Techno-politics

The federal government will tax digital money such as Bitcoin like property, not currency, the IRS said Tuesday in its first significant guidance on the virtual coin. Although Bitcoin may operate like coin and paper currency and can be used to pay for goods and services, no country accepts it as “legal tender,” the Internal Continue Reading →

The Obama administration is preparing to unveil a legislative proposal for a far-reaching overhaul of the National Security Agency’s once-secret bulk phone records program in a way that — if approved by Congress — would end the aspect that has most alarmed privacy advocates since its existence was leaked last year, according to senior administration Continue Reading →

Former presidents — they’re just like us (minus the generous pension, 24-hour-a-day Secret Service protection, dedicated presidential library and a few other perks that come to mind). If you want to keep something private, send an old-fashioned letter, advises former President Jimmy Carter. The 89-year-old former president told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell in a new Continue Reading →

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a handful of other CEOs had an “honest talk” with President Obama Friday afternoon at a hastily arranged meeting to discuss Silicon Valley’s continued unhappiness with U.S. government surveillance practices. White House officials characterized the meeting as a “continued dialogue” on the surveillance issue, but it appeared to be a Continue Reading →

Question-and-answer service Quora has begun rolling out verified profiles for public figures, with President Barack Obama signing up as the first user to receive a blue checkmark. Obama has taken to Quora to answer questions about the Affordable Care Act ahead of the March 31 enrollment deadline. On-boarding the president of the US has become Continue Reading →

Turkey’s battle over Net censorship is heating up, with the government there reportedly blocking a method that let citizens sidestep a Twitter ban, the White House expressing “serious concern” over the ban, and Google reportedly refusing requests from Turkish authorities to take down YouTube videos that cast the prime minister in a critical light. Bloomberg Continue Reading →

“Twitter, mwitter!” Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cried on Thursday. Rough translation: Twitter, schmitter! This was the last thing Erdogan said Thursday before the lights went out on Twitter near midnight. “We now have a court order,” declared Erdogan, who’s ensnared in a scandal inflamed by social media over recordings that purportedly reveal corruption Continue Reading →

The White House is testing smartphones from Samsung and LG Electronics for internal use, a person familiar with the matter said, threatening one of the last and most high-profile strongholds of BlackBerry. The devices are being tested by the White House’s internal technology team and the White House Communications Agency, a military unit in charge Continue Reading →

Should driving with Google Glass be allowed? There’s no precedent; technology is almost always ahead of strategy, tactics and the law. In my book Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV, 2nd Edition (York House Press, 2008), I looked for lessons from the Civil War: “Often described as the first modern war, the Continue Reading →

Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the first name that comes to mind as a champion of privacy. But the seemingly endless revelations of NSA surveillance programs has inspired Facebook’s founder to call up no less than President Obama himself to defend his users from government intrusion. On Thursday Zuckerberg posted a statement on Facebook calling on the Continue Reading →