WEBVTT - Redditors Select John Oliver as Symbol of Revolution 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.319 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.960 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.480 I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:22.320 are you? It's time for the tech news for Tuesday, 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:27.840 June twentieth, twenty twenty three, Time dot Com has an 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:33.640 article by Billy Perigo titled exclusive open ai lobbied the 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:37.519 EU to water down AI regulation and I think that 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:42.080 article is worth a read. Now, it's not exactly surprising, 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:45.760 because if you've been following the news, open AI's CEO 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:50.640 Sam Altman has been proactive in engaging with politicians around 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:55.800 the world, ostensibly to help create sensible regulations for the 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.560 burgeoning AI industry. But, as it turns out, and again 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.760 this is not really a surprise, Altman's work has mostly 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:07.040 focused on how to create regulations that have a minimal 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:10.920 impact on open AI's business. In other words, I think 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:16.320 Altman recognized that regulations are unavoidable, so the next best 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.880 thing is to have a hand in creating those regulations 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.399 so that open ai can still pursue business with as 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:26.759 few barriers in its way as possible. Now, you might 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:31.240 remember that the EU created different designations for AI, ranging 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.760 from minimal risk or no risk at all all the 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:39.240 way up to unacceptable risk. Anything that's deemed an unacceptable 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.880 risk would be unlawful into EU. Again, that makes sense. 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:47.240 Unacceptable suggests that right. Anyway, the original draft of EU's 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:54.000 regulations would possibly put generative AI products like open AI's 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:58.400 GPT three language model and chat GPT the chat pot 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:03.640 into the high ra category at least for specific applications, 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:07.200 and high risk is the rank just below unacceptable, and 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:09.280 it would have meant that open ai would have to 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:13.839 adhere to more strict regulations and rules. But last year 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.760 open Ai sent a seven page white paper to the 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:21.600 EU and also lobbied extensively to have the rules tweaked 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:27.639 so that open AI's products don't count toward high risk applications. Instead, 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.399 open ai and a few other large established companies would 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:34.680 have products that would be kind of classified as foundation, 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.520 you know, like these are the pillars of AI than 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:44.720 they are above reproach. Which that's me being a little snarky, 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.480 but because we've seen multiple times now how chatbots like 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:54.560 chat GPT can cause real problems. Anyway, the lobbying actually worked. 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.320 The amended regulation language carves out space for open ai 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.880 and some other companies like at. Critics say that open 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:06.120 ai has essentially neutered the legislation and that the company 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.240 is being a bit two faced, that it's calling for 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.200 regulation on the one hand and secretly negotiating for a 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:18.320 favorable deal in the background. On a related note, tech 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:22.000 Crunch's Ingrid London reports that a consumer group called the 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:29.280 European Consumer Organization aka BUC. That initialism reflects the original 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.040 French name of the organization, which no, I am not 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:37.080 going to attempt to say, because I you know, I 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.640 feel like I get enough abuse already. Anyway, the BUC 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:46.920 is calling upon European Union regulators to actively investigate what 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:51.640 risks Generative Ai actually poses to EU citizens, and y'all, 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.760 I think that sounds perfectly reasonable. I mean, as it stands, 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:59.080 the appearance is that lawmakers are relying heavily on companies 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.320 like open ai, saying that they pinky promise not to 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:06.840 do anything harmful and that their tools have appropriate protections 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.120 in place already, so there's no need for further regulation. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.040 But a thorough investigation could put those claims to the 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:18.719 test and then either confirm that those claims are true 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.880 or prove them to be meritless. I think either way, 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.760 you need to have that understanding before you actually start 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:31.040 to create regulations. The BUC also submitted a report titled 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:35.400 Ghost in the Machine addressing the consumer harms of generative AI, 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:38.160 and as the name of the report spells out, the 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:44.040 buc's position is pretty clear, generative AI does represent potential 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:48.560 harm to citizens. Now, interestingly, the report is mostly about 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:53.239 stuff like ensuring fair competition in the marketplace and limiting 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:58.000 the spread of disinformation and ensuring accessibility. So, in other words, 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.680 it's not like it's an alarm report. Right, This isn't 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.240 a paper that's saying AI is going to destroy us 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.880 all it's going to end too in a post apocalyptic scenario. 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.880 That's not what this report says. So it's not that 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.840 sort of inflammatory language that we frequently find in the 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.800 media and in some reports here in the United States. 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.760 So it's really more about how AI could potentially create 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:25.480 problems for citizens and thus needs to be investigated more 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:29.400 thoroughly before the EU passes actual regulations, Like how can 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.280 you regulate something if you don't fully understand what it 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:35.000 may or may not be able to do? And I 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.800 think that's a pretty reasonable conclusion, particularly since it's not 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:42.600 unusual to see leaders struggle with the implications of technologies 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:47.080 that they don't fully understand or have experience using. Apple 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:50.200 has joined Google in sending out a message to employees 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.479 saying it's a no no to use AI chatbots like chat, 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:58.680 GPT and Google Bard for internal company purposes. So Apple 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.839 employees are not to rely on those bots to help 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:05.360 them do work, whether it might be organized notes into 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:09.440 a presentation or maybe help a developer build out code. 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:13.600 So you may recall that Google also told its employees 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.960 the same thing earlier, and that involved the odd situation 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:19.880 of Google saying, hey, you know that tool that we're 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.839 creating and we're trying to sell to businesses so that 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.040 they can use it for business reasons. Yeah, don't use 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.320 that for our business. It kind of makes me think 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:31.760 of my aunt who covered all her furniture and plastic 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:35.880 because it was quote unquote for company that never seemed 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.880 to visit. It wasn't furniture that was meant for sitting 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.920 on anyway. I would point to big companies making these 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:47.000 sweeping rules as proof that perhaps regulators need to approach 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.919 their work carefully. Because if the big companies are shying 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.080 away from the tech, including the big companies that are 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:56.680 making the tech in the first place, that should really 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.919 be a red flag. And it's doubly awkward because open 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:04.800 ai launched an iOS app based version of chat GPT recently, 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.239 and since I've dogged on chat bots for three stories 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.840 in a row, I want to say I don't think 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:15.600 this technology is inherently bad or that it doesn't serve 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.840 a purpose. I just don't think it has proven to 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:22.960 be trustworthy, and considering the data harvesting practices of companies, 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:26.760 I also question whether using it for sensitive business purposes 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.240 or any sensitive purpose for that matter, is a good idea. 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.760 While I can agree with Apple leadership on the whole 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.840 generative AI thing, I do have to call them out 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.440 for continuing to try and trademark the image of an 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.600 actual Apple. And you might be thinking, huh, you know 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:47.760 apples existed a long time before Apple the company did. Otherwise, 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:50.680 why would you name the company Apple if there weren't 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:53.640 apples already? And apples are grown all over the world 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.280 and taking a photo of an Apple shouldn't be a 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:00.280 big deal, So how could Apple the Company trade mark 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.480 an image of Apple the fruit, and I guess the 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.560 answer to that is they could repeatedly try to do this. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:11.040 Mashables Cecily Maron has a piece on this that goes 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:14.080 over Apple's quest to trademark a black and white image 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:18.040 of a Granny Smith Apple in various countries, including in Switzerland, 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:22.080 and Malron points out that if Apple succeeds in doing this, 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.280 the company could conceivably force any other organization that happens 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.320 to have an Apple and its logo to change, which, y'all, 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:33.320 this just seems outright bizarre to me. It's also only 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:37.160 slightly tech related, so we're gonna move on now. Last 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.400 week I talked about how thousands of communities on Reddit 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:45.000 also known as subreddits, had gone dark in protest of 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.720 how Reddit changed its API policy and how those changes 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:52.760 are effectively forcing developers of several popular Reddit apps to 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.080 shut those apps down. So basically, Reddit has set a 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:59.880 very high fee for apps that reference the platform a lot, 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.720 and the really popular apps reference Reddit on such a 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.960 scale that the fee would equal several million dollars a year, 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.040 which these developers can't pay, and so the apps have 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.840 gone dark. Well, that protest, which was to last two 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:18.400 days of these various subredts going dark has now continued 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:22.360 for at least thousands of subreddit communities. This, in part 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.400 is a response to how Reddit's leadership has chosen to 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:29.240 respond to the protests, and by that I mean they have. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:33.280 The leadership has largely dismissed the protests as being nothing 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:37.360 more than an inconvenience. Now, a hacker criminal group known 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.840 both as Alpha, but instead of a A at the end, 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:45.560 it's a V, but it's ALPHV, also known as black Cat, 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.480 is saying that Reddit leadership needs to pay a four 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:52.200 and a half million dollar ransom fee as well as 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:56.200 ditch the changes to its API policy, or the group 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.800 is going to release internal data to the tune of 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:02.480 eighty gigabytes of him. Now, we already know this group 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.600 was successful in breaching company systems because Reddit actually confirmed 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:10.480 the breach back in February. What black Cat did not do, 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:14.120 which is what most ransomware groups will do, they did 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:18.240 not encrypt Reddit's databases. Typically, that's what ransomware groups do, right, 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:22.440 They lock down databases by encrypting them, and they say, 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:25.199 we'll give you the decryption key, but first you have 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.080 to pay a ransom. Well, they didn't do that. In 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.240 this case, all they did was they accessed a bunch 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:34.480 of systems and apparently stole around eighty gigabytes worth of information. 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.080 Now this group is saying, hey, Reddit, pay up and 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.800 change your ways, or else your data goes public. Reddit's 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.320 probably not going to comply with this demand, and you 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:46.920 could chalk this up to a hacker group taking advantage 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.040 of our recent community flare up to grab some publicity 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.840 for itself, rather than an earnest attempt to blackmail the company. 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:58.160 The protests on Reddit continue in the meantime, and they've 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:02.200 taken a rather absurd and mean centric approach, which, considering 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.200 we're talking about Internet culture, is par for the course. 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:09.559 While more than half of the previously dark subredits have returned, 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.680 the outrage on Reddit has not gone away, and in 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:16.040 some of those returned subreddits, a particular British comedian and 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:19.640 TV host has taken a prominent role in the protests, 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:24.080 and initially did so without his own involvement or consent. 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:28.480 So I'm talking about John Oliver. Redditors on various subredits 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:32.400 are flooding pages with photoshopped images of John Oliver, and 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.160 other redditors are upvoting those images, which effectively drowns out 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.760 anything that you know isn't John Oliver and would otherwise 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:43.800 be relevant to the subreddit community. John Oliver himself approves 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:47.160 of the move. He even posted along Twitter thread filled 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.000 with selfies of himself to serve as fodder for the 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:54.040 photoshopped memes. Reddit leaders have allegedly contacted some of the 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:58.079 more popular subredits that remained dark and threatened to remove 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:02.079 the moderators of those communities and force those communities to reopen. 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.240 So this protest move seems like it's the next step 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.439 to keep the subreddits from serving a useful purpose. Yes, 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:11.520 they can reopen, but the users can flood it with 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:16.680 just garbage in an effort to continue to protest, and 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:20.240 presumably that would also end up discouraging advertisers from doing 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:24.079 business with the platform, which ultimately is a pressure point 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:28.080 that could work on Reddit management. Okay, we've got some 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.320 more tech news to cover, but before we get to that, 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:42.360 let's take a quick break. We're back so here in 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:46.280 the United States, the Senate has reintroduced a bill called 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:52.840 the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act or PATA PATA. The 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:56.560 bill was originally drafted in twenty twenty one. Initially, it 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:00.320 was introduced in twenty twenty two, but didn't for seed 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.440 to getting a vote, and now it's back again. So 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.440 the purpose of this bill is not one that I 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:10.200 would jump on the way or jump against, I guess 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.360 the way I would with a lot of bills that 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:17.000 involve the web, because often I see proposed legislation that 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.360 I think is terribly misguided. This one I don't feel 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.760 that way anyway. The purpose of it is to require 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:27.680 social media companies to be more transparent with their advertising libraries, 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.560 as well as give information on things like their recommendation 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:34.679 algorithms and how those work. So if you've ever wondered, well, 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.920 how the heck did this particular thing go viral? Like 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.680 it's obviously really really popular, But why did this one 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.000 go viral but this other similar piece of content that 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:49.000 one just went unnoticed? What's the difference? That's the kind 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.920 of question this bill aims to help answer by requiring 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:56.520 platforms to divulge how certain types of content get boosts 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.160 from algorithms, and thus that content gets served up to 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.520 more people and has a better chance of going viral. Now, obviously, 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:07.360 just serving that content up to people isn't enough. You 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:09.920 have to actually get people to engage with the material, 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:14.600 and that's when true virality happens. But obviously, if more 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:18.640 people are able to see a particular piece of content, 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.040 especially early early on, then the more likely it is 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.320 to go viral. The bill would also require platforms to 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:29.600 be transparent about content moderation policies and practices, And on 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:34.920 top of that, journalists and researchers who use publicly available 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:39.000 data from these platforms would also receive legal protections which 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:43.560 would limit their liability as long as they followed specific 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:47.000 privacy and security requirements. So, in other words, as long 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:50.160 as you're handling the data properly and you're not allowing 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:55.480 it to just disseminate without control, then you should be 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:59.880 protected from legal action based upon whatever your research or 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:06.760 or journalist investigation uncovers. One element that previously had been 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:10.560 in the bill has now gone missing. So once upon 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.840 a time, there was a section in this proposed bill 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:18.840 that would have removed section two thirty protections for platforms 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.720 if they refuse to comply with legal data requests. So, 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:27.760 if you'll recall, Section two thirty grants platforms online platforms 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.280 legal protections from being held liable for the stuff that 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:35.720 users post to those platforms. So here's an example. If 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:41.520 dishonest John posts something illegal to Facebook, it's not Facebook 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:46.080 that's legally accountable for that material, assuming that Facebook is 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.800 also following the rules and making a reasonable effort to 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:51.960 remove illegal stuff from its platform when it gets notified 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:55.200 about it. The earlier version of this bill said that 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:59.160 platforms could lose Section two thirty protections if they did 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:03.360 not comply with awful data requests. However, now that's out 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:05.640 of the bill, so the teeth have been taken out 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:08.800 of that, which probably is a good thing because there 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.800 have been a lot of attacks on section two thirty, 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:17.720 some of which I think aren't really you know, relevant, 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.160 and this could have been used as sort of a 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:26.960 backdoor approach to getting rid of section two thirty. I'm 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:30.400 not going to argue that section two thirty should never 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:32.720 go away. Maybe it should, but it needs to be 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:36.400 done in a way that doesn't involve finding a loophole, right. 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:39.040 You need to find a way to address that and 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:43.200 discuss what are the merits, where's it failing if it 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:46.120 is failing, and how should that be addressed Rather than 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.240 just say, ah, I created a shortcut, so we can 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:52.400 work away around it anyway. The bill has bipartisan support 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.040 in the Senate, but it still has to go to 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:56.960 a vote. If it does pass a vote, the House 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.120 of Representatives would then have to discuss it and make 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.160 any changes to the language of the bill they wanted 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:04.680 and then vote on that. And if that vote passed, 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:06.280 then it would go back to the Senate and they 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.080 would look at any of the changes and they would 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:11.240 vote again, and then eventually it would go to the 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:13.960 President to be signed into law. So there's still a 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:17.160 long way to go toward making social networks more transparent 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.680 and accountable, and there's no guarantee that it will actually 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:25.040 become a law, but it's on its way. Also here 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:28.800 in the United States, the Federal Communications Commission or FCC, 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:33.920 would really like to know more about data caps, specifically 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:38.680 why we have data caps. Data caps, of course, being 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:44.520 a limit to the amount of data you can download 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:48.520 in a given amount of time. So a lot of 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:52.720 providers will have a plan in place where you can 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:56.000 access a certain amount of data, and then once you 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:59.880 hit that limit, you might be throttled or charged more 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:04.080 to access more information. On top of that, so the 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:08.480 FCC is not saying that data caps are unnecessary. In fact, 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:11.399 that's the whole point of the FCC asking questions in 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.639 the first place. They're not coming at this with a 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:18.680 decision already in mind. The agency wants to understand data 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:23.120 caps both from the perspective of providers as well as consumers. 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:27.000 So are data caps necessary and if they are, what 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:31.200 purpose do they serve? Do they have an unfair impact 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:35.000 on consumers? There's no denying that data consumption rates have 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:37.679 blown up over the last decade. In fact, the pandemic 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:41.080 really did a number on data use because millions of 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.280 people were forced to work remotely. So the FCC is 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:48.240 aiming to understand data cap practices better. Do they serve 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:53.440 a purpose beyond just driving revenue for providers, Then the 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.400 FCC can make rules to ensure that data caps don't 0:18:56.440 --> 0:18:59.960 prevent accessibility to consumers and that they don't create unf 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.600 market conditions that discourage competition. So it's too early to 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.960 say yay, data caps are on the way out. They 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:10.639 may not be. There may very well be legitimate purposes 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:14.560 for them beyond we make money this way, right, So 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:18.560 we'll see how this unfolds. All right now, let's go 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:22.320 back over to the European Union. You might remember that 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:25.919 the EU created rules that will require companies to adopt 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:30.360 the USBC standard in devices like smartphones and tablets and 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.040 you know, other things like laptops as well, and that 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:36.560 this decision is forcing companies like Apple to make significant 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:40.119 changes in order to stay in the European market. Namely, 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:44.320 Apple would have to either ditch the lightning port entirely 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:48.959 and switch it out to USBC, or include USBC along 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:52.520 with lightning ports on its devices, which would obviously add 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:56.760 bulk to those gadgets. And now the EU Parliament has 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:59.800 voted to require manufacturers to make it possible to easily 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:05.000 place batteries on those types of devices for consumers. So, 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:07.320 in other words, if you went out and bought yourself 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.639 a smartphone, you as a consumer should be able to 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:16.280 open up a back little section on that phone, pull 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:18.359 out a battery and put in a new one. This 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:22.480 would be huge and a huge change. Being able to 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:24.399 pop up in your iPhone swap out the battery not 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:26.840 only can give you extended use, but obviously you can 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:29.719 replace the battery if your original one no longer holds 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:33.720 a full charge. With these rules, in place. By necessity, 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.080 companies would have to change the design of gadgets so 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:40.040 that you could actually access the battery in the first place. 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:43.160 And again, companies like Apple use a lot of proprietary 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.560 fasteners that require special tools if you want to get 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:49.719 into an iPhone's guts. Apple has made a lot of 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:55.560 allowances and has made a lot of concessions to regulators 0:20:55.600 --> 0:21:00.520 by making these tools more readily available to independent repair people, 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:03.840 but still not something that the average person can easily do. 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:07.520 And Apple typically isn't keen on just letting anyone be 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:11.080 able to pop open an Apple device, partly to discourage 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:14.040 hackers from making Apple products do stuff that they weren't 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:18.600 intended to do, because Apple has always been about control 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:23.200 of the experience of using their products. And also it's 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.600 partly or perhaps even mostly in an effort to create 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:30.640 a closed ecosystem where Apple determines who can access a device, 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:33.359 and this is a way of generating revenue, right because 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.680 if you prevent just anyone from being able to open 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:40.800 the device, then they have to go to specific repair 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:45.240 shops and repair people, and those often end up being 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:50.240 licensed by Apple, which means that Apple gets money from this, 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:53.880 and it becomes a way to keep generating revenue by 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:56.320 preventing just anyone from being able to open it up 0:21:56.320 --> 0:21:59.359 and mess around. Now, this new law goes into effect 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:03.000 in twenty twenty seven, which makes sense like it's it's 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:05.239 there's a reason it's that far out. It has they 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:08.840 have to give manufacturers time to design products that will 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:12.680 comply with these rules. And this rule may not be, 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:16.199 you know, the most wonderful thing in the world for 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:20.199 all gadget lovers out there, because it may mean that 0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:23.679 we start to see gadgets get a little chonky again, 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:29.600 because a big reason for preventing people from accessing the 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:33.439 innerds of these devices is that, forim, factors have become 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:37.600 so small and so slim that it requires manufacturers to 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:41.359 design components that cram together in such a way that 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:44.199 you can't really separate them. Like the battery ends up 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:48.600 being literally built into the phone, which means it's impossible 0:22:48.640 --> 0:22:52.880 to remove the battery without breaking the phone. So this 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:55.800 could mean that the smartphones of the future, at least 0:22:55.840 --> 0:22:59.240 in Europe, get a bit more hefty, but the trade 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:01.760 off would be you'd be able to pop out the 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:04.280 battery and swap it for a new one anytime you like. 0:23:04.720 --> 0:23:08.440 So we'll have to see how this impacts the design 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:13.879 of gadgets that are sold in the European Union. Okay, 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:16.000 we're going to take another quick break. When we come back. 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:28.280 I got about four more stories to cover. All right, 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:32.360 we're back again. When HDTVs first began to take off 0:23:32.359 --> 0:23:36.280 in the consumer market, you really had two major technologies 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:40.520 that were in competition. You had LCD screens and you 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:43.240 had plasma televisions, and each of them had their own 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:47.840 pros and cons. Plasma televisions were really great with resolution 0:23:48.040 --> 0:23:53.639 and color, especially on mid sized television screens. However, they 0:23:53.680 --> 0:23:56.800 were also not as bright, and they also had the 0:23:56.800 --> 0:23:59.800 possibility of screen burn in, which was another kind of 0:24:00.280 --> 0:24:04.960 negative for plasma screens. They also were more expensive to 0:24:05.040 --> 0:24:08.520 manufacture than LCD screens, and by extension, they were much 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:13.480 more expensive to purchase for consumers. Those costs got bigger 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:17.040 as the screens themselves got bigger and they consumed more 0:24:17.160 --> 0:24:21.600 energy than LCDs. So while plasma screens had their fans 0:24:21.680 --> 0:24:25.560 like people who just passionately loved the quality of plasma 0:24:25.720 --> 0:24:29.280 over LCD, by twenty thirteen the plasma had kind of 0:24:29.560 --> 0:24:34.760 faded away. The Phillips stopped making them in twenty thirteen 0:24:34.800 --> 0:24:37.680 and they pretty much died as a result. So while 0:24:37.800 --> 0:24:42.000 LCDs enjoyed a decade more in the spotlight, they are 0:24:42.160 --> 0:24:45.399 now also kind of going off to live on the 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:47.560 farm and pet the rabbits, if you know what I'm saying. 0:24:48.400 --> 0:24:53.119 So technologies like LED and LED or O lead screens 0:24:53.560 --> 0:24:57.800 are dominant, and LCD research and development is yesterday's news. 0:24:57.800 --> 0:25:01.520 According to industry insiders. They're saying, like, yeah, the LCD 0:25:01.680 --> 0:25:04.320 has pretty much gone as far as it can, like 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:07.960 that technology is sort of maxed out, and thus there's 0:25:08.040 --> 0:25:10.200 no real reason to pour money in R and D, 0:25:10.960 --> 0:25:16.399 and instead you would be researching other technologies. However, I 0:25:16.520 --> 0:25:21.680 don't want to actually say that LCD stuff is literally 0:25:21.760 --> 0:25:24.840 going away, like it's dying off like plasma did. I'm 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:27.080 having a bit of fun with this, but it's not 0:25:27.160 --> 0:25:30.120 quite to that level. LCD will likely still be part 0:25:30.119 --> 0:25:34.000 of LCD LED TVs. It's just that those televisions are 0:25:34.040 --> 0:25:36.680 going to be the lower end televisions because they'll they'll 0:25:36.720 --> 0:25:41.560