[oclug] [canadian internet concerns] long post (you've been warned)

[Greg]

Bill Strosberg wrote:

> Why don't these folks concentrate on the content developers?  Why don't
> they make better deals with artists and telephone users?  Fundamentally
> it is simple to analyze ... since you can't control the communications
> anymore, you have to move the choke point elsewhere - the logical place
> is with the person developing the desirable content.

There is little profit to be taken in "content".  They sell "product".

Like the colourful wrappers, "content" is a bauble, added to induce 
comsumers to consume.

> - as Robert A. Heinlein said:
> 
> "There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the
> notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the
> public for a number of years, the government and courts are charged with
> the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of
> changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange
> doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law."

The last sentence is completely false.  (In fairness, the passage occurs 
in his earliest work.)

The US railway system is a good example.. Dee Brown, 'Hear that lonesome 
whistle blow', 1977, pays more attention to legislators and money than a 
typical history class.  The Canadian railway system is also a good example.

Greg