiacu, Reuters
U.S. Senate leaders are preparing to introduce legislation on semiconductors, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday as the nation wrestles with an ongoing shortage of the critical technology used in a range of devices from cars to computers.
China builds advanced weapons systems using American chip technology
Ellen Nakashima and Gerry Shih, The Washington Post
In a secretive military facility in southwest China, a supercomputer whirs away, simulating the heat and drag on hypersonic vehicles speeding through the atmosphere — missiles that could one day be aimed at a U.S. aircraft carrier or Taiwan, according to former U.S. officials and Western analysts. The computer is powered by tiny chips designed by a Chinese firm called Phytium Technology using American software and built in the world’s most advanced chip factory in Taiwan, which hums with American precision machinery, say the analysts.
Big Tech Companies Prosper Despite Chip Shortage
Timothy W. Martin, The Wall Street Journal
The global semiconductor shortage, snarling the availability of everything from cars to refrigerators, hasn’t crimped big tech’s profits. Churning out products around the clock, semiconductor giants can’t keep pace with demand, as vaccines roll out, economies reopen and people keep spending.
On the court and online, Justice Clarence and Virginia Thomas hit Big Tech
Dylan Byers, NBC News
Last week, Virginia Thomas, a conservative activist, sent an email blast to friends and associates asking them to join an “influence network” to raise awareness for a new website fighting “corporate tyranny” and social media’s growing power over political speech. Five days later, in a concurring opinion for a Supreme Court ruling pertaining to Twitter and former President Donald Trump, her husband, Justice Clarence Thomas, issued a similar warning about America’s social media giants.
How Toyota Steered Clear of the Chip Shortage Mess
River Davis, Bloomberg Businessweek
The auto industry could lose $60 billion in sales this year because of the scarcity of semiconductors. Toyota’s exhaustive monitoring of small suppliers led it to stockpile early.
U.S. State Department announces new video game diplomacy program
Noah Smith, The Washington Post
American culture has been projected overseas in various ways: Elvis, blue jeans, Coca-Cola, MTV, Hollywood films. Now, in a program announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of State, this pantheon will include video games.
Drought in Taiwan Pits Chip Makers Against Farmers
Raymond Zhong and Amy Chang Chien, The New York Times
The island is going to great lengths to keep water flowing to its all-important semiconductor industry, including shutting off irrigation to legions of rice growers.
Silicon Valley Is Flooding Into a Reluctant Austin
Lizette Chapman, Bloomberg Businessweek
The city, which has been booming for a decade, has been the top destination for tech workers leaving California during Covid.
Intellectual Property and Antitrust
U.S. government, states ask judge to deny Facebook’s request to dismiss lawsuits
Diane Bartz, Reuters
The Federal Trade Commission and a big group of U.S. states asked a federal court on Wednesday to deny Facebook Inc’s request to dismiss major antitrust lawsuits filed against the social media giant in December. The FTC, in its filing, said Facebook bought photo-sharing app Instagram because Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg believed it was “a large and viable competitor” and purchased the messaging app WhatsApp to neutralize a nascent threat.
Twitter Held Discussions for $4 Billion Takeover of Clubhouse
Katie Roof et al., Bloomberg
Twitter Inc. held talks in recent months to acquire Clubhouse, the buzzy audio-based social network, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies discussed a potential valuation of roughly $4 billion for Clubhouse, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
Telecom, Wireless and TV
Biden broadband agenda takes aim at Big Telecom
Margaret Harding McGill, Axios
The White House wants to lower broadband prices and make the industry more competitive — a sign that President Biden’s approach to the telecom sector will be much tougher than his predecessors’. Why it matters: Tech giants and internet platforms have been in the brightest spotlight of regulatory scrutiny, but the new administration looks ready to cast a much wider net.
T-Mobile Seeks Lead in 5G With $60 Home Internet
Scott Moritz, Bloomberg
T-Mobile US Inc. is trying to pull away from the pack in the 5G race with the introduction of a wireless home broadband service and a free-phone giveaway. Starting Wednesday, people in select areas can sign up for a $60-a-month internet service with average speeds of 100 megabits per second. The service requires a combination receiver/Wi-Fi gateway device near a window.
Mobile Technology and Social Media
Despite Ban, Facebook Continued To Label People As Interested In Militias For Advertisers
Ryan Mac, BuzzFeed News
For months after it banned violent extremist groups, Facebook’s advertising preference system, which lets advertisers deliver targeted ads, continued to identify and categorize some people as interested in militias. Last August, in preparation for the 2020 US presidential election, the social network said it would take down any Facebook pages, groups, and Instagram accounts “tied to offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, US-based militia organizations and QAnon.”
National Archives can’t resurrect Trump’s tweets, Twitter says
Quint Forgey, Politico
Twitter will not allow the National Archives to make former President Donald Trump’s past tweets from his @realDonaldTrump account available on the social media platform, the company told POLITICO on Wednesday, in the latest display of Silicon Valley’s power over communications channels used by the U.S. government.
Twitch will ban people for harassment, even when it doesn’t happen on the site
Zoe Schiffer, The Verge
Twitch will now ban users who harass members of its community — even when that harassment takes place off Twitch. The streaming platform announced a major expansion of its off-service misconduct policy today that allows it to take action against users who mistreat people regardless of where it happens, whether it’s offline or on another social platform.
Cybersecurity and Privacy
Biden Eyes Russia Retaliation After Meddling, Hacking Review
Nick Wadhams and Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg
Biden administration officials have completed an intelligence review of alleged Russian misdeeds such as election interference and the SolarWinds hack, setting the stage for the U.S to announce retaliatory actions soon, according to three people familiar with the matter. Possible moves could involve sanctions and the expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in the U.S. under diplomatic cover, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
Suspected China Hack of Microsoft Shows Signs of Prior Reconnaissance
Dustin Volz and Robert McMillan, The Wall Street Journal
Microsoft Corp. and U.S. government officials are still working to understand how a network of suspected Chinese hacking groups carried out an unusually indiscriminate and far-reaching cyberattack on Microsoft email software, more than a month after the discovery of an operation that rendered hundreds of thousands of small businesses, schools and other organizations vulnerable to intrusion.
Apple’s stricter rules on digital tracking to take effect soon
Ina Fried, Axios
Beginning with iOS 14.5, due out in the next couple of weeks, iPhone apps will have to ask users for permission to track their digital activity. Why it matters: Only if a user gives permission will apps have access to the unique advertising identifier assigned to each device. Apple will also take action against apps that try to fingerprint individual devices via other methods.
Commerce Secretary Raimondo defends census privacy method
Mike Schneider, The Associated Press
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Wednesday defended a controversial privacy technique being used by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 census, a method the agency promised would only make small changes to actual numbers in counts of racial and ethnic groups. The technique called “differential privacy” adds mathematical “noise,” or errors, to the data to obscure any given individual’s identity while still providing statistically valid information.
How US Capitol attack surveillance methods could be used against protesters
Hannah Harris Green, The Guardian
Over the past months, federal law enforcement has used a wide variety of surveillance technologies to track down rioters who participated in the 6 January attack on the US Capitol building – demonstrating rising surveillance across the nation. Recent news coverage of the riot has largely focused on facial recognition – and how private citizens and local law enforcement officials have conducted their own facial recognition investigations in an attempt to assist the FBI with the help of social media.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
It’s Time for Privacy Legislation to Protect Baby Boomers From Big Tech
Tom Kelly (President and CEO, IDX), Morning Consult
It’s time to fight back against Big Tech’s war on privacy. As Congress holds a series of hearings on the abuse of market power online, it’s time for the U.S. government to intervene with legislation that protects consumer privacy against the onslaught of digital threats. As we age, our privacy and security risks rise.
After Working at Google, I’ll Never Let Myself Love a Job Again
Emi Nietfeld, The New York Times
I used to be a Google engineer. That often feels like the defining fact about my life. When I joined the company after college in 2015, it was at the start of a multiyear reign atop Forbes’s list of best workplaces.
We tested the first state ‘vaccine passport’ at Yankee Stadium. It’s not quite a home run.
Geoffrey A. Fowler, The Washington Post
Want to go to a Yankees game? Watch a Justin Bieber concert? Let’s see your app. New York just became the first state to offer a digital “vaccine passport” — a free app and website you can use to prove you’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus or gotten a recent negative coronavirus test result.
Research Reports
Strengthening Surveillance Safeguards After Schrems II
Sharon Bradford Franklin et al., New America
In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated the Privacy Shield in the Schrems II case. Over 5,300 companies relied on the Privacy Shield to facilitate transatlantic data transfers between the United States and Europe for services including social media, messaging, cloud services, and email.
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