Posted on 04/19/2017 5:10:04 AM PDT by Fedora
Speaking before a crowd at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club on April 14, Sam Altman, president of startup accelerator Y Combinator, said he's spoken to hundreds of tech leaders and investors about creating a set of core values that all tech companies can get behind.
There's a Google Doc where the big names in Silicon Valley, whom Altman would not reveal, have been drafting a statement that outlines the tech industry's position on a number of social, economic, and political issues. The document does not have a title or known release date.
"We're trying to basically figure out, can we come up with a list of values that we want tech companies to agree to," Altman said.
The list might include items like a guarantee that a company will not turn over user data without due process, or a company will protect its foreign workers from immigration raids. It might commit to creating "jobs not just in San Francisco, but throughout the country," and paying women equally, according to Altman.
Altman imagines a day when a tech worker might choose to apply for a job at a company only if it signs off on the proposed statement of values.
He said the effort has been coordinated over email, Google Docs, and a handful of meetings in Altman's home. "It's been informal," he said.
Some worry that the Trump administration will be bad for Silicon Valley, with the recent crackdown on immigration at the center of those fears.
In February, 97 major tech companies filed a joint amicus brief speaking out against the temporary immigration ban. Bay Area-based companies like Apple, Facebook, Tesla, and Google (which all signed the legal document) share a strong interest in immigration policy because they employ so many foreign workers.
Altman, who has emerged as one of Trump's most vocal opponents in tech, said the industry needs to step up in meaningful ways -- beyond the proposed statement of values -- if it wants to be a source of opposition.
"A clear statement of values from tech companies about things that are at risk from current policy actions is good -- but [it's] not enough," he said.
This post originally appeared on Business Insider.
Altman imagines a day when a tech worker might choose to apply for a job at a company only if it signs off on the proposed statement of values.
“Today we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives.
We have created for the first time in all history a garden of pure ideology, where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests of any contradictory true thoughts.”
(Apple’s “1984” ad)
California Alternate Universe bump for later....
I bet it codifies the Gaystapo encroaches or else you don’t get to do business with signatories.
Well, screw them!
Liberals can’t even tolerate diversity called out by their own open source community guidelines for major figures whose private lives clearly don’t impact public, professional behavior.
Drupal Developer Larry Garfield Ostracized Over Involvement in Sci-Fi Based Kink Community
http://reason.com/blog/2017/04/18/drupal-developer-ousted-over-kink#slide1
And then there’s Brandon Eich kicked out of Mozilla for being pro-traditional marriage.
Isn't it the law of the land that US companies must verify that their employees are eligible to work in this country?
If the employee was not legal and used fake/forged documents to get hired, isn't it then illegal to keep them employed???
I've always said the harshest penalty for illegal aliens ought to be to those who employ them knowingly. I think the penalty should involve jail time for these executives. I really do.
CR_M_N_L
C_NSP_R_CY
(I’d like to buy a vowel, please.)
I wonder if this globalist exercise in dictatorship will have the blessing of St. Germain, as our Founding Fathers did when they had each other by their necks. A voice from nowhere commanded their attention, and suggested a prayer of conciliation before resuming deliberations. After the prayer, the impasse was breached, and our U.S. Constitution saw the light of day. Curiously, the doors to the room were locked during the entire time. Several participants noted in their diaries the appearance of a stranger, presumed to be St. Germain, in the room at the time of the prayer.
Let us start to discuss ways that the federal government subsidizes Silicon Valley tech firms, and propose that each and every one be eliminated.
Brendan Eich was the CEO of Mozilla. He was ejected from his job and personally ground into the ground because it was discovered that he had donated in support of a California state ballot initiative that defined marriage as between one man and one woman. This is the fate that awaits all of us if we allow such progressives to gain any more power than they already have.
#BakeTheCake. #LoveWins #BlackLivesMatter.
Less socialist I believe ..
Only problem is, millions of Cal. residents like the real Constitution.
Now that’s a scary thought.
Several states once tried the same stunt. Do they have an army to stand fight the rest of the country?
Correction: an army to stand and fight the rest of the country.
bump
Good prediction.
Yes, they can control people up to a point, but beyond that point, the spirit of freedom they are attempting to repress will rebel because people resent being controlled. And their mathematical simulations are only as good as their assumptions, leaving room for an end-around. Trump turned Twitter into a weapon against them. If they repress the right too much, we’ll go underground into the deep web and they won’t even see it coming.
Watching this now, I can see Ridley Scott lifted the close-up of the marching feet from Alan Parkers' adaptation of Pink Floyd's The Wall.
Some thoughtcrimes are more equal than others.
I agree.
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