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August 20, 2002
Criminalizing innovation
Two important articles on how industry colludes with government to forestall innovation and create barriers to innovation. Read this essential piece by Thomas Hazlett on "the baffling irrelevance of U.S. regulatory efforts to protect obsolete technologies (broadcast TV), while blocking intensely needed new systems (wireless networks). Exhibit A in this retro scheme is the government's plan to introduce "Digital TV."
The second piece, from TidBits, shows how the entertainment industry, as well as some big players in tech, are playing the game of who can control the government for their advantage more adeptly. Consider this passage:
In November of 2001, at the request of Representative Billy Tauzin (R-LA), the MPAA's Copy Protection Technical Working Group spun off a sub-group, called the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group (BPDG). It's an inter-industry group with representatives from the movie studios, consumer electronics companies, computer companies, broadcasters, and cable and satellite operators. The BPDG's job was to consult with all these industries and draft a proposal that would set out what kinds of technologies would be legal for use in conjunction with digital television.I have nothing against setting industry standards, but notice the word "legal" which means, of course, that other technologies would be illegal. If industries--and big companies--agree to what technologies can be used, why must those standards be codified in law? The short answer: to create a barrier to innovation--i.e. new technologies. Notice as well who are NOT on included in the BPDG: entrepreneurs.
Well said. This bizarre trend in some businesses to trick, or otherwise force consumers into buying what you've got, rather than creating something they want has forced the lazy-minded to crush Napster, which they could control, rather than making some royalties. Instead, they cause the spawn of hundreds of P2P networks, which they can't control and can't reap any profits off.
I've seen really silly PR working for Microsoft through IBD lately. "Articles" espousing the glory of MS Outlook (known as "Outbreak" by anyone who's ever used it extensively) attempting to trick the ignorant into using it, rather than fixing its lazy coding and security drive-through sized holes.
Sad sad sad.