Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 03/09 – An FTC Commissioner To Make Silicon Valley Cower?

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

Is Joe Biden about to name the architect of the current antitrust movement to a seat on the FTC? Are other bad actors swooping in to take advantage of the SolarWinds hack? Is Microsoft gonna play both sides of the fence with new Surface devices? And why popular YouTubers are suddenly building their own platforms. Sponsors: EditorX.com Links: POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Biden taps another Big Tech trustbuster (Politico/Playbook) Amazon’s Antitrust Antagonist Has a Breakthrough Idea (NYTimes) Attacks on SolarWinds Servers Also Linked To Chinese Threat Actor (The Record) Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 will reportedly include both AMD and Intel configurations (The Verge) Apple releases iOS 14.4.1 and macOS 11.2.3 to address a WebKit vulnerability (Engadget) Why popular YouTubers are building their own sites (BBC News) LOGITECH’S CIRCLE VIEW DOORBELL IS THE CLOSEST THING WE HAVE TO AN APPLE-MADE DOORBELL (The Verge) The Kottke Ride Home Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech Meme Right Home for Tuesday, March 9th, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough. Today is Joe Biden about to name the architect of the current antitrust movement to a seat on the FTC? Our other bad actors swooping in to take advantage of the solar winds hack? Is Microsoft going to play both sides of the fence with new surface devices and why popular YouTubers are suddenly building their own platforms? Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. I said, what was it, Friday with the news of the Tim Wu hire, that who President Biden was hiring to staff the various agencies that would oversee the tech industry was telegraphing a lot in terms of his administration's intentions towards the tech industry. Well, this news is just as suggestive of where things are maybe going.

Sources are telling Ryan Liza at Playbook that President Biden has decided to nominate Lena Kahn, Khan, a legal scholar championed by anti-big-tech activists, to an actual seat on the Federal Trade Commission. That's the commission that okays things like tech mergers, quoting playbook. Khan would be one of three Democratic commissioners at the agency which oversees privacy, data security, and some antitrust enforcement at a time when it's faced sharp criticism for not doing enough to police major tech firms like Google and Facebook over their privacy practices and past mergers. At age 32, Kahn would also be the youngest FTC commissioner ever. Khan served as an aide to the House Judiciary Antitrust Committee's probe into antitrust and major tech platforms including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook. As part of the 16-month investigation, Kahn honed in on Google's conduct in the online

search market. Before that, she was a fellow at the FTC and argued for the agency to adopt rules that would more clearly spell out when companies violate competition law, while a law student at Yale Khan authored a groundbreaking paper, Amazon's antitrust paradox, exploring how the online retail giant's conduct, particularly its pricing practices, could violate antitrust law, end quote. Yeah, reporting on those hearings, I remember pointing out that it was Khan who was sitting in the staffing seats behind the Congress folks, and I believe we might have attributed some of the better questioning in those hearings to her whispering in people's ears. I know that we shared

a profile of Khan as a long read sometime before that. I'll link to that long read again in the show notes today. This is literally the woman who wrote the paper that has redefined how people think about antitrust in a tech platform era. Her key innovation is to shift the thinking around consumer harm away from merely pricing harm. No one can argue that Amazon say doesn't offer good pricing and convenience for consumers, but folks like Khan think platforms can also warp the market and harm consumers and other ways. So number one, I think this is hugely impactful in the sense of with Wu and now Khan. This would be the equivalent of making Elizabeth Warren Treasury Secretary, if we were on Wall Street, say. And also, I think everyone in tech should consider that any proposed mergers

going forward are going to face a higher hurdle than ever before. Khan could potentially literally be a commissioner on the FTC, quoting one more time. The addition of Khan and Wu represents a massive shift in philosophy away from the era of Barack Obama, who proudly forged an alliance between the Democratic Party and big tech. At the end of the 2008 presidential campaign, a top Obama advisor marveled that Google's Eric Schmidt, then the company's CEO, had worked so closely with the Obama campaign on its tech infrastructure that the work and advice should have been considered a massive in-kind donation. In office, the Obama White House and Silicon Valley had a symbiotic relationship. The ascendance of Khan and Wu, two of the most important intellectuals in the

the recent progressive antitrust revival signals a break with that past and hints that Biden is sympathetic to the left's view that Obama's laissez-faire policies helped engender the populist backlash that ended with Donald Trump's election. Adding con to the FTC, a move that will likely be greeted with alarm by the tech industry also suggests that the White House is already laying the groundwork for a second act that will include a big regulatory push once its early legislative agenda runs its course, end quote. Back on the SolarWinds hack beat, SecureWorks says a second threat actor is targeting SolarWinds flaws, and the behavior of this actor allegedly has characteristics that suggest the group is based in China.

So essentially, if I'm reading this right, other folks have noticed the lock that was picked in the solar winds hack and are helping themselves in the door. Quoting the record. This second group's attacks did not rely on compromising the SolarWinds app update infrastructure, but instead exploited an authentication bypass vulnerability in the SolarWind's Orion API to install web shells on company's Orion servers. The web shell codenamed Supernova acted as a backdoor on Orion IT monitoring platforms, allowing threat actors to access and steal data from companies' internal networks. Reports published at the time by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency,

Palo Alto Networks, and Guidepoint Security, did not formally link this malware to the threat group behind the SolarWinds supply, chain attack, which the U.S. government formally linked to Russia, and described any exploitation as taking place in parallel with the broader and much more intrusive supply chain attack. But in a report published today, cybersecurity firm SecureWorks, said it found links between the supernova malware and attacks carried out last year in August against Zohoho Manage Engine servers using a Zero Day published on Twitter. SecureWork says it's tracking this threat actor under the codename of Spiral and that,

quote, characteristics of the activity suggest the group is based in China. and quote. Quoting again, similarities between supernova-related activity and November and activity that CTU researchers analyzed in August suggests that the spiral threat group was responsible for both intrusions, SecureWorks said today. Characteristics of these intrusions indicate a possible connection to China, end quote. But what SecureWorks did not specifically point out was if the spiral group has any affiliations with Chinese government-backed cyber operations, or if the group is just your regular run-of-the-mill cybercrime outfit looking to sell access, plunder, or ransom corporate environments, end quote. Leaked documents suggest Microsoft is planning to release the Surface Laptop 4 in both AMD and

Intel variants. The AMD models will come with Risen 4,000 chips, while the Intel models will be 11th-gen chips themselves, quoting the verge. Apart from the chips, it seems like very little is changing between the laptop 3 and laptop 4. Here are some other tidbits we've learned. from Winfutures Report. There will be 13.5 and 15-inch models available. These are also the models that the Service Laptop 3 offered. All models have a 3-2 aspect ratio. The resolution of the 13.5 inch device will be 2256 by 1504,

and the 1564. And the 15-inch will be 2496 by 1664. These are the same resolutions that the Surface Laptop 3 offered. The 3-2 aspect ratio has been a staple of Microsoft Surface products for a few years now. RAM maxes out at 32 gigabytes, but it looks like if you want that much memory, you'll need to get an Intel model. The AMD configurations only go up to 16 gigabytes. Storage maxes out at one terabyte.

Similarly, it looks like only the Intel models will offer that much storage. AMD laptops will max out at 512 gigabytes. If these leaks are true, I'm expecting Microsoft will take a similar approach to the Surface laptop for as it did to the Surface Book 3 last spring. That is, bump up the chips with minimal changes. to the chassis, end quote. Apple has released iOS 14.4.1 and MacOS 11.2.3 to address a web kit flaw that could allow hackers to run arbitrary code on devices via malicious web content. So this is one of those download this as soon as possible things. Quoting and gadget, when you download the updates

on your devices, all you'll get is a terse explanation from Apple saying that they're important. However, the support pages spotted by 9 to 5 Mac provide more information. Both updates address a memory corruption issue within WebKit, the engine that powers Apple's Safari browser. The vulnerability, which was discovered by security researchers from Google and Microsoft, may have allowed bad actors to execute code on your devices using maliciously crafted web content. On iOS, you can manually download an update to your iPhone or iPad by opening the Settings app and then tapping general, followed by Software Update. Meanwhile, on MacOS, open the systems preferences menu and click on software update, end quote.

In all of the talk of the creator economy taking off now, there are two big narratives at place simultaneously that are nonetheless somewhat in conflict with each other. One of the narratives is that creators are taking control of their own destiny to spin up their own businesses. The other narrative is that they are doing so on top of the existing platforms because the platforms have all the distribution and are suddenly in the business of allowing creators to monetize on their platforms. But if the revolution is merely the big platform simply rolling out better tools for creators to make money, then that doesn't feel quite so revolutionary, does it?

Something, something you're not really in control of your own destiny if your business is entirely built on top of someone else's business. So just keeping my eye on stories like this one from the BBC, quote, Google owned YouTube gets most episodes. of Linus Tech Tips a week late. Now they debut on Linus's own website called Float Plain, which attracts a much smaller crowd. Quote, Google has been very, very good to me, Linus says, but it's a lot of eggs in one basket, end quote. And with a staff of two dozen, he cannot rely on the company to continue being what he calls his benevolent overlord. He is not the only YouTube star looking for alternatives. For a long time, there have been

tensions between those creating content on YouTube and the company providing the platform, ranging from disputes about ad revenue to copyright problems and even rouse about the way videos are recommended to people. Many successful YouTubers are now sizable companies in their own right and are seeking to safeguard their futures. For the last few years, Linus and co-worker Luke LaFenier have been investing in their own platform called Float Plain. The pair stresses that it is not and never will be a YouTube competitor. But they nonetheless hope to provide a platform for existing video creators with a loyal audience who might be willing to pay a few dollars a month to directly support the video makers they love. It's only going to be your really hardcore fans,

Luke explains. There is no algorithm. They're going to be served everything you make, end quote. Mostly focused on technology video makers for now, the platform is not open to everyone. The duo say it is growing slowly and they are putting any profit back into building the site, end quote. The piece thing goes on to describe other new creator platforms that are popping up everywhere for YouTube stars. And they all seem to be part of the same trend. Sure, you might give your broadest stuff to the algorithms to feed the beast that is scale. But your best fans, your true fans, will come for more exclusive content that you serve yourself on your own platform. And by the way, charge for yourself without giving too much of a cut to a third party.

So you see why I say these trends are running in parallel, but are also in direct conflict. quote another example from the piece. Nurturing a community is part of why L.A.-based Visual Effects Studio Corridor Digital built its own fan-powered site. Its founders Sam Gorski and Nico Perringer are filmmakers, but started publishing on YouTube a decade ago while they toured the L.A. Circuit to get film projects made. Today, their multi-person studio is hugely popular on YouTube for its videos that break down the best and worst Hollywood visual effects and stunts and show their audience how they make their own short films. On the Corridor, digital site, fans earn producer points with their monthly $4 subscription, which they can put towards

funding videos they would like to see made. The audience can decide whether to back an instructional course on how to make videos or lend support to a visual effects-laden Dungeons and Dragon campaign instead. YouTube has been our path, and it's been a great path, says Christian Fergastrum, one of the studios producers, but he said success eventually led the company to ask, what is stopping us from doing this ourselves, end quote. Well, nothing really, except for, again, that whole distribution problem. Though, if you've solved that, or again, if you use the platforms and the algorithms as the chum to sort of attract an audience, then I guess it works to create your own platform to serve

the true fans that you carved out of that scale that was provided by the platforms. Point I'm making here is twofold. Number one, when we talk about the creator economy being birthed right now, it's not just about TikTok adding ways to tip creators or Twitter doing subscriptions or Clubhouse eventually finding, I don't know, a business model selling tickets or something like that. Those are just tools to monetize on top of the existing platforms. The real revolution would be if each creator had a way to create their own platforms. And number two, it's interesting to me the degree to which it is the algorithms themselves that seem to be the glass ceiling that creators are increasingly

bumping their heads against and thus incentivizing them to strike out on their own. Quoting one last time. One of the most successful rival platforms, Nebula, was built on a simple premise, giving creators independence from YouTube's algorithms. Quote, starting a business on YouTube is like opening a brand new store in a shopping center, founder Dave Wiscus explains, except you might come in to open your shop one day and the shopping center has just moved you to the other end where there are no customers and there's a business. no foot traffic, and you'll never know why, end quote. On Nebula, subscribers get access to everything for $5 a month. The company says it has 200,000 paying subscribers. There are no content recommendation

algorithms, and video makers are not penalized if they do not publish the quote-unquote right kind of content, end quote. Finally today, a bit of a product review, or an interesting gadget. If you're like me, then you don't want to touch Amazon's ring smart doorbell with a 10-foot pole for obvious reasons. I don't also want to go into the Nest ecosystem again. So if you're like me pining away for a smart doorbell that maybe would exist in Apple's theoretically privacy focused home kit ecosystem, say hello to the Circle View doorbell from Logitech. It's apparently the closest thing you can get to an Apple doorbell, apparently for better and worse. The negatives are it only comes in a wired version, no battery. If you're on an Android device, you can't use this thing because

you can't view the video feed or even get notifications. It only works on HomeKit, so no Alexa integration, say, or anything like that. And it only comes in black, so no matching your style or decor. But, quoting the verge, there are obvious advantages if you're okay with the circle View's limitations. Nothing is ever sent to Logitex Cloud, so you don't have to worry about yet another privacy policy or potential security issues. The video that's stored in ICloud's HomeKit's secure video service is end-to-end encrypted, so only you and those you give access to in the home app can view it. It's about the closest thing you can get in terms of security to local storage for video clips, which, no, the Circle View doesn't support, while still having easy access to

them from anywhere you might want to be. You also don't have to worry about police, partnerships or on savory social networks tied to your doorbells camera as you might with other devices. The Circle View's privacy features and platform limitations aligns so closely with the features of products that Apple itself produces that you could almost imagine an Apple logo on the front of the doorbell instead of Logitex. It's fast, performs the basics very well, and provides a sharp, detailed view of your doorway from your phone. If that's what you've been waiting for from a video doorbell and you're not turned off by its limitations, then the Logitech Circle View is an easy choice, end quote. I was catching up with episodes of the Cockkey Ride Home

during my daily treks across the breadth of Brooklyn, both yesterday and today. If you're not a listener, if you've never given our sister podcast a chance, you're really missing out because Jack has been killing it lately. He recently did a segment diving into NFTs to specifically ask the question of how they might change how we buy music and movies. Also, did you know that scientists recently came up with a theoretical model that suggests

building an actual real-life warp drive might be physically possible? Also, yesterday Jack dove into the concept of whether or not The Simpsons, which just got renewed for its umpteenth season, might theoretically be able to go on forever if they replace the Simpsons voice cast with AI deep fake voices. And he also got into that story that you might have seen on social media about the New York citywoman who found a hidden apartment behind her medicine cabinet. I love the Kotky Ride Home. Even if we didn't produce it ourselves, I'd be such a fan of it. It's just like this show. It's a daily news rundown, except it's not just about tech. It's about everything. Everything

cool that happened today in the world. If you've not given it a try, I highly encourage you to search your podcast app now for Kotke Ride Home. That's K-O-T-T-K-E, by the way. Cockkey Ride Home. Link also in the show notes. Talk to you tomorrow.