Tech Policy Podcast

#240: Techlash: What Do Americans Think?

16 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The tech industry’s reputation has taken several hits in recent years over privacy breaches, allegations of bias, and concerns over election interfe...

#239: Net Neutrality: Can States Regulate the Internet?

08 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on September 30 that would apply the net neutrality regulations imposed by the 2015 Open Internet Order ...

#238: Breaking Down Encryption

02 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Encryption continues to be a contentious policy issue, with law enforcement constantly applying pressure on companies to create backdoors to aid in cr...

#237: Prodigal Son Returns

21 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Evan Swarztrauber, the Tech Policy Podcast’s original host, returns to discuss the work he’s doing to speed the deployment of 5G wireless networks...

#236: Low Hanging Fruit with Professor Daskal

10 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Law enforcement continues to face challenges with the evolving problems associated with digital evidence gathering. Just last year, US law enforcement...

#235: Hasta La Vista, Robocalls?!

06 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The FCC welcomed Comments on how to interpret what an Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems(ATDS) is under the TCPA, which targets telephone solicitatio...

#234: Judging Judge Kavanaugh

30 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Since Donald Trump announced Brett Kavanaugh as his pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, both his supporters and opponents ha...

#233: The Sharing Economy is Dead... Long Live the Hustle Economy

23 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

According to a recent survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are fewer independent contractors working in the US now than there were in 200...

#232: Nationalizing 5G

16 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

According to leaked documents in January, a senior official from the National Security Council in the White House had suggested to build a national 5G...

#231: Preview of the Internet Governance Forum USA 2018

09 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is a preview of the Internet Governance Forum USA 2018. IGF USA will take place on July 27, 2018 at the Center for Strategic and Internat...

#230: Updating the FCC's Kid Vid Rules with Commissioner O'Rielly

21 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Communications Commission has put forward an NPRM to reexamine the so-called “KidVid” requirements, which put obligations on broadcast...

#229: LabMD Court Decision Ushers in a New Era for the FTC

08 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Since the Federal Trade Commission began bringing data security enforcement actions in 2002, no court had ruled on the substantive merits of the FTC’...

#228: FBI Lost Count... Of Locked Phones

04 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The FBI has been a vocal critic of the spread of encryption, often citing the nearly 8,000 devices connected to crimes that were inaccessible to law e...

#227: Can Flightsharing Finally Take Off?

28 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

While sharing economy business models have revolutionized transportation in many ways, the aviation industry has been a notable exception, thanks to o...

#226: The Fairness Doctrine: The Next Generation

21 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In recent hearings, congressional Republicans have accused social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube of stifling conservative content. Some, su...

#225: WHOIS going to deal with cybersecurity: GDPR Edition

14 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

WHOIS, the system used for querying databases of information on domain name registrations and IP addresses, has been a vital tool for journalists, sec...

#224: Disruptive Innovation (Part 1)

23 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The growing pace of technological innovation means both regulators and established industries are finding it increasingly harder to keep up. How do co...

#223: Law Enforcement as a Political Weapon

16 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

President Donald Trump has been vocal to criticize those he deems political opponents. However, these criticisms often extend to threats of legal acti...

#222: Bring in the Nerds: Reviving the Office of Technology Assessment

09 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In recent decades, Congress has struggled to enact laws that keep up with the breakneck pace technological innovation. This pace shows no signs of slo...

#221: Swarm’s Rogue Satellites

03 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month, IEE Spectrum broke the story that Silicon Valley startup Swarm Technologies had launched several experimental satellites through t...

#220: FDA, Free Speech and E-Cigarettes

26 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The Food and Drug Administration’s 2016 Deeming Rule classified e-cigarettes and other vaping materials as tobacco products and imposed strict regul...

#219: Women in Tech

08 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

On International Women’s Day, we’re highlighting the stories of several incredibly talented women in tech policy. They discuss what brought them t...

#218: How Should Congress Address Online Sex Trafficking?

26 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Tomorrow the House of Representatives will vote on the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA). However, the bill to be v...

#217: What is Cybersecurity, and How Can it Affect the Winter Olympics?

15 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The world in 2018 is interconnected. Cybersecurity threats are widespread — even at the 2018 Winter Olympics. As we recorded this episode in January...

#216: The Nunes Memo and FISA Explained

07 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The controversial memo prepared by Rep. Nunes (R-CA) hasn’t left the newscycle since its release on February 2. Berin recorded this special episode ...

#215: The Net Neutrality CRA: Yay or Nay?

07 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The effort to overturn FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order already has 50 Senators signed onto the Congressional Review Act - a vehicle chosen by...

#214: Information Intermediaries in a Nutshell

29 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Recently Facebook has unveiled multiple planned changes to its newsfeed. Now we will see more content from our friends and fewer posts from news sites...

#213: Heat Baby Heat? Harm Reduction and E-Cigarettes

23 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

While some may have started 2018 with a resolution to quit smoking, statistics say many will fail. In this episode we explore harm reduction as a path...

#212: Department of Labor Saves Gig Economy

12 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

On our new episode we are joined by Jared Meyer, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability to discuss changes that executive and l...

#211: Warrantless Spying & Parallel Construction

05 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Four years after the Snowden disclosures, Congress continues to wrestle with surveillance issues.  These include an ongoing reform battle over Sectio...

#210: Watching the Watchmen: Surveillance in 2017 ... and Beyond

20 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever assessed many ways your government spies on you? There is a crucial government surveillance authority up for reauthorization before Dece...

#209: Restoring Internet Freedom? Feat. Brendan Carr, FCC Commissioner

13 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As the vote on Net Neutrality approaches this Thursday, December 14th, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr joins the show to explain why he plans to vote fo...

#208: Data Danger: Keeping Information Safe Online

07 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As the saying goes: there are those who’ve been hacked, and those who haven’t just don’t know they have. After over 140 million Americans saw th...

#207: Carving Out Privacy Rights: Carpenter v US

30 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Fourth Amendment protects American citizens from unwarranted searches and seizures, but how far does that protection extend? The Carpenter v. Unit...

#206: The Future of Internet Regulation w/ FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

22 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today we discuss the end of net neutrality....or do we? Under the leadership of Chairman Ajit Pai, the FCC is set to undo broad claims on power over t...

#205: Who Owns the Airwaves?

20 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

You might not be able to see them but airwaves are very important, enabling all sorts of communication that we rely on. Given the exploding demand for...

#204: Digital Learning: Future or a Flunk?

13 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

While many classrooms have iPads and children rely on the Internet to do their homework, in many ways education is still an analog experience.  Are w...

#203: Super Mathio? What We Learn From Video Games

06 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Video games have presented a challenge for parents since their advent. “Get off the couch and play outside!” or “Read a book!” are phrases the...

#202: Artificial Intelligence

30 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial intelligence is already transforming our lives in many ways, and it has the potential to do so much more. But it seems like news headlines ...

#201: Who Owns the Media?

23 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1975, “media” essentially meant television, radio, and newspapers. Obviously, today’s market looks way different thanks to the Internet and o...

#200: Bicentennial

15 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Pop some champagne and untangle your headphones, as the Tech Policy Podcast is celebrating it's 200th episode. Woo! Evan sits down with Austin Carson,...

#199: Telemedicine

07 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Internet has disrupted the way we communicate, entertain ourselves, and more. But what about how we take care of ourselves? While the Fitbit and A...

#198: Social Media and Elections (w/ FEC Comm'r Lee Goodman)

02 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Russia's meddling in the 2016 election isn't exactly breaking news. But recently, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are facing an inten...

#197: Technologiepolitik

22 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Germans head to the polls on Sunday for a national election. And while many political headlines are bemoaning what could be a “boring” victory for...

#196: Online Voting

19 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to voter turnout, America lags behind much of the world. Could online voting help spur more civic engagement? The 2016 election was plag...

#195: Textalyzer

12 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to tech policy, New York seems to lead the way in… interesting ideas. The government has an important role in making sure our roads ar...

#194: Is the RAISE Act Sinking?

06 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to immigration policy, the headlines are naturally focused on DACA, Dreamers, and illegal immigration. But many in Congress are also loo...

#193: NAFTA, Tech, and Trade

31 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The North American Free Trade Agreement was a major sticking point in the 2016 election, with then-candidate Trump criticizing the trade deal for kill...

#192: Cyber Digest

25 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It seems like every week there are more headlines about cyber attacks. Should you be worried about the next Petya or WannaCry? What can we do to prote...

#191: The Future of Online Music

21 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Internet has changed a lot over the past 20 years, and so has the music industry. CDs and record stores have been replaced by streaming and the iT...

#190: Thinking Outside the (X)Box

15 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What does government have to do with video games? Censorship and the First Amendment may come to mind, but that’s only a small piece of the puzzle. ...

#189: Fighting Online Sex Trafficking

11 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Recently, Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA). The bill is gaining co-spo...

#188: Sex Offenders and Social Media

04 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sex offenders are often banned from playgrounds and schoolyards, but what about social networks? Should policymakers treat the virtual world the same ...

#187: Engaging Cuba

28 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Like most things in Cuba, the Internet is complicated. While only a tiny percentage of homes have WiFi, nearly a third of Cubans went online in 2016, ...

#186: Road to the Driverless Future Part 2 (Mass Transit)

14 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As the autonomous future approaches, what will it mean for public transit? Cities across the world are testing new technologies, such as collision avo...

#185: Law Enforcement Seeks Data Abroad

10 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the Digital Age, your data could be stored anywhere in the world, regardless of where you live. So what happens when your police department is inve...

#184: Sex Toy Hacking

30 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Are vibrators, dildos, and other sex toys the next frontier in hacking and surveillance? Some tech experts say this creepy scenario has already arrive...

#183: Is the Sharing Economy Progressive?

27 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Cities like San Francisco and New York are at the cutting edge of technology. But are "progressives" friends or foes of innovation? City councils acro...

#182: Powering the Internet

23 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The Internet is nothing without electricity, and the increased demand for data and expanding “Internet of Things” means we need more and more powe...

#181: NextGen Air Traffic

20 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is our air traffic control (ATC) system outdated? The White House seems to think so. A couple weeks back, the president announced his support for tran...

#180: Mayday for Tech in the UK

15 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

UK Prime Minister Theresa May is pushing ahead with a controversial tech agenda, despite a grave political miscalculation that cost her Conservative p...

#179: Hate Speech

09 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Recent terrorist attacks in Portland, London, and Manchester have many calling for a crackdown on Internet hate speech. They argue that allowing toxic...

#178: Is it time to break up Big Tech?

05 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In a New York Times op-ed, Jonathan Taplin argues that Google, Facebook, and Amazon have become monopolies. With such large market shares in search ad...

#177: Online Privacy and the BROWSER Act

30 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How should online privacy be regulated? Currently, Internet platforms, mobile applications, and online ad networks allow consumers to “opt-out” of...

#176: Future of Internet Copyright (w/ TechDirt)

24 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What can Taylor Swift and Katy Perry agree on? Not much, but they both think America’s notice-and-takedown laws are outdated. These laws allow copyr...

#175: The Driverless Future

19 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How close are we to a driverless future? Over 30,000 Americans die in car accidents every year, and autonomous vehicles have the potential to dramatic...

#174: Vaping and the FDA

12 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How does an e-vapor business navigate the FDA’s approval process? On August 8, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration’s “Deeming Rule” took ef...

#173: NSA Checks Itself?

04 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, the National Security Agency (NSA) announced it was ending a surveillance practice known as “about collection.” It’s one piece of a l...

#172: Future of Internet Regulation (w/ FCC Chairman Ajit Pai)

27 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday, at the Newseum in Washington, DC, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai outlined his vision for the future of Internet regulation, including a plan to undo...

#171: Tech and Immigration

24 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How does immigration impact the tech sector? Recently, President Trump ordered federal agencies to review the H-1B visa program, which is used by many...

#170: Tech and Tax Reform

20 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Congress and the White House tried, and failed, to repeal and replace Obamacare. Since then, their focus has shifted to other priorities — in partic...

#169: The Future of Tech Policy

14 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is tech policy stuck in the past? Does innovation move faster than government’s ability to keep up? Are we fighting over what to do with last year’...

#168: FBI and Facial Recognition

10 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Would you agree to stand in a police line-up if you never committed a crime? Probably not. But if you have a drivers’ license, you might be in a per...

#167: The Airbnb Wars Rage On

29 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

HomeAway, Airbnb, and other short-term rental platforms are at war with cities across the country. Nashville’s Downtown has the highest hotel rate i...

#166: Hacking the CIA

24 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month, Wikileaks published 9,000 pages of hacked CIA files. The haul, dubbed “Vault 7,” catalogues some of the spy agency’s hacking...

#165: Regulating the Universe

21 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Who's in charge of the universe? "Innovative space activities" like asteroid mining and private missions to Mars raise key questions for countries and...

#164: Blogging in Ethiopia

16 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Blogging in the United States isn’t risk free. You might get deluged by trolls, or even receive death threats. But it’s nothing compared to what h...

#163: Online Sales Tax

10 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Big-box retailers have long griped that untaxed online sales put them at a competitive disadvantage. Congress is exploring legislation to “level the...

#162: Should Government Pay for Broadband?

07 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Should the government pay for broadband? In his joint address to Congress, President Trump laid out plans to spend a lot of taxpayer money on infrastr...

#161: Spying on the World

28 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Innocent Americans don’t like getting spied on by their government. But should they care when their government spies on foreigners? Countries do thi...

#160: Privacy at the Border

22 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What are the privacy rights of non-US citizens? The Trump Administration’s crackdown on immigration has dominated the headlines. But while most of t...

#159: Next-Gen TV

17 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Are you a “cord-cutter?” Did your ditch your cable bundle for Netflix? Or, maybe you remembered that you can still get over-the-air television for...

#158: Who Owns Your Data?

14 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Property rights in the US are rooted in the physical world — your house and your car are yours. But does this concept transfer to the digital world?...

#157: Counterpoint on Trump's FCC

09 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

If you're a regular listener of this podcast, you've probably heard many episodes where TechFreedom President Berin Szóka rants about telecom and the...

#156: Car Talk

07 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“Connected cars” are increasingly a staple of modern life. Today, that might just mean that your car has a 4G connection to distract your kids dur...

#155: Supreme Court of Tech

02 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week, President Trump announced his pick to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who current...

#154: Augmented Reality and Poképolicy

31 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

When Pokémon Go launched last summer, 40 million people were playing the game within weeks. The game provided entertainment, an excuse for kids to ge...

#153: Trump Picks Ajit Pai for FCC Chair

27 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Early this week, the White House confirmed that President Trump picked FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai to chair the agency. This means that Republicans have...

#152: Uber Dodges Bullet in Maryland

24 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The holidays are a time to eat, drink, and be merry. That last one might have been an issue for residents of Maryland if ridesharing had disappeared o...

#151: 16 Going on 17

19 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We're back! After a not-so-brief holiday hiatus, we'll be back in your favorite podcast app with normal regularity -- meaning 2-3 episodes per week bu...

#150: If Hotels Could Regulate Airbnb

05 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

If the hotel lobby had its way, what would happen to Airbnb? Well, we don’t have to wonder, because the American Hotel and Lodging Association has r...

#149: Do Smart Cars Need Smart Roads?

27 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Driverless cars are all the rage in the tech world. But as our cars get smarter, will our roads keep pace? The autonomous future has the potential to ...

#148: Fake News and Filter Bubbles

21 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The shocking outcome of the presidential election has spurred many journalists, pundits and politicians to look for some explanation as to why people ...

#147: Secret Law

16 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

When Snowden revealed classified information about NSA surveillance programs, Americans were outraged. But what might surprise many voters is that the...

#146: Robot Scalpers and the BOTS Act

14 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever tried buying a ticket online to a popular event? Maybe you got up early or stayed up late so you could grab a ticket right as they went ...

#145: Chicago's War on Homesharing

09 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Chicago’s crackdown on Airbnb, HomeAway, and other online home-sharing platforms has sparked a lawsuit. In June, the city council passed a law that ...

#144: 5G and the Internet of Everything

05 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The move from 4G to 5G will help move you from HD to 4K and from augmented to virtual reality. But the implications of 5G stretch far beyond your smar...

#143: Trump's FCC

30 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

With all eyes on the Trump transition, what does the president-elect’s victory mean for the Federal Communications Commission? The Obama-era FCC has...

#142: Fake News and the Fairness Doctrine

28 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Fake news has gotten a lot of media attention since the election. After Trump’s surprise victory, many disgruntled Clinton supporters are pointing t...

#141: Trump's Tech Policy

22 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The election of Donald Trump raises many questions on the future of tech policy. While the GOP platform and Trump’s campaign didn’t offer many det...