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Scuola di politiche: corso politiche pubbliche e tecnologia
by Antonio Vetro' Jan. 13, 2023

Jan. 13, 2023

Segnalo il corso "Politiche pubbliche e tecnologia” della Scuola di Politiche, che presenta anche un’area tematica su automazione e intelligenza artificiale: https://scuoladipolitiche.eu/corsi-impact/impact-torino/ (le iscrizioni sono ancora aperte, in caso si volesse far circolare a potenziali interessati). Il corso è stato curato in collaborazione con Università di Torino – Dipartimento Culture, Politiche e Società e il Politecnico di Torino — Centro Theseus su Tecnologia, Società e Umanità A.

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China to take ‘golden shares’ in tech firms Alibaba and Tencent
by Alberto Cammozzo Jan. 13, 2023

Jan. 13, 2023

Parafrasando un vecchio slogan di Sun Microsystem: il governo cinese dice: "We are the dot in dot communism" <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/13/china-to-take-golden-shares-i…> China is to take “golden shares” in two of its biggest tech companies, Alibaba and Tencent, as Beijing extends its influence on the country’s star tech firms and its most powerful and wealthy business people. Beijing’s move marks a shift away from imposing hefty fines and sanctions in its two-year tech crackdown, which was launched after Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, criticised regulators, The crackdown has proved tumultuous for Chinese tech firms, with billions wiped off their value, and moves including blocking the flotation of Ma’s financial services firm, Ant Group, which would have been the world’s biggest IPO. Earlier this week the fintech company announced that Ma, once China’s richest man but now living in self-imposed exile in Japan, would cede control of the company. However, the government’s approach has weakened foreign investment and the competitiveness of the Chinese tech market, resulting in a softening and change of tactical approach to keeping its big tech in check. China recently took a small equity stake in ByteDance, the privately owned parent of TikTok and its hugely popular local version Douyin, and the Twitter-like Weibo as a means for the state to become more directly involved in business operations. The move to take stakes in the local operations of Alibaba and Tencent, which usually amount to about 1%, have been dubbed “golden shares” as they come with special rights over business decisions. Within China the stakes are known as “special management shares” and have been used since 2015 by the state to exert influence. On 4 January, a division under the state investment fund established by the regulator Cyberspace Administration of China acquired 1% of an Alibaba subsidiary, Guangzhou Lujiao Information Technology. Alibaba owns social media entities including Youku, dubbed China’s YouTube, and the web browser UCWeb. The state is in the process of taking a similar approach with Tencent – which operates China’s most popular streaming service, Tencent Video, and an array of other offerings including the WhatsApp-like WeChat, music streaming and gaming – according to the Financial Times. The government also has a stake in a local entity owned by Kuaishou, a smaller rival to ByteDance’s Douyin, through the state-owned Beijing Radio and Television Station. The streaming service Bilibili, the Nasdaq-listed business that began as subculture destination for anime, gaming and comic fans, is pushing for a state entity in Shanghai to take shares in one of its subsidiaries, according to the FT.

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La Commissione europea ha chiuso il suo metaverso
by don Luca Peyron Jan. 13, 2023

Jan. 13, 2023

Soldi spesi male? Corsa ad occhi chiusi? Credo che l'episodio ci dica quanto manchi una cultura appropriata a questo tempo, in chi decide ma non solo. Un ulteriore stimolo al lavoro che si fa con questa lista e che molti di questa lista fanno con passione. Buon anno dl https://www.wired.it/article/metaverso-commissione-europea-global-gateway-f… _________________________ don Luca Peyron Direttore Ufficio per la Pastorale Universitaria Arcidiocesi di Torino www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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Tempo e social media
by don Luca Peyron Jan. 13, 2023

Jan. 13, 2023

Il tempo trascorso sui social ha raggiunto nuovi record nel 2022. A dirlo è l'ultimo report di data.ai, secondo il quale il tempo totale trascorso dagli utenti utilizzando le app social è aumentato del 17% rispetto all'anno precedente, superando i 2.000 miliardi di ore sui telefoni Android nel 2022. In particolare è TikTok a guadagnarsi la corona in questo ambito. Buona lettura dl https://www.data.ai/en/go/state-of-mobile-2023/ _________________________ don Luca Peyron Direttore Ufficio per la Pastorale Universitaria Arcidiocesi di Torino www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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che cos'è la Verità (was: nexa Digest, Vol 165, Issue 13)
by Giacomo Tesio Jan. 13, 2023

Jan. 13, 2023

Scusa Maurizio, la mia ironia deve essere stata troppo criptica. Non era in alcun modo mia intenzione prenderti in giro. Volevo proporti una riflessione che invece non trovo affatto scontata. La riformulo con le parole di Pilato: "che cos'è la Verità"? Usare le piattaforme cloud di Google e Microsoft nelle scuole viola il GDPR e i diritti di milioni di studenti ed insegnanti. E' vero. Da DUE anni. Ma potrei mostrarti decine di tweet da parte di influenti GAFAM-boys [1] che, non potendo più argomentare nel merito contro Monitora PA, si lanciano in attacchi piuttosto squallidi nei confronti di chi lavora al progetto (ed in particolare me e Fabio), con insulti, velate minacce (uno suggeriva di "andare a trovare Fabio a casa" mostrando l'indirizzo dalla privacy policy del sito), illazioni sulla nostra mala fede, sulla nostra onestà intellettuale, persino sulle nostre competenze informatiche. A questi bulletti attempati, si aggiungono sporadicamente Professori Universitari, avvocati, aziende etc... Eppure noi non facciamo altro che chiedere il rispetto della Legge. Diciamo la verità, riconosciuta da Autorità Garanti di mezza Europa, da Ministri dell'Istruzione, dal EDPB e persino dalla Corte di Giustizia Europea. Ma loro cercano di farla passare per disinformazione. E purtroppo, sono numerosi, influenti e molto motivati (e talvolta ben finanziati). Eppure, la forza della Verità è dirompente e quattro gatti come noi riescono ad imporre un dibattito che inevitabilmente porta alla luce le loro contraddizioni, le incompetenze e i loro conflitti di interesse. Ma che succederebbe se chi afferma verità scomode come noi potesse essere legalmente silenziato? Se qualcuno potesse dire "fanno solo disinformazione"? La disinformazione non si compatte inibendo la diffusione delle "idee", ma con l'educazione alla coscienza critica nelle scuole. Si combattono con la cultura libera, abolendo magari leggi oscurantiste come il copyright che rallentano la diffusione delle idee da un lato e ne permettono il controllo da parte di pochi dall'altro. Si combattono con lo stato sociale. Ma per queste cose ci vogliono anni, soldi, tasse... lotta politica... E allora ecco che qualcuno spinge "soluzioni tecnologiche". Che funzionino o meno non è importante. L'importante è far passare il concetto che è giusto che qualcuno decida cosa è vero e cosa è falso per il bene di tutti. Nessuno deve avere questo potere. Bisogna anzi TOGLIERLO ai GAFAM. Giacomo [1] da GAFAM-fanboys, quelli di fatto che difendono il diritto dei GAFAM a manipolare grandi e piccini. On Thu, 12 Jan 2023 12:28:44 +0100 maurizio lana wrote: > ero certo che avrei suscitato questa reazione. > ovvia. > *talmente ovvia* che anche chi la scrive potrebbe chiedersi se c'è > modo di fare qualche passo avanti nella riflessione al di là del > farmi passare per uno scribacchino del ministero della verità > :-))) > > e che dire allora di Rodotà ? (Rodotà, Stefano. 2019. «Il diritto > alla verità». In Il diritto di avere diritti, 230–52. Bari: Laterza) > e di Franca D'Agostini? (D’Agostini, Franca. 2017. «Diritti aletici». > Biblioteca della Libertà 218: 1. > https://doi.org/10.23827/BDL_2017_1_2) giusto per suggerire che il > tema si può affrontare in modi leggerissimamente più consistenti del > dileggio verso chi esprime posizioni diverse dalle nostre. > > Maurizio > > > > Il 12/01/23 12:00, Giacomo Tesio <giacomo(a)tesio.it> ha scritto: > > Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2023 11:14:33 +0100 > > From: Giacomo Tesio<giacomo(a)tesio.it> > > To:nexa@server-nexa.polito.it > > Subject: Re: [nexa] nexa Digest, Vol 165, Issue 11 > > Message-ID:<20230112111429.000070ad(a)tesio.it> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > > > On Thu, 12 Jan 2023 09:08:16 +0100 maurizio lana wrote: > >> tutto il discorso di Chudov serve a far passare come difesa > >> della libertà il suo attacco alle strategie anti-disinformazione > >> messe in atto dall'EU sia in generale sia rispetto al Covid. che > >> sia necessario prestare attenzione agli strumenti scelti è ovvio > >> che sì, ma che gli obiettivi siano deprecabili, no. > > Concordo. > > E posso dirvi che in Oceania abbiamo definitivamente risolto > > il problema, grazie al Ministero della Verità. > > Wiston > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > old men ought to be explorers > t.s. eliot, four quartets > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Maurizio Lana > Università del Piemonte Orientale > Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici > Piazza Roma 36 - 13100 Vercelli

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Re: [nexa] nexa Digest, Vol 165, Issue 13
by maurizio lana Jan. 12, 2023

Jan. 12, 2023

ero certo che avrei suscitato questa reazione. ovvia. *talmente ovvia* che anche chi la scrive potrebbe chiedersi se c'è modo di fare qualche passo avanti nella riflessione al di là del farmi passare per uno scribacchino del ministero della verità :-))) e che dire allora di Rodotà ? (Rodotà, Stefano. 2019. «Il diritto alla verità». In Il diritto di avere diritti, 230–52. Bari: Laterza) e di Franca D'Agostini? (D’Agostini, Franca. 2017. «Diritti aletici». Biblioteca della Libertà 218: 1. https://doi.org/10.23827/BDL_2017_1_2) giusto per suggerire che il tema si può affrontare in modi leggerissimamente più consistenti del dileggio verso chi esprime posizioni diverse dalle nostre. Maurizio Il 12/01/23 12:00, Giacomo Tesio <giacomo(a)tesio.it> ha scritto: > Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2023 11:14:33 +0100 > From: Giacomo Tesio<giacomo(a)tesio.it> > To:nexa@server-nexa.polito.it > Subject: Re: [nexa] nexa Digest, Vol 165, Issue 11 > Message-ID:<20230112111429.000070ad(a)tesio.it> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On Thu, 12 Jan 2023 09:08:16 +0100 maurizio lana wrote: >> tutto il discorso di Chudov serve a far passare come difesa >> della libertà il suo attacco alle strategie anti-disinformazione >> messe in atto dall'EU sia in generale sia rispetto al Covid. che sia >> necessario prestare attenzione agli strumenti scelti è ovvio che sì, >> ma che gli obiettivi siano deprecabili, no. > Concordo. > E posso dirvi che in Oceania abbiamo definitivamente risolto > il problema, grazie al Ministero della Verità. > Wiston ------------------------------------------------------------------------ old men ought to be explorers t.s. eliot, four quartets ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Maurizio Lana Università del Piemonte Orientale Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici Piazza Roma 36 - 13100 Vercelli

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Statement of objections issued against Google’s data processing terms
by Giacomo Tesio Jan. 11, 2023

Jan. 11, 2023

On 23 December 2022 the Bundeskartellamt sent Alphabet Inc., Mountain View, USA, Google Ireland Ltd., Dublin, Ireland, and Google Germany GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, its preliminary legal assessment in the proceeding initiated due to Google’s data processing terms. At this stage of the proceeding, the Bundeskartellamt assumes that the new provisions for large digital companies (Section 19a of the German Competition Act, GWB) are applicable and Google thus has to change its data processing terms and its associated practices. Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "“Google’s business model relies heavily on the processing of user data. Due to its established access to relevant data gathered from a large number of different services, Google enjoys a strategic advantage over other companies. Google’s practices must be measured against the requirements under the new competition rules for large digital companies. The company has to give users sufficient choice as to how their data are processed.”" Based on its current terms, Google can combine a variety of data from various services and use them, for example, to create very detailed user profiles which the company can exploit for advertising and other purposes, or to train functions provided by services. The company’s terms set out that Google may, for various purposes, collect and process data across services, for example by way of its numerous own, partly very widely used services, such as Google Search, YouTube, Google Play, Google Maps and Google Assistant, but also by way of numerous third-party websites and apps. This also concerns data from Google’s so-called background services, including the Google Play services, which to some extent gather data from Android devices on a regular basis. The Bundeskartellamt has reached the preliminary conclusion that, based on the current terms, users are not given sufficient choice as to whether and to what extent they agree to this far-reaching processing of their data across services. The choices offered so far, if any, are, in particular, not sufficiently transparent and too general. According to the Bundeskartellamt’s current assessment, sufficient choice particularly requires that users are able to limit the processing of data to the specific service used. In addition, they also have to be able to differentiate between the purposes for which the data are processed. Moreover, the choices offered must not be devised in a way that makes it easier for users to consent to the processing of data across services than not to consent to this. General and indiscriminate data retention and processing across services without a specific cause as a preventive measure, including for security purposes, is not permissible either without giving users any choice. Therefore, the Bundeskartellamt is currently planning to oblige the company to change the choices offered. In December 2021, the authority already determined that Google is of paramount significance for competition across markets pursuant to Section 19a GWB. Under these circumstances, the new provision for large digital companies allows the Bundeskartellamt to prohibit such companies from engaging in certain anti-competitive practices. In its proceeding, the Bundeskartellamt bases its assessment on German competition law. The European Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is exclusively enforced by the European Commission, is also likely to apply to certain Google services in the future. While the DMA also includes a provision which addresses the processing of data across services, this applies only if so-called core platform services, which still have to be designated by the European Commission, are involved. The present proceeding based on the national provision under Section 19a GWB partially exceeds the future requirements of the DMA. In this regard, the Bundeskartellamt is in close contact with the European Commission. The Bundeskartellamt is conducting an administrative proceeding against Google. The statement of objections outlining detailed reasons is a first intermediate step which gives the company the opportunity to comment in detail on the authority’s preliminary assessment and to present further reasons justifying its practices or suggestions to dispel the Bundeskartellamt’s concerns. The proceeding may result in the authority discontinuing the case, the company offering commitments or the competition authority prohibiting Google’s practices. A final decision in this matter is expected to be issued in 2023. https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Meldung/EN/Pressemitteilungen/20…

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Igor Chudov 'Allowing AI to "Shape Public Discourse" is Dangerous to Humanity'
by Maurizio Borghi Jan. 11, 2023

Jan. 11, 2023

Una lettura interessante su un tema che merita molta attenzione, soprattutto in relazione al contesto europeo con l'entrata in vigore del Digital Services Act: https://open.substack.com/pub/igorchudov/p/allowing-ai-to-shape-public-disc… -- _______________ *Maurizio Borghi* Università di Torino https://www.dg.unito.it/persone/maurizio.borghi Co-Director Nexa Center for Internet & Society <https://nexa.polito.it/>

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Tom Lehrer e pubblico dominio
by J.C. DE MARTIN Jan. 10, 2023

Jan. 10, 2023

Il leggendario Tom Lehrer, classe 1928, autore, oltre al resto, della famosa canzone "The Elements", ha messo nel pubblico dominio tutte le sue creazioni: https://tomlehrersongs.com/ Augurandogli ancora numerosi anni di vita (compirà 95 anni in aprile), la sua decisione dona alla collettività le sue opere con un anticipo di almeno 70 anni... grazie, Maestro! jc DISCLAIMER STATEMENT I, Tom Lehrer, and the Tom Lehrer Trust 2007, hereby grant the following permissions: All copyrights to lyrics or music written or composed by me have been relinquished, and therefore such songs are now in the public domain. All of my songs that have never been copyrighted, having been available for free for so long, are now also in the public domain. The latter includes all lyrics which I have written to music by others, although the music to such parodies, if copyrighted by their composers, are of course not included without permission of their copyright owners. The translated songs on this website may be found on YouTube in their original languages. Performing and recording rights to all of my songs are included in this permission. Translation rights are also included. In particular, permission is hereby granted to anyone to set any of these lyrics to their own music, or to set any of this music to their own lyrics, and to publish or perform their parodies or distortions of these songs without payment or fear of legal action. Some recording, movie, and television rights to songs written by me are merely licensed non-exclusively by me to recording, movie, or TV companies. All such rights are now released herewith and therefore do not require any permission from me or from Maelstrom Music, which is merely me in another hat, nor from the recording, movie, or TV companies involved. In short, I no longer retain any rights to any of my songs. So help yourselves, and don’t send me any money. NOTICE: THIS WEBSITE WILL BE SHUT DOWN AT SOME DATE IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE, SO IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD ANYTHING, DON’T WAIT TOO LONG. Tom Lehrer November 1, 2022

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Seattle schools sue tech giants over youth mental health crisis
by Alberto Cammozzo Jan. 10, 2023

Jan. 10, 2023

<https://www.axios.com/2023/01/08/seattle-public-schools-sue-tech-mental-hea…> Seattle Public Schools is suing social media companies including TikTok and Meta, saying the tech giants' "misconduct has been a substantial factor in causing a youth mental health crisis." Driving the news: "This mental health crisis is no accident. It is the result of the Defendants’ deliberate choices and affirmative actions to design and market their social media platforms to attract youth," the lawsuit states. "Defendants have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into positive feedback loops of excessive use and abuse of Defendants' social media platforms," the complaint, which was filed Friday, says. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants have violated Washington state's public nuisance law. What they're saying: "We have invested heavily in creating safe experiences for children across our platforms and have introduced strong protections and dedicated features to prioritize their wellbeing," Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement. "For example, through Family Link, we provide parents with the ability to set reminders, limit screen time and block specific types of content on supervised devices," Castañeda said. “While we can’t comment on the specifics of active litigation, nothing is more important to us than the wellbeing of our community," a Snap spokesperson said in a statement. "We will continue working to make sure our platform is safe and to give Snapchatters dealing with mental health issues resources to help them deal with the challenges facing young people today," the Snap spokesperson continued. TikTok won't comment on pending litigation, but a spokesperson shared with Axios some information on how the app "prioritizes the safety and well-being of teens," including age-restricted features and break reminders, among others. Meanwhile, Antigone Davis, global head of safety at Meta, said in a statement that the firm wanted teens to be safe online. "We've developed more than 30 tools to support teens and families, including supervision tools that let parents limit the amount of time their teens spend on Instagram, and age verification technology that helps teens have age-appropriate experiences," Davis added. "We'll continue to work closely with experts, policymakers and parents on these important issues.” The big picture: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021 testified that the tech giant is aware that some of its platforms are harmful to certain populations, including teenagers, but targets them anyway. The lawsuit said that from 2009 to 2019, there was an average 30% increase in the number of students at Seattle Public Schools who reported feeling "so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that [they] stopped doing some usual activities."

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