No policy is an island
Appreciation for the departing FTC Commissioner
The State of Privacy Legislation
Privacy is a hot topic for regulators once again. Since the American Data Privacy and Protection Act has been put on hold, the FTC has announced their intentions to strengthen privacy regulations. If you’d like to learn more about where this movement could take us in 2023, it’s worth your time to read this piece from a year ago by Caden Rosenbaum, former CGO tech and innovation associate. In anticipation of the many topics being debated, Rosenbaum considers the growing privacy legislation movement at the state level and what to expect going forward. His predictions and recommendations continue to be relevant.
Inflation and Cumulative Policy
Legislators are celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, but no policy is an island. Gordon Gray of American Action Forum notes that the Inflation Reduction Act may not be as effective in reducing inflation as anticipated given the concurrent implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act. Here at CGO we work to encourage effective and innovation-friendly policy. Gray’s analysis is an important reminder of how every policy enacted plays a role in meeting, or failing to meet, these goals.
Commissioner Noah Phillips Leaves the FTC
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has prepared a tribute to FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips who announced his intention to resign from his position this fall. Commissioner Phillips has been a staunch defender of the consumer welfare standard in antitrust regulation as well a force for bipartisanship. We are sad to see him leave the FTC, but wish him the best of luck in future endeavors.
What We’re Reading
We couldn’t agree more with Nirit Weiss-Blatt’s opening paragraph of her latest Daily Beast piece: “If you only read The Atlantic to get your tech news, you’d probably be under the impression that social media is a Leviathan on an inexorable path to devouring democracy.” The whole article is worth a read and a refreshing counterpoint to the dominant narrative that social media is bad for democracy. Dr. Weiss-Blatt’s recent book studying the techlash is also well worth a read, with original research throughout.
IRL
We are a little over a month out from Tech_States. Our half-day summit will cover data privacy, censorship, telecommunications, next-generation technology, and more. Reach out to parker@thecgo.org for more information.
Don’t miss the 2022 Florida Tech and Innovation Summit. Speakers include Ajit Pai, former Chairman of the FCC, and Roslyn Layton, Founder of China Tech Threat. Tickets and more information here.
Our team will also be at TPRC’s 50th Annual Research Conference on Communications, Information, and Internet Policy. Learn more and register to join us here.