Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
Whither Net Neutrality?
As the new Federal Communications Commission chairman, Tom Wheeler, has kicked up some dust in the tech community by laying the groundwork for a grand vision for...
From ACM Opinion
The Predictive Power of Big Data
Right now, the average person's data footprint—the annual amount of data produced worldwide, per capita—is just a little short of one terabyte.
From ACM Opinion
Edward Snowden, After Months of Nsa Rvelations, Says His Mission's Accomplished
The familiar voice on the hotel room phone did not waste words.
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Debate Shifts in Favor of Surveillance Limits
In a sharp and unexpected shift, the national debate over U.S. government surveillance seems to be turning in favor of reining in the National Security Agency's...
From Communications of the ACM
Publish Now, Judge Later
A proposal to address the problem of too many conference submissions and not enough time for reviewers to carefully evaluate each one.
From Communications of the ACM
Estimation Is Not Evil
Reconciling agile approaches and project estimates.
From Communications of the ACM
Actually, Turing Did Not Invent the Computer
Separating the origins of computer science and technology.
From Communications of the ACM
Toward a Closer Integration of Law and Computer Science
Seeking better integration of the insights from the fields of law and technology.
From Communications of the ACM
The Legacy of Steve Ballmer
Assessing the positive and negative components of the second Microsoft CEO's tenure.
From ACM Opinion
Former FCC Chairman: 'be Careful Not to Let Licensing Become a Tool of Monopoly'
New Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler faces a number of important decisions about the future of the wireless industry.
From ACM Opinion
Academics Should Not Remain Silent on Hacking
The revelation that U.S. and British spy agencies have undermined a commonly used encryption code should alarm researchers.
From ACM Opinion
Metadata Isn't Going Away. Here's How to Control It.
It's a good bet that, in the next few weeks, President Obama will impose some serious reforms—and ask Congress to enact a few more—on how the National Security...
From ACM Opinion
Tor Is Supposed to Hide You Online. In This Harvard Student's Case, It Did the Opposite.
At 9 a.m. Monday, fire alarms went off in Harvard's Emerson Hall.
From ACM Opinion
The Judge and the Nsa
Federal Judge Richard Leon has become a sudden political celebrity after his remarkable opinion holding that antiterror surveillance is unconstitutional and, even...
From ACM Opinion
An Nsa Coworker Remembers The Real Edward Snowden: 'a Genius Among Geniuses'
Perhaps Edward Snowden's hoodie should have raised suspicions.
From ACM Opinion
Why Bitcoin Needs Banks
On a mission to convince the world that Bitcoin is enduring and serious, enthusiasts convened at a place that symbolizes the ephemeral and the glitzy: Las Vegas...
From ACM Opinion
Edward Snowden, The Dark Prophet
To avoid surveillance, the first four Americans to visit Edward Snowden in Moscow carried no cell phones or laptops.
From ACM Opinion
The Rise and Fall of Blackberry: An Oral History
In 1984, Mike Lazaridis, an engineering student at the University of Waterloo, and Douglas Fregin, an engineering student at the University of Windsor, founded...
From ACM Opinion