A month ago I did a thought experiment about @letsencrypt:

https://mastodon.social/@BjornW/114064065891034415

Just now I read this by @aral:

https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/114224434946164202

Apparently Let's Encrypt is/was at risk of losing a substantial amount of funding from opentech.fund (OTF). Other projects like Tor are/were also hit by these policy changes from the Trump administration. OTF fought back and seems to be OK:

https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/25/otf_tor_lets_encrypt_funding_lawsuit/

For now. Interesting times.

#OpenSource LetsEncrypt #Tech #Open #USpol #TechPolicy

giving tax cuts to US-based digital services – if that goes ahead – would genuinely be one of the stupidest decisions on tech policy Labour might ever do https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/23/starmer-is-warned-against-appeasing-trump-with-tax-cut-for-us-tech-firms

if anything, the opposite is needed, esp. with how they and their owners are profiting. taxing the rich and making banks lend directly to arms manufacturers would cover both necessary increases both for public services and defence

Breaking: AI Safety Takes a Hit! NIST instructs scientists to remove 'ideological bias' from AI models. But does erasing the term erase the issue? #AIethics #TechPolicy https://www.wired.com/story/ai-safety-institute-new-directive-america-first/

OpenAI Pushes for U.S. Ban on China’s DeepSeek AI Models Over Security Concerns

#AI #OpenAI #DeepSeek #AIRegulation #US #USGovernment #DataPrivacy #NationalSecurity #ChinaAI #USChinaRelations #AISecurity #Cybersecurity #AIModels #TechPolicy #USGovt #AIConcerns

https://winbuzzer.com/2025/03/15/openai-pushes-for-u-s-ban-on-chinas-deepseek-ai-models-over-security-concerns-xcxwbn/

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick aims to revamp Biden’s $42B broadband grant program with a 'tech-neutral approach,' potentially benefiting SpaceX’s Starlink. #Broadband #TechNews #SpaceX #Starlink #DigitalDivide #Biden #TechPolicy #Connectivity

The latest ACM TechBriefs is here, packed with actionable advice for policymakers and legislators on how to better counter tech-facilitated abuse, such as intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and child exploitation.

Lead authors: Jody Westby, Simson Garfinkel

Spread the word: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3717828

The EP’s ITRE Committee will release a report on technological sovereignty—coordinated by far-right MEP Sarah Knafo (Reconquête!). While echoing the EU’s industrial agenda, it also fuels a deregulation push.

Europe needs public digital infrastructures that serve citizens, not just business interests.

Read our take: https://openfuture.eu/blog/own-initiative-report-by-the-european-parliament/

#DigitalSovereignty #DigitalPublicInfrastructure #TechPolicy

"Enforceable Interoperability" is now a thing in Europe! CJEU ruling (C-233/23) mandates that dominant platforms like Google *must* facilitate interoperability. Read our analysis of this game-changing decision: https://euro-stack.com/blog/2025/2/cjeu-vs-google-interoperability
#EU #TechPolicy #OpenStandards #eurostack #opensource #interoperability

https://www.techpolicy.press/peter-thiel-dreams-of-empire/

#TechPolicy
#PeterThiel Dreams Of Empire

HONESTLY!!! America, get RID of these idiots!

Tip!

Volgende week donderdag 13 feb 14:00 - 16:30 zal de commissie Digitale Zaken bijeenkomen om te spreken over "Digitale soevereiniteit bij de Rijksoverheid".

Zeer relevant gezien de huidige ontwikkelingen in de VS.

https://www.tweedekamer.nl/debat_en_vergadering/commissievergaderingen/details?id=2024A06698

Met oa:
@RathenauNL @barbarakathmann
@mariekekoekkoek @MarietjeSchaake
@bert_hubert etc.

Lees vooral ook de al ingestuurde position papers.

Trump's return raises critical questions for open source: Can our global tech collaborations survive increasing data sovereignty pressures?

The CLOUD Act exposed vulnerabilities, making transparency more crucial than ever.

#OpenSource #TechPolicy

https://nextcloud.com/blog/trumps-second-term-a-critical-turning-point-for-open-source-and-digital-sovereignty/

California's SB 243 targets AI companies to protect kids: requiring reminders that chatbots aren’t real people, addressing addictive features, & tracking harmful behaviors like suicidal ideation. #AIethics #TechPolicy #AI #SB243 #ChildSafety #MentalHealth #DigitalWellness #CA

"We are in the age of mass surveillance."

Constanze Kurz shares her concerns about public complacency toward our data privacy, digital rights, and our collective online future.

With policy across the world struggling to keep pace with modern technological advancements, the conversation #Snowden started needs to continue especially in modern times!

Listen now via the Nextcloud Podcast

#Snowden #DigitalPrivacy #TechPolicy

https://youtu.be/veqaibJ4K1I

"US Cloud soon illegal? Trump punches first hole in EU-US Data Deal."

https://noyb.eu/en/us-cloud-soon-illegal-trump-punches-first-hole-eu-us-data-deal

Just read this post by @Molly

https://mastodon.social/deck/@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io/113868325887876751

Normally I'd say it's just some people bickering. Who cares?

Now, with current state of affairs in the USA & geopolitics

I'm actually downloading the full English version of Wikipedia incl images. Roughly 110GB on disk storage. Just to be sure. Unbelievable.

Thanks @kiwix for providing the data & viewers to access Wikipedia & other knowledge.

CC @Wikimedia_Nederland

*CTRL+ALT+DEL* Looks like someone just force-quit AI safety! Trump revokes Biden's executive order requiring safety tests for high-risk AI systems. Apparently, we're switching from "trust but verify" to "deploy and pray."

I, for one, totally promise not to remember this when the robots rise up.

#AI #TechPolicy

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/01/21/0514231/trump-revokes-biden-executive-order-on-addressing-ai-risks

Heather Burns writes: Taking the Internet back for God –“For the foreseeable future, my research focus will be the impact of #ChristianNationalism on #TechPolicy under the second #Trump administration and beyond. I will be looking into how the former, as a political movement based in an extreme theology, will be impacting the latter, in #law, #policy, & #internetgovernance. | https://heatherburns.tech/2025/01/20/taking-the-internet-back-for-god/