WEBVTT - Tech News: Billionaires in Spaaaace 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.040 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.240 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:22.480 and I love all things tech. And it's another week 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:26.920 and another billionaire going to space. Earlier this month, Richard 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:30.360 Branson took a very short jaunt out to the edge 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:34.720 of space board Virgin Galactics space Ship two, which is 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:39.600 a single rocket engine vehicle that actually piggybacks on a mothership, 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:43.800 a larger air vehicle called White Night too, so then 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.120 it detaches from White Knight to ignites its rocket engine 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:49.320 and thus does not have to take off from the 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:53.080 surface of the Earth. Now this morning, as I was 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:56.320 writing this, I was writing it just as Amazon founder 0:00:56.400 --> 0:01:00.760 Jeff Bezos had finished his similarly short trail in the 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:05.480 New Shepherd Blue Origin space vehicle, which is a capsule 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:10.120 that sits on top of a launch vehicle. He was 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.600 part of the first crew to ride that vehicle to space, 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.400 so the first people to actually be in a Blue 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:21.640 Origin space vehicle. He went along with his brother Mark 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:26.679 and an aviation legend, Wally Funk. She has now become 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:31.040 the oldest astronaut to go to space, and Oliver Damon, 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.720 the eighteen year old who took the spot of some 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:38.959 anonymous person who purchased a twenty eight million dollar ticket 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.720 to go to space but then had to back out 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:47.080 due to what we're called scheduling difficulties, which is pretty wild, right, 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.080 kind of wonder what's in your schedule where you're like, oh, man, 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.720 I can't go to space today. I gotta go buy 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:56.440 milk or whatever it is. Anyway, Damon is now the 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.480 youngest person to have gone to space. So in the 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.440 same little space capsule, they had the oldest astronaut and 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:07.160 the youngest astronaut to ever go to space. And Damon's father, 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:10.200 by the way, runs a private equity firm in the Netherlands. 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:14.760 So this is not the case of some like Ragamuffin 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:18.160 finding a golden ticket and a Wonka bar or something. No, 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:21.160 because space, it turns out it's not just trying to 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:26.480 kill you. It's also freaking expensive. Most of us will 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:29.760 never be able to afford to go. Now, you could 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.040 say that I've got a case of sour grapes, and 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:35.560 I admit it, You're right, I do have a case 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:39.639 of sour grapes. I'm absolutely grouchy about this. But moreover, 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:45.600 there has been a growing backlash against Branson, Bezos and 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:50.840 Elon Musk as well, because the billionaires were publicly racing 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.679 toward getting into space, and meanwhile we have these massive 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.160 problems that continue to balloon out of control back here 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.560 on the ground. This is led some to say, you know, 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:05.600 why are you seemingly running away? Even though they were 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.600 only up in space for like a minute and less 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.720 than a minute in some cases, it's not like it's 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.880 them saying peace out and flying off to some luxury 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.560 planet in the Solar System. But a lot of the 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:21.200 critics say, why not use some of that money, the 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:23.519 enormous amounts of money it took to send you to 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:27.359 space to address critical problems like, you know, the pandemic, 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:32.600 or income inequality, or poor working conditions or the exploitation 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.680 of the poor. Why spend all that money on an 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:40.200 endeavor that contributes to enormous amounts of carbon emissions. The 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:43.640 aviation industry in general is a really big source of 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:48.040 carbon emissions, and it means that a very small percentage 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:52.680 of people are responsible, either directly or indirectly, for a 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.720 large percentage of carbon emissions. These and other questions have 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.600 been asked many times over the past few days. They 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:03.240 also point out that these billionaires often have an association 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.960 with some of those problems. I mean, Amazon in particular 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.880 has been in the news quite a bit about things 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:16.040 like unfair working conditions with Elon Musk. His other company, Tesla, 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:19.320 has been in the news about pushing to open up 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.560 manufacturing facilities, even as the states that those facilities were 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:27.680 in we're ordering lockdowns. Like there have been some pretty 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:32.480 negative news reports about these companies that are are run 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:36.520 by these billionaires. Now, on the other hand, there is 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.440 a lot of good things to be said with regard 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:44.320 to human ingenuity and engineering and the countless hours that 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.760 thousands of people put into making this achievement a possibility. 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.839 We should not ignore that. And I think it is 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:56.280 possible to both be critical of the motivations and implications 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:01.359 of the billionaire space race and also still be able 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.719 to laud the achievements of people who made it all possible. 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:08.680 But you know, hearing rich people yell woo who on 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:12.760 a space joy ride does get my dander up. I 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:17.159 reckon anyway, I guess the ball is now in Elon 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:21.160 Musk's court, as he's the one billionaire of those three 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:24.760 who has not yet gone to space, though his car did. 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:30.560 Speaking of Elon Musk and space, SpaceX tested the enormous 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:34.839 booster rocket for its Starship spacecraft on Monday night. So 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:36.599 this is a booster rocket that were part of the 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:41.080 launch vehicle to get Starship into space. The booster is 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:45.280 called the Super Heavy and it has several rocket engines. 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:49.520 They're called raptor engines to be precise, and this particular 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:53.320 test involved igniting three of those engines in a test burn, 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.200 but the booster was tethered firmly to the ground. This 0:05:56.320 --> 0:06:00.200 wasn't launching. The booster was really testing the engine is 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.640 making sure that everything was working in the future. Assuming 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:07.480 that everything goes well, a full launch of the Starship, 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:09.359 for example, if you were to try and send it 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:14.640 to Mars, could involve more than thirty engines during that process. 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.960 The company has already conducted a suborbital test of Starship 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.279 last May, and the plan was to carry out an 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.760 orbital test during this summer, but you know time is 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.359 starting to run out for that. If it happens, the 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:32.400 Starship will launch from Texas, it will reach an orbital 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.800 altitude and then it will descend to land near the 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:39.080 island of Kawaiti, you know as part of Hawaii. And 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.279 the ultimate plan for the starship program is again to 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.640 send astronauts to distant places like the Moon or Mars, 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:49.120 and that's why you need such powerful engines for a 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.640 full launch. We've still got a long way to go 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.040 before we ever try something like that, and more tests 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:57.840 will be needed to ensure that the tech is reliable 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.720 and safe. The spy where Pegasus is back in the 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.600 news this week, and in case you're not familiar with this, 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:09.600 Pegasus is a spyware project headed by an Israeli company 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:14.000 called the n s O Group. This company makes spyware 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:18.360 for smartphones and that gives a remote administrator access to 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:22.720 that device. That actually includes the ability to activate the 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:26.160 smartphones camera and microphone, so you can use it as 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.320 a surveillance tool. This is the sort of stuff that 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:33.240 hackers want in order to gain information about targets. It's 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:35.520 the same stuff that Nations used to keep an eye 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:39.080 on various people. And the NSL group has sold this 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:43.040 spyware technology as a weapon. Is classified as a weapon, 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.960 so they actually have to get the consent of the 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.760 Israeli government before they sell it to anyone, but they've 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:51.680 sold it to various countries in the Middle East, though 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:55.480 typically not two countries that have an outright antagonistic stance 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:59.000 against Israel, which makes sense. You wouldn't think that the 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:02.920 Israeli government would sign off on a sale of a 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:07.000 surveillance tool that's classified as a weapon two enemies of 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:09.920 the state. Critics have suggested that the ns A group 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:14.040 is effectively acting as sort of a vanguard for Israeli diplomacy, 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:17.920 the idea being that, you know, providing this powerful surveillance 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:21.640 tool to various governments gives Israel a foot in the 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:25.800 door for diplomatic negotiations moving forward, and critics have also 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:29.960 alleged that some of these countries, notably Saudi Arabia, have 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:34.360 used the Pegasus spyware, not to you know, identify crime 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:39.079 groups or terrorist groups, which is the stated purpose for 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:44.439 this surveillance technology, but rather to persecute human rights activists 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:48.520 or critics of the state and journalists. The NSO group 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:51.400 cut off Saudi Arabia's access to the tool following the 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:55.559 murder of Jamal ka Shogi, but later reinstated it upon 0:08:55.720 --> 0:09:00.640 direction by the Israeli government, which raises some pretty ugly questions. 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:04.640 And this is all according to an article in the Guardian. Recently, 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.880 n S Group shut off Saudi access to the tool 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:14.000 again after Al Jazeera journalists came forward with Amnesty International 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:18.080 saying that they had been targeted by the spyware. Amnesty 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:22.320 International has published several extensive reports about this spyware and 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:26.480 how various governments have used and abused it. Uh The 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.640 organization has also released a tool kit to help people 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:33.439 determine if their devices have been compromised and have Pegasus 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.960 spyware on them. The organization also says that Pegasus is 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:40.400 much easier to detect on iPhones than it is on 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:44.920 Android phones, as the spyware leaves more traces on iPhones. 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:48.280 Amnesty also found that the spyware could transfer through a 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:52.560 zero click attack through I message, meaning it's a particularly 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.800 powerful attack. It doesn't require the target to you know, 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.240 click on a malicious link or download any software. It 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:02.400 can just be done through I message, which is pretty 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.880 pretty nasty stuff. While we're talking about Apple, the company 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.240 recently decided that it was going to delay a return 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:14.679 to office they originally were planning on doing it in September, 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:18.760 but a rise in COVID cases has made them change 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:21.880 their minds. The idea was that employees would be returning 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:23.960 to the office for three days a week and then 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.040 remotely work the other two days of the week. But 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.200 now Apple says it's going to hold off to at 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.800 least October. And to be clear, the return to the 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:34.240 office was not a comeback three days a week if 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:37.040 you feel like it. It was more like a you 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:40.360 will come back to the office for three days a week. 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:44.400 It was a mandate, and it was one that you know, 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:47.160 some Apple employees were protesting. They were saying that the 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.000 message they received was that they were going to be 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.839 forced to choose between their health and safety and that 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:57.200 of their families and their careers. Apple CEO Tim Cook 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.680 sent out a memo in June, and a memos said 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:04.160 that workers really did need to return to offices and 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:07.720 and get the hum of activity back in the hallways 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.560 of Apple. And just to be clear, while I'm specifically 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.160 talking about Apple here, it is not unique in this 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:19.920 at all. Google and Amazon have similar planned policies with returns. 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.480 In September. I believe both of those companies also planned 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.520 to do a three days in the office kind of approach. 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:29.720 We'll see if those companies also adjust their plans in 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:33.160 the wake of rising COVID cases. The delta variant is 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:37.240 really wreaking havoc in the United States. Um even vaccinated 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:41.040 people can catch it, and while their symptoms might be minor, 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.240 in fact they might be asymptomatic, there's still a concern 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:48.120 about the possibility of them passing that on to unvaccinated people, 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.960 which that could lead to actual disaster, you know, and death, 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:55.680 the bad things. I'm just coming out and saying it 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:58.720 that I think people dying from COVID is bad. I 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:02.480 know it's a controversial thing to say for some reason. Anyway, 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:05.320 it's really at this point that I want to express 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.520 how thankful I am for our leadership. At my heart, 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:13.520 I'm incredibly fortunate that I am. My co workers are 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:17.240 all given the freedom to continue working from home with 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:21.600 no mandate in the foreseeable future right now to return 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.120 to the office. Now, some of us do go into 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.400 the office occasionally. So for example, I will sometimes go 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.600 into the office to record interviews for my show The 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:32.959 Restless Ones. If you haven't heard The Restless Ones, you 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.679 should go check it out. Uh. And the reason why 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:38.400 I do that the all the interviews I do are remote, 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.800 but the office is internet connection is much more reliable 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:43.960 than my home internet connection and I don't want to, 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:46.400 you know, have a connection dropped during an interview, So 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:50.680 I go to the office for those occasions. Um, And 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.440 it's pretty rare that I see anyone else in that office. 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.600 Occasionally I do, like on a on a really busy day, 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.240 I might see as many as for other people. But 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.120 most days I'm the only one there. And considering that 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:05.240 at least one of my co workers has announced that 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:09.240 they were diagnosed with COVID not too long ago, this 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:11.640 is a pretty big deal to me. Now. To be clear, 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.880 my co worker announced this on a public forum, but 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:17.880 in respect for their privacy, I'm just gonna leave it 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.240 at that. I'm not gonna say who it was. If 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:22.480 you know, you know, if you don't know, it doesn't 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:27.760 really matter. The point is that because of my company's policy, 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.600 I feel pretty safe, and I feel a lot of 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:33.880 empathy for the people who are working for Apple and 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:39.960 Google and Amazon who might not have that same reassurance. Anyway, 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:42.720 we'll keep our eyes on these stories as they continue 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.440 to develop. Ideally, I would just like to see the 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.040 COVID numbers come down, people go back to the office 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.400 and everything be fine. That's just not the reality we're 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:56.280 working with right now. Next year, the three major cellular 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.800 service providers in the United States, those being Verizon, Team 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:03.520 of and A T and T, will all preload Android 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:08.520 Messages as the default texting app on all Android phones. Now. 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:12.480 This marks a shift to the RCS chat standard, which 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:18.240 Android Messages uses. Our RCS stands for Rich Communications Services, 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:22.680 and it's a replacement for the antiquated SMS, or Short 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:26.560 Messaging Service standard that we've relied on for years. We 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:32.240 typically think of SMSs text messages. So why are we upgrading? Well, 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:36.080 SMS has some pretty major drawbacks. It does not support 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:40.600 end to end encryption. For example, it doesn't support group messaging. 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.400 It doesn't support red receipts, so that means you never 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.640 know if someone actually saw the text message you sent them. 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.800 Though on the flip side, that also gives me plausible 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:54.040 deniability that you know, I ever even saw the text message, 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:58.000 because I'm notorious or not answering them anyway. RCS also 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:01.880 supports features like video and audio, something that SMS can't 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.360 really handle. But there's a big drawback, and that is 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:07.320 you have to make sure that the r r c 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:13.040 S implementations of each of these carriers are compatible with 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.720 one another. Otherwise you could end up with services that 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:20.280 would allow for communication within one carrier but not beyond it, 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:26.960 or within one handset manufacturer but not beyond that. So, 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:30.120 in other words, you could find yourself able to communicate 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.200 with anyone else who was on the same carrier or 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:34.640 was using the same phone that you were using, but 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.240 you couldn't do it with anyone else. Now, the carriers 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:40.160 in the US say that they are working to ensure compatibility, 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.960 and the fact that they're defaulting to Google's Android Messages 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.680 really falls in line with that. Now, the only major 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.320 player in the space that hasn't announced a move to 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:52.000 r CS is Apple. Apple's Eye Message is a different 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.400 kettle of fish, being far more feature rich and secure 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:58.720 than old SMS. It also supports end to end encryption, 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.600 but if you need a message someone who isn't on 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.040 an Apple device, then you have to fall back to 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:08.600 SMS messages. Android is rolling out into end encryption for 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.720 Android messages, and I message, like I said, hast end 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:14.560 encryption in place as well, but any messages that would 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.640 be sent between an Android device and an Apple device 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.880 would have to revert to SMS and thus be less secure, 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:24.160 so it represents a weak link. It's hard to imagine 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:28.040 Apple inviting rcs to occupy a space on the iPhone, 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.520 and similarly, Apple doesn't appear to be keen to allow 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.320 I message apps on the Android platform, so we're kind 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.120 of at a bit of an impass. Well, we have 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:40.760 a couple more stories to cover, but before I get 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:52.040 to that, let's take a quick break. We're back. A 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.360 T and T is reportedly in talks to offload and 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.520 add division that has been hemorrhaging money for a few 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:02.960 years and is not looking any better right now. And 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.000 this is all according to Axios. So back in two 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.320 thousand eighteen, A T and T acquired an ad exchange 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:14.240 company called app Nexus for one point six billion dollars 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:16.800 that's billion with a B, and it also purchased a 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.119 TV ad company called Clipped. Not sure how much that 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.120 acquisition was for, but it was significantly lower than one 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.000 point six billion. But the idea was to combine these 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:30.640 two things and create an automation solution for television advertising 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:35.400 and pair that with Warner Media. The media division within 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:39.880 A T and T, the ad division was renamed zander 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:43.240 x A N d R. Now, in my fanciful brain, 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:47.880 and automation solution for television advertising means that we would 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.840 get ads with robots selling us stuff, which at first 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.200 I'm totally into. But then I remember those terrifying Dura 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.560 cell commercials from decades ago where you had these plastic 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:00.480 robot people. Do you guys remember those? They were the 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:04.120 stuff of nightmares. Go to YouTube and search Dura sell 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.159 robot people. If you don't know what I'm talking about, 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:09.679 And I'm sorry, but halloweens around the corner. It's a 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:13.160 great costume anyway. No, that's not what this is about. 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:16.240 I was like totally off based on that. The plan 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:20.520 was to incorporate the automated ad division with Warner Media 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:24.640 and to have these two work together and to optimize 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:29.800 advertising and just generate revenue out the wazoo. Really, But 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:33.639 now A T and T is famously ditching Warner Media, 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:38.200 or rather spinning it off, and Warner Media is scheduled 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.959 to merge with Discovery Communications and become a new media 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:46.280 company again and without the media side of the business. 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.920 Then Zander's kind of a hammer, but there are no nails, 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:52.680 right There's it's a tool, but there's nothing to use 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:54.800 it with because now A T. T doesn't have the 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.960 media arm that would go hand in hand with the 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:02.040 advertising arm, so it's missing inventory side of the ad business. 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.000 So it has no real place with a T and T. 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:08.080 And apparently there have been some major mismanagement issues with 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:11.800 the division from the get go, with annual losses somewhere 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.280 in the fifty to ninety million dollar range. Again, this 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:20.040 is according to AXIOSS sources. At the moment, an Indian 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:24.840 company called in Mobi, which is another big AD technology company, 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.320 is in talks to potentially acquire the division, but it's 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:30.560 early days. We don't know if that's actually going to 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:34.240 move forward. An organization called Common Cause and a union 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.920 called the Communications Workers of America recently released a joint 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:43.160 report titled Broadband Gatekeepers. How i SP lobbying and political 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:48.040 influence shapes the Digital Divide. The report examines the telecommunications 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:51.280 industry in the United States, the political power that that 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:55.840 industry wields, and the consequences that create an uneven and 0:19:56.000 --> 0:20:00.359 unfair broadband distribution here in the US. The report opens 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.959 by pointing out how the pandemic really highlighted the necessity 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:07.600 of having broadband access in the US just for being 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:11.200 able to carry out like simple daily functions. You really 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.359 benefited if you have access to a broadband connection all 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:19.240 the way to participating in the democratic process. The election 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:22.199 was a big deal. You know, it was going on 0:20:22.280 --> 0:20:25.439 during a pandemic, and the internet access was playing a 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:28.679 big part in being able to participate in that process. 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:33.240 Also signing up for COVID vaccinations that is largely an 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:36.400 online process in a lot of places as well. So 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:43.199 having broadband access is pivotal to playing a part in 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:46.119 being a part of society in the United States. The 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:49.440 report lays out that the industry spends hundreds of thousands 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.919 of dollars every day to lobby politicians and an effort 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:58.000 to more or less maintain an advantageous position in regional marketplaces. 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:00.520 So the report pretty much spells out stuff that I 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:04.440 think most people know just through their own experience that 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:08.560 big companies frequently have a near monopoly on specific regions, 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:11.480 which means the average person is fortunate if they have 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:15.480 even a second option when it comes to choosing a 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:18.120 broadband service. And it also points out that a lot 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:22.760 of people, particularly people in vulnerable or poor populations, often 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:26.159 lack any broadband options at all, and so there are 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:30.119 these massive gaps in connectivity in the US. And the 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:34.199 report is essentially saying these companies are behaving as companies do, right. 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:40.960 These companies are capitalistic organizations. That's there, you know, raison d'tre, 0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:44.760 and that as a result, if a company identifies a 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:50.080 particular region as being unprofitable, then there's no financial incentive 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.159 for that company to extend services out to that area. 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:55.920 That's kind of the gist of the reports saying that 0:21:56.000 --> 0:22:01.280 without any other influence in here, these populations are going 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:06.120 to continue to be underserved compared to areas that are 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:09.720 deemed to be profitable by these companies. And again, like 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:12.320 it's it's kind of making the companies out to be 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:14.359 the bad guy, but to be fair, you could argue 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:18.400 that it's the system that enables this, that that facilitates 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.480 this kind of behavior, these kind of choices that it 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:30.960 would be antithetical to the corporate uh philosophy to do otherwise. 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:34.960 And the report also explains how the FCC went from 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:38.280 an organization that was laying out rules and regulations under 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:43.639 the Obama administration that would have really made broadband a utility. 0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:48.160 In fact, that did happen, and that this would help 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:51.439 address things by creating mandates that the companies would have 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:56.840 to follow, thus removing that decision from the companies themselves. 0:22:56.840 --> 0:23:00.480 But then all of that flipped when Trump became president 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:03.879 and the FCC leadership completely changed. Now, I would say 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:07.560 it pretty much confirms a lot of common beliefs about 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:11.640 the telecommunications industry, and I'll also point out it clearly 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:15.520 has its own bias that is evident upon reading just 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:18.720 the executive summary for this report. Now, I'm not saying 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:21.800 the report is wrong. I'm just saying that the report 0:23:21.840 --> 0:23:25.040 does not attempt to present itself as being, you know, 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:28.840 objective and unbiased. But it's pretty upfront about that. It's 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:31.720 not like it's trying to be something it's not. Anyway, 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:35.679 if you are curious about why broadband access is the 0:23:35.720 --> 0:23:38.520 way it is in the United States and you want 0:23:38.560 --> 0:23:40.560 to know more about the links that companies will go 0:23:40.640 --> 0:23:43.720 to in order to maintain the status quo, I recommend 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:47.520 reading the report. It's free to read at common Cause 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:52.000 dot org. And again, the title of that is broadband gatekeepers, 0:23:52.240 --> 0:23:56.320 how I sp lobbying and political influence shapes the digital divide. 0:23:56.800 --> 0:23:59.000 I might have to do a full episode about that 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:05.040 at some point. Finally, last week, a cryptocurrency mining operation 0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:08.959 was rated by the Ukraine's Security Service, and the reason 0:24:09.000 --> 0:24:12.879 for the raid was that this group was allegedly using 0:24:13.359 --> 0:24:18.919 devices to mine cryptocurrency, specifically bitcoin, and in the process 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:22.680 they were stealing electricity from the power grid, so they're 0:24:22.720 --> 0:24:26.159 taking electricity without paying for it. Obviously, one of the 0:24:26.200 --> 0:24:29.639 things that is a barrier to entry and cryptocurrency mining 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:33.280 is that you have to have a super powerful computer 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:37.760 computer system, like multiple super powerful computers in order to 0:24:37.840 --> 0:24:42.919 stand a chance at being successful at at mining cryptocurrency, 0:24:43.119 --> 0:24:45.400 which means you have to consume a lot of electricity, 0:24:45.640 --> 0:24:50.760 which means your operations are expensive unless you steal that electricity. 0:24:50.960 --> 0:24:53.520 If the electricity is free, well then it's not as 0:24:53.560 --> 0:24:56.040 big a deal and you've got more profit for yourself. 0:24:56.160 --> 0:25:01.480