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Tech at Night: Privacy is unpopular, Leave Google alone, Apple app developers Union is silly

Tech at Night

You want more proof that every single private industry privacy debate in DC is completely wrong headed? MSIE 10′s do not track default is unpopular. People don’t care. They value cheap/free stuff and convenience over privacy protection.

Other countries are looking to tax American businesses online. Does Barack Obama have the guts to fight for us? Or will he bow once again?

Here we go again. Just like with Net Neutrality, the FCC wants to take something unregulated, and regulate it for the sake of expanding government. Now it’s the “Special Access” debate, and both IIA and ACI have the story on why we don’t want government sticking its nose into the marketplace, trying to make designated disfavored firms subsidize designated favored firms, the later likely politically connected or prioritized.

Only a fool who is completely ignorant of the history of Internet competition, and of the low barriers to entry, and of the technical definitions of antitrust violations in America, would try to have the government come after Google search for antitrust violations. The Obama administration is apparently loaded with fools, and I fear some Republicans are also being led down the fool’s path. Google defends itself, and NTU also makes the case for letting the people decide in the marketplace. The Internet search marketplace is a pure democracy that lets the public decide who wins and who loses. Government is not needed.

Dumb idea of the day award: An Apple app developers union is simply not needed conceptually. There are no wrongs to redress, no abuses to correct, no advantages to stop Apple from taking. Apple provides a great service, an easy service that has made people rich, has created jobs, and has changed the world in a small way. People who don’t want to develop iOS apps can always go write Android apps, where they don’t even have to use the Google or Amazon stores.

But no, these union folks want to stay with Apple but have it on their own terms. That’s not far. Apple’s made an offer. Apple’s not forcing anyone. They can just say no to Apple if they don’t like the offer.

I’m glad we have the House: Talk of compromise on Cybersecurity in the Senate. I have confidence though that just as Republicans in the House beat SOPA, so too will Republicans in the House beat a bad bill in this case. It wasn’t Dick Durbin and Harry Reid that shut down PROTECT IP. It was Eric Cantor and John Boehner who killed SOPA, after Darrell Issa and others made their stand. So even if this Senate bill is bad, we’re not licked yet.

Spectrum, Spectrum, Spectrum. America is going to use more and more of it for wireless Internet, and we need policy to catch up. Making government get efficient and give up some of its overbloated spectrum ranges, so that firms like LightSquared can have a fair chance to compete to improve further the already-dynamic market, can only help.

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COMMENTS

  • edintexas

    Unless the linked article has changed since you included the link, or I missed an unstated/should be understood meaning, the article states that “Do Not Track” is unpopular with advertisers. It says nothing more about users of IE 10 than that future versions may put the burden on the users to turn it on. It also states that companies may claim to observe the standard while ignoring the flag and tracking users anyway.

    I agree that people are both ignorant of privacy issues, and don’t really care about privacy. But I don’t see the linked article as being about people giving up privacy for “cheap/free stuff”.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    So?

  • Joliphant

    Even if they are one man or mom and pop outfits ?

    So the idea is for the corporations to unionize to take back power from corporations ?

  • edintexas

    I thought of explaining why a contained link should support the content and conclusion of the paragraph, but I can see I’d be wasting my time.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    If you’re looking for someone who blindly regurgitates mainstream press reporting, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

  • nancylee

    But it is very popular with me. I simply am one of those who had no idea that I could block trackers when I surfed the net.

    Now I know better, and promptly installed the add-on that gives me browsing privacy. I like it.