CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. TECHNOLOGY
Tech consultants raise concerns that public Internet access points may pose a threat to a user’s privacy.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Technology Policy Analyst Cord Blomquist on the difference between private and government networks:
The incentives for…companies [to safeguard customers’ privacy] seem fairly obvious. If people are going to be Wi-Fi users they need to feel safe and encryption technology is a way to do this. Customers stay safe and continue to use the service, making AT&T, T-Mobile and other providers money. Do municipal setups have the same incentives? Depending on the financial structure of such a system I can see how there would be little incentive to provide security software or other safeguards to users. Yet these Muni-Fi services would still distort the market, making it less likely for companies – that might be affected by privacy concerns – to invest in those areas.
2. BUSINESS
Members of Congress propose a tax increase for private equity and hedge fund managers.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow John Berlau compares pay for corporate managers to that of celebrity athletes:
Politicians and pundits love to ‘bend it’ when it comes to stoking resentment about what they call excessive pay for corporate executives. Yet not even the most populist pol is screaming about the inequality of the contract that will pay David Beckham more in one season than the average Los Angeles Galaxy fan will earn in a working lifetime. And Beckham doesn’t just make more than ordinary soccer players. His take-home pay also greatly exceeds that of most corporate CEOs. According to the Corporate Library, a group critical of executive pay practices, the average CEO of a company in the Standard & Poor’s 500 made $14.78 million in 2006 in total compensation, including benefits and perks such as stock options.
3. SAFETY
United Nations food safety officials agree to leave the controversial “precautionary principle” out of future rulings.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Food Safety Policy Gregory Conko on the implications of the decision:
Opposition to the precautionary principle is typically viewed as a ‘big chemical’ and ‘big biotech’ phenomenon. Ironically, though, the people most responsible for this win include many among the ‘crunchiest’ of greens: dietary supplement users and the supplement industry.
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
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