Welcome to ‘the Brief’, where I fire up quick rants regarding various news I fish out of my RSS reader.

1. From the Technology Liberation Front:
   

   Locked phones in France must be unlocked by the carrier upon user request, and wireless carriers must also sell unlocked versions of their mobile phones. As a result, Apple is considering keeping the iPhones off French shelves indefinitely.

   To me it’s clear that forced access laws limit innovation. I think folks who propose such rules want to have their cake and eat it, too.

   Oh, really now? What happens when you give OEMs and carriers the freedom to do as they please? They establish monopolies, sooner or later, and go to town to harvest every single penny from the customer. Fact of the matter is, as these things get more and more widespread, OEMs like Apple need to start re-evaluating their position. In this situation, they can choose to hold off the French market in an attempt to bully a lock-in. If the entire EU was governed by a similar law I find it very unlikely Apple would not sell the iPhone at all.

   Does it stifle innovation? I don’t think so. Locking mechanism only serve the company that puts them in place by allowing it to take more and more money from the consumers. We pay a price to buy the device, we may choose to pay for support or an extended warranty¹ and we also pay for the carrier’s service. End of story.

2. More people are beginning to get it. Finally. The recording labels have little penetration nowadays, little that they can do beyond what an aspiring artist might. All the music I listen to now, I came across it through friends and via the Internet, not randomly picked out in a store or because of radio play. In effect, I must agree that it’s time for the Big 4 to lay down their arms. There are, however, ways for them to continue making money² but it’s unlikely any of the established agencies have any way of succeeding in that direction. Some could say that Radiohead and NIN are large acts already and they have succeeded due entirely to the labels, but I don’t see that as a valid argument for exactly the reasons I already mentioned. At least, for new acts, I don’t foresee that to be a problem. If anything, it would save us from getting swamped by clone bands that the labels like to put out as soon as something fresh hits the streets.

3. If you can’t listen to music at work, please be advised that when you are showing off your pimp new sound system [that you had to work double shifts for] you are probably in violation of copyright laws. You may be stopped on the street by the Police and asked to pay royalties to the MAFIAA.

1. Some of the conditions of the warranty are ridiculous. Soon enough we won’t get anything unless we only install Apple-approved software on our devices? [↩]
2. That do not involve suing their own customers [↩]