This Week In Techdirt History: November 3rd – 9th

Five Years Ago

This week in 2019, we noted how the FCC’s freakout about Huawei was out of step with the way it ignored the internet of broken things. We were not shocked to learn ISPs were cutting back 2020 investment plans despite all the tax breaks and the death of net neutrality, and not thrilled that CBP was getting access to NSA and CIA data collections. The FBI’s top lawyer from the Apple encryption fight said it was time to suck it up and embrace encryption, while the government was threatening to kill free trade with South Africa because Hollywood complained about fair use. And Devin Nunes was still demanding silence from the satirical internet cow, while PragerU lost another silly lawsuit against YouTube.

Ten Years Ago

This week in 2014, Congress was getting ready to push a dangerous cybersecurity bill, James Comey was demanding tech companies grant the FBI complete access to whatever it wants, and documents obtained by the ACLU showed how the NSA was unable to prevent collection of data on US citizens. Roca Labs was threatening sites for writing about its case and suing a witness who came forward in its lawsuit against PissedConsumer, while Lena Dunham was threatening a lawsuit over an interpretation of her book that she disliked, and pianist Dejan Lazic was doubling down on his abuse of the right to be forgotten. Meanwhile, a court told the US government it can’t just wave “state secrets” like a magic wand to make cases go away.

Fifteen Years Ago

Speaking of the magic wand of state secrets, this week in 2009 that’s exactly what the Obama administration was waving to try to block all cases about warrantless wiretapping. Meanwhile, new details on ACTA were continuing to show how it was an entertainment industry wishlist, the MPAA was saying the internet will die if it doesn’t get to police piracy, and the FCC was worryingly close to letting Hollywood break your TV and DVR (although the evidence showed DVRs were helping, not hurting, the industry). The Swedish Pirate Party won a second EU Parliament seat, and EU officials were slightly pushing back against Hollywood demands. Also, a sea change in the world of navigation kicked off as Google struck out on its own and made navigation tools free.