Thread by @doctorow

Every time the US has a change of administration, @EFF staffers - lawyers, policy analysts, activists - create a "transition memo": a series of one-page briefings on the tech policy issues the new admin should take up. The Biden memo is GREAT.

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

1/

It opens with a section on surveillance, with three subsections:

I. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

II. Facial Recognition Technology

III. Border Search and Immigration Surveillance

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

2/

Next up is encryption:

I. Background on Encryption Backdoors

II. End-to-End Encryption and Client-Side Scanning

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

3/

Then, broadband:

I. 21st-Century-Ready Access for All Americans

II. Net Neutrality and Public Safety

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

4/

Nothing says 2021 like Section 230!:

* Deepfakes

* Mandated Political Neutrality

* CSAM, Sex Trafficking and other Unlawful Content

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

5/

EFF's old favorite, consumer privacy, has some very 2021 angles:

I. Consumer Privacy Legislation

II. Private Companies and Facial Recognition/Biometrics

III. Student Data

IV. COVID and Health Data Privacy

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

6/

After a 40+ year slumber, antitrust is having a revival, and EFF's proposals combine traditional antitrust with new, sui generis tech approaches.

I. Reform Antitrust Law

II. Competitive Compatibility

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

7/

Copyright/copyfight has been on the agenda since the 1990s, but not like this:

I. Intermediary Liability (DMCA Section 512)

II. Freedom to Tinker and Right to Repair (DMCA Section 1201)

III. Statutory Damages

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

8/

A coupla quick hits next:

* Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

* Upcoming Supreme Court Ruling and Further Opportunities for Reform
eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

9/

And it closes out with a deep dive on patents:

I. Low Quality Patents

II. Patent Trolling

III. Inter Partes Review

IV. Alice v. CLS Bank

V. More Patents Do Not Result in More Software Innovation

eff.org/wp/eff-transit…

10/

You don't have to be an administrative branch staffer to appreciate this. Each of these topics is covered in brief, digestible form. Together, they constitute a rapid, extensive tour of the most important tech policy issues facing America today.

eof/

ETA if you'd like to read or link to this as a blog-post on a site without surveillance, ads or analytics, here's a permalink:

pluralistic.net/2021/01/22/pap…