A Deep Dish of Surveillance, Transparency, and More
Not to be eaten with a fork.
It’s Thursday—and for those who watch the Big Bang Theory, that means it’s Pizza Day! While Italy may be the modern birthplace of pizza, history shows it was the ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks who were the first to consume flatbreads with toppings. I’m not sure if that counts, but if they didn’t eat it with a fork I’m willing to give them the credit—even if that is customary in some places. And while the debate about the best pizza usually comes down to Chicago versus New York, statistics show that thin crust pizza is the most popular form worldwide—which seems half-baked to me.
Broadband. This week, Jim filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission supporting Starlink Services, the satellite Internet constellation operated by SpaceX. We support SpaceX's Application for Review of the revocation of RDOF support for its low-latency satellite broadband service to nearly 650,000 locations. Jim stresses the need to reverse this decision as it changes the RDOF rules midstream and threatens to permanently place many remote areas on the other side of the digital divide.
Transparency and Social Media Regulation. On Tuesday, Corbin wrote about social media transparency in Lawfare. His earlier Twitter thread on the subject was referenced in Casey Newton’s Platformer newsletter, which called it one of “several probing legal analyses, delivered in epic-length Twitter threads, pointing out the various confusions and contradictions within [Texas HB 20] and the judges who upheld it.” His piece was also highlighted in SCOTUSblog.
Universal Service Fund. Today, Corbin filed an amicus brief urging the Sixth Circuit to hold that the Federal Communications Commission cannot delegate its authority to administer the Universal Service Fund to a private entity. Check out our press release and previous comments on the future of the USF.
Surveillance. Also today, TechFreedom signed onto an amicus brief filed by the Brennan Center for Justice in Wikimedia v. NSA, arguing that the National Security Agency shouldn't be able to use the state secrets privilege to automatically suppress lawsuits about domestic Internet surveillance. See our press release. Corbin was also quoted about it by Grid News.