Say the title in a ’50s scifi voice and it gets a lot more interesting.
- The future is ‘a battle between two circles in a Venn diagram’, one of which is the ‘Net, and the other Big Content, according to Doc Searls. The cue is Google’s acquisition of YouTube, which Doc thinks is really about expanding the Big Content Venn circle, despite having the trappings of expanding the ‘Net’s circle. I agree with him, which is why this move disappoints me- that money would have been better spent (both for the ‘Net and for Google’s bottom line) if it were spent on building tools and open standards for video publishing and indexing, like Annodex.
- The future includes a Surveillance State, or so says Jack Balkin, channeled by Bill McGeveran of UMinn Law. Scary peek into the future; mostly scary because of the comparison with other States (the administrative state, for example) which snuck up on us while we weren’t looking. We’d like to tell ourselves that we’re more aware now, and we wouldn’t allow massive government sea-changes without our awareness, but I think Balkin is probably right- we would and we are allowing such a change to happen right under our noses. I look forward to seeing the whole paper.
- In the future, we’ll have Open Source Science. Maybe. Just a good link- definitely worth a read if you’re interested in collaborative models of production applying outside of software.
- In the nearer and more optimistic future, (Friday!), CC Salon is finally coming to NYC! See you there, I hope.
Money wasn’t really spent – it was a stock transaction.
Very interesting series of posts! I am particularly impressed with the attention you have been giving DRM lately. I also think the Big Content vs Net battle is shaping up to be pretty terrific particularly with Google seeming to either blur some lines or really place themselves in a position to provide some serious sway one way or another.
Alas, EJ will prevent me from attending the Salon – but please post a review on your blog for it sounds so interesting!