This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro

This week, the business landscape in which big tech companies operate dramatically shifted, as juries in two different states awarded big monetary judgements to plaintiffs who alleged the social media giants Meta and Google were harming children.

While the two cases—one in California, and the other; in New Mexico–were similar, they were not the same.

So, to get some clarity on what was claimed in each, and how the juries made their decisions; I talked about it with University of Akron Visiting Law Professor, Jess Miers.

Miers focuses on the intersection of law and technology,  has actually worked in the tech industry, and has done a great deal of research on issues including online speech, the federal law that has protected big tech from legal judgements for decades known as Section 230, AI, cybercrime, and more:

AI continues to stir controversy nationwide this week, as more communities, including some in Ohio, are pushing back against huge data centers that support AI, which use a lot of resources, but bring very few jobs to the communities in which they are located.

In addition, despite all the hype about how great AI will be for efficiency and possible advances in many areas including science and medicine; there are growing concerns about job losses, with thousands already cut from big Tech companies like Meta, Amazon, Oracle, Pinterest, and eBay.

There is also concern that the US Postal Service might run out of money in the next year, because of long-term, and expanding financial problems, exacerbated this week by the news that Amazon, which is their largest customer, is reducing the number of packages it plans to have delivered through USPS.

We've also got a story about how analog vinyl records, which have become increasingly popular among young people raised in the digital age, are now smashing sales records going back decades.

Listen now.

Why Anthropic is suing the US government, a solemn reminder of how even the most advanced technology is no match for Mother Nature, and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's plea for protecting children from the harmful effects of technology.

That's what's on tap in the latest edition of "This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro."

Listen now.

As the US gears up for a possible military confrontation with Iran; the federal government has issued a warning for US companies and government agencies, to tighten up cyber defenses to ensure our networks here at home, can withstand possible state-sponsored cyber attacks.

But though the current buildup of military force against Iran is fairly recent; our adversarial relationship with that country goes back many years, perhaps exemplified best by the release of the Stuxnet worm that sabotaged Iran's nuclear program, in 2011.

Listen now to find out more, and also what you can do right now, to harden your company or government agency’s defenses against persistent threats from Iran.

More smart traffic cameras, better coordinated Emergency response, and smoother bus rides are all on the way within the year, as Summit County's $50 million dollar, high speed broadband fiber ring network project nears completion.

That's the word today from Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro's Chief of Staff, Brian Nelsen, who is our featured guest on this week's edition of This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro.

Listen now for more information on how getting all of the county's governmental agencies and municipalities hooked up to high speed fiber is going to improve their operations, and what that means for you.