Europe Wants A Single Market For Online Content... But Why?
Date : 01 09 2008 Category : Business
Techdirt
The European Commission apparently thinks that the big thing holding back the rise of a European online content industry is the lack of a single centralized marketplace for digital content that also includes DRM and other anti-piracy safeguards. It's not surprising why they might think this, but they're wrong. It's a politician's solution, rather than a business person's. It's based on the false belief that copyright is a tug-o-war between content creators and consumers that needs balance on either side. That's simply not true. Saying that it is sets up the economics of a zero-sum game where every winner has a loser. However, that's not true with digital content, with its infinite availability, every winner doesn't need to be a loser. You can set up business models that expand a market, rather than limit it. And, of course, the worst way to try to set up such market is to centralize it and make it the government's job. It has all the hallmarks of a totally boondoggle of wasted government money and effort. Instead, why not let various other business models get tested in the marketplace to see what works?
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