James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Tech CEOs slam Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military
Following President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday to ban transgender people from entering the military, many leaders of the tech industry have voiced their criticism. Trump’s rationale for the move was that allowing transgender people to serve would burden the military with “tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender people would entail.” Since the announcement, ...
Republicans ask tech and telecom CEOs to weigh in on net neutrality
House Republicans are hoping to solve the ongoing net neutrality issue by inviting leading tech and telecom chief executives to testify in front of Congress in September. The tech execs will include Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet Inc. CEO Larry Page, Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos and Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings. Executives from Internet ...
UK police chief says smart household appliances need to be given a security rating
A U.K. police chief has called for a security rating for household appliances that connect to the Internet amid growing concerns that the expanding Internet of Things will fall prey to hackers. Chief constable Mike Barton, who also heads the U.K.’s National Police Chiefs Council, said smart TVs, refrigerators and the like should be given ...
After users complain, Verizon admits to throttling YouTube and Netflix speeds
Verizon Communications Inc. has admitted to throttling video streaming speeds after its customers complained that speed tests on Netflix seemed to indicate a cap at 10 megabits per second. At a time when net neutrality rules, the idea that Internet service providers shouldn’t limit delivery of content, could be kicked to the curb, throttling speeds ...
Elon Musk says he got OK for a New York-DC Hyperloop, officials say he didn’t
Elon Musk has caused quite a bit of confusion over the last 24 hours, tweeting to his fans that he received “government approval” for a Hyperloop connecting New York to Philadelphia to Baltimore to Washington, D.C. It seems now that the matter of a “verbal” green light for the project is a little sketchy. The ...
Once again, Elon Musk says if AI isn’t regulated soon, people should be very afraid
Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk has been outspoken in the past about the dangers of artificial intelligence, once saying that we might just be unleashing a demon. Over the weekend, he conveyed a similar message to U.S. governors, telling them to get proactive about AI regulation before it’s too late. Speaking at the U.S. ...
UK plan for age checks on porn websites meets with skepticism from privacy advocates
In a move to make the Internet safer for kids, the U.K. government has said it will legally require pornography websites to install methods of age verification by next April. As part of the Digital Economy Act, companies not implementing age verification on their websites could find themselves blocked by Internet service providers. It’s thought ...
Disney is bringing ‘Star Wars’ to augmented reality
“Star Wars” fans may soon know what it’s like to wield a lightsaber, thanks to a new augmented reality game. The company announced at D23, its annual expo, that it’s teaming up with Lenovo Group Ltd. to create a series of AR experiences that will include turning your living room into an intergalactic standoff with rebel ...
Tech giants stage huge protest of FCC plan to quash net neutrality rules, but will it work?
Ever since Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai revealed that rules put in place in 2015 for a free and open Internet will be undone, there has been an almost constant stream of criticism. That criticism reached its boiling point Wednesday. Advocates of present net neutrality rules banded together in what was called a “Day ...
The net neutrality ‘Day of Action’ is upon us, and here’s how it will go down
Net neutrality advocates on Wednesday are holding a “Day of Action,” perhaps their final push to keep the Internet “open, fast and awesome.” The issue of net neutrality, the notion that Internet service providers shouldn’t limit delivery of any content in favor of their own or partners’, has become quite the cause célèbre, a story that ...