A few weeks in the White House has imbued chief technology officer Megan Smith with a newfound respect for Silicon Valley's number one enemy: regulation. While Larry and Sergey try to dismantle healthcare law, the former VP of Google X is complimenting "talented regulators" in The New York Times Magazine.
Two lawsuits filed last month against Google claim the search giant tried to steal superior video streaming technology from VSL Communications, a company it was in talks to acquire. According to the filings, VSL discovered the scheme thanks to some Post-It notes on which phrases like "Try to destroy email" were written. We've obtained what a source claims are copies of the Post-Its.
Megan Smith, formerly of Google's shadowy "X" facility, is the new Chief Technology Officer of the United States, tasked with maintaining a technological edge for the entire country.
Some complaints are a morass of technical jargon and legalese. Others read like the makings of a zany crime-comedy by Steven Soderbergh. One new lawsuit filed against Google for copying the technology to compress video and audio files falls into the latter category, due primarily to allegedly incriminating Post-It notes accidentally handed over to the victim.
