The Narrative: The DMA and encryption; Telegram and “misinformation”

March 28, 2022 The EC Digital Markets Act’s Misguided Moves The European Union’s Digital Markets Act is repeating all the mistakes made by telecom regulators 30-40 years ago in their attempt to promote competition by mandating interconnection and interoperability. They have decided to require certain forms of technical compatibility with...

The Narrative: Anti-Section 230 bill advances; ICANN’s judicial branch

February 22, 2022 EARN IT Act moves forward  The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a new version of the highly controversial Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act (EARN IT Act).  First introduced in March 2020, EARN IT Act pares back the immunity protections under Section 230 of...

The Narrative: Meta-morphosis, data enclosure effects, 5G sanctions, global encryption day, Pegasus probe

November 1, 2021 Facebook tries to change the subject After becoming the scapegoat of choice for all of society’s ills, from the “death of democracy” to teenage girls’ social comparisons to amplifying hate speech, Mark Zuckerberg announced a change to the company’s name and a shift in its focus. While...

The Narrative: Crisis at Afrinic; Apple breaks privacy; GIFCT participation

Crisis at AFRINIC The African Network Information Centre (Afrinic), the African regional Internet registry (RIR) for IP addresses, has had its bank accounts frozen by court order, crippling its operations. The Supreme Court of Mauritius ordered the RIR’s $50 million account frozen as a result of its contractual dispute with...

The Narrative: U.S. Congress “unites” against the platforms; Google (and the European Union) end cookies’ death sentence; Senegal’s data nationalism; China’s digital mercantilism

June 30, 2021 The USG goes after the platforms The attitudinal backlash against digital platforms (Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter) has quickly been translated into public policy. The Biden Administration has appointed Lina Kahn, an Ivy League law professor whose work on antitrust has been praised and promoted by...

The Narrative (April 13, 2021)

China fines Ali Baba for competing vigorously; platform governance becomes a thing; reports of a digital currency war are greatly exaggerated; NSA’s “we need visibility” thesis is contested. From China, with love China’s State Administration for Market Regulation has fined Ali Baba 18.228 billion yuan (about 2.79 billion U.S. dollars)...

Regulation of Digital Platforms in Asia

In November 2020, amidst increased conflict, violence and human rights abuses, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology issued the Ministerial Regulation #5 (MR5). With the MR5 the Ministry has granted itself the authority to compel any individual, business entity or community that operates “electronic systems” (ESOs) to restrict or...