Technology
California
California’s New Privacy Law is No Model for the Nation
The fundamental problem of defining privacy is the same as defining obscenity. What is an outrage to one person is no big deal to another. Justice Potter Stewart said it best in his concurrence in the landmark case on obscenity (Jacobellis v. Ohio): “I shall not today attempt further to ...
Bartlett Cleland
November 29, 2018
California
During Net Neutrality “Pause,” Lawmakers Should Think Twice and Repeal Misguided Law
On Friday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to temporarily delay implementation of California’s so-called “net neutrality” law while a federal lawsuit moves forward in the courts. California lawmakers would be wise to seize the opportunity from this time out to repeal this ...
Bartlett Cleland
October 29, 2018
California
Special Guest George Gilder on Technologies in the Future
For PRI’s 50th episode, our special guest is George Gilder. We asked him about his views on Silicon Valley (“in the process of having a nervous breakdown”), the threats to innovation (“the world’s $253 trillion debt”) and his view of Basic Income (“preposterous”). And that’s not even the fun stuff. ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 25, 2018
Business & Economics
Will California Residents Begin Paying North Dakota Taxes Too?
A Supreme Court case to be decided by the end of June could require California residents to pay taxes to a variety states, counties, cities and even mosquito abatement districts across the country. South Dakota v. Wayfair is a case that asks whether there are limits on state taxing authority or ...
Bartlett Cleland
June 12, 2018
Blog
Striving to Get to Hanford in Balancing California’s Competing Intellectual Property Interests
Perhaps no area of the world better serves as a reminder of the importance of copyright protections as Southern California. Movie studios, music companies and video game developers make Los Angeles a copyright company town. Such industries are built upon the guarantee that a creator or artist can retain a ...
Bartlett Cleland
February 19, 2018
California
What’s Next for Net Neutrality in California?
Early last year, several states, including California, began to consider various forms of online privacy legislation. Most of these efforts failed, including in the Golden State, in part because such moves would have actually placed citizen’s privacy at greater jeopardy. But with the recent vote by the Federal Communications Commission ...
Bartlett Cleland
January 4, 2018
Blog
A Neutral Network is Best for California
Northern California is a hotbed of modern, global technological innovation, particularly internet innovation. Yet, increasingly Washington, D.C. dictates the direction and velocity of innovation, often abetted by the very companies that gained from the permissionless innovation approach of government that so benefitted the industry in the past. For example, in ...
Bartlett Cleland
October 24, 2017
Blended Learning
Can Technology Help Students and Save Education in California?
Click here to watch a video of PRI’s recent panel discussion on ed tech and blended learning in the classroom. Much of the debate in education over the last few years has centered around issues of standards, curricula and testing. While very important, these issues should not obscure the possibilities ...
Lance Izumi
December 13, 2016
Business & Economics
The Federal War Against Medical Technology
At about $75 billion annually, U.S. private-sector investment in medical technology is substantial, and a large body of research demonstrates that the economic returns to these investments are enormous. But emerging federal policies are likely to create powerful disincentives for the research and development of medical innovations, in particular, pharmaceuticals ...
Benjamin Zycher
August 18, 2011
Commentary
Airport Scanners and Health Information Technology
Am I hyperventilating if I draw the obvious comparison between health IT and the gropey scanney stuff going on at the airports? The manufacturers of scanners have doubled their lobbying investments in the last five years and cultivated members of the political class, like former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, as ...
John R. Graham
November 23, 2010
California’s New Privacy Law is No Model for the Nation
The fundamental problem of defining privacy is the same as defining obscenity. What is an outrage to one person is no big deal to another. Justice Potter Stewart said it best in his concurrence in the landmark case on obscenity (Jacobellis v. Ohio): “I shall not today attempt further to ...
During Net Neutrality “Pause,” Lawmakers Should Think Twice and Repeal Misguided Law
On Friday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to temporarily delay implementation of California’s so-called “net neutrality” law while a federal lawsuit moves forward in the courts. California lawmakers would be wise to seize the opportunity from this time out to repeal this ...
Special Guest George Gilder on Technologies in the Future
For PRI’s 50th episode, our special guest is George Gilder. We asked him about his views on Silicon Valley (“in the process of having a nervous breakdown”), the threats to innovation (“the world’s $253 trillion debt”) and his view of Basic Income (“preposterous”). And that’s not even the fun stuff. ...
Will California Residents Begin Paying North Dakota Taxes Too?
A Supreme Court case to be decided by the end of June could require California residents to pay taxes to a variety states, counties, cities and even mosquito abatement districts across the country. South Dakota v. Wayfair is a case that asks whether there are limits on state taxing authority or ...
Striving to Get to Hanford in Balancing California’s Competing Intellectual Property Interests
Perhaps no area of the world better serves as a reminder of the importance of copyright protections as Southern California. Movie studios, music companies and video game developers make Los Angeles a copyright company town. Such industries are built upon the guarantee that a creator or artist can retain a ...
What’s Next for Net Neutrality in California?
Early last year, several states, including California, began to consider various forms of online privacy legislation. Most of these efforts failed, including in the Golden State, in part because such moves would have actually placed citizen’s privacy at greater jeopardy. But with the recent vote by the Federal Communications Commission ...
A Neutral Network is Best for California
Northern California is a hotbed of modern, global technological innovation, particularly internet innovation. Yet, increasingly Washington, D.C. dictates the direction and velocity of innovation, often abetted by the very companies that gained from the permissionless innovation approach of government that so benefitted the industry in the past. For example, in ...
Can Technology Help Students and Save Education in California?
Click here to watch a video of PRI’s recent panel discussion on ed tech and blended learning in the classroom. Much of the debate in education over the last few years has centered around issues of standards, curricula and testing. While very important, these issues should not obscure the possibilities ...
The Federal War Against Medical Technology
At about $75 billion annually, U.S. private-sector investment in medical technology is substantial, and a large body of research demonstrates that the economic returns to these investments are enormous. But emerging federal policies are likely to create powerful disincentives for the research and development of medical innovations, in particular, pharmaceuticals ...
Airport Scanners and Health Information Technology
Am I hyperventilating if I draw the obvious comparison between health IT and the gropey scanney stuff going on at the airports? The manufacturers of scanners have doubled their lobbying investments in the last five years and cultivated members of the political class, like former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, as ...