Industry Threatened by Innovation at the 'Edge'?

penciling_in writes "In an article on CircleID, Bob Frankston, best known as the co-developer of the legendary VisiCalc and Lotus Express, shares his concern regarding industries desperate effort to control 'the edge' -- VoIP, P2P, Video on Demand... 'The commoditization of the transport is making it increasingly difficult to make money just because you own the pipe. The cable industries have a long history of owning the content and demanding a share in companies whose signals they deign to carry. As gatekeepers they have the ability to command a high fee for passage. The problem is that the scarcity is going away and with the shift to narrowcasting (as in Video on Demand) there is no scarcity. Instead they must own the content themselves if they are to retain any advantage. The Comcast/Disney issue (see: Comcast Family Protects Power) is portrayed as a media consolidation and convergence but that doesn't make sense. With transport becoming increasingly abundant it is easier for new players to enter the market and we should see increasing divergence once millions of people can experiment with new ideas.'"

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ps...

[segment]

that last blockquote is from a document called "Disappearing the Dead" In some circumstances, attention to collateral damage is more urgent than in others. Its importance may vary inversely with the perceived necessity of a war, for instance. When war is literally forced on a nation -- as it was on the Alliance powers in the Second World War -- the prospect of suffering casualties and adding to collateral damage may not be pivotal in the decision to take up arms. A threat to national survival trumps all other considerations. But when a prospective threat does not immediately imperil national survival, or when a contest turns on the need to broadly win hearts and minds (as does the war on terrorism), then the issue of collateral damage (as well as other war costs) may loom larger in debates about how to proceed. Document

The chapters alone should tell you more or less what its about... "How to shape the public's mind and hope forget the truth 101"

1. War and perception: the battle to enable American power

1.1 The evolving American calculus of war

1.2 The media, casualty intolerance, and asymmetric warfare

1.3 The public information battlespace after 9/11

1.4 Perception management in support of Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom

2. Shaping the public discourse on civilian casualties: case studies

2.1 Spinning the Iraqi market place bombings

2.2 Framing the air attack on Baghdad Waging lawfare Strategic bombing and the illegality of air defense

3. Framework propositions on war casualties and collateral damage

3.1 Claims about "precision attack" and the "new warfare"

3.2 Claims about damage limitation efforts

There are too many to list. I have docs along these lines pertaining to compsec, ecommerce, you name it. I'm just too tired to look through my entire FOIA which is why I pointed this one out, it was just written last week. When I find it, if I remember when I wake up I'll post it for anyone interested in how the gov tries to shape your mind while they fiddle with policies, standards, and laws.