Wetmachine
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Wetmachine is a group blog on telecom policy, software, science, technology, and writing. We write about, mostly, the nexus of technology, science and social policy. But along with that we also write about software praxis, technoparanoia, the craft of writing, self-publishing, and politics.
Wetmachine
1M ago
Happy Saint Urho’s Day to all who celebrate. And an extra-special shout-out to Finno-Irish Americans like myself, to whom the Saint Urho / Saint Patrick feast-day diphthong is doubly-sacred — and even more so when it falls on a weekend. Suomi go Brách!
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Wetmachine
4M ago
I suppose it says something that I am rushing to get something written before the end of the year to mark the 20th Anniversary of Tales of the Sausage Factory (my first blog post was December 10, 2003). At the high point, from 2006-09 I was cranking out over 100...
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Wetmachine
7M ago
Two developments happened since I posted my Insanely Long Field Guide to the Fox29 license renewal challenge that potentially bear on the challenge. The first is Rupert Murdoch’s retirement announcement. The second is the Administrative Law Judge Decision in the other pending Character Policy case. As discussed below, neither really...
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Wetmachine
8M ago
In July, the Media and Democracy Project filed a Petition to Deny the license renewal of Fox29 (WTFX-TV) in Philadelphia. The Petition rests on a particular feature of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadcast licensing law. Every 8 years, a broadcast station must apply to the FCC to renew its broadcast...
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Wetmachine
9M ago
Back at the end of June, Canada passed C-18, aka “The Online News Act,” a law designed to make Google and Facebook negotiate with news providers for linking to news. In theory, C-18 is based on the Australia News Media Bargaining Code, which Australia adopted in 2021. It also follows...
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Wetmachine
10M ago
There are two types of public events here in DC. Those designed to actually educate people and those designed so that folks can display their talking points like dancing peacocks displaying their tail feathers to attract a mate. The Federal Communications Commission and National Science Foundation had a half-day workshop...
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Wetmachine
10M ago
We have been debating, on and off, about the issues around artificial intelligence and AI governance for some time now. Here at Public Knowledge, we published our first white paper on the subject in 2018. But the last few months have seen an explosion of interest and a sudden consensus that powerful...
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Wetmachine
1y ago
Every now and then, I do some legislative drafting. I tend to get pushback on my habit of including a bunch of legislative findings and statements of policy, and what some consider my over-detailed definitions. The usual challenge I get is “everyone knows what we’re talking about.” My response: “I’m...
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Wetmachine
1y ago
Economist/NYT opinion writer Paul Krugman coined the term “Zombie idea” to describe an idea that, despite being repeatedly refuted with evidence, keeps coming back. Not surprisingly, zombie ideas typically have powerful constituencies that benefit from the adoption of the zombie idea they push, and who invest a great deal of...
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Wetmachine
1y ago
(The original version of this appeared on the blog of my employer, Public Knowledge.) At Public Knowledge, we’ve talked a lot about the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) and why we think it’s a very bad idea. But the most recent version made public raises a new twist....
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