Tech at Night: Bitcoin’s central bankers. Kim Dotcom censors Mega.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  May 16th at 02:30 AM  | 

Some fascinating Bitcoin developments: As I predicted, Mt. Gox just got trouble with its US dollar processor, Dwolla. Meanwhile it comes out that a cabal of developers has de facto control over the Bitcoin network and is devaluing very small wallets. The net effect of this is to reduce the money supply, deflating Bitcoin to benefit those with large holdings.

So even as Bitcoin is revealed to have its own central bankers, the new Megaupload is getting censored per New Zealand law, as Kim Dotcom weighs (heavily) in against Obama to attempt to distract from this censorship.

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Tech at Night: We need a pro-innovation FCC. We need fewer pro-regulation Republican Senators, too.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  May 14th at 12:00 AM  | 

Sorry for missing Tech at Night on Friday. After that near-miss with a cold, I decided to start the weekend a little early that night. But we’re back. So with five days of news to catch up on, let’s see what we have here.

Here’s a reminder of why Net Neutrality was a terrible idea. Making people pay for what they use creates opportunities for innovation. If ESPN wants to negotiate bulk rates for wireless data, let them!

And yet that John McCain would add more regulations. We need less micromanagement of cable, not more.

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Tech at Night: I don’t see how MFA passes the House with this rhetoric. Cybersecurity waffling by Team Obama.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  May 7th at 12:00 AM  | 

Even as I’ve said the bill is a good idea, Senate conservatives overwhelmingly voted against the Internet Sales Tax. The whole Tea Party era gang is there in the NAY column. It’s easy to see why too: guys like Mike Enzi are coming out and saying their purpose for the bill is to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. I can’t see this passing the House with the cloud of toxic rhetoric around it.

As Team Obama wavers between a bureaucrat and an actual expert for its DHS Cybersecurity head, insecure accounts are getting hammered by foreign attackers. Use good passwords. Never give the actual answers to ‘security questions.’ Keep software updated. And don’t approve random “Who unfollowed me/How much time am I wasting/Which President am I” Twitter apps!

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Tech at Night: It’s easier to get private Broadband than public Water. Google and eBay take stances.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  May 4th at 12:30 AM  | 

So the left is mad that the President’s new pick for Commerce isn’t totally in the pocket of the unions, and they’re mad the new pick for FCC, Tom Wheeler, isn’t a radical socialist like Bernie Sanders. I’m not all that optimistic about either pick though. The President is choosing bundlers for personal loyalty, which means radicalism on his terms, but still radicalism.

This is amazing though, and this is something the radicals will never tell you: more Americans lack access to public water than to broadband Internet. Twice as many, in fact. Government is a failure, compared with private competition.

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Tech at Night: CISPA gets amended but not quite as I wanted. FISMA reform quietly passes.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  April 18th at 03:30 AM  | 

So the House did not pass the amendment to CISPA that they probably should have passed, but the House did act to find a compromise that would ensure our needs are met, while addressing the privacy issues some have.

While the above-linked criticisms are legitimate, it is the case that not that all privacy criticisms of CISPA are legitimate. “Privacy” has become the vague catch-all for left-libertarian positions that “for the children” has become for progressives. All too often there’s no actual meat to the criticisms. Heck, half the people complaining about privacy would tell you that CISPA is the new SOPA, when the two bills are entirely unrelated. It’s baseless scaremongering designed to defeat Republican efforts and clear the field for Jay Rockefeller and Barack Obama to act.

I do plan to say more very soon on CISPA, explaining why we should pass the bill. Watch RedState.

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Tech at Night: Fox confirms my theory about Aereo. CISPA advances.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  April 11th at 12:00 AM  | 

CISPA continues to remain the big story right now. It’s moving on, though some are concerned that it was effectively renegotiated in back room meetings. It needs scrutiny before passage, I’m thinking. It’s probably a decent but watered-down bill at this point, but let’s look before supporting at this point. We need a good cybersecurity bill, not just any old thing.

Which is exactly what Jay Rockefeller is up to: flailing about, expanding government willy-nilly, in the name of cybersecurity. The SEC? Doing Cybersecurity? Insane.

I like the idea of the Internet Freedom bill, though. The global trend is away from freedom online, and it’s up to us to try to do something about it. The idea that the bill would hurt Net Neutrality is just a bonus.

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Tech at Night: Catching up after Easter with Aereo, Google, and Obama

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  April 2nd at 02:00 AM  | 

I meant to post over the weekend, but with RedState so active for Easter, I decided just to cancel the Friday Tech.

Hey folks, here’s more evidence: Population density matters for Internet speeds. Wealth also matters. Those who don’t adjust for these factors, and tell you US Internet speeds are slow or bad, are selling something. Usually government.

And yes, it’s still a problem that the Obama administration isn’t doing enough to oppose global Internet regulation through the ITU. Some say the administration was duped, but I think they just don’t oppose global regulation and governance. Obama wants to bow to foreign countries by letting global tyrants hijack the Internet from the free peoples of the world.

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Tech at Night: Safe Web Act, Samsung copycatting, Obama’s PROTECT IP/SOPA mastermind rides again [HTML fixed]

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  July 14th at 02:30 AM  | 

It’s clear that the Obama administration wants the Safe Web Act renewed, what with the big showy announcement over at ICE (though if ICE is going after “Copy Cats,” how long until Samsung gets nailed?). I’d want to look carefully though. We don’t have to just renew it. We can examine it and change it in any ways that make sense given the Obama administration’s | Read More »

Tech at Night: Q&A with with Steve Scalise on Retransmission Consent; Snyder backs Marketplace Fairness Act; Lieberman-Collins gets opposition

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  May 12th at 01:30 PM  | 

Technical note: This was written Friday night, but due to technical difficulties at RedState, was only posted Saturday afternoon I know many RedState readers are big fans of Jim DeMint, so in my coverage of the Retransmission Consent debate, I’ve focused on him. However he’s not the whole story. This Congress, due to the TEA party-driven Republican majority, it’s been the House where our major | Read More »

Tech at Night: Let’s take the right approach to securing our Internet resources

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  March 13th at 03:00 AM  | 

Remember the SECURE IT bill, backed in the House by Marsha Blackburn and Mary Bono Mack, and in the Senate by John McCain and the gang? One of the key reasons I like the idea is that it enhances our options for prosecuting online crime. And contrary to ACLU hysteria, it’s not the Republican bill that is a threat to our liberties. Sharing reasonable, relevant | Read More »

Tech at Night: SECURE IT comes to the House, Aereo gets sued for innovating, FCC needs reform

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  March 6th at 02:00 AM  | 

Great news! Tech at Night’s favorite Representative Marsha Blackburn, along with TaN’s own home representative Mary Bono Mack are bringing a version of Secure IT to the House. The bill has been introduced in the Senate as an alternative to the power grab known as Lieberman-Collins. The great thing about the bill? It toughens criminal penalties for online lawbreaking even as it makes it easier | Read More »