Chris Nolan

Watching the Chinese government try to balance its desire to become a major player in the global networked economy while maintaining an authoritarian governing structure is a bit like watching a clumsy circus performer make his way across a tightrope. Hes probably going to fall off, but when—and why—hell make a wrong step is hard […]

Its beginning to feel like a weekly occurrence: A large company with sensitive employee or customer information—financial records, Social Security numbers—announces that its security has been breached. Theres a flurry of headlines and then a little pause. Then theres another announcement by another company. This week it was CitiGroups turn. The company said digital tape […]

Are CEOs going back to being heroes? Maybe. Just maybe. No ones ordering any shiny new armor or getting out the white stallions, but two events this week could mark the beginnings of a subtle shift in how politicians see government involvement in corporate scandal. The popular idea that all corporate behavior is, almost by […]

Federal funding for stem cell research may not happen soon, but its clear that staunch opposition to the idea is softening. And this could be a great example of just-in-time politicking. A week after a South Korean lab announced that it had successfully used human embryos to clone new stem cells, the U.S. House of […]

There are few things stranger—for a journalist—than seeing a well-respected columnist talk to an audience and tell listeners the story of their lives. But thats what happened last week when the New York Times International Affairs columnist, Tom Friedman, spoke to the annual meeting of TIE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) in Santa Clara, Calif. Friedman, who […]

The looming Congressional battle over copyright legislation got a whole lot hotter last week. Thats when the U.S. Circuit Court in Washington—not exactly a bunch of tech junkies—said that the Federal Communications Commission had overstepped its authority. The FCC doesnt have the legal right to require TVs or other devices to read special “broadcast flag” […]

Dan Glickman, a former congressman and a Cabinet member in the Clinton administration, took over as CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America last fall. Although Glickman didnt initiate the associations lawsuits, which have led to the U.S. Supreme Courts pending decision on the legal merits and ramifications of peer-to-peer file sharing, his brief […]

“Turn that thing off!” If your parents said it once, they said it a thousand times: Turn off the television and pay attention to something else. Now, in a new tech twist on a familiar idea, a couple of software sales guys are urging people to “turn off the PC.” Hoping to cash in on […]

One of the more persistent myths in Silicon Valley is that of the socially inept computer geek, the guy—theyre assumed to be almost all men—so involved in machinery that his view excludes everything else, particularly politics. This mythical engineer is either too geeky or too inept to really take part in the world around him. […]

Everybodys got it. Most people treasure it. And its in danger. For some its already been compromised. And everyones pretty sure their turn is coming. Privacy. Politicians have discovered that its not guaranteed, and theyre upset. Theyre not alone. Voters are upset because the big database companies are playing fast and loose with their information: […]

A firestorm of indignation lit up the string of independent Web sites known collectively as the “blogosphere” this weekend, creating a storm of e-mail and name-calling for a San Francisco City official who isnt even that well known in her native city. Its a lesson for the age of truly instant communication. One that can […]

If you listen carefully, you can hear a lot of folks outside the tech industry—and a few inside, too—asking an important question. Theyre asking it in courtrooms, in newspapers and before federal agencies and Congress, as one important facet of living in a networked society becomes clearer. “Whos in charge?” they demand. “In this new […]