Category Archives: Intellectual Property

Standards Part One (and now Parts Two and Three): Standards as windows on an alternative universe

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

I. Introduction  Some prefer iPhones. Others prefer Android. These are the two standards left standing for what only old guys call smartphones. ‘Standards wars’ like this have arisen throughout history. No doubt readers can provide examples back to the ancient … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Information, Intellectual Property, IT and Internet | 5 Comments

It’s Crikey time! But now it’s Crikey and Inkl time

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

Troppodillians will know that I organise a discount Crikey subscription every year. But this year I’m also supporting Inkl, a new Australian start-up with great aspirations. In lengthy negotiations between our lawyers, comms division and strategists and theirs, we negotiated … Continue reading →

Posted in Bargains, Blegs, Intellectual Property | 8 Comments

Cracking the code: How to tell what News Corp really thinks about the price of links

Posted on February 21, 2021 by David Walker

News Corp is telling us what Google should really pay for linking to its sites. It’s telling us in code – HTML code. And the answer is … $0.00. What is an Internet link worth to the linker? For most … Continue reading →

Posted in Bullshit, Business, Economics and public policy, Information, Intellectual Property, IT and Internet, Media, Politics - national, regulation, Web and Government 2.0 | 19 Comments

Why the US has no chance against China on its own.

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Paul Frijters

The US political establishment is now firmly of the belief that the US is still the world’s dominant superpower, and that they could easily win a cold-war confrontation with China, just like it overwhelmed the Soviet Union with economic firepower. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, History, Innovation, Intellectual Property, IT and Internet, Politics - international, Social Policy | 23 Comments

How to tax the platform economy?

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Paul Frijters

In the engine room of nation states, ie the tax departments, the coming battle with platform providers is taking shape. Uber, airbnb, facebook, linkedin, ebay, jobseek, and a myriad of specialised platform providers facilitate micro-trades that are largely untaxed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and taxes, Economics and public policy, Employment, Information, Innovation, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Intellectual Property, IT and Internet, Law, Political theory, Politics - international, Politics - national, Public and Private Goods, regulation, Social | 20 Comments

Hoisted from comments: Copyright, the Google Settlement and torching the second library of Alexandria

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Nicholas Gruen

One of the privileges of access to what we cool kids call the “back end” of Troppo is that when I write a long, long comment, in an old thread that has taken a new direction, I can make it … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Economics and public policy, Geeky Musings, Intellectual Monopoly Privileges, Intellectual Property, IT and Internet, Political theory | 54 Comments

Moral Rights: what are they good for?

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Nicholas Gruen

I’m no fan of moral rights, but there you are. Artists are, so perhaps I should change my tune. The Valuation of Moral Rights: A Field Experiment By: Stefan Bechtold (ETH Zürich) ; Christoph Engel (Max Planck Institute for Research … Continue reading →

Posted in Intellectual Property | 1 Comment