From mnot.net
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Web feeds could be so much more if we put some effort into them. This post explores some ideas of how to start.
on Aug 26
From mnot.net
Platform Advantages: Not Just Network Effects
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A new book explores an intriguing idea: that there are core processes in some platforms that naturally tilt the table towards being implemented in a single company.
on Nov 29
From mnot.net
Intelligent Design, Eames-Style
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For a while, I’ve had the fairly well-known Charles Eames quote “Design depends largely on constraints” as the tagline on my blog (if you read this in a feed aggregator, you’ll have to go to one of the HTML pages to see it).
on Sep 23
From mnot.net
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The EU AI Act and emerging practice flip copyright’s default opt-in regime to an opt-out one. What effects is this likely to have on the balance of power between rights holders and reuse?
on Sep 19
From mnot.net
The Nature of Internet Standards
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These posts explore how Internet standards function, why they operate how they do, and what larger role they play in Internet governance -- with a focus on making them more legible to policymakers.
on Aug 3
From mnot.net
Are Internet Standards Competitive or Collaborative?
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It's often assumed that standards work is inherently competitive. This post examines why Internet standards are often more collaborative than competitive, and outlines some implications of this approach.
on Jul 17
From mnot.net
Openness in Internet Standards: Necessary, but Insufficient
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The phrase 'Open Standards' is widely used but not well-understood. Let's take a look at what openness in standards is, with a focus on whether and how it helps to legitimise the design and maintenance of the Internet.
on Jul 5
From mnot.net
Consensus in Internet Standards
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It’s common for voluntary technical standards developing organisations (SDOs such as the IETF and W3C) to make decisions by consensus, rather than (for example) voting. This post explores why we use consensus, what it is, how it works in Internet standards and when its use can become problematic.
on May 24
From mnot.net
Modularity: Enabling Interoperability and Competition
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Mandated interoperability is often highlighted as a way to improve competition on the Internet. However, most of the interoperability we see there today was established voluntarily: mandating it is relatively uncharted territory, with many potential pitfalls.
on May 10
From mnot.net
No One Should Have That Much Power
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It’s a common spy thriller trope. There’s a special key that can unlock something critical – business records, bank vaults, government secrets, nuclear weapons, maybe all of the above, worldwide.
on Apr 29
From mnot.net
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Creating a Large Language Model (LLM) requires a lot of content – as implied by the name, LLMs need voluminous input data to be able to function well. Much of that content comes from the Internet, and early models have been seeded by crawling the whole Web.
on Apr 22
From mnot.net
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It happens fairly often. Someone brings a proposal to a technical standards body like the IETF and expects that just because it becomes an RFC, people will adopt it. Or they’ll come across a requirement in an RFC and expect it to be enforced, perhaps with some kind of punishment. Or they’ll get...
on Mar 19
From mnot.net
RFC 9518 - What Can Internet Standards Do About Centralisation?
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RFC 9518: Centralization, Decentralization, and Internet Standards has been published, after more than two years of review, discussion, and revision.
on Dec 19, 2023
From mnot.net
How to Run an Australian Web Site in 2024
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A while back, the eSafety Commissioner declined to register the proposed Industry Codes that I’ve previously written about. Now, they’ve announced a set of Industry Standards that, after a comment period, will likely be law.
on Nov 27, 2023
From mnot.net
Technical Standards Bodies are Regulators
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There are lots of ways to view what Internet standards bodies like the IETF and W3C do. They are horizontal agreements between competitors as well as mission-driven public-good charities. One might believe they’re the homes of innovation that brought us the Internet and the Web, or that they’re...
on Nov 1, 2023