Networks, the Internet, and Cloud Computing

Scholarly Publishing and its Discontents: An Economist’s Perspective on Dealing with Market Power and Its Consequences

Scholarly journals charge libraries high prices for access to academic articles. Activists protest such restrictions on access to knowledge. Some hoped that the Internet would improve access to academic publishing, but this effect is limited.

The Aisles Have Eyes: How Retailers Track Your Shopping, Strip Your Privacy, and Define Your Power

Increasingly, retailers use technologies such as smartphone apps to track and profile shoppers are they shop in retail stores. Retailers profile consumers and treat some differently than others. Most consumers are unaware of retailers’ tracking and profiling.

Loss Functions for Predicted Click-Through Rates in Auctions for Online Advertising

Online ads are usually purchased in auctions. Auction participants sometimes misestimate the likelihood that users will click on an ad, resulting in economic loss. This paper develops a new method of estimating such losses called the “empirical loss function.”

Blind Spot: The Attention Economy and the Law

Firms like Google and Facebook rely on consumer attention, a limited resource. Consumer protection laws and antitrust law assume that harm must be monetary, and do not effectively control problems that arise from unwanted intrusions on our attention.

Understanding the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016

The Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 (CRFA) bars businesses from requiring their customers to agree not to post online reviews. These “anti-review” clauses prevented consumers from leaving feedback that would identify poorly run businesses.

Law, Social Welfare, and Net Neutrality

Net neutrality rules bar broadband carriers from charging different prices to different Internet users, but this would mean that ordinary consumers are paying more for Internet service so that firms like Netflix can pay less.

The Ten Most Important Section 230 Rulings

Under Section 230 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, websites are not legally responsible for content posted on the site by others. A few cases suggest that immunity does not extend to sites that encourage unlawful content.

Contracting Over Privacy: Introduction

As smart products and services that use “big data” proliferate, privacy advocates express concerns that privacy regulation is too weak. Many consumers agree to give up privacy protections when they use sites or make purchases online. Should regulators restrict consumers from waiving privacy protection?

Can an Algorithm be Agonistic? Ten Scenes from Life in Calculated Publics

Public spaces like YouTube use algorithms to search, rank, and recommend information. Algorithms produce “winners” in information contests, but with little visibility or accountability.

The Internet of Heirlooms and Disposable Things

Everything from stuffed animal to toilets is now being connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). Connecting everyday objects to the Internet could be harmful. The objects or data collected by the objects could be hacked, and the software is subject to glitches.