Old School Rick Whitt

Old School Goes Online: Exploring Fiduciary Obligations of Care and Loyalty in the Platforms Era

36 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2019

Richard S. Whitt

GLIA Foundation

Date Written: July 26, 2019

Abstract

The concept of information fiduciaries has received considerable attention in recent years, as one way to impose greater societal obligations on Web-based entities. This paper seeks to probe the information fiduciaries concept, as a useful entrée into a broader discussion of how to bring longstanding legal institutions into the online digital world.

This paper has five primary objectives. First, it will describe the information fiduciary (IF) model, as laid out by scholars Jack Balkin and Jonathan Zittrain, and criticized recently by Lina Khan and David Pozen. Second, it will undertake a deeper dive into the basics of the common law of fiduciary obligations, including the twin duties of care and of loyalty. Third, the paper will examine the information fiduciaries concept from the standpoint of traditional common law and modern-day commentary.

Fourth, the paper will explore a proposed alternative legal model, the "digital trustmediary" (or DTM), with entrusted entities voluntarily acting under a heightened fiduciary duty of loyalty to their clients. This DTM model will be posited as a viable response to the current Web ecosystem, which is presided over by online platforms extracting and analyzing end user data in the absence of express fiduciary obligations.

The paper concludes by suggesting ways to meld together the two different but complementary fiduciary approaches in the context of Web-based entities. Consistent with the author's prior written work on functional openness, the overarching intention is to breathe productive new life into old school legal doctrines.

Hedy Lamarr and the Torpedo, The History Guy, Youtube

https://youtu.be/nbZnrseHihI

The History Guy remembers how "the most beautiful woman in film," Hedy Lamarr, helped invent WiFi.

Policy Forum: Privacy in the World of Internet of Things

May 29, 2019

12:00 P.M. - 2:30 P.M.

SIMMONS AUDITORIUM, TEPPER QUAD

Please join AT&T and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh for an in-depth discussion on one of the most challenging issues consumers and businesses face in a world of smartphones, wearables and other internet-connected devices—privacy.

The event will include welcome remarks from Tom Moore, Chief Privacy Officer, AT&T and a keynote presentation from Investigative Reporter and Ted Talks Award Winner, Kashmir Hill.

A privacy panel will follow and will be moderated by Courtney Linder, Business Technology Reporter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Panel participants include the following industry experts.

• Lorrie Cranor, Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies, CyLab, FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science and of Engineering & Public Policy, CMU
• Stacey Gray, Privacy Counsel, Future of Privacy Forum
• Jorge Guajardo Merchan, Principal Scientist & Manager Security and Privacy Research Group; Robert Bosch LLC - Research and Technology Center North America
• Jason Hong, Professor, School of Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction Institute, CyLab Researcher, CMU
• Omar Khawaja, Vice President & CISO, Pittsburgh, Highmark Health

Be sure to visit http://policyforum.att.com for any updates.

When:	Wednesday, May 29, 2019 1:00–2:30 p.m. EST Registration and lunch begin at 12:00 p.m. EST.
Where:	Carnegie Mellon University Tepper Quad Simmons Auditorium 4765 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213

 

The event will be live streamed, details will follow by email for registrants.

 

Photographs and video may be taken by AT&T at this event. By attending, you consent to AT&T's use of any photographs or video in external and internal AT&T communications concerning this event.

https://cylab.cmu.edu/events/2019/05/29-privacy-world-iot.html?fbclid=IwAR1eRcWns1lyaXmy60PdSiuFmX8QnZDux4YXU4qhVN9j6koLENHcRkJcfOc

Broadband Pilot Program-ReConnect Program

Fed Reg Notice

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced its general policy and application procedures for funding under the eConnectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect Program) in a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and solicitation of applications on December 14, 2018 in the Federal Register and amended the application window closing dates in a notice published on February 25, 2019 in the Federal Register. The Reconnect Program will provide loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas. This Notice announces the opening date for the ReConnect Program application windows.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/04/23/2019-08176/broadband-pilot-program-reconnect-program

FCC Renews Tech Advisory Committee, Fed Reg Notice

On April 16, 2019, the General Services Administration approved renewal of the charter of the Committee pursuant to provisions of the FACA. The Commission intends to renew the charter on or before May 17, 2019 and provide the Committee with authorization to operate for two years from the effective date.

Rapid advances in technology have resulted in innovations in how telecommunications services are provided to, and are accessed by, users of those services. Many of these advances are increasing the rate of convergence among categories of services that have traditionally been viewed as distinct, such as cable television services, telephony, data services, and internet services. Regulations must be examined in light of these technology advances, and the Commission must remain abreast of new developments in technology so that it can effectively fulfill its responsibilities under the Communications Act.....

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/05/03/2019-09052/federal-advisory-committee-act-technological-advisory-council

FTC Announces Agenda for the Tenth Session of its Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century

March 20 Hearing will examine competition and consumer protection issues in broadband marketsbook

FOR RELEASE

February 22, 2019

The Federal Trade Commission today announced the agenda for the tenth session of its Hearings Initiative. The session, focused on competition and consumer protection issues in broadband markets, will take place on March 20, 2019 at the Constitution Center Auditorium at 400 7th St., SW, Washington D.C. The hearing originally was scheduled for January 16, 2019, but was postponed due to the government shutdown.

The hearing will examine developments in U.S. broadband markets, technology, and law since the FTC staff's 2007Broadband Connectivity Competition Policy report and the FTC staff's 1996 Competition Policy in the New High-Tech, Global Marketplace report. Participants in the hearing will discuss: (i) the evolution of broadband networking and broadband markets since the 2007 Broadband Report; (ii) the identification and evaluation of advertising claims by internet service providers with respect to the delivery speed of content; and (iii) the identification and evaluation of conduct by broadband market participants that may be exclusionary or anticompetitive.

As previously announced, the Commission invites public comment on these issues, including the questions listed below. The comment-filing deadline has been extended: comments should be submitted online by 11:59 pm EDT, May 31, 2019.

1. The FTC's 2007 Broadband Report provided a technical background of broadband market issues relevant at that time. How should the Commission evaluate broadband technology issues now? Which technological developments are important for understanding the competitiveness of the industry? How would technological developments likely to occur in the near future impact the competitiveness of broadband markets, or otherwise affect consumer interests?
2. How should the Commission define relevant markets in this industry? How should the Commission identify and measure market power of content providers, content delivery networks, internet transit providers, internet service providers, and other relevant market actors?
3. How should the Commission identify and evaluate conduct in this industry that may be exclusionary or anticompetitive, including but not limited to discounting and preferential pricing, contracts and agreements between firms in vertical relationships, and conduct that may undermine or discriminate against rivals? Under what conditions does such conduct harm consumers? Under what conditions is conduct that may exclude or discriminate against rivals also associated with short-run or long-run efficiencies or consumer benefits?  
4. Do existing local, state, or federal regulations affect different market participants in ways that limit competition and innovation?
5. What are the existing standards, if any, regarding how actual internet speeds correspond to advertised internet speeds? Are such standards relevant to an FTC analysis under Section 5?
6. What tools, platforms, and research are used to measure the speed of broadband and related services? Are they adequate for the FTC's analysis of speed claims? If not, what additional resources are needed? Do competitors rely on data from these sources in challenging each other's speed claims? 
7. How can consumers or other stakeholders determine whether actual internet speeds match advertised speeds?
8. Do existing methods of advertising internet speed adequately inform consumers about their choices for broadband and telecommunications services?

Comment Period Extended for Draft SP 800-189

Comment Period Extended: Comments on Draft SP 800-189 are now due by March 15, 2019 (the original due date was Feb. 15). Below is the original announcement from December 17, 2018, but with the new due date:

***

NIST has released Draft NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-189, Secure Interdomain Traffic Exchange: Routing Robustness and DDoS Mitigation, which provides technical guidance and recommendations for deploying technologies that improve the security of interdomain traffic exchange. The document focuses on securing the interdomain routing control (i.e., Border Gateway Protocol) traffic as well as mitigating Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. It is intended to guide information security officers and managers of federal enterprise networks. The guidance also applies to the network services of hosting providers (e.g., cloud-based applications and service hosting) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) when they are used to support federal IT systems. The guidance will also be useful for enterprise and transit network operators and equipment vendors in general.

A public comment period for this document is open until March 15, 2019.

CSRC Update:
https://csrc.nist.gov/news/2018/nist-releases-draft-sp-800-189-for-comment

Publication Details:
https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-189/draft

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NIST Applied Cybersecurity Division
NIST Computer Security Division
webmaster-csrc@nist.gov (Attn: Draft SP 800-189 Team)
Notification Sent By: N. Keller, NIST Computer Security Division

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