Author: billthomuk

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Meet the new flaws, same as the old flaws..

While cosmologists explore a universe which exists independently of them or, except at the quantum level, their choices as to what to observe and how, things are rather different for those of us who study what is happening on the Internet.

For although the physics of electronic circuit design and the mathematics of signal processing provide some boundaries to the possible and force engineers into ever more inventive approaches to getting more processing cycles per second or bits per square centimetre, much of the design and implementation of the network architecture is a matter of choice.

Continue reading “Meet the new flaws, same as the old flaws..”

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How long has Ofcom got?

John Naughton’s column in today’s Observer is, as usual, elegantly constructed and convincing, in this case on the problems facing Ed Richards as he inherits (and it was surely an inheritance) stewardship of the organisation he did so much to create.

John doubts that Ofcom has a future, a point I made in an essay on the future of television published earlier this year in a book commissioned by ids, the advertising arm of Flextech. Speculating about the TV world in 2020 I wrote: Continue reading “How long has Ofcom got?”

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How do you solve a problem like YouTube?

[There’s an edited version of this on the BBC News website]

Mark Cuban doesn’t think much of video-sharing site YouTube or its prospects for future growth. Speaking to a group of advertisers in New York Cuban, who might be thought to have a vested interest as the founder of a high-definition TV channel, argued that YouTube will eventually be ‘sued into oblivion’ because of copyright breaches. Continue reading “How do you solve a problem like YouTube?”

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Unbounded Freedom?

Last night I had a fun time chairing a debate to mark the launch of Unbounded Freedom, a publication from the British Council’s Counterpoint think-tank that offers a guide to Creative Commons thinking for cultural organisations.

Christian Ahlert from CC UK and Caroline Michel, MD of the William Morris Agency. It was a lively debate, and a podcast should be available soon.
The book was written by a friend, Rosemary Bechler, and it’s well worth reading if perhaps a liitle too proselytising for the publishing audience that came along last night, many of whom seem to believe that CC is about replacing copyright and giving everything away for free. It reminded me of one of my favourite scenes from Ghostbusters…

Venkman:
This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, “biblical”?
Stantz:
What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff.
Venkman:
Exactly.
Stantz:
Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling.
Spengler:
Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanoes…
Zeddemore:
The dead rising from the grave.
Venkman:
Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together – mass hysteria.

There’s also a blog for continuing discussion, and Ian Brown has given his usual entertaining take on the proceedings. Oh, and Andrew Orlowski takes a flaming sword to the whole endeavour…

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Digital enclosures

[You can also read this on the BBC News website]

If you buy a Zune player from Microsoft then you’ll be able to share your songs with your friends using its built-in wireless link.

However Microsoft, clearly worried about what the record companies will think, have decided that you’ll only be able to listen to a transferred song three times, and that after three days you won’t be able to play it at all. Continue reading “Digital enclosures”

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You Couldn’t Make It Up…

The UK record industry wants tax breaks on the money it spends finding new artists, according to a report on the BBC website. Apparently the British Phonographic industry:

wants its members to be eligible for tax credits which are currently awarded to businesses conducting research.

Such a system would lead to “greater investment” in new music, said BPI chairman Peter Jamieson.

In a world where YouTube and MySpace can break a band, and the need for the record industry oligarchs is increasingly questionable, you have to admire their chutzpah. But as we all know, calling for tax breaks is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

Update: Will Davies has picked up on this at Potlatch and has a more extended, erudite and intelligent comment to make. As usual.

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