Digital Sovereignty Should be Earned, Not Legislated
‘Digital sovereignty’ has become one of the most-used phrases in Brussels and one of the more debated ones. At its core, it refers to Europe's ability to control the technologies, data, and infrastructure it depends on, reducing dependency on non-European providers and strengthening the EU's capacity to set its own technological course. But views diverge on how to get there. For some, it's mainly about rules: requiring that certain data stay on European servers, that public administrations buy European [...]
REPORT: Asia-Pacific is at a Crossroads
The Region’s Digital Platform Regulation Choices Will Shape the Future of the Digital Economy for Startups and Small Tech Innovators WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) released a new analysis of the state of digital platform regulation in the Asia-Pacific region. The analysis highlights trends in policy making, forecasts the near-term impacts, and makes recommendations for improving the policy environment to drive growth in startups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). With some of the [...]
Inside IAPP’s Personal, Private, Protected: The Future of Youth Personalization
As online safety debates intensify in Congress and across state legislatures, policymakers are increasingly grappling with how to balance privacy, personalization, and the protection of children online. Against this backdrop, the IAPP hosted its Global Privacy Summit 2026, an annual gathering of privacy and AI professionals focused on policy developments and the legal and regulatory implications of emerging technologies. One panel, titled “Personal, Private, Protected: The Future of Youth Personalization,” brought together child development researchers, small business advocates, and [...]
In Unanimous Decision UK Supreme Court Safeguards Innovation & Competition
Ruling in Tesla v. InterDigital holds that SEPs licensed through platforms/pools remain subject to FRAND obligation LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Comment from Stephen Tulip, UK Country Manager for the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), on today’s ruling that the licensing of standard-essential patents via agents, like patent platform Avanci, are still obligated to license on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. ‘This is a win for startups and SMEs. From Milton Keynes, to Nottingham, to Glasgow, [...]
Event Recap: ACT Calls for Privacy Laws that Support Good Business
As the use of technology expands to ever more parts of our daily lives, policymakers are working to address the challenges of how to protect children online, especially their privacy and data, without hindering technological and business development. On June 25, 2026, Morgan Reed, president of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), joined the Better Business Bureau (BBB) National Program’s congressional briefing “Protecting Children on the Ground: Challenges and Opportunities.” Experts across two panels unpacked the current legislative landscape [...]
Event Recap: Packed Hill Briefing on AICOA Highlights Risks for Small Businesses and Digital Innovation
The small business voice is often hardest to hear in debates over “Big Tech” regulation. That was the central takeaway from ACT’s July 2 Hill briefing, AICOA is Back: What “Big Tech” Platform Regulation Means for Small Businesses. The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) hosted the packed briefing, with more than 100 attendees, to examine the reintroduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) and what it could mean for small businesses, startups, independent developers, and the broader digital [...]