Today’s links How tech does regulatory capture: An extremely frank and open look inside the ugliest of sausage-factories. Red Team Blues Chapter One, part two: How Danny Lazer came back from the brink. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading How tech does regulatory capture (permalink) If you want to know which industries have the most influence in DC, study the trade deals struck by the US Trade Representative, whose activities are the most obvious manifestation of American corporate power over state. Take the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). As David Dayen notes, this treaty is a kind of Big Tech wishlist: https://prospect.org/power/2023-04-18-big-tech-lobbyists-took-over-washington/ The USTR’s playbook has changfed over the years, reflecting the degree of control over the US government exerted by different sectors of the US economy. Today, with Big Tech in the driver’s seat, US trade deals embody something called the “digital trade agenda,” a mix of policies ranging from limiting liability, privacy protection, competition law, and data locatization. The Digital Trade Agenda is a relatively new phenomenon. A decade ago, when the USTR went abroad to twist the arms of America’s trading partners, the only “digital” part of the agenda was obligations to spy on users and to swiftly remove materials claimed to have violated US media monopolies’ copyright. But as the tech sector grew more concentrated, they were able to seize a greater share America’s trade priorities. One person…Pluralistic: How tech does regulatory capture; Part 2 of the Red Team Blues serial (18 Apr 2023)