Lessons in economics

Obama dines with Jobs, Zuckerberg, other tech honchos

In a dinner meeting last night, the president and 12 of the country's leading technology executives discussed such hot-button issues as jobs, education, and how to get the U.S. economy back on track.

Joining the meeting with Obama were CEOs including notably Apple's Steve Jobs, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle's Larry Ellison, Google' Eric Schmidt, Yahoo's Carol Bartz, Cisco Systems' John Chambers, Twitter's Dick Costolo, and NetFlix's Reed Hastings.

Other participants were well-known venture capitalist John Doerr, Stanford University president John Hennessy, former Genentech CEO Art Levinson, and Steve Westly, founder of the … Read more

Google opens up Public Data Explorer to anyone

Living amongst a sea of data can be a great thing, but only if it can be put to use.

Google plans to open the tools behind its Public Data Explorer to the general public later today, allowing any group or individual to upload their data into the tool and manipulate it for comparison or presentation purposes. The Public Data Explorer currently allows you to compare datasets from around the world uploaded by partners such as the U.S. Census Bureau or the World Bank.

But lots of smaller local organizations or even companies have reams of data on economic and social trends … Read more

California to nix cell phones for half its employees

The newly elected governor of California wants to cut state spending and has starting by calling for the shut-off of half of the state-issued cell phones, some 48,000 devices, by June 1.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who will also be returning his own state-issued phone, said that the move will save the financially strapped state $20 million. In a statement, Brown said:

It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all state employees must be equipped with tax-payer-funded cell phones. The current number of phones out there is astounding.

Of course, the push to cut the number … Read more

FCC's Net neutrality ruling: Misplaced nostalgia

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.

After more than a year of palace dramas worthy of a Shakespeare play, the FCC voted this morning to impose new rules on Internet access providers aimed at "preserving the open Internet."

Today's action is both anticlimactic and incomplete. Despite soap opera hand-wringing the last three weeks from fellow Democratic commissioners, there was little doubt that Chairman Julius Genachowski had the votes he needed to pass this most recent version of the so-called "Net neutrality" rules, which he introduced on December 5. The … Read more

Why Genachowski's Net neutrality proposal is best

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Jorge Bauermeister's bio below.

For those heavily engaged in the Internet regulation battle that has been raging over the past year, the next two weeks will be a nail-biting period. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski recently announced what seems to be a sensible compromise on the issue of Net neutrality, which will work to govern how the Internet pipes are managed.

Genachowski's proposal appears to meet all interested parties in the middle by ensuring the continuation of an open Internet and also providing an environment that enables the growth of the Internet and communications sector to continue at a rapid pace. Continued growth, naturally, is essential to enabling new technologies and services to meet consumer demand and needs.

But instead of plaudits, the chairman is stuck in a tug-of-war between the long-standing proponents of Net neutrality and those skeptical of new regulations and any unintended consequences they may cause. Splits in the commission, which will vote yea or nay this month, mirror the outside fight.

I have been a supporter of light-touch approaches to any sort of Internet regulation, often citing the negative fallout that could result from heavier rules--particularly the approach of reclassifying Internet services under the Title II framework that has governed telephone services since the 1934 Telecommunications Act. Luckily, the Title II approach appears to have been taken off the table, given the recent announcement of the chairman's framework, which maintains rules under the current Title I approach.

Why compromise is good--and where extreme policy goes wrong As for those who want tough neutrality rules on wireless broadband, I'd advise one to be careful what you wish for. The smartphone revolution has created dramatic new demand for wireless capacity, which is already bumping up against the limits of current technology.

Wireless networks simply can't handle as much data as wired networks and, therefore, the wireless infrastructure and management of mobile networks require a different approach than wired and fixed broadband. We are just at the beginning of a high-growth wireless revolution. Overregulation will stunt its growth, and Genachowski's plan takes into account that reality, leaving room for continued growth while also doing enough to ensure consumer protections on mobile networks. … Read more

Memo to Washington: It's the broadband, stupid

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.

As lawmakers gear up for the post-election Congress that convenes in January, the multiyear debate over new laws to keep ISPs from blocking Web sites or managing traffic in anticompetitive ways--the so-called Net neutrality rules--is heating up again.

The result can be safely predicted: more wasted energy and a continued failure by policymakers to focus on the real challenges of our increasingly important broadband infrastructure.

The latest round of fighting follows this month's midterm elections. Those who oppose additional regulations point to the strong Republican victory as … Read more

My own private memory hole

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.

In "1984," George Orwell's classic dystopian novel, protagonist Winston Smith is a low-level bureaucrat in the Ministry of Truth. His job: to "rectify" old newspaper articles in which Big Brother's predictions or promises turned out to be false. Once the articles are rewritten, the original text--and the truth they represent--is dropped down a pneumatic tube known as a memory hole, "to be devoured by the flames."

The European Commission has recently proposed a real-life version of this fictional device, though … Read more

High Court's violent-game sales ruling: Why now?

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes' bio below.

The U.S. Supreme Court today heard arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, a case that challenges California's 2005 law banning the sale of "violent" video games to minors. The law has yet to take effect, as rulings by lower federal courts have held it to be an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.

There's little doubt that banning the sale of nearly any content to adults violates the protections of free speech, including, as decided last year, video depictions of cruelty to animals.

In … Read more

FCC crunches numbers on spectrum crisis

The Federal Communications Commission is laying the groundwork for freeing up wireless spectrum.

Last week, the FCC held a workshop that examined the looming spectrum crisis. In a report published as part of the meeting, the FCC indicated that over the next five years, data usage will increase 35 times, compared to rates of today. While the wireless industry is working to make devices and network infrastructure equipment more efficient, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said last week at the meeting that it would not be enough to keep up with growth.

"Even if spectrum and device efficiency doubles, and … Read more