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Feb 13, 2018

techpolicypodcast_washingtech_brian howard

 

Bio

Brian Howard is a Research & Policy Analyst with the American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) at Arizona State University. Prior to joining the AIPI team in November 2016, Brian served over five years as a Legislative Associate with the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, DC. Working on behalf of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments, Brian’s work included developing and advocating tribal policy initiatives in Congress and the Administration on issues such as Telecommunications, Government Contracting, and Cultural Protections (Sacred Places, Eagle Feather/Eagle Protections, NAGPRA, and Mascot issues). Brian’s work experience has included numerous D.C.-based research and policy internships, as well as with the New Mexico House of Representatives and the Gila River Indian Community Council’s Office.

Brian graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2009 with his Bachelor of Arts degree in Native American Studies focusing on Federal Indian Law and Policy with a minor in Political Science. He is Akimel O’odham, Tohono O’odham, and Pi-Pash, and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community where he grew up in the Komatke District.

Resources

American Indian Policy Institute (AIPI) at Arizona State University

National Congress of American Indians

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Jr. Vine Deloria

News Roundup

N.Y. Times: U.S. spies paid Russians for cyberweapons/Trump secret

Remember the dossier on Donald Trump that former British spy Christopher Steele built that made headlines about a year ago? The one that alleged encounters with prostitutes, bribes, and evidence of collaboration with Russians to hack Democrats? Well the problem with the dossier until now was that none of the allegations have been corroborated. But, over the weekend, the New York Times reported that U.S. spies paid a “shadowy Russian” some $100,000 in exchange for stolen National Security Agency cyberweapons. The Russian also promised secret information about President Trump. The total payout was to be $1 million. This was just the first installment. And the spies, according to the Times, delivered the cash in a suitcase to a Berlin hotel. The White House and CIA have obviously been trying to contain the report. Matthew Rosenberg reports in the New York Times.

Russian hackers continue to exploit U.S. cyber vulnerabilities

The Associated Press reports that Russian spies have continued to exploit vulnerabilities in U.S. defenses. According to the report, the spies fooled contractors with phishing scams disseminated via email, which allowed them to gain access to data acquired by spy drones.

Waymo and Uber reach a settlement

Uber and Waymo reached a settlement last week. Uber agreed to give Waymo, the self driving car company built by Google, a $245 million stake in Uber’s equity, or about .34 percent. No cash was part of the settlement. Uber continues to deny that they either stole or used any of Waymo’s trade secrets or self-driving car technology. Alex Castro reports for the Verge.

U.S. arrests 36 in cyberfraud crackdown

The Justice Department reported last week that it had arrested and charged 36 people for running a cyberfraud ring that stole some $350 million. Officials allege that Svyatoslav Bondarenko created Infraud in 2010 to make online purchases with counterfeit or stolen credit card information. Tom Schoenberg reports on the details of the scheme in Bloomberg.

Internet giants back net neutrality bill

The Internet Association--the trade association that represents internet giants like Google, Facebook and others--wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week in support of a bipartisan legislative solution that would overturn the FCC’s repeal of the net neutrality rules. Harper Neidig reports in the Hill.

British officials grill Google, Facebook and Twitter in Washington

Eleven members of the British Parliament came to Washington last week to grill tech executives from Google, Facebook and Twitter about fake news. Hamza Shaban of the Chicago Tribune reported that the meeting was far from cordial, with the lawmakers sharply criticizing the companies’ moral compass and failure to curtail the spread of misinformation online. YouTube maintained that it hadn’t found any evidence of Russian interference in the Brexit vote.

In a separate story last week, CNN brought to Twitter’s attention the fact that hundreds of Russian propaganda videos remained on Vine—the video sharing platform that Twitter owns--until well after Twitter should have been aware that the Kremlin posted the videos

Also, YouTube had to change some of its policies after YouTuber Logan Paul engaged in an ongoing pattern of posting really repulsive videos such as the video of a suicide victim in Japan. Google decided to suspend advertising on Paul’s channel and announced a broader policy change under which it would make YouTube channels that post offensive content less discoverable. Ingrid Ludent reports for Tech Crunch

Winter Olympics were cyberattacked

An organizer of the winter Olympics in Pyeongchang reported that there was a cyberattack during the opening ceremony. However, the organizer won’t disclose who carried out the attack. Peter Rutherford reports in Reuters

New study finds gender pay gap among Uber drivers

A new University of Chicago study found a gender pay gap among Uber drivers. The study found that women driving for Uber earned some 7% less per hour than their male counterparts.

Mark Warner tees up ‘tech addiction’

At a speech last week, Senator Mark Warner teed up tech addiction as a concern for policymakers. The remarks came amidst several studies conducted recently that purport to illustrate Americans’ addition to tech. David McCabe has more in Axios

M.I.T. study shows facial recognition AI skin color bias

A new study from the M.I.T. Media Lab shows a commercial facial recognition technology is correct 99% of the time when it comes to identifying white man. But when it came to identifying black folks, the software was wrong 35% of the time. Steve Lohr reports in The New York Times

Spouses of highly skilled immigrants face job losses under Trump

The spouses of high skilled workers who enter the country under an H1B visa are permitted to work under an H-4 visa. But Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is seeking to end the program, potentially affecting that additional source of income.

Cleaver wants white supremacists out of cryptocurrencies

Several reports say that white supremacists have been raising funding with Bitcoin to circumvent the established tech sector. So Missouri Democrat Emanuel Cleaver wrote a letter to the Bitcoin Foundation and Digital Chamber of Commerce, asking for measures to curtail white supremacists’ cryptocurrency fundraising activities. Ali Breland reports in the Hill.

Senators pressure CFPB on Equifax

Thirty Senators want to know why Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, a Trump appointee has delayed the investigation into the Equifax breach that compromised the data of some 143 million Americans. Thirty Senators, led by Hawaii Democrat Brian Schatz, want to know why CFPB hasn’t taken preliminary steps in the investigation. So far the CFPB has declined comment.

Trump administration wants to privatize International Space station

Christian Davenport reports for the Washington Post that the White House is planning to stop funding for the International Space Station after 2024. It is working on a plan to turn the space station into a commercial enterprise.