Net Neutrality Is On Its Way Back

However, what “net neutrality” means in a world where the Internet’s changed since the first time net neutrality was made law is still up for clarification.
As has been anticipated since Democrats took over the majority of Commissioner slots on the FCC, the network neutrality rules originally brought to bear during the Obama Administration and then removed during the Trump years, will be back.  Regardless of how you feel about the regulatory burden that this transition places will again place upon the ISPs, one thing that is indisputable is that the internet as regulated in 2015 is a completely different animal now than it was when.  Just like it used to be easy to understand the technology evolution as analog moved to digital, the word “internet,” which was the definition of a lifeline particularly during the pandemic, has so many different meanings, that “defining what the new 400 pages of net neutrality rules are designed to regulate” may become its own cottage industry.  But there is no doubt that the internet has evolved into a utility requiring a greater level of regulation and oversight than currently exists.

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How to Draft a Useful Data Security Policy

Data security plans are hardly a one size fits all proposition – but they do follow these three broad guidelines and cover a list of considerations. A consultant colleague recently reached out with some questions on how to craft a good organizational information security policy. I’ve got experience with this, as a graduate-level legal instructor, a lawyer, and someone who frequently talks to communications technology practitioners. I can offer guidance on how to plan for, implement and manage organizational information security policies. But note that I am not offering a guarantee. That’s not an accident. I am, after all, a lawyer.

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2024 Promises Developments in AI, Net Neutrality, Data Security and the Universal Service Fund

echnology always advances more quickly than the rules and processes designed to regulate it -- and with newer technologies making massive leaps, 2024 promises to keep all of us busy.The potential and realized legal issues associated with AI development and deployment cut across almost every sector of the enterprise. Issues that have been around since the beginning continue to exist, most notably bias (both intentional and un-), ethical use of AI, and the enterprise reliance on AI’s capabilities to (potentially) offload data-driven analysis (including very, very sophisticated number crunching) from humans towards machines. However, two factors remain constant: First, AI-driven products and services have no inherent common sense; and second, iData in AI systems is, by definition, strictly historical and based solely on what transpired in the past. While data can be updated frequently, but the resultant AI-deiven output is still based on past results. As such, while processes that seem at first to be ripe for AI implementation, aren’t necessarily a perfect—let alone accurate—fit.

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The EU Takes the Lead in AI Regulation – But the New Rules Will Have Global Implications

The European Union Artificial Intelligence Act is intended to create a balance between regulation and innovation – and its implementation will be felt by partners all over the world.
Early in December, policymakers in the European Union made some important and decisive steps forward in taking the lead in global AI regulation. This action, though not yet ready for codification, will have a significant impact on the development and evolution of AI regulation worldwide. Interestingly, according to a recent article in the MIT Technology Review, one of the key drivers in the adoption and deployment of GDPR was the perceived control and/or ownership of data belonging to citizens of the EU by American and Chinese tech entities.

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A New Executive Order on AI Guidelines Is the Next Major Step in a National Conversation

The Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,” identifies many of the concerns that widespread AI deployment will raise – and it moves to push AI toward increased transparency during development and deployment.
It’s hard to go anywhere and not hear people talking about their fears about what widespread deployment of artificial intelligence may mean, not just to the economy, but to our lives. Are we about to be taken over by machines that are smarter than we are? Probably not, but in an effort to rein in AI gone wild, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order on October 30, 2023 that attempts to manage — if not directly regulate — the technology to a whole new level . The primary goal of the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” is to continue to improve AI safety and security - -not to solve every problem or address every issue associated with AI in the wild. The October 2023 order represents a step forward from the White House’s last action in August 2023, when 15 major AI providers, including tech heavyweights Google, Microsoft, and Open AI, agreed to voluntarily (a word that you will see again in this piece) work, over the course of a two-year competition, make AI more secure.

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