Author: Andrea Monti

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Peter Doshi and vaccines data: “trust but verify

Peter Doshi’s (denied) request for access to the raw data of the vaccine trial published in the British Medical Journal is a starting point to analyse on the delicate relationship between science and the media by Andrea Monti  – Originally published in Italian by Scienza in rete

Those who practise the scientific method have the stubborn habit (incomprehensible to most) of drawing conclusions from the analysis of data according to the criteria of a research hypothesis and applying a method that allows the inter-subjective verifiability of the results.

This mental attitude is diametrically opposed to those who base their opinions and – worse – decisions on ‘trust’ (often turned into ‘faith’) and therefore on the authority of various eminences. I do not criticise this attitude in the religious sphere, but in the secular one, that of science, yes. If a dogma exists in the practice of science, it is that of the methodical doubt, together with that of the absence of certainty. An experimentally verified theory is valid as long as it is valid. It happened to give an example of which expertise overflows outside the laboratories, with Newton’s gravitation and quantum mechanics. Continue reading “Peter Doshi and vaccines data: “trust but verify”

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Questionable business models affect the perception of the new Facebook/Whatsapp Privacy Policy

Facebook changed its data management strategies and decided to use data generated by WhatsApp. The “people of the network” are up in arms. Many threaten to switch to Telegram or Signal. Some do so. Then everything goes back to the way it was. Originally published in Italian by Infosec.News

It is not the first time that ‘alarms’ about this or that fundamental right have provoked gut reactions that, in practice, translate into little. Once again, as shown by the many data theft cases by this or that multinational company, no one is shocked.

That is how it is, everyone thinks. However, does it have to be that way? Continue reading “Questionable business models affect the perception of the new Facebook/Whatsapp Privacy Policy”

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An early reading of the Facebook v Business Competence trials

Unfair competition by feature plagiarism. The Courts of Milan issue two verdict that might pose severe problems to the software industry by Andrea Monti – originally published in Italian by Diritto di internet

The two judgments of the Tribunal  and the Court of appeal of Milan rewrite the parameters for the assessment of software duplication in the context of deceptive conduct by favouring the external appearance (interface and functionality) over the traditional approach based on the comparison of the analysis (design) and the source code (implementation/expressive method).

The opportunity missed by the judgments, based as to the an on external similarities of the two pieces of software at issue, is to indicate how Article 2(I)(8) (which excludes from copyright protection

the ideas and principles underlying any element of a program, including those underlying its interfaces. The term program also includes the preparatory material for the design of the program itself

 and Art. 45 of Legislative Decree 30/05 which, in paragraph II, excludes the legal protection of mathematical methods (i.e. algorithms).

The effects of these decisions on the software industry, historically based precisely on the replication of functionalities, and the structure of liability under industrial law are still to be assessed.

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Where is the beef in the T&T (Twitter&Trump) outrage?

Some newspapers are outraged about the closure of the former US president’s account. Instead, they should re-think their role and contents they deliver by Andrea Monti – Originally published in Italian by Infosec.News

Frankly, it is hard to understand the outrage about Twitter & Trump and, in general, about the “power” of social networks to silence anyone.

Unlike newspapers, Twitter, Facebook and Google are private companies. They provide services against the acceptance of a contract. The contract gives them the power to accept as a customer whomever they want, to do what they want with the published content and to close accounts at will. Not unlike proprietary software producers who reserve the right to withdraw – at their discretion – the licence they have paid for, which is often very expensive.

Twitter & C. do nothing different from newspapers and ‘traditional’ media. Indeed, one could even say that the latter do worse, in the name of adherence to the ‘editorial line’. We witness political factionalism, superficial and coarse information, or ‘free inspirations’ from foreign newspapers passed off as original articles every day. Just as, daily, we witness the ‘usual celebrities’ talking about everything and anything on any television programme, even beyond their sectoral expertise. Continue reading “Where is the beef in the T&T (Twitter&Trump) outrage?”