Comment Re:Collective action problem (Score 1) 124
Great point. CAP, of course, is one of the classic market failures.
An analogy is industry lobbying. When (to take an unpopular example) oil companies lobby for subsidies and tax breaks, the resulting legislation not only benefits them, but also all of their industry competitors. Often in practice the Exxon-Mobils of the world pull the laboring oars while the smaller companies get to freeload. But a more common scenario is the establishment of industry associations, supported by a wide number of players, who take on the role of industry advocacy. A classic example (and another unpopular one) would be the RIAA.
There are some industry associations out there backing open source, but I suspect we'll see more emerge in the coming years, and their tactics will become more sophisticated.
An analogy is industry lobbying. When (to take an unpopular example) oil companies lobby for subsidies and tax breaks, the resulting legislation not only benefits them, but also all of their industry competitors. Often in practice the Exxon-Mobils of the world pull the laboring oars while the smaller companies get to freeload. But a more common scenario is the establishment of industry associations, supported by a wide number of players, who take on the role of industry advocacy. A classic example (and another unpopular one) would be the RIAA.
There are some industry associations out there backing open source, but I suspect we'll see more emerge in the coming years, and their tactics will become more sophisticated.
