Can Big Tech get busted up and does Facebook’s pivot to privacy seem legit? El Kaiser and J.D. roll through the recent news, stopping to ponder the “Save the Internet” Act, a slew of new streaming channels and the success of Captain Marvel at the box office — despite concentrated efforts from certain quarters to drag down the film’s ratings. It’s all here on PTJ 303, where we also have our annual guide to helping your friends and family avoid tax-season scams this spring.
Links to News Stories on This Week’s Show
- Here’s how we can break up Big Tech (Elizabeth Warren on Medium)
- Elizabeth Warren vows to break up tech giants if elected in 2020 (BBC News)
- A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking (Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook)
- Facebook says the future is private messaging, not public posts (Columbia Journalism Review)
- This could be the beginning of the end for Facebook’s social network (Recode)
- The False Promise of Mark Zuckerberg’s Come-to-Jesus Manifesto (Vanity Fair)
- Combatting Vaccine Misinformation (Facebook Newsroom)
- Facebook sues Ukrainian quiz-makers for stealing user data with malware plugins (The Verge)
- SXSW Festival
- Sunshine Week
- The US Government Will Be Scanning Your Face At 20 Top Airports, Documents Show (BuzzFeed News)
- In New York City? Grab a BuzzFeed print newspaper, today only (Nieman Lab)
- Bicameral Democratic Leaders Unveil Save The Internet Act To Restore Net Neutrality Protections (House Committee on Energy & Commerce)
- Text of the “Save the Internet” Act (House Committee on Energy & Commerce)
- “I’m Just a Bill” (Schoolhouse Rock)
- Democrats unveil “Save The Internet Act” to restore net neutrality laws (NBC News)
- Colorado Senate passes bill to reinstate net neutrality regulations (Colorado Watchdog)
- Disney’s new streaming service will offer entire Disney Vault of classic films (Fast Company)
- NBC News Readies May Launch of Streaming-Video Service (Variety)
- Comedy Central Launches YouTube Originals Channel (Variety)
- Crew Dragon Splashes Down in Atlantic Ending First Commercial Crew Mission (NASA)
- Trolls Are Tanking Captain Marvel’s Rotten Tomatoes Reviews. But They Can’t Stop Its Box Office Haul (Fortune)
- Box Office: “Captain Marvel” Flies to Historic $153M in U.S., $455M Globally (The Hollywood Reporter)
Be On Guard This Tax Season
- IRS Dirty Dozen 2019 (Internal Revenue Service)
- Tax Scams / Consumer Alerts (Internal Revenue Service)
- How to know it’s really the IRS calling or knocking on your door (Internal Revenue Service)
- IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting (Treasury.gov)
- Automated calls requesting tax payments in the form of iTunes or other gift cards (Internal Revenue Service)
