POWER PLAYS
By ETUNU, Inc.
POWER PLAYS is hosted by Ayden Férdeline.
POWER PLAYSOct 20, 2021
Jacob Helberg on why the new weapons of war are everyday technologies
On this special episode of POWER PLAYS, Jacob Helberg from Stanford University's Center on Geopolitics and Technology introduces listeners to the global tech-fueled struggle between the U.S.-led democracies and China-led autocracies that is redefining international politics. The stakes of this "Gray War", as Helberg terms it in his new book THE WIRES OF WAR, are high and time is running out for America to address and win this war. If China reaches a point of self-sufficiency and what Helberg describes in the show as "escape velocity", it will be too late for the U.S. to prevent China from achieving its political vision of a more autocratic world safe for the Chinese Communist Party.
A transcript of today's conversation can be found online: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e9
Disclaimer: Simon & Schuster provided POWER PLAYS with an advance copy of THE WIRES OF WAR prior to its publication to inform this interview. However, this is not a sponsored episode.
Futurist Amber Case predicts the Internet of 2031
Amber Case is a futurist and a Mozilla Fellow exploring how the future of money can generate new business models for compensating creators. She is also an advisor to the Puma Browser and has previously held fellowships at the Institute for the Future, MIT Media Lab, and Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. Today on POWER PLAYS she tells Ayden Férdeline why she is excited for the Internet of 2031 - and what she imagines it might look like.
A transcript of this conversation can be found online: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e8
Briana Marbury on how the Interledger protocol promotes financial inclusion
Today on POWER PLAYS presented by Grant for the Web, Interledger Foundation executive director Briana Marbury speaks with Ayden Férdeline about financial inclusion and advancing open payment standards and technologies that seamlessly connect our global society.
You can find a transcript of today's conversation here: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e7
Grammy-nominee Kokayi Issa on how Black creators can benefit from web monetization
Kokayi Issa is a Grammy-nominated artist and a Grant for the Web Ambassador. He speaks with POWER PLAY's Ayden Férdeline about how Black creators can benefit from web monetization technologies like Coil and Cinnamon.
A transcript of today's conversation can be found here: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e6
Professor Lior Zalmanson on why people pay for online content
Lior Zalmanson, a new media artist and an assistant professor at Tel Aviv University, researches the business models that underpin online content. Today on POWER PLAYS he shares brand-new research into how small creators on platforms like Patreon and YouTube have monetized their work. He finds, contrary to popular belief, that a content creator having a personal connection with a consumer has a detrimental impact on whether they make a financial contribution to their work or not. There's a few caveats to that statement, so make sure to listen to this conversation in full to hear his more nuanced take!
A transcript of this conversation can be found online: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e5
Johan "Julf" Helsingius on being sued by the Church of Scientology
In 1994, Johan "Julf" Helsingius ran an online post office box that allowed people to anonymously share information over the Internet. But after secret religious documents belonging to the Church of Scientology found their way onto the server, Helsingius found himself in the midst of a multi-year legal battle with the Church that saw his name and face splashed everywhere from The New York Times to Time Magazine. 25 years later, he speaks with POWER PLAY's Ayden Férdeline about the state of Internet freedom in Finland today, the stress of this dispute, and the lessons he's learned from this battle.
A transcript of this conversation is available online: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e4
Professor Nathan Schneider on Platform Cooperativism
Professor Nathan Schneider of the University of Colorado Boulder speaks with POWER PLAY's Ayden Férdeline about the rise of platform cooperativism and his vision for a fairer Internet. He suggests that we combine the rich heritage of cooperatives with the promise of 21st-century technologies in order to create a new kind of online economy, one free from the economics of monopoly, exploitation, and surveillance.
A transcript of today's conversation can be found here: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e3
Richard Whitt on human autonomy and making the Web more trustworthy
Today on POWER PLAYS presented by Grant for the Web, Richard Whitt - an 11-year veteran of Google's policy team and now Fellow in Residence with the Mozilla Foundation - speaks with Ayden Férdeline about how we can create a future where the Artificial Intelligence lurking behind our various digital interfaces doesn’t automatically cede to an institution's priorities and incentives over a person's well-being.
A transcript of today's conversation can be found here: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e2
Reading List:
- Richard Whitt's law journal article, "Hacking the SEAMs: Elevating Digital Autonomy and Agency for Humans" (Colorado Technology Law Journal, 2021): https://ctlj.colorado.edu/?p=720
Dominique Lazanski on how China is influencing Standards processes
Today on POWER PLAYS presented by Grant for the Web, telecommunications policy expert Dominique Lazanski speaks with Ayden Férdeline about the impacts of market consolidation on the Internet's architecture and how China is influencing Standards processes at the ITU and beyond.
A transcript of today's conversation can be found here: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s2-e1
Esther Dyson on being ICANN's first board chair
In 1993, Wired magazine described Esther Dyson as "the most powerful woman in computing". She was chair of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, from 1998 to 2000 and is now a prominent angel investor. In this interview with POWER PLAY's Ayden Férdeline she recalls how she got roped into ICANN and how, 20 years later, she thinks the organization fares.
Dr Richard Hill on the future of the International Telecommunications Union
Richard Hill has a doctorate in statistics from Harvard and spent a decade with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) dealing with numbering and tariffing issues, network operations, and economic and policy issues. Today on POWER PLAYS, he speaks with Ayden Férdeline about whether the ITU is fit for purpose and how it could evolve in the future.
Sarah Deutsch on the Digital Millenium Copyright Act
Before she retired, Sarah Deutsch was vice president and deputy general counsel of Verizon Communications for 23 years. She was responsible for Verizon's global intellectual property practice and Verizon's privacy practice. But today on POWER PLAYS we speak about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA. It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and remains in effect today. Sarah Deutsch was a negotiator in the negotiations that led to the passage of the DMCA.
Read the transcript of this conversation: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s1-e6
Mance Harmon on why Bitcoin doesn't scale
Mance Harmon is the chief executive of Hedera Hashgraph. He began his career as a research scientist for the U.S. Air Force, went on to become a program manager for a very large scale software program for the Missile Defense Agency, then built two very successful startups. He tells POWER PLAY's Ayden Férdeline that Bitcoin doesn't scale and that a different kind of distributed ledger technology is needed.
Read the transcript for this episode here: https://www.powerplays.xyz/podcast/s1-e5
Marilyn Cade on the formation of ICANN
Marilyn Cade (1947-2020) played a fundamental role in the formation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN. In this interview recorded shortly before her death, Cade speaks to her accomplishments, hopes for the future, and killing off two WIPO treaties.
Clara Tsao on addressing misinformation and disinformation
Clara Tsao is a fellow with the Atlantic Council and, under the Obama administration, a senior advisor on emerging technologies at the United States Department of Homeland Security. She was also Chief Technology Officer for the United States' inter-agency taskforce on countering violent extremism on the Internet. She has previously worked at Apple, Google, HP, Microsoft, and Mozilla. POWER PLAY's Ayden Férdeline asks Clara Tsao who is spreading misinformation and disinformation, and what steps can be taken to stop this.
Dr Stephanie Perrin discusses Canada's private sector privacy law PIPEDA
Dr Stephanie Perrin led the drafting initiative that resulted in Canada's first piece of privacy legislation to cover the private sector, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). PIPEDA came into force in 2001 and is still in effect today. POWER PLAY's Ayden Férdeline hears the story behind the development of that law.
Erika Mann MEP discusses the eCommerce Directive
Erika Mann was a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2009. During her time in public office, she led the drafting efforts behind the European Union's eCommerce Directive. This directive is still in force as the legal framework for online services in the European Union's internal market. POWER PLAY's Ayden Férdeline asks Erika Mann if the law is still fit for purpose today.