The Golden Rule

He who has the gold, makes the rules. FCC clarifies that they do, in fact, control everything: "The FCC files a brief in the ongoing dispute over the mandated broadcast flag claiming unprecedented reach. We cringe." Things like this really worry me. I need to think about this some more, but I'm sure I can come up with an historical example that parallels this. I just don't see how a new medium is going to flourish by taking away rights granted to us on old media. Digital technology is about flexibility and ubiquity, not locks and keys. Intellectual Property is being used and controlled like weaponry. Trade secrets. What we're talking about here are ideas. What has prospered by limiting the flow of ideas? Power and corruption.