I hear you. At least, I read you. Your comments often say "Dan, why don't you talk more about the intersection of tech AND tacos? Isn't that kind of the whole point?"
Fiiiiiiiine
NASA food science is nothing short of amazing. Who would've guessed that the secret sauce is... gamma rays? These tasty rays extend the shelf life of space food by destroying microorganisms and insects. Elon's Teslaquila isn't bad either, and would make a fine addition to space tacos.
I can't get too excited about taco news because some individuals are not acting in good faith. Back in 2012, I shared my excitement about TacoCopter, a service that would deliver tacos via drone in San Francisco. It turned out to be — heartbreakingly — a hoax. It looks like my reporting on tech and tacos will have to wait a bit longer. Lo siento mucho, amigos.
App Stores. In advance of Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing, “Antitrust Applied: Examining Competition in App Stores,” TechFreedom submitted a letter detailing the history of the development of app stores, and the many benefits they provide to consumers, including security, privacy protection, child protection, and the convenience of having ready access to millions of apps made available on in one place. With a vastly larger, and more efficient market, and constantly improving, free tools, developers are far better off than they were under either the prior “brick and mortar” approach to buying software or the prior market for downloadable software. Whatever gatekeeper power app stores might have had is eroding. See our Twitter thread. Berin livetweeted the entire hearing. In the end, the debate is really about whether to regulate app stores as public utilities — the antithesis of dynamism.
FTC. We celebrated after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the FTC has overstepped its authority for two decades — just as we’d argued in an amicus brief filed last year. As Berin explained two years ago, the FTC Act has bypassed the procedural safeguards built into the statutory provisions that explicitly authorize monetary remedies. The FTC should be able to get money back for consumers in federal court when consumers are cheated. But companies also deserve fair notice of what the law requires. Only legislation can restore the right balance — and it’s long overdue. Congress hasn’t reauthorized the FTC since 1996!
Professor Khan had her confirmation hearing for the FTC. Asheesh suggested eleven key questions about her approach. Notably, Republicans tried to find common ground with her over regulating “Big Tech” as common carriers. But as Berin noted, they’re talking apples and oranges: she’s talking about economic regulation, and Republicans are talking about superseding editorial judgments about what speech private companies want to associate themselves with. Antitrust law can police business practices, but not editorial judgments, as we explained in a major paper last year.
Competition. Josh Hawley introduced another antitrust bill, which would force tech companies to separate into distinct lines of business. Hawley doesn’t even try to conceal his motive: retaliating against Amazon, Google and Apple for refusing to do business with Parler after the January 6 insurrection. Such weaponization of antitrust law violates the First Amendment, as Berin explained. In any event, the bill could hurt consumers and its rationale could encompass the entire economy, as Asheesh warned. But technological change erodes market power. If market power survives, existing antitrust can police it — especially if Congress makes some minor improvements.
Online Speech. On the Bulwark Podcast (starting at 30:00), Berin debunked Justice Thomas’s recent arguments that websites can be compelled to carry speech that they believe violates their community standards — either as common carriers or as public accommodations. No, they can’t, as he and Corbin recently explained in Lawfare.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox recently vetoed exactly this kind of mandate; Ari and Berin explained its fundamental unconstitutionality. Stuart Adams, Utah Senate President, wants to fight on. Newly elected president of ALEC, Adams has vast influence among Republican state lawmakers around the country. But as Ari told the Salt Lake Tribune, there is no “workable solution” for conservatives’ complaints about social media bias — because of the First Amendment.
Net Neutrality. Corbin and Jim discussed TechFreedom’s recent amicus brief in the California net neutrality litigation in a new episode of the Tech Policy Podcast. They covered the history of net neutrality, active lawsuits, and the conflict preemption issues presented by states trying to regulate Internet access, and gazed into the crystal ball as to what’s next with net neutrality on the federal level — all in just 33 minutes!
Space. TechFreedom issued a press release supporting the FCC’s vote on Thursday to reallocate spectrum for commercial space launches. Why was this needed? Currently, every company seeking to conduct commercial launch operations (and the cadence is increasing exponentially), must apply for Special Temporary Authority (STA) from the FCC to use the industry-standard 2200-2900 MHz band — a relic from an era where only governments launched things into space. Welcome to the 21st century, FCC!