Should we regulate pricing algorithms by what they do, or by what data they're fed?
A federal judge just blocked New York’s ban on rent-setting software, saying it outlawed normal commercial conduct simply because software does it. If a landlord checking competitors’ prices is legal, where exactly does the harm begin when an algorithm does it for a whole market at once, and what should a law aimed at that harm actually target?
Commentaires (1)
The October 2, 2026 episode of Minds, Bodies, and Terawatts dug into Judge Valerie Caproni’s ruling, and the key point is that she did not bless rent-fixing: she called it a close call and said New York drew its line around the software instead of around the harm. The statute treats a tool fed with competitors’ private books the same as one reading public listings anyone can pull up on a phone. The episode follows what a better rule might look like, one focused on what the software is fed and whether a renter can see how their price was set. But there is a real counterargument too: one landlord reading For Rent signs is not the same as an entire market asking the same machine. Give the episode a listen and tell us where you would draw the line.
Related reading on unscarcity.ai:
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