There is an awful bill making its way around congress. I first wrote about this when it was called COICA and was thankfully defeated due to opposition from Senator Ron Wyden. Then it returned as the PROTECT IP act or PIPA. Now we have the house version which is in part called, I kid you not, the E-PARASITE act (scroll to page 3 and you will find the name for Title I). I won’t make an effort here to go into detail as to why this is a terrible idea. In addition to the previous posts that I have...

There is an awful bill making its way around congress. I first wrote about this when it was called COICA and was thankfully defeated due to opposition from Senator Ron Wyden. Then it returned as the PROTECT IP act or PIPA. Now we have the house version which is in part called, I kid you not, the E-PARASITE act (scroll to page 3 and you will find the name for Title I). I won’t make an effort here to go into detail as to why this is a terrible idea. In addition to the previous posts that I have...

So I was wrong when I wrote that Occupy Wall Street would at best help draw media attention to inequality. I had suggested that instead folks should spend their time building startups that disrupt existing institutions. It now seems that the Occupy Together movement has the potential to disrupt one of the most important institutions altogether: the political process. Unlike much of the media, however, I don’t think it’s important for there to be immediate concrete suggestions for what to chan...

So I was wrong when I wrote that Occupy Wall Street would at best help draw media attention to inequality. I had suggested that instead folks should spend their time building startups that disrupt existing institutions. It now seems that the Occupy Together movement has the potential to disrupt one of the most important institutions altogether: the political process. Unlike much of the media, however, I don’t think it’s important for there to be immediate concrete suggestions for what to chan...

Unlike many other people, I have not been disappointed with Barack Obama’s presidency. There have been many moments of frustration, but it is a damn tough job, especially when so many representatives from both sides seem to have lost all sense of what their responsibilities are. But I do find the idea of assassinations targeting US citizens without due process deeply disturbing. Due process is one of the key breakthroughs of the modern state and is at the foundation of what sets us apart from...

Unlike many other people, I have not been disappointed with Barack Obama’s presidency. There have been many moments of frustration, but it is a damn tough job, especially when so many representatives from both sides seem to have lost all sense of what their responsibilities are. But I do find the idea of assassinations targeting US citizens without due process deeply disturbing. Due process is one of the key breakthroughs of the modern state and is at the foundation of what sets us apart from...

The Supreme Court handed down a bunch of rulings yesterday. The two that I find most interesting relate to patents and guns. Both rulings are disappointing, as I am against software patents and for stricter gun control. But they are also not as terrible as I feared they might be. As far as I can tell, on both counts the Supreme Court handed down fairly narrow rulings. The initial analysis over at Groklaw of the Bilski decision (patents) suggests there are plenty of openings in this ruling for...

The Supreme Court handed down a bunch of rulings yesterday. The two that I find most interesting relate to patents and guns. Both rulings are disappointing, as I am against software patents and for stricter gun control. But they are also not as terrible as I feared they might be. As far as I can tell, on both counts the Supreme Court handed down fairly narrow rulings. The initial analysis over at Groklaw of the Bilski decision (patents) suggests there are plenty of openings in this ruling for...

Starting today and for the foreseeable future the “Continuations” at the top of this blog will be covered with a call to Stop Censorship. If you read yesterday’s Tech Tuesday post on networking or are familiar with the history of the architecture of the Internet you know that a lack of global control was a core principle behind the design of TCP/IP. That has been key to the amazing innovations we have seen come from the Internet, including its amazing power for social and political change. Ev...

Starting today and for the foreseeable future the “Continuations” at the top of this blog will be covered with a call to Stop Censorship. If you read yesterday’s Tech Tuesday post on networking or are familiar with the history of the architecture of the Internet you know that a lack of global control was a core principle behind the design of TCP/IP. That has been key to the amazing innovations we have seen come from the Internet, including its amazing power for social and political change. Ev...

A few times over the last couple of months I have been asked what government could do to help startups. I believe there are five different areas that could really make a difference. The first two are specific to the kind of startups that we invest in at Union Square Ventures, but the other three apply across the board. 1. Net Neutrality By this I mean a clear commitment to separating bandwidth, devices and applications. Once I have bought a certain chunk of bandwidth (whether wired or wireles...

A few times over the last couple of months I have been asked what government could do to help startups. I believe there are five different areas that could really make a difference. The first two are specific to the kind of startups that we invest in at Union Square Ventures, but the other three apply across the board. 1. Net Neutrality By this I mean a clear commitment to separating bandwidth, devices and applications. Once I have bought a certain chunk of bandwidth (whether wired or wireles...

Yesterday saw the beginning of a massive effort across a large number of Internet companies to help stop PIPA/SOPA legislation. While that is an important fight it is worth asking - can we afford to fight bad bills one at a time? Why do we even wind up with terrible bills like this in the first place? In his new book “Republic, Lost” Larry Lessig accumulates an impressive amount of evidence pointing to the corrupting influence of money on politics. Everyone who cares about the future – whethe...

Yesterday saw the beginning of a massive effort across a large number of Internet companies to help stop PIPA/SOPA legislation. While that is an important fight it is worth asking - can we afford to fight bad bills one at a time? Why do we even wind up with terrible bills like this in the first place? In his new book “Republic, Lost” Larry Lessig accumulates an impressive amount of evidence pointing to the corrupting influence of money on politics. Everyone who cares about the future – whethe...

Whenever my kids tell me how their teachers don’t want them to use Wikipedia as a source I redouble my effort to show them why Wikipedia is important and how it works. In particular, I make sure they understand how to look at the history of a page and to check out the discussion or “talk” page that sits behind the content page. Two principles of those pages are critically important. First, they are inclusive by allowing anyone to contribute to the process at least initially (on some controver...

Whenever my kids tell me how their teachers don’t want them to use Wikipedia as a source I redouble my effort to show them why Wikipedia is important and how it works. In particular, I make sure they understand how to look at the history of a page and to check out the discussion or “talk” page that sits behind the content page. Two principles of those pages are critically important. First, they are inclusive by allowing anyone to contribute to the process at least initially (on some controver...

Last year when there was a big debate about carry taxation, I came out in support of taxing carry as income (even though that will clearly mean a much higher tax bill for me personally). With the budget battle in Washington reaching ever new heights this issue is coming back in full force. I missed Nic Kristof’s column on this last week. I am completely in agreement until he gets to the point about taxing founders:One important proposal has to do with founder’s stock, the shares people own in...

Last year when there was a big debate about carry taxation, I came out in support of taxing carry as income (even though that will clearly mean a much higher tax bill for me personally). With the budget battle in Washington reaching ever new heights this issue is coming back in full force. I missed Nic Kristof’s column on this last week. I am completely in agreement until he gets to the point about taxing founders:One important proposal has to do with founder’s stock, the shares people own in...

Tomorrow is a big election as potentially control of both houses is on the line. But why vote? There is something known as the “paradox of voting,” which questions why a rational voter would bother voting at all. The reasoning is that any particular voter is incredibly unlikely to influence the outcome of the election. So the marginal benefit from voting would seem to be much lower than the cost of taking time off from work, driving to the polling place, etc. There are quite a few things wron...

Tomorrow is a big election as potentially control of both houses is on the line. But why vote? There is something known as the “paradox of voting,” which questions why a rational voter would bother voting at all. The reasoning is that any particular voter is incredibly unlikely to influence the outcome of the election. So the marginal benefit from voting would seem to be much lower than the cost of taking time off from work, driving to the polling place, etc. There are quite a few things wron...