[44128] in Cypherpunks
WAY_lad
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Young)
Wed Nov 29 10:32:35 1995
From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 10:29:37 -0500
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
11-29-95. FiTi:
"Information highway needs rules of the road, says report."
Pointing out the possibility of technical
incompatibilities and trade friction if companies are
treated differently in different markets, the report
outlines the case for a "global regulator" within the
structure of the new World Trade Organisation. It points
out that issues such as intellectual property rights,
encryption and government control on cross-ownership
have global rather than national aspects. "Encryption,
for example, raises tricky and emotive issues connected
with organised crime and national security and cannot be
treated simply as a business problem."
No revolution for software [Editorial]
Today's software market is the way it is not because of
some evil conspiracy in Seattle, Microsoft's home town,
but because it meets most consumers' interests most of
the time. The power to set standards follows from that
success. Changing technology widens the range of
possible market structures, but does not affect
customers' underlying needs and preferences. In the
battle between the technologically possible and the
economically attractive, economics always wins.
WAY_lad (7 kb)
FiTi on-line at <www.ft.com> for waylaying top article.
