“Don’t steal!
Politicians hate competition”
I was reminded of this corny old joke when I heard that former Republican Senator, Chris Dodd, was critical of the way some technology companies were involved in a broad-based effort to defeat some odious anti-piracy legislation.
Dodd, who vowed not to become a lobbyist, before becoming the head of the Motion Picture Association of America (one of the pre-imminent entertainment industry lobbying groups), said, in an official statement:
[…] some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns […]
In other words: “Corporate pawn, that’s my job!” It seems clear to me that Dodd’s concern is that it is going to be much harder for a guy like him to sell himself if, as he views it, people are just giving it away for free.
I have a different, more optimistic take, which is that it is going to be far harder for organized, entrenched, minority interests to have their way when individuals and organizations can quickly assemble large collations to represent their own, shared, interests.