daniel john mccartney coder, lawyer, scholar

As a kid, I learned to code from a curmudgeonly gang of nerds online. I made small-business websites; fiddled with quartz-crystal oscillators; printed money; built kiosks for the homeless; recognized speech for a defense contractor — then I went to law school on a dare. I became a lawyerly internet freedom fighter. I've since stopped playing with law and lately I've been feeding the hungry, measuring influence, and telling everyone's story.

I'm comfortable with many languages, platforms, and problems. contact me

  • Medium Engineer

    2014 – current

    • Full-stack engineering
  • Klout Android engineer

    2013 – 2014

    • I created the Klout Android app [ java, android ]
    • I created the Cinch Android app alpha [ java, android ]
  • GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB) engineer #5, full-stack

    2010 – 2013

    • I created the GrubHub Android app [ java, android ]
    • I created the GrubHub mobile website [ java, jquery-mobile ]
    • I built big chunks of the latest GrubHub.com [ java, jquery, nodejs, mysql ]
    • I helped build the GrubHub iPhone app [ obj-c ], automated standalone websites for 15000 restaurants [ rails, java ], and the OrderHub Android app for restaurants [ java, android ]
  • 1871 startup mentor

    2013

    • help startups clarify product and sort out their technology and talent
    • advise on intellectual property strategy
  • Chasm rewrite of reverse-engineered abandonware game

    1998 - current

    • I spent much of high school working with a worldwide team of hobbyists to reverse-engineer and expand the original game. But these days, young developers don't muck around with SoftICE and Ethereal captures. So building this in Python is my attempt to create a more accessible playground. [ code , game ]
  • Patent Attorney patentability research, filing prep, small business strategy

    2009 – 2012

    • “No you needn't worry overmuch, you can avoid their patent by …”
    • “Yes you should worry, unless you can afford a massive lawsuit, negotiate a license.”
    • “Hmm, you can probably snag a patent on that, let me put you in touch with a friend”
  • Open Internet Review academic cat-herding to chew through FCC filings

    2010

    • I designed and implemented Python tools to acquire and organize all comments filed in a massive FCC proceeding.
    • And then, after building a wiki of all the comments, I managed a group of lawyers, students, and law professors using the wiki to review and analyze each comment for reply. [ original comment , reply ]
  • Show-Me-The-Love who is lobbying at the FCC

    2010

    • I developed Python tools to automatically acquire, parse, and organize the "ex parte notices" (i.e. lobbying notices) and to also fetch company logos and commissioner photos. Then I wrote a PHP/MySQL/HTML/jQuery application to make a colorful display of each commissioner, who they met with, and what they talked about. [ now offline :-( ]
  • Post-Graduate Research Fellow read big books and write about ‘em

    2009 – 2010

    • devouring the complete works of George Orwell
    • reading/writing articles on intellectual property and internet policy
  • Public Knowledge internet freedom fighting

    2009

    • public interest research, journalism, and advocacy
    • drafting filings for congress, court, and federal agencies
  • DigiLore software developer at defense contractor

    2006

    • creating field devices with speech recognition for battlefield medics [ java ]
  • Digital Millenium software developer at nonprofit

    2004 – 2005

    intern

    • building interactive kiosks to help the homeless find help [ c, php, mysql ]
  • Diebold software developer at large financial security company

    2003 – 2004

    intern

    • writing software for ATMs and component devices [ c#, xslt ]
  • MIR Technology software consultant at small electronics company

    2001

    • translating legacy code for a quartz crystal oscillator [ hp basic, c ]
  • XcelNet Communications web developer at local ISP

    2000 – 2001

    • making websites for small businesses and community groups [ php, mysql ]
  • Michigan State University College of Law

    2006 – 2009

    J.D., cum laude

    King Scholar Fellowship, Full Merit Scholarship, Studied abroad in Guadalajara, Mexico

  • University of Cincinnati College of Engineering

    2002 – 2006

    B.S. Computer Science, cum laude

    Honors Scholar, Engineering Department Scholarship

  • Stanford University School of Engineering

    Summer 2001

    Programming Methodologies & Abstractions, Design & Analysis of Algorithms

  • St. Ignatius High School Cleveland, OH2002
  • Law and the Open Internet Federal Communications Law Journal

    Winter 2012

    Academic article criticizing existing theoretical models for internet regulation and proposing, instead, a system of case-specific adjudications to build a common law of acceptable network practices

  • Network Transparency: Seeing the Neutral Network Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

    Spring 2010

    Academic article exploring the engineering and economic underpinnings of network management, and proposing a disclosure regime to inform both policymaking and the market

    • International Symposium on Global Information Governance (Prague, CR Sept. 2009)
    • Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (Washington D.C., USA 2008)
  • In re Preserving the Open Internet Federal Communications Commission

    Urging the FCC to require that ISPs make complete, consistent, and flexible disclosures to enable end-users to be better informed consumers

  • Intellectual Property & Communications Law Blog

    Editorializing current events in intellectual property and communications law

  • On behalf of Public Knowledge in the matter of DRM Federal Trade Commission

    Feb 2009

    Advocating for the public interest in front of the FTC and proposing a labeling requirement when a technological protection measure would surprise consumers

  • Public Knowledge Policy Blog

    Outreach and advocacy on current events for “a public interest group working to defend your rights in the emerging digital culture”