I sank much of this morning into reading the unredacted text of the multi-state lawsuit alleging antitrust violations throughout Google’s display-ads business, and it’s even more enraging to see specific numbers for how Google (and Facebook) screwed over my industry.

https://twitter.com/PatrickMcGee_/status/1451619916994396164

The bits about Google employing AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) to cut off competition in ad bidding makes me particularly mad, because I thought that represented an honest effort to address crappy mobile web design at news pubs—and I’ve said as much here. Well, well, well…

I'm at a conference to watch a keynote in person for the first time since March 2020 - and appropriately enough, it's once again @SATELLITEDC's fault. The keynote guest this time is not Elon Musk but Richard Branson, and he's appearing remotely from his private island because Covid and because Richard Branson. So far, no discussion of the FAA ordering a halt to Virgin Galactic flights. arstechnica.com/science/2021/0…

Good morning from Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪, where I've spent the last couple of days on a press trip (as in, gov't. paid travel costs) to get a peek at their digital-ID initiatives. I keep wondering why they've blossomed here even though many Estonians remember KGB surveillance. I'm in a presser with president Kersti Kaljulaid, so I asked about that. "Our government promised a few things when it started to create digital Estonia," she said. "It will not use my data without my permission, and it will not use my data without my knowledge."

I've read the 144-page antitrust complaint brought by 36 states and the District of Columbia alleging abuse of market power in the market for Android apps. Overall, I think they've got a real case--that part of the suit undermines. attorneygeneral.utah.gov/wp-content/upl… The strongest part zeroes in on Google announcing last September that it would require all in-app digital transactions, even for content you could consume elsewhere, to use its in-app payment system (in which Google takes a 30% cut) and not link to others. android-developers.googleblog.com/2020/09/listen…

Spending the afternoon at the @CatoInstitute Surveillance Conference, so my tweets may get a little dystopian. #CatoSpyCon Mozilla's @heatherwest on IoT security: "I'm not worried about the tech companies; they kind of know that this stuff is important. I'm worried about the baby-monitor company."

Back to tweeting from #TheAtlanticFest. Now onstage: @JeffreyGoldberg interviewing @LindseyGrahamSC. "A vacuum is being left in the Senate," Graham says of John McCain, adding that McCain and Teddy Kennedy would lead any history of the modern Senate. "I called him every name I could think of and literally ran out of names," Graham says of his lining up with Trump after the election. Defines his job WRT Trump: "To counsel the president when he asks for my advice, help him where I can and say no where I must."