Week 1: Uncle Sam creating Net? Vint Cerf

No credit for Uncle Sam in creating Net? Vint Cerf disagrees - CNET: "The NSF got very involved in 1985 and this led to the design and implementation and subsequent expansion of the NSFNET that became a major backbone for academic access to the Internet. NSF also sponsored more than a dozen intermediate level regional networks.

By 1986, router companies such as Cisco and Proteon were selling to academia and the military and to USG-sponsored networking users.

By 1989, three commercial Internet service providers were in operation: UUNET, PSINET, and CERFNET.

 By 1992, the Boucher Bill make it permissible to carry commercial traffic on the U.S. government-sponsored backbones (notably NSFNET; ARPANET had been retired as of 1990).

About that same time, Tim Berners-Lees' development of the World Wide Web protocols at CERN, 1989-1991, had gotten the attention of Marc Andreesen and Eric Bina at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications leading the development of the graphical MOSAIC browser that led Jim Clark (founder of Silicon Graphics) to start Netscape Communications with Marc.

NSF retired the NSFNET in 1995" 'via Blog this'

Week 11: European Transport Forum 2017

The European Transport Forum 2017: "She said that the advanced use of data has a positive impact on health and wellbeing, societal challenges, emissions, resource management and driving. In particular the digitisation of transport and especially connected and automated driving is one of the most important trends that will transform industry in Europe.

 However, challenges have to be faced in areas such as liability, cybersecurity, and data use, access and ownership.

Ms Ujupan highlighted several ongoing processes: many Member States have agreed to develop cross-border testing corridors; a recent high-level ministerial  dialogue adopted an Action Plan; an industry roundtable has been set-up; and both the European Automotive and Telecom Alliance and the 5G Automotive Alliance are making headway." 'via Blog this'

Week 6: Data transfer from WHATSAPP to FACEBOOK: CNIL publicly serves formal notice for lack of legal basis | CNIL

Data transfer from WHATSAPP to FACEBOOK: CNIL publicly serves formal notice for lack of legal basis | CNIL: "This decision also results from the fact that the company WhatsApp insufficiently cooperated with the CNIL which couldn’t fully control the compliance of the processing carried out, when it contributes to the increase in the amount of information Facebook Inc. has at its disposal, including information about individuals who have not registered for its social network.

 For the record, the CNIL wishes to state that formal notices are not sanctions and no further action will be taken if the company complies with the Act within the specified timescale, in which case the notice proceedings will be closed and this decision will also be made public.

 Should WHATSAPP fail to comply with the formal notice within the specified timescale, the Chair may appoint an internal investigator, who may draw up a report proposing that the CNIL’s restricted committee responsible for examining breaches of the Data Protection Act issue a sanction against the company." 'via Blog this'

Week 1: Silicon Valley Techies Still Think They're the Good Guys. They're Not. | WIRED

Silicon Valley Techies Still Think They're the Good Guys. They're Not. | WIRED: "Evidence is mounting that that the world is no longer fascinated with Silicon Valley: It’s disturbed by its callous behavior. But it will take a massive shift to introduce self-awareness to an industry that has always assumed it was changing the world for the better. Cynics would argue it doesn’t matter. The big tech companies are too big to fail, too complicated to be parsed or regulated, and too integral to business, the economy, and day-to-day life. We’re not going to abandon our cell phones or social networks. This is how we live now." 'via Blog this'

Week 4: Censorship Machine: Busting the myths - EDRi

Censorship Machine: Busting the myths - EDRi: "A general monitoring obligation is banned by both EU law and case law of the EU’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Those who defend the upload filter mechanism argue that it does not amount to a general monitoring obligation.

The myth claims that, because the filter will look for specific files (specific copyrighted works in a database), it will be looking for millions of specific files.

In other words, the existing ban on general monitoring only covers monitoring that has no idea what it is looking for.

EU law permits monitoring in “a specific case”, so this would just be “a specific case” millions of times over. It is clearly absurd to suggest that a general search of ALL files being uploaded, to check them against a list of millions of files is not a general search." 'via Blog this'

Week 3: CJEU Judgment: Uber is a Transport Service

SCL: CJEU Judgment: Uber is a Transport Service: "The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the Uber business model is that of a transport service not an information society service

In Case C-434/15 Asociación Profesional Elite Taxi v Uber Systems Spain SL the CJEU had to consider a claim against Uber Systems Spain from taxi drivers in which it was alleged that Uber engaged in misleading practices and acts of unfair competition. The Spanish court had referred the question of whether the services provided by Uber are to be regarded as transport services, information society services or a combination of both. The extent to which Uber’s drivers had to meet licensing and related requirements turned on that question.

The Court held that the intermediation system of Uber is not a game-changer and the activities of the non-professional drivers using Uber to connect with potential passengers amount to a service in the field of transport." 'via Blog this'

Week 3 - Liability and Copyright TakeDown - Facebook

Facebook: "The following tables show the number of IP reports we received for the period of January to June 2017. The categories covered include copyright, trademark and counterfeit, broken out by service where the reported content was located (Facebook or Instagram). For each category, we provide data regarding the number of reports submitted, the report "action rate," and the amount of content actioned. Please note that this report represents our best-faith effort to measure data about IP reports for Facebook and Instagram. " 'via Blog this'

Week 11: ICO investigation into data analytics for political purposes

Update on ICO investigation into data analytics for political purposes | ICO Blog: "A number of organisations have freely co-operated with us, answered our questions and engaged with the investigation. But, others are making it difficult. In some instances we have been unable to obtain the specific details of work that contributed to the Referendum campaign and I will be using every available legal tool and working with authorities overseas to seek answers on behalf of UK citizens.

 Other organisations have failed to be as comprehensive as I believe they need to be in answering our questions and have forced us to invoke our statutory powers to make formal demands for information.

The ICO has issued four information notices as part of the investigation including one to UKIP, who have now appealed our notice to the Information Rights Tribunal.

 This investigation is a high priority for my office. We’re asking whether there was a legal basis to use this information. Did people have a way of exercising their privacy rights?" 'via Blog this'

Week 10: #AIethics TechUK Data Ethics Summit | ICO

TechUK Data Ethics Summit | ICO: "But the twist in this tale is that Ada’s pioneering work took place nearly 200 years ago.

At a time when electricity was “new”, steam trains were an unconventional form of travel and the sticky postage stamp was a revolution in communication.

When I address conferences I often remark on how technology has changed beyond all recognition in the space of a generation - the 20 years since the Data Protection Act, the law my office regulates, was forged.

It’s easy to forget the origins of this revolution go way, way back." 'via Blog this'

Hint: Student-Led Teaching Awards nominations open today: University of Sussex

Student-Led Teaching Awards nominations open today : News and events : School of Law, Politics and Sociology : Schools and services : University of Sussex: "The Student-Led Teaching Awards are your opportunity to say “thank you” to staff who have made a difference to your experience of teaching and learning at Sussex by nominating them for an award. Students are also involved in reviewing the nominations and agreeing the winners of the awards.

Last year more than 310 nominations were received, leading to 77 staff being recognised for their hard work and commitment to teaching and learning through the Student-Led Teaching Awards. " 'via Blog this'

SCL: SCL Student Tech Law Challenge 2018 - Saturday 3 February 2018, London

SCL: SCL Student Tech Law Challenge 2018 - Saturday 3 February 2018, London:

"Venue: The University of Law, 2 Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y 8HQ. Map

The SCL Junior Lawyers' Group is delighted to hold the first SCL Student Tech Law Challenge

 What is it?

In teams of two, you will have the opportunity to develop your practical skills by living a day in the life of a tech lawyer and competing against other teams. 

Your tasks throughout the day will include negotiating the commercial terms of an IT/Technology Contract and some reactive tasks that will test your legal and business knowledge, commercial decision-making and presentation skills. The tasks will be relevant to legal issues at the forefront of current tech law practice including Intellectual Property, Information Technology, Data Protection and Cyber Security." 'via Blog this'

Teaching fact from fiction - BBC News

Teaching fact from fiction - BBC News: "This is a fun and hyper-convenient way to consume the news, but it comes with attendant dangers. One is that if you only see what your friends are interested in, your worldview will become narrow, and is more likely to reinforce your prejudices rather than challenge them.
A second is that if, for political or commercial reasons, someone invents a lie and successfully imposes verisimilitude on it, young minds might come to hold false beliefs. To resist them requires knowledge (of the actual state of the world), intellectual tools (scrutiny to determine truth from falsehood), and courage (to call out liars).

This trinity, when combined, produces news literacy - and it is this, rather than fake news itself, that the BBC's new initiative is aiming to promote.
To the extent that it exists at all, fake news spikes around big news events, such as plebiscites that are too close to call. Such is the nature and volume of information online, that it is almost certainly impossible to eradicate fully.

Combating it requires an as yet unclear combination of action from governments, technology companies, and civil society more broadly." 'via Blog this'

Cyberlaw: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking - Shorenstein Center

Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking - Shorenstein Center: "While we know that mis-information is not new, the emergence of the internet and social technology have brought about fundamental changes to the way information is produced, communicated and distributed. Other characteristics of the modern information environment include:

 a) Widely accessible, cheap and sophisticated editing and publishing technology has made it easier than ever for anyone to create and distribute content;

 b) Information consumption, which was once private, has become public because of social media;

 c) The speed at which information is disseminated has been supercharged by an accelerated news cycle and mobile handsets;

 d) Information is passed in real-time between trusted peers, and any piece of information is far less likely to be challenged." 'via Blog this'

Week 9: China’s Top Ideologue Calls for Tight Control of Internet

China’s Top Ideologue Calls for Tight Control of Internet - The New York Times: "While many major foreign websites are blocked in China, the wireless connections at the conference allowed open access to the global internet. A promotional video that was shown before Mr. Wang’s speech showed the web connecting China to the world, ignoring the existence of the Great Firewall.

For the format of his talk, Mr. Wang followed the lead of Mr. Xi. His offering of five proposals appeared to have been inspired by a speech by Mr. Xi at the second World Internet Conference, when the president offered five ideas for developing the internet.

The conference also marked a fresh start of sorts for its organizer, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the government body that also oversees the country’s internet. Weeks before the conference, the Chinese state media reported that the administration’s former head, Lu Wei, was put under investigation by the Communist Party’s anticorruption agency." 'via Blog this'

Week 6: Cloudflare CEO on Policing Nazis Online: We Never Considered 'People Could Just Be Really Evil' | Gizmodo UK

Cloudflare CEO on Policing Nazis Online: We Never Considered 'People Could Just Be Really Evil' | Gizmodo UK: "“And by the way, whenever any company makes these decisions, it comes down to a small set of individuals making what is ultimately a very arbitrary decision,” he explained. “Because if you don’t believe there are whole bunch of neo-Nazi sites using Google and Go Daddy, you’re not paying attention. But, the crowd isn’t screaming about them.”

Financial pressure is just as effective. Customers may easily choose to run to the competition rather than deal with the PR headache.

“If we’re really honest about what causes Facebook and Twitter to control content, it has much less to do with regulators on the hill and much more to do with the people sitting in Proctor & Gamble’s office, saying I don’t want [our] ads to be next to terrorist content. That drives a lot of decisions.”

 While Prince believes web providers should remain neutral, he had few answers for how the perilous system he described could be fixed. Forcing internet companies to takedown extremist content has a sanitising (and thus distorting effect) on political discourse. Prince urged ongoing conversations to prevent regulating the internet into an anodyne, overly curated space. While Prince still thinks that pulling services from Daily Stormer was the right decision for Cloudflare at the time, he’s troubled by how short-sighted the conversation surrounding the decision has been.

One troubling outcome from the incident: increased notoriety. “There are three times more searches for this content after these guys got taken off the internet than there were before,” Prince noted." 'via Blog this'

World needs 21st century regulation to police gig economy

World needs 21st century regulation to police gig economy: "By administering regulation through dedicated and more agile private sector organisations and businesses, we would give companies some choice over which scheme they came under. That would also create an incentive for private providers of regulation to compete to figure out how to deliver frameworks that achieve common goals with lower costs and less risk for regulated entities.

 The UK government has already implemented a kind of super-regulation model in England and Wales with its reformed approach to regulating the markets for legal professional services. The 2007 Legal Services Act set out the required regulatory objectives under broad-based principles such as protecting the interests of consumers, and then created the Legal Services Board to approve regulators that can show their regulations achieve those objectives.

Today, nine regulators have been approved to regulate licensed legal activities.


Could a similar system work for a completely different business like ride-hailing. where operators face a range of regulatory regimes?" Er yes, it's called co-regulation. 'via Blog this'