aaron c beals

we received something of a victory on Sunday, when it was announced that the House was shelving SOPA.

folks in the tech space are encouraged but only slightly, as PIPA (the Senate version of the bill) is alive and well. i’m personally concerned about SOPA being on the shelf, as i believe it’s far less dangerous out in the open where we can debate and poke holes in it. rather than killing it, the House opted to put it aside until consensus could be reached. this bill is not dead. its supporters can now work behind the scenes on Capitol Hill, drumming up support through political leverage, and then they can pass it in 6 months or a year, when everyone is far more concerned about some other bill trying to make its way through.

stay vigilant, techies. stay alert. we cannot rest until these bills are dead.

have any technologically-literate people considered running for public office? we can’t afford to wait 20-30 years until our generation (those who deeply understand the issues and tradeoffs of living in the information age) has taken over.

if you follow my twitter feed, you know that i’m strongly against SOPA/PIPA — not because of it’s stated purpose (combating piracy is important), but because the means by which the bills’ authors are going about it will set a terrible precedent. if passed, the bills would allow allow businesses with money, connections, and flimsy evidence to get a court-ordered DNS-level shut down of the websites of other businesses (e.g. small businesses and tech startups) — pushing the resolution to litigation (where one can clearly outlast the other) and meanwhile bleeding the small business dry due to a complete lack of web presence. in the many cases where the website is the product, this action would destroy the revenue stream and brand of the victim. the bills are, in short, incredibly shortsighted and constructed by the pairing of technology-illiterate politicians and resource-rich media moguls unwilling to adapt to a world that’s changing rapidly around them.

i’m saying the same thing that many before me have said — this is all over the web at this point, largely because those of us who run web-based startup companies rely on this medium for innovation and for our livelihood. i encourage you to speak to your representatives about this issue and spread awareness. a few months back, i reached out to my representatives and signed a petition on the White House website. just a few days ago, i received this response from the latter:

Combating Online Piracy while Protecting an Open and Innovative Internet

By Victoria Espinel, Aneesh Chopra, and Howard Schmidt

Thanks for taking the time to sign this petition. Both your words and actions illustrate the importance of maintaining an open and democratic Internet.

Right now, Congress is debating a few pieces of legislation concerning the very real issue of online piracy, including the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) and the Online Protection and Digital ENforcement Act (OPEN). We want to take this opportunity to tell you what the Administration will support—and what we will not support. Any effective legislation should reflect a wide range of stakeholders, including everyone from content creators to the engineers that build and maintain the infrastructure of the Internet.

While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.

Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small. Across the globe, the openness of the Internet is increasingly central to innovation in business, government, and society and it must be protected. To minimize this risk, new legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current U.S. law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing U.S. laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity. Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing.

We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet. Proposed laws must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of Internet security. Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online. We must avoid legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk.

Let us be clear—online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle class workers and hurts some of our nation’s most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs. It harms everyone from struggling artists to production crews, and from startup social media companies to large movie studios. While we are strongly committed to the vigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights, existing tools are not strong enough to root out the worst online pirates beyond our borders. That is why the Administration calls on all sides to work together to pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders while staying true to the principles outlined above in this response. We should never let criminals hide behind a hollow embrace of legitimate American values.

This is not just a matter for legislation. We expect and encourage all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.

So, rather than just look at how legislation can be stopped, ask yourself: Where do we go from here? Don’t limit your opinion to what’s the wrong thing to do, ask yourself what’s right. Already, many of members of Congress are asking for public input around the issue. We are paying close attention to those opportunities, as well as to public input to the Administration. The organizer of this petition and a random sample of the signers will be invited to a conference call to discuss this issue further with Administration officials and soon after that, we will host an online event to get more input and answer your questions. Details on that will follow in the coming days.

Washington needs to hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on rogue websites and other criminals who make money off the creative efforts of American artists and rights holders. We should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights without jeopardizing the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge.

Moving forward, we will continue to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis on legislation that provides new tools needed in the global fight against piracy and counterfeiting, while vigorously defending an open Internet based on the values of free expression, privacy, security and innovation. Again, thank you for taking the time to participate in this important process. We hope you’ll continue to be part of it.

Victoria Espinel is Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator at Office of Management and Budget

Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Assistant to the President and Associate Director for Technology at the Office of Science and Technology Policy

Howard Schmidt is Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator for National Security Staff

i realize this presentation has been making its way around the web recently, but i’m just getting to it now. the folks over at Netflix (of whom i am a paying customer) put together a ‘little’ slide deck about their corporate culture.

the theme of the presentation is “freedom and responsibility”. given that these characteristics are two that i prize highly in a work environment, they started off on a good foot.

you should read the whole presentation (it doesn’t take that long), but here are the points that stood out to me (not that I agree with every word, but a lot of it rung true):

• “The real company values, as opposed to the nice-sounding values, are shown by who gets rewarded, promoted, or let go”
• “The Keeper Test Managers Use: ‘Which of my people, if they told me they were leaving in two months for a similar job at a peer company, would I fight hard to keep at Netflix?”
• “In procedural work, the best are 2x better than the average… In creative work, the best are 10x better than the average”
• The desire for process grows over time in a company not simply due to increasing complexity, but due to dilution of high-performance employees in the face of increasing complexity.
• The Netflix vacation policy is probably the most-quoted part of the presentation when it is referenced on the web, but I hope that people look past this (I think it’s a common-sense move I happen to strongly agree with) and see some of the other points in the deck.
• “Act in Netflix’ Best Interests” — the premise here is outstanding. I have always thought that the time and wages it takes to fill out and process lengthy expense reports is simply wasteful. If someone willingly abuses the system by acting in an irresponsible manner, fire them.
• “Managers: When one of your talented people does something dumb, don’t blame them. Instead, ask yourself what context you failed to set.”
• The compensation plan can’t be adequately summarized in one bullet, so check it out. Just outstanding.

not quite as funny now that the burst of the web 2.0 bubble has been accelerated by the rest of the economy, but it’s still highly amusing:

during the course of my recent investigation into the local startup scene, i came across FlyLite, a non-traditional software(ish) startup. their value prop is simple: flying with luggage is a pain in the neck, so eliminate the luggage and have what you need waiting for you.

to start, you send them a suitcase full of all the things (clothes, toiletries, etc) that you might need on a business trip. they inventory your things and make the list accessible via a web interface. before a trip, you select all the items you plan to use, and they pack up the suitcase and have it waiting in your hotel room. when you’re done, pack it back up and send it off again (they pick it up). as far as i can tell, they even launder your clothes.

i think it would take a rather heavy frequent flier lifestyle to justify this sort of service, but it certainly promises to make your life easier. though i guess your clients may wonder why you dress the same way every time you visit…