the Mark Pike

Vint Cerf, one of the “fathers of the Internet”, recently wrote an op-ed titled “Internet Access Is Not a Human Right.”

I see what Vint Cerf is saying, but it’s a semantic trick. Access to information is technically the “human right” that advocates are striving for when trying to bridge the digital divide. To create headlines like this detracts from that goal, all to make what point?

“Improving the Internet is just one means, albeit an important one, by which to improve the human condition. It must be done with an appreciation for the civil and human rights that deserve protection — without pretending that access itself is such a right.” 

Yes, it’s just one means. But I don’t think those who seek more Internet access are doing so in a manner that lessens other civil and human rights movements.

Access to some essential information these days practically does require the Internet. Currently, 7 out of 10 people do not have internet access. The United Nations report Cerf references addresses this and analyzes the digital divide from both (a) lack of access to content; and, (b) lack of access to technical infrastructure.

Ultimately, the U.N. report finds that the Internet helps “enable individuals to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, but also a range of other human rights, and to promote the progress of society as a whole.”

I recently attended a friend-raiser A Human Right to explore solutions to provide access to more of the 5 billion people in the world without Internet access. One of the first jobs I had out of college was working at One Economy to help leverage technology to empower underserved communities. I’m passionate about continuing to make the world more open and connected through my current role at Facebook.

Thanks to Vint for helping build this thing to connect us. Let’s make sure everybody has a fair shot at using it. 

I wrote this paper in December 2008. Some of the topics came up recently in a discussion at work— and the media currently appears to be discussing the issue as well ever since a rock n’ roll star wrote a cease and desist letter to a presidential candidate. I thought I’d post it publicly in case anybody else is researching these type of matters. 

MEMORANDUM

TO: Prof. Marcus
FROM: Mark Pike
SUBJECT: Copyright and the 2008 Presidential Election

This memorandum seeks to clarify potential issues in the area of copyright law and the campaign advertising industry through a brief survey of the 2008 presidential election, applicable case law, and theory.

Because of competing interests, there is a clear tension between the First Amendment and copyright law— the former seeks to preserve the rights of free speech while the latter provides a limitation.

By highlighting the struggle of applying copyright law in a modern election, this memorandum aims to help candidates to effectively deliver their message and successfully navigate the challenges of intellectual property rights in the political context.

Questions Presented:

• Have advertisements traditionally received copyright protection?
• Do political ads satisfy the creative threshold?
• Which elements of political ads are eligible to receive copyright protection?
• How does the fair use doctrine apply to political ads?

Read more

My first major league baseball game was in 1987 in NYC to see my beloved Yankees. I’ve loved going to games ever since so I thought I’d put together a list of ballparks I’ve visited.

The stadiums and teams have changed over the years, but it’d be nice to eventually be able to say I’ve seen each franchise play at home at some point. I’m not necessarily trying to complete a collection here, but each unique visit brings its own sights, smells, sounds and memories.

A list of ballparks I’ve visited (last updated 5/15/11):

• Old Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees)
• New Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees)
• Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
• Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox)
• Olympic Stadium (Montreal Expos)
• RFK Stadium (Washington Nationals)
• Nationals Park (Washington Nationals)
• Rogers Centre (Toronto Blue Jays)
• Memorial Stadium (Baltimore Orioles)
• Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles)
• Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta Braves)
• U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox)
• Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs)
• Progressive Field (Cleveland Indians)
• Metrodome (Minnesota Twins)
• Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers)
• AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants)
• Oakland Coliseum (Oakland Athletics)

Complete list of MLB stadiums on Wikipedia.

About a month ago I had an idea for a feature that I wanted a travel website to implement. So I wrote them.

+++

Hi Kayak,

I love you.

I also love my long-distance girlfriend, which is why I’m writing you with the following feature request.

Cheapest way for person from city A to see person from city B. Sometimes the result will be person traveling from A to B. Other times it will be B to A. Finally, there’s the exciting option of city C (wherein both people travel). 

For context, my lovely lady lives in Cleveland and I live in San Francisco. If it’s overall cheaper for us to meet in Vegas, that’d be nice to know.

Keep up the good work.

Love,
Mark

+++

They wrote back the next day. 

+++ 

Hi Mark, 

What a great request (and if I may say so, it sounds like your girlfriend is a lucky woman).

Have you experimented with our custom airports search?  You can specify both CLE and SFO as the To airport and LAS, say, as the From:

http://www.kayak.com/flights/CLE,SFO,nearby-LAS,nearby/2011-04-08/2011-04-10

Or …

Have you played around with our Explore or Buzz features?

http://www.kayak.com/explore
http://www.kayak.com/buzz

I wish you the very best in your travel planning!

Kind regards and happy travels,
Kristin

+++

That’s some amazing customer service correspondence right there. Kayak, give Kristin a raise.

I’d still love it if they implemented my idea. But, in the mean time, I did some serious custom search exploring and found out that a long weekend in Austin, Texas was pretty affordable and looked like a great time.

Just got back from that trip to Austin and had a blast. BBQ, Barton Springs, lounging at Hotel San Jose— it was a perfect weekend vacation.

I recently received a few emails from students at my law school alma mater who were looking for career advice. I thought I’d go ahead and post one of my replies publicly in case anybody else was interested in it. I know I would have appreciated the opportunity to read about somebody else’s input during the grueling job search process. Hopefully this helps, and please feel free to get in touch if you’re interested in any of the work I’ve done.

Do you actually have a web/tech background?

Prior to law school, I wouldn’t say that I had a technology background in the computer science / coding sense. Throughout college, I was pretty fascinated by the web as a medium for sharing information. Napster was in its prime during my freshman year and I signed up for Facebook during my last week of classes. I dabbled in some HTML in between (and ever since). As this was happening, I was studying at Duke’s Public Policy school and became interested in technology from a policy perspective.

More generally, was there anything specific in your background (or a combination of factors) that you emphasized when you applied for the EPIC internship?

I emphasized that nearly every job I had after graduating from college had something to do with technology, policy, and the intersection of the two. While at the Center for American Progress, I worked in online communications and helped out with a lecture series on topics like net neutrality, creative commons, and the wealth of networks. Whether working with an innovative digital music distribution service, campaigning for a national election, or interning for a non-profit devoted to empowering technology, all of my employment experiences made me confident that I could research and write about everything from consumer privacy lawsuits, e-voting fraud, and the digital divide.

Based on the work you’ve done for each organization, how did your summer with EPIC compare?

My summer at EPIC (an EPIC summer) gave me the opportunity to work on a bunch of different issues. Each week the IPIOP fellows were given new and engaging assignments and we got to explore a lot of different subjects. As a watchdog group, a lot of what we did was staying up to date and reacting to new policy issues. It’s fast-paced, fun, and you feel like your contribution makes a difference both internally for the organization and for the larger cause.

My summer associate job was a great opportunity to learn about private practice. I researched case law and wrote memoranda on a variety of legal matters including technology, corporate, real estate, and contracts. I never knew what I’d be working on next, and that was exciting. But, the work itself was fairly traditional and I was more interested in working on cutting edge technology issues and bigger picture policy work— things that my current position provides.

My fellowship at DHS helped me get a feel for how larger government agencies operate. It felt very stable, but very slow moving. It was difficult to quantify the impact I was making in such a large organization and that can be disorienting. But, in reality, the work you do in these types of agencies do make a large impact. I was working in the procurement office, and I learned a lot about legislation and regulations that deal with competition issues.

Lastly, I’m curious about the kind of work you do now for Facebook. Your job title (Platform Operations, Specialist) sounds more like a tech position than a legal position. Is that correct, or are you involved with the legal side of the company?

My current position does not require extensive coding knowledge, but it does require some level of literacy in order to talk about the issues. A large part of my daily job is to communicate policies to the developer community in order to ensure the best possible Platform user experience. I work cross-functionally with a number of teams at Facebook, including the Legal group to discuss issues like privacy and intellectual property. I’m not of counsel, but I do use skills learned in law school regularly to provide analysis. I love my job and I’m excited by the work we do at Facebook.