#EU#TechRegulation#TechPolicy: "Is the premise here, that without such shackles, Europe would be free to build competitors equal to the US tech giants? If that’s the presumption, that’s not true. They know this is not true. Anyone who understands the history, the business models, the deep entrenchment of these companies also knows that’s not true.
There may be frustration with regulation ‘slowing down your series B’. But I think we need to look at a definition of ‘progress’ that relies on casting off all guardrails that would govern the use and abuse of technologies that are currently being tasked with making incredibly sensitive determinations; currently being linked with mass surveillance infrastructures that are accelerating new forms of social control; that are being used to degrade and diminish labor. Is that what we want? Is that progress? Because if we don’t define our terms, I think we can get caught in these fairy tales.
Sure, some guys are going to be solidly middle-class after they cash out, and that is good for them. But let’s not conflate that with progress toward a livable future. Progress toward a socially beneficial governance structure, progress toward technology that actually serves human needs, that is actually accountable to citizens."
#AI#GenerativeAI#AIRegulation#TechPolicy: "The overwhelming message that emerges from these books, ironic as it may seem, is a newfound appreciation of the collective powers of human creativity. We rightly marvel at the wonders of AI, but still more astonishing are the capabilities of the human brain, which weighs 1.4kg and consumes just 25 watts of power. For good reason, it has been called the most complex organism in the known universe.
As the authors admit, humans are also deeply flawed and capable of great stupidity and perverse cruelty. For that reason, the technologically evangelical wing of Silicon Valley actively welcomes the ascent of AI, believing that machine intelligence will soon supersede the human kind and lead to a more rational and harmonious universe. But fallibility may, paradoxically, be inextricably intertwined with intelligence. As the computer pioneer Alan Turing noted, “If a machine is expected to be infallible, it cannot also be intelligent.” How intelligent do we want our machines to be?"
#EU#USA#Innovation#DigitalRights#TechPolicy#TechRegulation#DigitalEconomy : "This Article challenges the common view that more stringent regulation of the digital economy inevitably compromises innovation and undermines technological progress. This view, vigorously advocated by the tech industry, has shaped the public discourse in the United States, where the country’s thriving tech economy is often associated with a staunch commitment to free markets. US lawmakers have also traditionally embraced this perspective, which explains their hesitancy to regulate the tech industry to date. The European Union has chosen another path, regulating the digital economy with stringent data privacy, antitrust, content moderation, and other digital regulations designed to shape the evolution of the tech economy towards European values around digital rights and fairness. According to the EU’s critics, this far-reaching tech regulation has come at the cost of innovation, explaining the EU’s inability to nurture tech companies and compete with the US and China in the tech race. However, this Article argues that the association between digital regulation and technological progress is considerably more complex than what the public conversation, US lawmakers, tech companies, and several scholars have suggested to date. For this reason, the existing technological gap between the US and the EU should not be attributed to the laxity of American laws and the stringency of European digital regulation. Instead, this Article shows there are more foundational features of the American legal and technological ecosystem that have paved the way for US tech companies’ rise to global prominence—features that the EU has not been able to replicate to date."
X has #blocked the account of @KhaledBeydoun on its platform in India.
Software Freedom Law Centre, India (SFLC.in) has been reporting on the blocking of social media accounts and #websites. Please #report any blocking cases you may have seen to us.
Send us an email at mail@sflc.in or mention @sflcin on social media platforms.
"We can reverse the enshittification of the internet. We can halt the creeping enshittification of every digital device.
We can build a better, enshittification-resistant digital nervous system, one that is fit to coordinate the mass movements we will need to fight fascism, end genocide, and save our planet and our species."
"I think we need to frame tech regulation and tech policy in terms of justice... risks and harms are really unequally distributed. You and me and - I'm assuming - many people in this room are not going to be the key targets of harm. It is always people in communities that are already marginalised or excluded. So where are the progressive political parties on these issues?"
Just heard (under Chatham Rule) that the US is trying to get "carve outs" for its companies from the EU's #DSA and #DMA. That would be utterly insane for the EU to grant. It's also wrongheaded for the US to want. The EU (& world) a more stability and better #digitalgovernance #AIEthics#techPolicy
Kom 28 nov naar de @nluug najaarsconferentie in #Utrecht
#NLUUG is dé vereniging voor (professionele) gebruikers van UNIX/Linux, Open Source, Open Systemen en Open Standaarden in Nederland. Ben je als professional bezig met “open”, dan is NLUUG de vereniging bij uitstek waar je je technische kennis kunt bijhouden.
Jim Balsillie has some pointed complaints about Canada’s proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act, it contains “a business interest carve-out that allows corporations to put the pursuit of profits above the interests of consumers. Businesses are allowed to determine what constitutes legitimate surveillance and behaviour modification to trample on fundamental rights, but are under no obligation to notify consumers how they are tracking and profiling them."
He also wants the AI & Data Act scrapped (it really should not be wrapped into this bill, I agree it needs a do-over)
"Overleg tussen overheid en Meta over privacybescherming geklapt
De onderhandelingen tussen het demissionaire kabinet en Meta over het aanscherpen van privacyregels zijn stukgelopen.
[..]de insteek: als Meta geen aanpassingen doet, zal de overheid geen facebookpagina’s meer gebruiken.
Demissionair staatssecretaris van Huffelen vraagt nu advies aan de Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens over hoe het nu verder moet."
Today I was reminded of the Internet Rights and Principles Coalition:
"We are an open network of individuals and organisations based at the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) committed to making human rights work for the online environment."
We have a new job opening at @CenDemTech
This is for a Research Fellow to help lead a new project that examines how content moderation systems, including the application of artificial intelligence tools, operate in non-English contexts, particularly in “low resource” and indigenous languages of the Majority World (Global South).