[ Thanks to George
Mitchell for this link. ]
“The digital broadcasting industry now emerging relies heavily
on proprietary software made by just three companies: Microsoft,
Apple Computer, and RealNetworks. By controlling the software used
for broadcasting over the Internet, those firms have positioned
themselves to control all online broadcasts.”
“Microsoft, Apple and RealNetworks don’t control the Internet’s
pipes. But they do control the technology used to deliver moving
images through those pipes. If given a chance, it’s likely those
firms will exploit their advantage the same way the Big Three
broadcasters did during the decades when they had a stranglehold on
the airwaves.”
“There’s only one thing on the horizon I can see that could
possibly preserve a diverse online broadcasting industry: the open
source software movement.”
“Alarmingly, it’s quite possible, even likely, that only one
streaming media format will endure over the long run, just as there
is only one dominant format for video recorders. If that happens,
we may well look back at all the broadcasting outlets we had in the
1960’s with nostalgia.
“That’s why the broadcasting industry and the open source
movement need to start smooching it up big time real soon.”