The news is full of warnings that our political and economic systems are broken. But that doesn’t mean everything is off the rails. Consider two events this week where judges and regulators got it right, and made critical decisions that will benefit both companies and consumers in the long run.
The first was a thunderbolt decision in which a unanimous appeals court in New York ruled the U.S. government can’t use a domestic warrant to force Microsoft to turn over emails stored on servers in Ireland. The ruling underscores, like never before, how American courts are growing concerned with due process when it comes to data, and are demanding Congress modernize out-of-date privacy laws.
In any case, the decision is also a coup for Microsoft, which went out on a legal limb in the case, and won support in court from its rivals across the cloud and tech industries.
The other piece of good news is that the European Commission formally blessed the Privacy Shield deal that will let companies move data back and forth between the U.S. and the European Union. The pact was far from a sure thing, and the passing of the deal averts a regulatory Armageddon in which American cloud companies like Facebook and Amazon could have been forced out of Europe because of their data-handling policies.
Taken together, the events reflect a growing awareness that cloud computing is now central to our social and economic lives, and that government authorities see a need to create legal structures to help it thrive.
Jeff John Roberts is a writer at Fortune. Follow him on Twitter or reach him via email.
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BITS AND BYTES
Get in Line to cheer this year's biggest tech IPO. Shares in the company behind the popular Japanese messaging service born in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami jumped 26% in their Thursday trading debut. The company's initial public offering raised more than $1.14 billion in Tokyo and New York earlier this week. (New York Times, Fortune)
Tech leaders lambaste Trump. More than 140 executives and entrepreneurs, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar, and IAC chairman Barry Diller, criticized presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as a "disaster for innovation." Among their main concerns: his policies for immigration. (Fortune, New York Times)
Google's antitrust defenses falter. It has until September to respond to a third complaint filed this week as well as questions over how it licenses it mobile operating system Android. So far, though, European antitrust officials aren't impressed by its arguments, and the potential for stiff fines is very real. (Fortune)
Peter Thiel's speech is strictly personal. Facebook wants you to know that it has nothing to do with its controversial board member's upcoming keynote at the Republican national convention. (Fortune)
Facebook barely budges on diversity. It hired slightly more women last year, but the percentage of its U.S. workforce represented by blacks and Hispanics remained the same. It blames a lack of available talent, a theme sounded often by COO Sheryl Sandberg. (Wall Street Journal, Reuters)
No, Apple is not buying a movie studio. The company's senior vice president, Eddie Cue, shoots down persistent rumors that it wants to compete with Netflix or Comcast. But it will advise creative ventures that could benefit Apple Music and other content distribution channels. (Fortune)
Amazon buys hot cloud startup. It just snapped up Cloud9, which specializes in software development tools. Something to watch: how this acquisition affects Cloud9's close partnership with Google's cloud services group. (Fortune)
It looks like final bids for Yahoo are due Monday. The suitors still include telecommunications giants Verizon and AT&T, several private equity firms, and the Quicken Loans co-founder Dan Gilbert. The company could fetch around $6 billion. (New York Times)
FCC approves spectrum for 5G networks. Verizon expects to begin trials of far-faster wireless services in 2017. The next-generation technology, which could see broad adoption by 2020, is seen as critical for applications involving the Internet of things. (Reuters)
Get ready for cardless ATMs. Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo are readying services that will enable smartphone apps to authenticate cash withdrawals. (Bloomberg)
Couldn't attend this week's jam-packed Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference? Here's your complete coverage guide.
THE DOWNLOAD
'Founder’s mentality' is one of business' 'most undervalued secrets.' Growth creates complexity, and complexity is the silent killer of growth. This paradox explains why only about one company in nine has sustained more than a minimum level of profitable growth during the past decade, and why 85% of executives blame internal factors for their shortfall, not external ones beyond their control. The roots of sustained performance start deep inside, and they are predictable.
That's the central thesis of Bain & Co. strategy leads Chris Zook and James Allen in their latest book, The Founder’s Mentality: How to Overcome the Predictable Crises of Growth. Read an excerpt on Fortune.com.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Why Atlassian Bought StatusPage, the Top Specialist in Cloud Downtime Reports, by Heather Clancy
Grown-Up Solar Industry Looks to Lower Costs Through Tech, by Katie Fehrenbacher
Google Will Host New Gaming Festival in September, by Jonathan Vanian
Pinterest Scoops Up Team Behind Short-Lived Hit Highlight, by Kia Kokalitcheva
What Pokémon Go Can Teach Businesses, by Betsy Page Sigman
Why Tablets Are Showing Up in Restaurants, by Larissa Zimberoff
This New Google Camera Could Be Your New Watchdog, by Barb Darrow
Silicon Valley Could Do More to Stop Gun Deaths, But It Isn't, by Dan Primack
ONE MORE THING
Another very good reason to use all of your vacation time. There's a correlation between how many days you use and how likely you are to get a raise or promotion. In the case of American workers, more begets more. (Fortune)
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Sage Summit: For fast-growth businesses. (July 25-28; Chicago)
Gartner Catalyst: Takeaways for technical professionals. (Aug. 15-18; San Diego)
Oktane 16: Explore the role identity plays in connecting people and technology. (Aug. 29-31; Las Vegas)
BoxWorks: Box's annual customer conference. (Sept. 6-8; San Francisco)
Women in Product: A gathering of experienced female product managers. (Sept. 13; Menlo Park, Calif.)
Oracle OpenWorld: The future of the cloud is now. (Sept. 18-22; San Francisco)
Gigaom Change: 7 transformational technologies. (Sept. 21-23; Austin)
Workday Rising: Talent management in the cloud. (Sept. 26-29; Chicago)
Microsoft Ignite: Product road maps and innovation. (Sept. 26-30; Atlanta)
Dreamforce: The Salesforce ecosystem meets. (Oct. 4-7; San Francisco)
Gartner Symposium/ITexpo: A gathering of CIOs and senior IT leaders. (Oct. 16-20; Orlando, Fla.)
DellWorld: Dell's annual global customer conference. (Oct. 18-20; Austin, Texas)
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing: The world's largest gathering of women technologists. (Oct. 19-21; Houston)
Drone World Expo: Commercial apps for unmanned aircraft. (Nov. 15-16; San Jose, Calif.)
AWS re:Invent: Amazon's annual cloud conference. (Nov. 28-Dec. 2; Las Vegas)
