Should each member of Congress have a staffer with a high-level security clearance that qualifies him or her to review classified information about secret surveillance programs that impact civil liberties? Should each member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have a committee staffer who represents his or…
Read MoreCDT focuses on the underlying physical and policy structures that allow the internet to flourish. As we look forward to the next 20 years, our work on core internet structures will only become more important as we consider issues around access, governance, and structures.
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As the gateway to the internet, broadband providers have access to massive amounts of data about internet users’ browsing activities, communications, and preferences. This data can reveal sensitive personal information. The FCC has proposed a strong set of rules for broadband providers that will allow for innovation while giving consumers necessary and meaningful choice as to how their information is used. These rules should not be weakened.
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Some legislative crackdowns in the U.S. on short-term rental listings conflict with existing federal law – Section 230 of the Communications Act – designed to shield online content hosts against liability for their users’ speech. As state and local regulators contemplate the on-demand economy, they must understand that the federal framework for shielding intermediaries – and promoting free speech online – means that some options are off the table.
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In the run up to the long anticipated IANA transition on September 30, “internet give-away” rhetoric is obscuring the reality that stopping or delaying the IANA transition will undermine the interests of businesses, human rights organizations, the technical community, and the United States Government. Paradoxically, those who believe that there will be an “internet give-away” fail to realize that what they fear – empowered authoritarian regimes, imperiled free expression, and the eventual take-over of the internet by other governments or the UN – is most likely to occur by preventing the transition from happening.
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CDT’s Tech Talk is a podcast where we dish on tech and Internet policy, while also explaining what these policies mean to our daily lives. In this episode we talk about good digital parenting and share insights on nonprofit fundraising.
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Last week, the Sixth Circuit issued its decision in Doe v. Snyder, a case challenging state sex offender registry requirements in which CDT participated as amici. We argued that Michigan’s strict requirements for registrants to disclose their online identifiers to the authorities violated their First Amendment rights to speak without permission and self-identification. We won, in a sense: the federal court of appeals struck down Michigan’s registry law as an unconstitutional retroactive punishment, in violation of the Ex Post Facto clause.
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On 6 September in Brussels, CDT presented the paper Content ‘responsibility’: The looming cloud of uncertainty for internet intermediaries, authored by Dr. Monica Horten. Following the presentation of the paper, CDT hosted a lively debate with the participation of both the audience and the panel. The panel noted several European Commission draft proposals seem to be in contradiction with current legislation as they imply monitoring obligations for intermediaries.
Read MoreYour race is among many characteristics that can be inferred and used to serve you personalized content. Recent research by CDT and a team at the University of California Berkeley show that this practice continues to raise concerns with the public. We asked 748 people how they felt about online personalization based on a variety of characteristics, and personalization based on race achieved the most consistently negative results.
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Copyright reform is one part of the EU Commission’s efforts to develop a Digital Single Market (DSM) for Europe, a vision of a robust digital economy with fewer borders and in which European creators and businesses can thrive. Leaked drafts of the Impact Assessment analyzes the predicted outcomes of the various reform proposals around copyright in light of the goals of the DSM Strategy. Unfortunately, both the proposals and the analysis raise some troubling issues.
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