Today, a bunch of analysis on stories we have been covering the last few weeks. You’re reading the Extra Crunch Daily. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for free to follow all of our discussions and debates. SoftBank wants to spend more billions Three inter-related stories today on SoftBank and its Vision Fund. First, an analysis from my Bangkok-based […]
View More Huawei sues America as SoftBank spends more moneyCategory: Policy
Court dismisses Paris lawsuit against Airbnb for illegal listings
A court in Paris has dismissed a case against Airbnb, as Le Monde reported. Last month, the City of Paris sued Airbnb for 1,010 illegal listings. According to the mayor’s office, Airbnb failed to comply with regulation in Paris. Paris has been trying to limit the effect on Airbnb on the housing market in Paris. […]
View More Court dismisses Paris lawsuit against Airbnb for illegal listings‘Save the Internet Act’ would bring back net neutrality, plain and simple
The net neutrality rules established in 2015 were a triumph decades in the making, but their undoing was rather a quick bit of work. So it is hoped, by Democratic leadership in the House and Senate, that it will be equally quick to nix the new administration’s rules and restore the old ones — via a very simple piece of legislation known as the “Save the Internet Act.”
View More ‘Save the Internet Act’ would bring back net neutrality, plain and simpleHomeland Security hasn’t done enough to protect election infrastructure, says watchdog
Homeland Security could do more to protect election infrastructure ahead, according to a new report by the department’s watchdog. The report from the inspector general, out Wednesday, said progress had been made but Homeland Security, the department charged with protecting elections and the back-end voting machine infrastructure, still “does not have dedicated staff” focused on […]
View More Homeland Security hasn’t done enough to protect election infrastructure, says watchdogDragonfly, ethics, and infrastructure spending
Yesterday’s analysis of the ethical tradeoffs faced by engineers working in the Valley certainly lit up my inbox with responses. The general thesis of that piece is that startups and tech companies face more — and worse — tradeoffs as they have migrated from the “purity” of the early internet into more socially and ethically […]
View More Dragonfly, ethics, and infrastructure spendingUK Far Right activist circumvents Facebook ban to livestream threats
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a Far Right UK activist who was permanently banned from Facebook last week for repeatedly breaching its community standards on hate speech, was nonetheless able to use its platform to livestream harassment of an anti-fascist blogger whom he doorstepped at home last night. UK-based blogger Mike Stuchbery detailed the intimidating incident in a […]
View More UK Far Right activist circumvents Facebook ban to livestream threatsFrance overhauls its special visa for tech talent
The French government has unveiled a complete overhaul of the French Tech Visa for employees working for a tech company. And France is taking a contrarian stance by making it easier to come work in France. Let’s start with the big number. According to French Tech Mission director Kat Borlongan, there are more than 10,000 […]
View More France overhauls its special visa for tech talentGoogle employees can’t just walk away from ethical tradeoffs like Dragonfly
Let me blunt up front: I think Google should launch a censored search engine in China (albeit with careful organizational boundaries). And I think that Google employees who would undermine such a project need to step down and walk out the front door to opportunities more in line with their purported values. I am reacting […]
View More Google employees can’t just walk away from ethical tradeoffs like DragonflyCan predictive analytics be made safe for humans?
Massive-scale predictive analytics is a relatively new phenomenon, one that challenges both decades of law as well as consumer thinking about privacy. As a technology, it may well save thousands of lives in applications like predictive medicine, but if it isn’t used carefully, it may prevent thousands from getting loans, for instance, if an underwriting […]
View More Can predictive analytics be made safe for humans?Huawei reportedly plans to sue US government over ban
Huawei’s already proven that a ban in the world’s second largest smartphone market won’t hamper its rapid success, but the company still won’t go down in the States without a fight. Word is that the consumer electronics giant is planning to unveil a lawsuit against the U.S. government later this week. That news comes via […]
View More Huawei reportedly plans to sue US government over banSilicon Valley’s inequality machine: a conversation with Anand Giridharadas
Editor’s Note: Technology, startups, entrepreneurship, unicorns, S-1s. Silicon Valley has created an economic engine unlike any other in the world over the past few decades. That success has come with incredible influence over our society, politics, and economy, an influence that is increasingly under the microscope. Our industry has gained outsized power, and now it […]
View More Silicon Valley’s inequality machine: a conversation with Anand GiridharadasCanadian government allows Huawei CFO’s US extradition case to proceed
Late last year, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver, Canada over alleged violations of U.S. trade sanctions with Iran. This week, the Canadian government announced that it will allow for the executive’s extradition to proceed Officials in the Department of Justice Canada have issued an Authority to Proceed, a proclamation that officially begins […]
View More Canadian government allows Huawei CFO’s US extradition case to proceed