#Tech Compliance

[century-solutions-group]

Technology Compliance

Fall into Technology Compliance! Just like training your pup, maintaining compliance is essential for a well-behaved business. Here are some helpful tips to keep your business in line: 

-Regular Audits: Conduct regular audits to ensure all systems are up-to-date and compliant with industry standards. 

-Employee Training: Train your team on compliance policies and procedures to prevent any accidental breaches. 

-Data Encryption: Encrypt sensitive data to protect it from unauthorized access. 

-Access Controls: Implement strong access controls to ensure only authorized personnel can access critical information. 

-Backup and Recovery: Regularly back up your data and have a recovery plan in place in case of a disaster. 

Stay compliant and keep your business running smoothly!  

#TechCompliance #CyberSecurity #BusinessTips #LegalTech #DataProtection #InformationSecurity – https://centurygroup.net/fall-into-technology-compliance-with-century-solutions-group/ 

[soranatus]

“Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy”

[eriexplosion]

The funny thing about Tech's "death" is that it's so flimsy you can actually bring him back in fic while staying completely canon compliant. We cut off directly after the Hemlock situation - you can bring him back in any way you want here.

What about the time skip? Well what the hell did it actually show us?

Omega didn't tell Hunter to keep an eye on Tech along with the other two. (She didn't mention Echo either.) You can excuse this a dozen ways. Tech keeps an eye on himself. He's with Phee much of the time and so not under Hunters Direct Responsibility. He didn't need to have an eye kept on him because he agreed with her decision to join the rebellion and the other two didn't. He's already actually WITH the rebellion.

You can come up with just as many reasons for her to still have his goggles - they're a good luck charm since it turned out he survived, they're a remembrance of how much was sacrificed because even without him being dead he was gone for a long while, they're just sentimental now because of the love they represent, Omega didn't feel right getting rid of them.

This isn't a "Oh canon is totally implying-" I know what canon is saying. But Star Wars itself has retconned much bigger things than this. You can absolutely consider your fic canon compliant and have a surviving Tech returning to his family. It at most contradicts authorial intent, not what's actually onscreen.

[ecrireverie]

another one on the flexi wings issue

[newttxt]

oh wise quip how do you get a job in the arts in this economy? (do you have any tips and tricks and tutorials?)

anon… i work in STEM… i cannot help you 😬

[woman-respecter]

people at work who i need to contact love being out of office. it is their favorite hobby.

[amberskyyking]

Great news Tech fam, its Bad Batch Day and I am still on my bullshit with no end in sight, so welcome to another installment of This Isn’t Over Till I Fucking Say So, our man is alive and loved and coming home and canon cannot stop meeee!!!!!!! 😈

Implications Of Being Alive

Chapter 6: Is This The Real Life (Is This Just Fantasy)?

***CW: Talk of decom/death, dehumanization, and past medical trauma***

CX-2 activated… or… or perhaps Tech awoke.

Because Echo was still here, still holding its hand, even. It distinctly remembered asking Echo to stay with him, and Echo had responded Of course, vod. Right now there’s nowhere else I’d rather be, exactly.

He had kept his word.

Omega was here again, too, just like Echo had said she would be. He could barely make out the bright yellow of her jacket and tuft of blonde hair without corrective eye lenses of some sort, but the soft snoring sounds from nearby alerted him to her presence, and when he squinted, he could tell it was her, slouched over in a chair with her mouth hanging open.

Tech must have woken up, which meant it was dreaming again. Not that it particularly minded. That meant it hadn’t been decommissioned yet. Besides, it had never been able to stop the dreams before, but they had usually been pleasant. It was still registering some residual pain, but it suspected that if it woke, that particular issue would become significantly more apparent.

For now, it would accept the glitches. They were allowing it him to see his family one last time, which was more than he deserved.

��Well, look who’s up,” Echo muttered softly. “How are you feeling, Tech?”

Tech considered the question a moment before responding.

“Improved,” he settled on. What lingering pain he was still experiencing paled in comparison to anything he had been subjected to earlier, though he couldn’t say that it was completely gone.

“That’s good to hear,” Echo replied with a warm grin. “You should be in a lot better shape now. Not every medic knows how to work with biomechanics, but I happen to know of a few good ones myself. We got you a few upgrades. Couple of your servos were fried and your prosthetic arm was practically slag after that explosion. Omega got some good hits in on you too, but they weren’t lethal. Thank the maker she was holding back,” He muttered the last part under his breath.

“I would have to agree,” Tech said, glancing back over to her sleeping form in the chair. Omega had shown significant improvement in form and strategy in their fight since he had seen her last. It was obvious that his brothers had continued her training, and with his own degrading body and mechanics, it seemed unlikely now that he could truly match her. “I would rather not be dead.”

Echo grinned a little at that, though something sad flickered behind his eyes as he did. “Yeah… We prefer you not dead too, vod.”

Tech wasn’t sure what to make of Echo’s expression, but he nodded, moving an arm to prop himself up a bit better but quickly became aware of something strange. The arm felt different. Despite Echo’s claims of his arm being practically slag, it was fully functional, but not at all familiar.

“Ah… We had to completely replaced that,” Echo said softly, noticing his apparent confusion. “Even if the old one wasn’t destroyed, it was pretty outdated. Then again, I’m one to talk.” He spun his scomp a couple times, making a small whirring sound with it, and chuckled softly. “It’s a good model though, I made sure of it. Comfortable interfacing. Customizable, too. I… Figure you’ll want to make some adjustments of your own, once we have you out of here.”

“That would be ideal,” Tech replied, lifting the new prosthetic close to his eyes to examine it. There were modifications he had made to his old one that would likely be missed, however, many of those had been due to necessity in order to prolong function. If this arm worked as intended already, duplicating what extra features he was missing wouldn’t take much effort. Perhaps there would even be room to install some experimental ones.

A sharp inhale from the corner chair pulled his attention from the arm and he twisted eagerly in the bed to face Omega.

“Mmm awake,” Omega yawned, blinking rapidly as she jerked upright in the chair. “Wha’d I miss, I… Tech!”

Tech gave her a small smile and a nod. “Hello, Omega.”

“How are you now?” She asked in a voice full of concern, practically tripping over herself to cross the room to his bedside. “Are you still hurting or is it better?”

“My pain levels have decreased significantly.”

“How’s the arm?”

“It will suffice. It merely needs some modifications to achieve maximum functionality. Nothing I cannot handle.”

“How’s your head?”

“I-”

“Slow down there, Omega,” Echo said soothingly. “Let’s not overwhelm him just yet.”

Omega nodded curtly and met Tech’s eyes. “Sorry.”

“No apology is needed,” Tech said wryly. “It is natural to be curious…”

But he trailed off as he spoke the words. Even for a dream, that was certainly not an approved sentiment. Then again, neither was cohorting with rebel insurgents, or wishing to postpone its own decommissioning. Tech’s brow furrowed in thought.

“I’m glad you still feel that way,” Echo said with just a hint of suspicion. “I… We… Do need to ask you a few, uh… Sensitive questions. We can take it slow, as long as you answer honestly.”

Tech hesitated a moment, but nodded.

“Alright,” Echo said uncomfortably. “We’re really glad to have you back, vod, but… You were clearly sent by the Empire to stop us. Probably to kill us. Including Omega,” Echo gestured to the girl with his scomp. “We need to know why.”

“And you can tell us, Tech,” Omega said earnestly. “It’s okay. We won’t judge you, and we aren’t going to let them hurt you anymore.”

Tech nodded cooperatively. There wasn’t any harm in telling them, considering none of this was even real, though he knew better to believe Omega’s promise that somehow these figments of his imagination could save him. “My orders were to locate and eliminate the rebels completing a munitions transfer on Terova led by Hera Syndulla or be terminated in the attempt,” He recited. “I… Failed. On both counts, apparently.”

“Good,” Echo said, his eyes flashing before he visibly attempted to calm himself.

Shock flickered on Omega’s face. “Yeah… They should never have asked that of you Tech, that’s… That’s wrong. But we weren’t even transferring munitions,” She said crossly. “It was relief aid. Just rations, and most of it was for refugees…”

“That… is not what my intel reported,” Tech mused.

“Well. That’s not surprising,” Echo said. “So they ordered you to kill a bunch of relief workers or die trying?”

“That is what I said,” Tech stated. Although, he had to admit, at least to himself, that when Echo put it that way, it did sound… Disturbing. Calling it as such may be considered treason, but at the least, the mission had been an ineffective use of available resources. Not that it was CX-2’s place to decide that or have an opinion on the matter. Colonel Bragg had to have her reasons.

“Then what is stopping you from trying to finish the job now?” Echo asked darkly.

Tech blinked up at him a couple of times, then at Omega, who seemed to be holding her breath. He shook head. There was nothing for them to worry about, not here.

“The mission is a failure,” Tech repeated himself. “I will be decommissioned shortly.”

“You won’t,” Echo said firmly, but Tech shook his head.

“It is, sadly, standard procedure. My tracker cannot be removed. When they locate my body, if it is still… Functioning,” He chose the word carefully, it was important to be accurate when articulating these sorts of things to avoid unnecessary confusion, “I will be-”

“They won’t find you,” Echo snarled, his face contorting into something dark and vicious, giving Tech pause. “Hemlock may have designed it so removing that thing would kill you, but I made damn sure that the Empire can’t use it to find you anymore. You’re safe, Tech.” He let out a short breathy sigh and ran a hand over his bald head. When he spoke next his voice sounded softer and a little bit choked. “I told you, we’re not letting them take you back. Ever. And I’m sorry we ever let them get to you in the first place…”

Omega put a gentle hand on Echo’s back as he took a moment, covering his eyes with his hand. “Is… Is that all?” She asked hopefully. “The orders are gone so you’re just… you… again?”

Tech looked between the pair of them in confusion and concern. “I… Do not believe it is that simple… Or particularly relevant, here.”

“He’s not the only one they’ve turned against us, ‘Mega,” Echo muttered. “He’s right… It’s never that simple.”

“We’ll figure it out together then,” Omega said firmly. “You’re not alone anymore, Tech.”

That… would be nice.

But it wasn’t really true, was it?

“Tech?” Omega said his name again quietly.

Tech raised his eyes to meet hers. They were golden and sparkling and lifelike, just like in his malfunctions memories, but… That’s all this was. It was all just memories, fragments of his past manifesting themselves with whatever synapses were still firing in its brain and sending it these strange signals, creating the comfortable medical room and the advanced new prosthetic arm and dulling its pain. Omega and Echo acted so much like themselves because that’s how it knew them, that’s how he recognized them, but it wasn’t them.

They weren’t here. He was still alone. And he it shouldn’t care about such things anyways, it wasn’t allowed to, it wasn’t really alive and it would be dead soon anyways so what did any of this matter?!

The realization shouldn’t make a lump form in its throat or the heart monitor go off either. It squinted its eyes shut and shrank back into the bed as the noise pulsed maddeningly overhead, willing it all to just go away.

“Easy there Tech,” It heard Echo’s voice from overhead, and the same as last time it felt a hand slip into its own as if to draw it back, but a sharp jolt cut through his insides as he did. Whatever they were looking for in him, their effort was wasted. There was nothing of him for them to fight for. Everything it used to be back when it had a family and a purpose had been scooped out and shredded, there was just a hole in its psyche where the malfunctions that remained could reverberate off empty walls, taunting it, like they were now. Its actions proved as much. If that family even still lived after years of opposing the Empire, if they ever saw what their brother had truly become, they would want nothing to do with it. Those people had been good and kind. They had fought for each other, taken difficult stances against impossible odds, been loyal to one another, held up situations to a set of morals rather than simply to orders and taken action to protect the innocent and vulnerable from exploiters throughout the galaxy, even when they themselves had struggled to survive.

And CX-2… CX-2 hadn’t been that way for ten years.

It had been helping to build the very Empire that imprisoned and tested on the Clone Troopers who won it the war. It had hunted down insurgents of all kinds without question, using its ruthless efficiency, tactical cunning and fighting prowess to kill countless people. Whether or not they were innocent never mattered. It knew several had been civilians and that never made a difference. If Omega was to be believed, even its latest mission had resulted in destruction and possibly even death solely to stop people from delivering food and medical supplies to compromised populations. Such a thing couldn’t even be justified as a threat to the Empire, if it was true, and CX-2 hadn’t bothered to determine whether or not it was.

It killed all those clones on Teth.

It cut off Crosshair’s hand and taunted him as it did.

It even tried on its final mission to execute Omega!

“Talk to us, Tech,” Omega’s voice spoke soothingly overhead, making its stomach twist into knots. “Can you tell us what you need? We just need to know, we can help.”

“You can’t,” CX-2 choked out bitterly.

“We can, and we will. Whatever you need, we love you-”

“You’re not real!”

The words left its mouth and the tension in its chest crumbled like wet flimsi. It hurt to acknowledge as much, but pretending this was anything other than what it was would only hurt worse when reality came crashing back.

“You’re not real… None of this is real,” It repeated. “You can’t help me or save me so stop - Stop saying that you can…”

Whichever one of them was holding its hand tightened their grip and it opened its eyes. Both of them wore matching expressions of horror and shock, but… But of course they did… The people in its memories would be upset to hear it talk like that…

Echo nodded demurely, and Omega’s eyes shone with unshed tears, but she gulped hard and steeled her expression first. “So… what do you think is happening?” She asked, her voice wavering just a touch.

“All of this… It only exists in my mind. It’s a… A malfunction…”

“Uh huh,” She said, looking him fiercely in the eyes, though her voice somehow grew calmer. “So like a… A vision? A fantasy? dream?”

“It… It is more likely a dream…” It replied, wondering where this was going. A dream did sound more probable, given the circumstances. Its body ought to be unconscious back on Terova, whatever state it was in. Echo was giving Omega a miserable, quizzical look, but she didn’t break CX-2 Tech’s gaze.

“Okay. If it’s a dream, then… What happens when you wake up?”

Tech’s eyes went wide with fear. “I-”

“I don’t mean where are you going to wake up,” Omega said steadily. “Or what will happen to you. You don’t know if the Empire has found you yet. I mean what will you do? What choices will you make if you have the chance to make them?”

Tech opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. He… Wasn’t sure. It really depended on his circumstance, didn’t it? The question would be entirely useless if he woke up in the Empire’s clutches again, or if they decommissioned him before he woke up at all. He hadn’t considered the possibility that the Empire would delay looking for him, though, that he might have to choose how to proceed.

“I… Would return to Colonel Bragg,” It said slowly.

“Is that what you want to do?” Omega asked gently.

“No,” Tech responded without hesitation. “I want to stay here.”

His answer surprised him a bit, but then again, it was true. That was what he wanted, even if he wasn’t supposed to, even if it was impossible. Echo seemed slightly surprised as well, jerking his head up with wet cheeks and a hopeful glint in his eyes.

Omega gave him a small grin, but she alone seemed unfazed by the admission, and when she spoke her voice was still strong. “Do you want to see your brothers again, too?”

“I-” Tech started, but his voice caught in his throat as several questions tore through his mind like razors. He did, of course he did, that should be obvious, but - but were they still alive? Were they safe? Would his tracker attract the Empire to them if they were or had Echo really disabled it? After ten years would there even be room for an unexpected guest in their domicile, nonetheless after he blew up the ship that served as their last one? And did… Did they even want him back, after everything he had done?

“Tech,” Echo said, giving his hand another trembling squeeze. “They want to see you… They’ve missed you so badly. You… You have no idea.”

Tech took several breaths, parsing out everything he knew and turning those words over in his mind as if to analyze them. No matter which way he looked at them, though, it didn’t change his answer to Omega’s question. The heart monitor beeped a couple of times just before he opened his mouth to give his answer.

“I do want to see them,” He conceded, his eyes flickering between Omega and Echo in anticipation. “If that is true. That they… Want me back.”

There was something fragile in his voice when he said it, but Echo nodded warmly at him and lifted Tech’s hand in his own, touching both their knuckles to his cheek with a small sniffle. Omega’s face broke into a blinding smile, even as she finally blinked the tears from her eyes and hastily wiped them away with the edge of her sleeve.

“They do. I promise,” She said brightly. “I think the medics want to run just a couple more tests on you to make sure you’re healing well enough to travel, but as soon as that’s done, I can bring you home.”

---

Tech hadn’t been sure what to make of their conversation from before. Even as the medics returned to test his mobility, check his vitals, and attend to his surgical sites, the idea of going home seemed strangely surreal. If this were a dream it would make more sense to simply skip to that part rather than be subjected to these tests. For one awful moment, he had realized the possibility of his body being tested on in real life, all the cold pricks and sharp prods a mental manifestation of whatever final experiment Colonel Bragg was subjecting him to prior to his decommissioning. If that were the case he might not make it to his brothers again after all, he may run out of time, the world could go black and he may never see their faces!

The heart monitor went off again and Echo talked him through those particular fears, shooting impatient glares at the medics as Tech did his best to focus on Echo rather than his thoughts or all the unpleasant sensations, and suddenly it was over. Tech was vaguely aware of someone declaring him fit to be released, but Omega let out a cheer and helped him down from the bed, and then they were walking, Echo on one side and Omega on the other. The pair of them led him through ship halls that were far from imperial, passing people who Tech could too easily imagine having on the other end of his blaster. They reached the hangar and boarded a ship Tech knew he had just shot down, one that bore an uncanny resemblance to the Marauder in places, and yet it wasn’t. It couldn’t be… He had destroyed that ship ages ago, after dedicating so much of his own time and care into its maintenance and customization…

“Welcome back to the Havoc Zillo!” Omega said enthusiastically, gesturing around the inside of the ship with pride. “She’s fully functional again so don’t worry about a thing. The trip is a shorter one. Hope you still like varos flavored rations.”

Tech nodded, looking around the ship in a bit of a daze. A droid waddled towards him with frantic, familiar sounding gonk gonk’s.

“I know, Gonky!” Omega grinned. “He’s starting to do better, I’m excited too.”

The GNK droid stopped just short of colliding with Tech and leaned itself forward towards his hand. Tech obliged with a small, warm smile of his own, resting the mechanical arm on it’s oversized top, and it let out a series of soft gngngngngngnk’s.

“Aww. He remembers you,” Echo crooned.

“Droids memory banks are not like sentients. Their data recall is significantly-”

“Oh I know, Tech,” Echo chuckled. “It’s still sweet.”

Omega had skipped her way to the cockpit already and the outer door hissed shut behind them. For a moment Tech grasped at the nearest console to steady himself as she prepared for takeoff, but he barely felt the lurch as they left the ground and the ship left the hangar behind.

She had learned well, after all.

For a second, Tech gazed at the blur that was the back of her head down the hall, considering it. This was a dream, it had to be, but… This Omega was older than in his memories, no longer the naive adolescent female who chose to sit with them in the cafeteria and picked a food fight in their defense. Granted, she had grown beyond that well before his time with the Empire, but this was something else entirely. Even if what he was seeing now wasn’t real… He hoped that the young girl he knew back then had gotten the chance to grow into someone like this. His brothers deserved the chance to raise her this way, even if he never got to see it.

Then, his eyes slid just past her, to a place on the console where a blurry object sat, glinting against the black expanse of space in the viewport behind it.

“Those are yours,” Echo said softly at his side. “Do you want to see them?”

Tech wasn’t quite sure what to say, he couldn't even see what the object was with his poor quality eyesight, but the statement made curiosity flare up inside him, and he nodded. Echo got up and crossed over to the cockpit, whispering a couple of things to Omega before taking the little item in his one hand and returning.

Echo held them out, and Tech recognized them at once.

“My goggles,” Tech said in astoundment, taking them gingerly in his hands. He had seen them before in the memories but they really did feel familiar in his hands now, too. Both the lenses were shattered and one was missing several chunks, they wouldn’t function without significant repairs but… But they were his.

Nothing had been his in years. It shouldn’t matter, he knew it in his head, but somehow it did. This should be a dream but the familiarity of something that was his own in his hands just felt so real, and if this was real…

Through the gap in the hall Tech saw as the color outside the cockpit changed from pitch black to fuzzy streaks of blue as Omega put the ship into hyperspace, and his breath caught in his throat.

“You should know,” Echo said under his breath, “Even if you weren’t there… She never flew without you.”

He nodded at Echo’s words, unable to speak, and held the goggles close to his chest, just in case they were real.

Link to the full story written in full fledged domicile angst here: Implications Of Being Alive

Please scream in my comments or something, I live for validation I guess, it’s fine 🫠❤️

Oh and I guess I should do a tag list for this, maybe? If that’s wanted? Lemme know if I should and if you wanna be on it!!!

[burritosandpeppermint]

Just in case you were curious or were unaware, tech companies are absolutely trying to pivot to any and all internal "AI" use possible, and are banking on success stories to continue to sell "AI" and keep shareholders excited.

And I put quotes around the term because it's not what it says it is. It just isn't. It's a complex bot; it neither thinks nor understands nor comprehends nor predicts anything "automagically" (are you old enough to remember that term?).

In the long run it won't work because you still need human beings to parse what machines can't, and they'll spend more money on "AI" than on hiring and training people who can detect and use nuance and gut feelings to do their work and get things done...

But none of that matters because...tech companies are absolutely trying to pivot to any and all internal "AI" use possible, and are banking on success stories to continue to sell "AI" and keep shareholders excited.

[shi1498912]

sorry to derail, but this pisses me off...

THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE "HARD" SCIENCES YOU FUCKING BUFFOON, IF NOT MORE SO! SO GTF OUTTA HERE WITH YOUR "ThE lOsT wOrKs WoUlD hAvE bEeN iNtErStInG tO hIsToRiAnS, bUt ThAt'S aBoUt It" BULLSHIT THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES DEVELOP OUR MINDS TO BE MORE OPEN AND UNDERSTANDING OF ONE-ANOTHER, SO THAT WE CAN PROGRESS TOGETHER! HELP US UNDERSTAND THE WORLD AROUND US IN WAYS THAT THE MATERIAL SCIENCES WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO!

All sciences are, if you really think about it, a philosophical endeavor, and philosophy in turn is considered to be a part of the Arts and Humanities!

All of this is correct. No notes.

[savvyhrms8]

Beyond the Chaos: Why Every Business Needs Statutory Software

Running a business is a bit like juggling fire; exhilarating and intoxicating but one mishap or poor judgement can severely burn you. While you're busy and committed to earning sales and bringing other employees up to speed, developing new products and services, you likely never think about compliance, but it’s there. A silent, ticking time bomb quietly burning away in the background. One improperly submitted remittance or tax return or one missed deadline, and you'll quickly be buried under penalties and fees to recover from just having been ignorant of the rules. This is where statutory software can step in and quietly save the day.

Think about it. With a system that brings every deadline for different types of taxes or labour laws or regulatory changes into your view, and does it automatically, how easy or simple will it be? No more trying to figure out if the amendments you were sent relates to your compliance. Statutory software isn't just another tool; it's peace of mind in a digital experience.

Statutory compliance management software gives businesses the ability to manage chaos. To provide information in a way that aligns your organization with rules that are often communicated without warning. Statutory software is not a public facing asset or service. It is like the stage crew that operates in the background of a play never having the applause but integral to the ability of the show to happen.

Businesses will consistently put time, money and effort into branding, advertising, sales, and forget that one compliance notice can wipe away 3 months of sales revenue or diminished product or service trust. This is not about being a wimp about compliance; it is about being pro-active and putting your business on the lead of the changes as opposed to catching up to them when the storm hits.

If your business feels like it is racing in ten directions, stop. Let statutory software handle the many complexities of law and regulation so you can spend your time building, growing, and leading, which is ultimately, what you love most to do.

Because in the end, peace of mind is the real profit in business.

[pauljonessoftware]

11 Lessons I Didn’t Know I Was Signing Up for When I Built My First SaaS

When I set out to build my first SaaS product, I thought the hardest part would be writing clean code. I figured the technical decisions would carry the most weight — choose the right stack, organize the database, write good tests, ship features. I had no idea I was about to get a crash course in business, legal strategy, pricing, communication, and product thinking. Here are 11 lessons I…

[ecrireverie]

[jcmarchi]

NO FAKES Act: AI deepfakes protection or internet freedom threat?

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/no-fakes-act-ai-deepfakes-protection-or-internet-freedom-threat/

NO FAKES Act: AI deepfakes protection or internet freedom threat?

Critics fear the revised NO FAKES Act has morphed from targeted AI deepfakes protection into sweeping censorship powers.

What began as a seemingly reasonable attempt to tackle AI-generated deepfakes has snowballed into something far more troubling, according to digital rights advocates. The much-discussed Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act – originally aimed at preventing unauthorised digital replicas of people – now threatens to fundamentally alter how the internet functions.

The bill’s expansion has set alarm bells ringing throughout the tech community. It’s gone well beyond simply protecting celebrities from fake videos to potentially creating a sweeping censorship framework.

From sensible safeguards to sledgehammer approach

The initial idea wasn’t entirely misguided: to create protections against AI systems generating fake videos of real people without permission. We’ve all seen those unsettling deepfakes circulating online.

But rather than crafting narrow, targeted measures, lawmakers have opted for what the Electronic Frontier Foundation calls a “federalised image-licensing system” that goes far beyond reasonable protections.

“The updated bill doubles down on that initial mistaken approach,” the EFF notes, “by mandating a whole new censorship infrastructure for that system, encompassing not just images but the products and services used to create them.”

What’s particularly worrying is the NO FAKES Act’s requirement for nearly every internet platform to implement systems that would not only remove content after receiving takedown notices but also prevent similar content from ever being uploaded again. Essentially, it’s forcing platforms to deploy content filters that have proven notoriously unreliable in other contexts.

Innovation-chilling

Perhaps most concerning for the AI sector is how the NO FAKES Act targets the tools themselves. The revised bill wouldn’t just go after harmful content; it would potentially shut down entire development platforms and software tools that could be used to create unauthorised images.

This approach feels reminiscent of trying to ban word processors because someone might use one to write defamatory content. The bill includes some limitations (e.g. tools must be “primarily designed” for making unauthorised replicas or have limited other commercial uses) but these distinctions are notoriously subject to interpretation.

Small UK startups venturing into AI image generation could find themselves caught in expensive legal battles based on flimsy allegations long before they have a chance to establish themselves. Meanwhile, tech giants with armies of lawyers can better weather such storms, potentially entrenching their dominance.

Anyone who’s dealt with YouTube’s ContentID system or similar copyright filtering tools knows how frustratingly imprecise they can be. These systems routinely flag legitimate content like musicians performing their own songs or creators using material under fair dealing provisions.

The NO FAKES Act would effectively mandate similar filtering systems across the internet. While it includes carve-outs for parody, satire, and commentary, enforcing these distinctions algorithmically has proven virtually impossible.

“These systems often flag things that are similar but not the same,” the EFF explains, “like two different people playing the same piece of public domain music.”

For smaller platforms without Google-scale resources, implementing such filters could prove prohibitively expensive. The likely outcome? Many would simply over-censor to avoid legal risk.

In fact, one might expect major tech companies to oppose such sweeping regulation. However, many have remained conspicuously quiet. Some industry observers suggest this isn’t coincidental—established giants can more easily absorb compliance costs that would crush smaller competitors.

“It is probably not a coincidence that some of these very giants are okay with this new version of NO FAKES,” the EFF notes.

This pattern repeats throughout tech regulation history—what appears to be regulation reigning in Big Tech often ends up cementing their market position by creating barriers too costly for newcomers to overcome.

NO FAKES Act threatens anonymous speech

Tucked away in the legislation is another troubling provision that could expose anonymous internet users based on mere allegations. The bill would allow anyone to obtain a subpoena from a court clerk – without judicial review or evidence – forcing services to reveal identifying information about users accused of creating unauthorised replicas.

History shows such mechanisms are ripe for abuse. Critics with valid points can be unmasked and potentially harassed when their commentary includes screenshots or quotes from the very people trying to silence them.

This vulnerability could have a profound effect on legitimate criticism and whistleblowing. Imagine exposing corporate misconduct only to have your identity revealed through a rubber-stamp subpoena process.

This push for additional regulation seems odd given that Congress recently passed the Take It Down Act, which already targets images involving intimate or sexual content. That legislation itself raised privacy concerns, particularly around monitoring encrypted communications.

Rather than assess the impacts of existing legislation, lawmakers seem determined to push forward with broader restrictions that could reshape internet governance for decades to come.

The coming weeks will prove critical as the NO FAKES Act moves through the legislative process. For anyone who values internet freedom, innovation, and balanced approaches to emerging technology challenges, this bears close watching indeed.

(Photo by Markus Spiske)

See also: The OpenAI Files: Ex-staff claim profit greed betraying AI safety

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