Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Every hour of every day a million little crimes are committed online. And every time it happens, hundreds of legitimate businesses all over the world, with boards and shareholders and mission statements — some of them publicly listed — put the proceeds of those crimes in their own pockets. They do so knowingly. Some people…
The rising antitrust movement gathered Tuesday at Washington, DC’s gleaming new Marriott Marquis to figure out exactly how to confront the ascendant, unapologetically powerful forces of Silicon Valley. They had a high-profile guest: Justice Department antitrust boss Makan Delrahim. The Trump Justice Department does have some antitrust bona fides, which Delrahim was quick to tout….
Some U.S. publishers have blocked visitors from the E.U. to their sites rather than comply with the wide-ranging General Data Protection Regulation to protect people’s online privacy. The Washington Post went an extra step and put up a paywall for E.U. visitors, upselling them to a $90 a year “premium EU subscription” in exchange for…
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Karleen Smith used to work at the Macy’s in Landmark Mall, putting price tags on summer dresses, housewares and the latest styles of shoes. On Saturday, Ms. Smith, 57, returned to her former store, not as an employer or a customer, but as a resident. The former Macy’s in this vacant shopping…
This feels like something from a William Gibson cyberpunk dystopia novel, where the government has become so weak and useless, private corporations have been taking over the basic upkeep of the nation. But it’s not a William Gibson novel, there’s no plucky protagonist with some sort of cybernetic implant, it’s just America in 2018, with…
Let’s be honest: Are you going to read this or skim this? In a land of feeds, tidbits, and bullet points, readers don’t often get to the end of a piece — let alone absorb each sentence along the way. But what if you couldn’t comment until you actually read the whole piece? (We see…
googleon: all A single tariff benefiting one paper factory in Washington state could prompt the loss of thousands of U.S. newspaper jobs, industry executives say. line 459 The ripple effect started with One Rock Capital Partners, a New York private equity firm that bought a paper mill in Longview, Wash., and then petitioned the Trump…
These two practices—predatory pricing and integration across business lines—may sound normal. But under old readings of U.S. antitrust law, they are illegal. Still, it’s unclear whether consumers have seen higher prices as a result of either strategy. As such, Amazon rejects the “predatory pricing” label. And Republican Senator Orrin Hatch last August decried the new…
It’s not just you. Those pesky robocalls — at best annoying disturbances and at worst costly financial scams — are getting worse. In an age when cellphones have become extensions of our bodies, robocallers now follow people wherever they go, disrupting business meetings, church services and bedtime stories with their children. Though automated calls have…
The battle to protect your privacy is like a roller coaster, with breathtaking highs and turbulent lows. It is, after all, a constant game between the technology that guards your information and the trackers that find new ways to profile you. Apple hit a high point for privacy last week. Now Playing: Watch this: MacOS gets better…