I have been silent in blogging these last couple of weeks because I have been on vacation and unplugged. Ha, ha, no, of course not. I have been on vacation, still plugged and couldn't be bothered writing any posts. That hasn't stopped me thinking. What I thought about a lot was my wrist. Basically, during …
New paper on Remix Rights
When Ronald Coase passed away last year, it occurred to me that no one had really applied a Coasian framework to the characterisation of copyright regimes. I had been interested in these since reading Larry Lessig's book, Remix. Remixing is where users take original content (such as the Harlem Shake) and put it in new forms. …
Will MOOCs lead to the democratisation of education?
With all the recent discussion of how hard it is for journalists to read academic articles, I thought I'd provide a little service here and 'translate' the recent NBER working paper by Daron Acemoglu, David Laibson and John List, "Equalizing Superstars" for a general audience. The paper contains a 'light' general equilibrium model that may …
Continue reading "Will MOOCs lead to the democratisation of education?"
An important development for fair use on YouTube
There has been much discussion regarding YouTube's approaches to copyright protection. In many respects, what YouTube is doing is providing a set of institutions designed at reducing the transactions costs associated with managing copyright. At its best, YouTube allows copyright owners to assert ownership when their work or part of their work is used by …
Continue reading "An important development for fair use on YouTube"
Uber's tough market design challenge
Uber has a difficult challenge. Faced with voracious interest group attacks, every misstep is a potential public relations problem. Previously, they have been hit hard regarding 'surge pricing' whereby in periods of high demand prices may be several multiples their usual level. We economists like surge pricing because it effectively rations demand while encouraging supply. …
It's not complicated, just chill
I have just finished danah boyd's new book, It's Complicated: The Social Life of Networked Teens. danah was (and still is) a researcher at Microsoft Research when I was there in 2011. I didn't interact with her too much as I was focussed on other matters but it always struck me that her investigations into …
Apple's goto fail is pretty interesting and worth reading about
I update my Apple devices regularly so when, four days ago, a security alert was issued and then an iOS software update appeared, I did not think too much about it. But this article in Slate about what the security issue was and how it was found piqued my interest. It is worth reading, take …
Continue reading "Apple's goto fail is pretty interesting and worth reading about"
Coase, Net Neutrality and Netflix
Comcast and Netflix have come to a deal on 'peering.' Basically, what this means is that Netflix will pay Comcast to ensure that Netflix's customers get good internet service for Netflix. While apparently, Netflix is not getting special treatment under the deal, as we economists all know, it is what not having a deal would …
Why the mobile operating system market won't tip
Fear of tipping dominates information technology. The most famous example of this was PC and Mac where an orientation towards business led to a greater variety of software titles being available for Windows than Mac which wasn't dislodged until the use of the Internet became the primary use case for a computer. But today, where …
Continue reading "Why the mobile operating system market won't tip"
WhatsApp to Facebook? Strategic compatibility, that's What
There's nothing like $19 billion dollars to set the cat amongst the pigeons. And what's more for something most people even those tech savvy neither use and, in many cases, haven't heard of. Regular readers will be happy to learn that I have been watching this space for some time due to a long standing …
Continue reading "WhatsApp to Facebook? Strategic compatibility, that's What"
Digitopoly 