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A Venture Capital firm says techies need to get along with government:
From Airbnb to Uber, some of Silicon Valley’s most successful companies have been fighting regulators since their inception. Now, one of the tech industry’s most respected venture capital firms wants to help both sides of the battle make nice with each other.
Andreessen Horowitz announced today that it’s launching a new policy and regulatory affairs unit, and that it has appointed Ted Ullyot, Facebook’s former general counsel, to lead the shop. Ullyot, who worked at both the White House and the Department of Justice before coming to the Valley, will be tasked with helping the firm’s portfolio companies see eye to eye with the government regulators with whom they’re increasingly butting heads.
Well, what do techies say, agree with the VC or string them up by their toes and poke them with sticks? Inquiring minds want to know...
(Score: 5, Insightful) by zafiro17 on Friday April 17 2015, @01:47PM
I'm older (in my 40s) and believe it or not have worked for the govt for most of my life. But that doesn't stop me from saying, 'that guy needs to shut the F up.' Techies are innovators and problem solvers. The government is not naturally a force for innovation, it's a force for the status quo. That is often a symbiosis that works. If you didn't have regulation the market wouldn't naturally regulate itself to the optimal situation. Without zoning laws for example your neighbor could build a gas station on his property and be a real nuisance or health hazard to you.
But in the light of Snowden's revelations, the last thing we need is techies 'cooperating' with government. Once govt has free reign, expect mandatory backdoors in hardware, no encryption, and so on - all things that benefit the establishment while frustrating the regular people. A little antagonism between innovators and the government is a good thing and I hope instead of 'getting along' techies can continue to contribute to solutions that keep the government on the leash it rightly deserves to be tied up with (hopefully around the neck or by the balls). Maybe the government should just piss off and learn to get along with techies before they go innovate on some other country's behalf ...
Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis - Jack Handey
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 17 2015, @02:31PM
> I'm older (in my 40s)
On this site that makes you young.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VortexCortex on Friday April 17 2015, @04:20PM
Without zoning laws for example your neighbor could build a gas station on his property and be a real nuisance or health hazard to you.
In Houston, the fourth largest city in the USA, we have no such zoning laws. We also don't seem to need them. Begone with your NIMBY FUD. Gas stations are built where it is profitable -- high thoroughfare traffic junctions -- which just happens to be where people don't want to live. We have a few commercial businesses set up inside residential houses, especially small businesses, but most are along high traffic roads where people don't want to live. I used to work in industrial noise abatement. We set up sound monitors to ensure industry meets with noise regulation laws (which require no zoning laws to be effective). Similarly, air and water quality regulations keep Pollution Heavy factories out of population centers without zoning laws being needed. Most people are surprised that there's a recording studio down the block from my home since it's soundproofed for quality and looks like a nice home instead of yet another square concrete eyesore. Most people don't know that the community sponsored radio station KPFT (90.1 FM) is broadcast from a two story house. The sat uplink to the main transmitters aren't visible from the front yard. This is a boon for many small businesses and non-proffits since when they are starting out they can use cheaper residential buildings before migrating to larger commercial office space.
So, here's the problem with nearly all current government employees, from the grunts to the officials: They're ignorant about the scientific method and/or refuse to use this most basic procedure. You SHOULD propose a law or policy as a hypothesis then TEST that hypothesis with an experiment to see if the hypothesis is correct before rolling out the law across the land. For example: I've just provided evidence for your null hypothesis in that zoning laws are not required to prevent nuisances or health hazards. Now you must provide significantly greater evidence that Zoning laws are essential or beneficial than the contrary evidence I've provided. If the government did this with every law and program then the techies would get along swimmingly with the government. They don't test their legislation and instead roll it out as a blanket across the entire area with no control group and hope it works. Then they fall victim to selection bias and the sunk cost fallacy to brow beat themselves into continuing the program. Meanwhile opponents to beneficial legislation successfully repeal them since there was no experimental evidence to prove their benefit. Meanwhile, fools just assume certain laws they like for purely speculative reasons are essential with no proof they aren't unnecessary simply because they existed while you were growing up.
I hate current regulations not because I'm against regulations, but because we have ZERO proof that they are beneficial. This goes for the Copyright and Patent systems too. There is no evidence patents or copyright laws are beneficial, only evidence to the contrary -- the fashion and automobile industries are allowed no copyright or design patents and yet are among the most lucrative, innovative, and profitable industries. It's time to grow the fuck up and start USING the basic tools of rationality in government. However, corruption abhors truth, so it is unevidenced ideology rather than the scientific method which governments utilize to control the people of earth, and it's fucking disgusting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 17 2015, @05:29PM
From Business Week
So private covenants (put in place by someone who buys a ton of land and subdivides it) replace zoning. The government enforces said restrictions. It does get rid of the horrible ability for society to change their mind about what goes where, since it was all determined by some developer 50 years ago. And it does replace democracy with one random guy's opinion.
(Score: 1) by Fauxlosopher on Saturday April 18 2015, @04:14AM
Optional private contracts are still leaps and bounds better than arbitrary decisions made by stuffed suits and forced on others at gunpoint.
I like the idea of "home owners' associations", even if I can't ever see myself buying property subject to one. (My workaround is to live out in the sticks on enough land so that even having a cement plant built adjacent to my property still won't bug me.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @06:23AM
and forced on others at gunpoint.
It is forced on others by gunpoint; who do you think enforces these stupid contracts?
(Score: 1) by Fauxlosopher on Saturday April 18 2015, @08:37AM
Oh, really? What happens in the worst case when someone breaches a civil contract (specifically HOA, but could be any type)? Maybe you get sued in civil court. Maybe a judge allows a lein to be put on the property to cover the alleged losses due to the breach. If you still don't pay up, maybe you get civilian collection agencies sicced on your communications. Still not seeing any guns being brought to bear.
Of course, on the so-called criminal side of the house, even if you're in the right, government guns come out in your direction pretty darn quick.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday April 18 2015, @09:19PM
So what you're saying is that zoning has (mostly) been outsourced. Of course, there are cases like:
Similarly, air and water quality regulations keep Pollution Heavy factories out of population centers
So you're saying they must move into an area, (what should we call it, I know! It's a ZONE!) where the more polluting activities are permitted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 18 2015, @03:37AM
"expect mandatory backdoors in hardware"
Intel Active Management Technology /Vpro/VT.
Chip level VNC server + dump ram over 3g enough for you?