Techdirt

The digital world is increasingly giving rise to "winner take all" industries, where a market is all but dominated by one company and, sometimes, a single smaller competitor. Since innovation is so often driven by competition and hindered by monopolies, this is a worrying trend — but its true extent, and its implications, are hardly clear. This week, we discuss various winner take all situations and what they mean for the future of innovation.

There are lots of criticisms of free trade agreements, especially the fact that they go far beyond "free trade" — but the Trans-Pacific Partnership truly takes the cake. This week, we're joined by Maira Sutton, the EFF's Global Policy Analyst, to discuss the many problems with the TPP. Tellingly, this episode is nearly twice as long as usual.

Lately, there's been a lot of talk about cooperation between the government and the technology industry in the fight against terrorism, radicalization and, specifically, ISIS. A lot of this talk consists of the hugely problematic requests we discuss here regularly, like compromising encryption and cooperating with mass surveillance — but is that all there is to it? This week, we discuss what role Silicon Valley actually could play in combating ISIS.

After a few weeks off for the holidays, we're back! And as anyone on the internet can't ignore, CES 2016 has just wrapped up. Our own Mike Masnick was there, and today he's joined by journalist and long-time CES veteran Rob Pegoraro for a post-mortem of the event and this year's crop of new products.

Welcome to the last podcast episode of 2015! For the whole year (and since long before that) Techdirt has been speaking out against surveillance and government invasion of privacy, to the point where it might seem like we give no consideration to the legitimacy of any kind of surveillance. But that's not necessarily true, so this week we're approaching things from the other side and discussing the limits of reasonable and acceptable surveillance.

There's been a lot of back-and-forth recently over Mark Zuckerberg's announcement of the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, combining widespread praise with a lot of disappointment in the details and the fact that he isn't really "giving away" $45 billion. There's a lot to be said on both sides of this question, and this week we're discussing the new initiative and the wide variety of reactions to it.

Last week, we spoke with Daphne Keller of Stanford's Center For Internet And Society about the collision between privacy and free speech in the EU. Much of this discussion involves the question of "intermediary liability" — how and when service providers are held liable for the actions of their users. This week, Daphne is back for a broader look at intermediary liability, and why it's one of the most important questions for the future of the internet.

Privacy and free speech aren't fundamentally opposed, but they do have a tendency to come into conflict — and recent developments in Europe surrounding the right to be forgotten have brought this conflict into focus. This week, we're joined by Daphne Keller of Stanford's Center For Internet And Society to discuss the collision between these two important principles.

Ever since the bubble and bust of the 90s, Silicon Valley observers have been wondering if and when history will repeat. Lately, some have been pointing to the trend of "unicorn" companies as evidence that we might be heading down that road again, while others have made the case that the fear is overhyped. This week, we discuss the elusive unicorn and what it means for the future of the tech industry.

Fifty episodes! Having skipped just two weeks in the past, this marks one whole year of the Techdirt Podcast! In honor of that, we're taking on a very relevant topic that we haven't yet discussed: the medium of podcasting itself.

Today, we've got something a little different: a podcast crossover podcast with the folks from the a16z. Last week, Mike joined Julie Samuels from Engine on the a16z Podcast hosted by Sonal Chokshi to discuss a long list of important policy issues related to technology and innovation, and for those of you who aren't already following that podcast, we're cross-posting the episode here as part of the Techdirt Podcast as well. Enjoy!

If you're a Techdirt regular, you probably know that there are some serious problems with the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Drafted in 1986 with extremely broad language, the CFAA has grown into an easily abused law that lets prosecutors go after people for minor activities that don't meet any reasonable definition of hacking or computer fraud. This week, we discuss the utter mess that our hacking laws have become, and look into ways they might be fixed.

Trademark law often gets lumped in with patents and copyright under the "intellectual property" banner, but in fact it's a different kind of law with an entirely different heritage. That said, it's not without its dangers, so this week we're discussing the intent and extent of trademark law and its impacts both positive and negative.

Over the past 15+ years, Techdirt and its team has made plenty of predictions and prognoses about various aspects of the world of tech — which means we've made plenty of mistakes. This week, our podcast is dedicated to discussing some of those poor predictions and figuring out what we can learn from them.

There's a common refrain regarding services these days that "if you're not paying for it, you're the product" — but this notion is at best an oversimplification, and at worst outright untrue. This week, we look at the far more complex and diverse reality of how free services relate to their users.

Last week, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens joined us to discuss DMCA anti-circumvention exceptions, but that's just one specific facet of a broader issue: the freedom to repair, modify, reverse-engineer and generally tinker with the technology you own. This week Kyle is back to discuss why the freedom to tinker is a vitally important right — and one that is constantly under threat.

One of the many strange and problematic features of modern copyright law is the DMCA anti-circumvention exception system, wherein the Librarian of Congress makes unilateral decisions about what you can and can't do with software and products that include DRM and other protections. This week we're joined by Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit and a long-time champion of the right to repair and tinker, to discuss the ins and outs of this system, and what is (or isn't) coming in the next round of exemptions.

Lots of publishers freak out about the existence of adblockers. Some seek ways to get around them, others simply complain. This might seem like a situation where the desires of publishers and the desires of readers are irreconcilably opposed — but is that truly the case? This week, we discuss the popular reactions to adblocking and the look at the real problem with online advertising: the quality of the ads themselves.

Privacy policies are ubiquitous online, and often required by law, but what are they really for? People don't read them, and when they do they have a tendency to misunderstand them, such as with the recent flare-up over poorly-contextualized changes to Spotify's policy. Plus, there's a built in incentive for companies to write their policies as broadly as possible to avoid accidentally violating them, further stripping them of all purpose. This week, we discuss a simple question: are privacy policies an altogether stupid idea?

Technological innovation is solving all sorts of problems, from major issues to minor inconveniences — but one criticism that often comes up is that Silicon Valley has a "by rich young white men, for rich young white men" culture, with most of its efforts focused on solving problems for a small, affluent minority. This week, Catherine Bracy returns as we try to understand this common complaint, how valid it is, and what can be done about it.

From e-voting and online petitions to broad new avenues of communication between politicians and the public, technology is changing democracy, and has the potential to do so even more. This week we're joined by Catherine Bracy, the Technology Field Officer for Obama For America in 2012, to discuss the current and future impact of rapidly changing technology on the democratic process and whether these impacts have been "good" or "bad".

Time and time again, we hear the claim that without copyright and/or patents there is no way for creators to make money, or even any reason for anyone to create anything at all. This is obviously absurd on many levels, but in today's episode we look at the most immediate and practical ones: the many business models that aren't based on intellectual property, and approaches to incentivizing creativity and innovation that don't involve locking things down.

When people talk about today's most innovative technology and media companies, the discussion tends to orbit the usual suspects: Apple, Google, Facebook et al. But there's one small company that we've long believed deserves far, far more attention for its multitude of smart innovations: Humble Bundle. This week, we discuss the many subtle but extremely meaningful choices that have grown the Humble Bundle from a simple experiment into a revolutionary form of distribution, and wonder why the company doesn't get more credit as an innovator. This week we're also unveiling our brand new podcast theme song written, produced and recorded by long-time Techdirt friend Dan Bull.

We live in a world that venerates "ideas" but ignores the fact that even the best idea is worthless if it's poorly executed. In turn, people who "copy" ideas are often demonized, even when it's their superior execution that is responsible for their success. But the truth is that copying is a critical part of innovation and progress, and the instinct to ignore or refute that idea has left us without many clear measurements of its impact — not to mention lots of bad policy, and a highly problematic "ownership culture" when it comes to ideas and creative output.

Long-time Techdirt readers know that we're big fans of Kevin Smith, not just for his films and podcasts but also for his many innovative approaches to business, distribution and creativity in general — and we're proud to say that he is also a pretty big fan of Techdirt. This week, he joins us on the podcast to discuss the experience of striking out on your own path as a creator while countless voices from the status quo try to tear you down — and the rewards that come when you manage to ignore those voices and be unapologetically yourself.

A few years ago, there was no reason to see Apple and Google as direct competitors — but thanks to the mobile space, all that has changed. Now the two tech giants are going head-to-head in a contest for the mobile device market share, but their approaches to this race remain very different. This week, we discuss the nuances of this competition and what these two different approaches can teach us about business models and innovation.

Reddit is a prime example of the explosive growth of online communities — and recently it's become a prime test case for the huge challenges such growth brings, especially for those who are trying to use it as the foundation for a successful company. This week we discuss some of those challenges that sit at the intersection of community and business, both in terms of popular examples like Reddit and personal experiences as both members and builders of online communities.

Smart watches are among the hottest gadgets du jour, but do they live up to the hype? Their adoption hasn't been even remotely on par with smartphones, and reactions from those who have used them are mixed — but that doesn't mean they're useless or have zero appeal. So, does this dubious trend have a future, or are smart watches a dumb idea?

The promise of virtual reality has been teasing us since the late 60s, and yet it never seems to arrive in a fully realized form. Recently, however, VR (and its cousin, augmented reality) is back in a big way, with flagship products like the Oculus Rift and Microsoft Hololens taking the spotlight, backed up by dozens of other contributions. To discuss this exciting trend, we're joined by erstwhile Techdirt writer Carlo Longino who, along with regular co-host Dennis Yang, attended this year's E3 conference and tried out a bunch of new offerings on the VR market.

The internet has changed the parameters for how people can interact. Today, all sorts of work and socialization can be done over distances that were previously impossible, and the rise of telecommuting has been no surprise. And yet there are still a lot of imperfections in the system, and a lot of ways that the internet doesn't quite seem to close the gap as much as we'd like it to. In this week's episode, we ask the question of how much face-to-face communication still matters in the digital age, and what the future holds for long-distance interactions.

Last week, we were joined by Upshift founder Ezra Goldman to discuss the future of mobility in a world of on-demand services like Uber. This week, Ezra is back to help us fill in the other big piece of the transportation puzzle: autonomous vehicles, and their potential to change just about everything.

The explosive rise of Uber, ride-sharing programs, and other on-demand mobility services has led many to wonder if the whole concept of car ownership is on its way out, at least for city-dwellers. This week we're joined by Upshift founder Ezra Goldman, who recently wrote a manifesto for the future of mobility and helps us delve far beyond a surface analysis of transportation trends.

There are a lot of startups out there trying to become the "Uber of..." something, from valet parking to food delivery to dog-walking. But as much as this might look like mere bandwagon-hopping, it actually represents a fascinating and potentially important trend: the emergence of a new, highly efficient and flexible economy based around individuals offering on-demand services.

Many people have tried to figure out what factors contributed to making Silicon Valley a center of rapid innovation, usually so that they might replicate it elsewhere. But most of these efforts focus on superficial aspects and miss the most important feature of Silicon Valley's culture: the open and free flow of ideas, information and talent. This week, Mike, Dennis and Hersh discuss their personal experiences with Silicon Valley and their observations about what really makes it so special.

Last week, we discussed the many misconceptions that run rampant in the public understanding of copyright. This week, the EFF's Parker Higgins returns for part two of the conversation, looking at how to begin addressing and moving past these false facts.

Copyright is one of the most important fields of law in the digital age, and also one of the most widely misunderstood. The EFF's Parker Higgins joins us to discuss to most common misconceptions about how copyright works, and how it's been abused.

AirBnB has become a massive, popular service despite many people balking at its introduction. But in the big picture, what effect is it having on the urban centers where it thrives?

Following the recent shutdowns of GigaOm and San Francisco's The Bold Italic, we ask a critical question: how can smaller online media players survive in this age of goliaths like Buzzfeed?

Last week, Hersh Reddy helped us navigate the many ways in which the patent system is broken. This week, we turn our attentions to the ways in which it might be fixed, whether by small changes or sweeping reforms. For music, we've got more of Destroy All Patent Trolls by https://soundcloud.com/jonathanmann (CC-BY).

Hersh Reddy, co-host of the podcast, is a patent attorney with a computer science degree and a long history of working in the tech industry. In this first half of a double episode, he discusses the many ways in which the patent system is broken, and how it got that way. This week's music is Destroy All Patent Trolls by https://soundcloud.com/jonathanmann (CC-BY).

Gabriella Coleman is back this week to discuss the astonishing and still-recent shift in the digital world towards real, widespread political engagement on issues like privacy and surveillance.

People (especially those in the news media) love to talk about Anonymous, often making bold, sweeping and generally inaccurate proclamations about the group's nature and goals. Gabriella Coleman, on the other hand, has spent years closely studying and engaging with Anonymous in the real world, and developing a nuanced understanding of the nebulous phenomenon. Her new book Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous provides insider details about Anonymous that you won't find anywhere else, and she joins us to discuss it on this week's episode.

Adam Fong discusses his thoughts, both as a composer and as the founder and director of the Center for New Music in San Francisco, on the changing opportunities for musicians to make money. The music on this week's episode is Adam's own composition, Five Times Remembered.

Recently, there's been a growing discussion around the concept of a basic income guarantee and its potential to completely change how we think about work, income and leisure. Albert Wenger from Union Square Ventures joins us this week to discuss the potential of this revolutionary idea.

Techdirt co-host Dennis Yang has been trying his hand as a driver for both Uber and Lyft. He shares his experiences, and sparks a discussion about the role and future of these services.

Techdirt has long operated on a homegrown content management system, but while we've been considering a switch to something open like Wordpress, many other media companies have been building their own proprietary platforms. What are the pros and cons of each approach?

It's Fair Use Week, so we're discussing this often-misunderstood counterpoint to copyright law that is in fact one of the most critical safeguards of our evolving shared culture.

Barry Eisler is back, this time in his capacity as a former CIA employee with insight into the intelligence community's inner workings and culture. This week's music is The NSA Hates This Song by Dan Bull.

Bestselling author Barry Eisler discusses the evolving culture and business model of publishing with Mike Masnick and Dennis Yang. This week's music is D.I.Y. MySpam by Jayme Gutierrez.

Cybersecurity has become a big, vague buzzword. But what are the actual underlying issues, and are they really as serious as they're made out to be? Mike Masnick, Hersh Reddy and Dennis Yang discuss.