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Monthly Archives: February 2015

Governance of Online Intermediaries: Observations from a Series of National Case Studies

Gasser, Urs and Schulz, Wolfgang, Governance of Online Intermediaries: Observations from a Series of National Case Studies (February 18, 2015). Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2015-5. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2566364 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2566364

Online intermediaries in various forms – including search engines, social media, or app platforms – play a constitutive role in today’s digital environment. They have become a new type of powerful institution in the 21st century that shape the public networked sphere, and are subject to intense and often controversial policy debates. This paper focuses on one particular force shaping the emergence and future evolution of online intermediaries: the rapidly changing landscape of intermediary governance at the intersection of law, technology, norms, and markets. Building upon eight in-depth case studies and use cases, respectively, this paper seeks to distill key observations and provide a high-level analysis of some of the structural elements that characterize varying governance regimes, with a focus on intermediary liability regimes and their evolution. Analyzing online intermediary governance issues from multiple perspectives, and in the context of different cultures and regulatory frameworks, immediately creates basic problems of semantic interoperability. Lacking a universally agreed-upon definition, the synthesis paper and its’ underlying case studies are based on a broad and phenomenon-oriented notion of online intermediaries, as further described below. In methodological terms, the observations shared in the synthesis paper offer a selective reading and interpretation by the authors of the broader take-ways of a diverse set of case studies examining online intermediary governance frameworks and issues in Brazil, the European Union, India, South Korea, the United States, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. These case studies, in turn, have emerged in the context of an international research pilot by the Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers (NoC), through a process of in-person consultations and remote collaborations among the researchers, and are based on a set of broader questions regarding the role of online intermediaries in the digital age.”

A Guide to the Supreme Court Argument in King v. Burwell

Kaiser Family Foundation – “On March 4, 2015, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in King v. Burwell, a case challenging the availability of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) premium subsidies in states with a Federally-run Marketplace (including states with a Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM) and states with a Partnership Marketplace). In addition to expanding… Continue Reading

Speech – Remarks at the 2015 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum

February 27, 2015 William C. Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer. Remarks at the 2015 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum, New York City. Remarks [snipped] “It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to comment on this year’s Monetary Policy Forum paper, “The Equilibrium Real Federal Funds Rate, Past, Present and Future.”  Let me preface… Continue Reading

Problem-solving ability and response to novelty in mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) from different elevations

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology – February 2015. 17 Feb 2015. Problem-solving ability and response to novelty in mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) from different elevations. David Y. Kozlovsky, Carrie L. Branch,Vladimir V. Pravosudov “Animals inhabiting challenging and harsh environments are expected to benefit from certain phenotypic traits including cognitive abilities. In particular, innovation and habituation are… Continue Reading

EPIC Files Lawsuit for Details About Government “Pre-crime” Program

“EPIC has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit about “Future Attribute Screening Technology”, a “Minority Report” program that purports to identify individuals who will commit crimes in the future. EPIC filed the complaint after the DHS failed to respond to EPIC’s FOIA request for information. EPIC charged that the agency uses secret algorithms to… Continue Reading

Annual Survey of Manufactures: 2013

Via the Census – “National-level data for manufacturing industry groups and industries at the three-, four-, five- and six-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) levels. Provides statistics on employment, payroll, supplemental labor costs, cost of materials consumed, operating expenses, value of shipments, value added by manufacturing, fuels and electric energy used, and inventories. Also provides statistics… Continue Reading

GAO Reports – Central America, Disaster Relief, Elections, Food Safety, Indian Affairs, Rural Water, Transportation Safety

Central America: Information on Migration of Unaccompanied Children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, GAO-15-362: Published: Feb 27, 2015. Publicly Released: Feb 27, 2015. Disaster Relief: Agencies Need to Improve Policies and Procedures for Estimating Improper Payments, GAO-15-209: Published: Feb 27, 2015. Publicly Released: Feb 27, 2015. Elections: Issues Related to State Voter Identification Laws… Continue Reading

IRS – Identity Protection: Prevention, Detection and Victim Assistance

“Identity theft places a burden on its victims and presents a challenge to businesses, organizations and government agencies, including the IRS. Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone uses your stolen social security number to file a tax return claiming a fraudulent refund. The IRS combats tax-related identity theft with an aggressive strategy of prevention, detection… Continue Reading

How Mortgage Finance Affects the Urban Landscape

Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Report – How Mortgage Finance Affects the Urban Landscape. February 2015. Number 713. Sewin Chan, Andrew Haughwout, and Joseph Tracy. “This chapter considers the structure of mortgage finance in the U.S., and its role in shaping patterns of homeownership, the nature of the housing stock, and the organization of residential activity.… Continue Reading

Climate Change Adaptation by Federal Agencies: An Analysis of Plans and Issues for Congress

Climate Change Adaptation by Federal Agencies: An Analysis of Plans and Issues for Congress. Jane A. Leggett, Coordinator, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy. February 23, 2015. “This report reviews current actions (as of January 2015) of selected federal departments and agencies to adapt their own missions, infrastructure, operations, and personnel to projected climate change.… Continue Reading

Financing of the Terrorist Organisation Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant

“FATF’s report on the financing of the Financing of the Terrorist Organisation Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) analyses how this terrorist organisation generates and uses its funding.  This knowledge is crucial in order to determine how FATF and the international community can choke off ISIL funding..  This knowledge is crucial in order to… Continue Reading