Lords on YouTube - clue found shock?

[matgb]

BBC NEWS | Politics | Internet video rules 'misguided':

it was not the role of regulation to protect established broadcasters from new competition operating under different business models.

Daft EU proposal (of the many many that give the whole thing a bad name and make it bloody hard to defend), and the House of Lords committee says it's daft and should be rejected. For about, oh, the 50th time since the last General Election, I find myself thanking the Lords for a bit of sense.

This is of course the main issue with new media and distribution schemes, the old providers feel threatened and try to get things "updated" in a way that simply damages innovation and forces people underground. Technology changes, markets adapt, and new methods of selling stuff undermine the old firms. The problem being that when one of the old firms does go bust, someone'll whinge the government should've stopped it, rather than pointing out it was them failed to adapt. Ah well, plus ca change.

Comments

[innerbrat]

Do you ever find yourself explaining the House of Lords to forners, encounter the "they're not elected? Eeevil!" reaction, and have to explain "no, no, no, they're got more sense than the House of Commons and we've be in a sorry state if we let the plebes rule?"

Because I do, a lot, and it's embarrassing.

What are you doing on Saturday?

[matgb]

Yup to the first; it's why I'm in favour of replacing them with a system based on Sortition.

As for Sat; no plans that I recall; is that when you're doing your thing? I'm catching up after going to Devon and back over the weekend (again).

(also? Comment notification fails, again)

[innerbrat]

My thing, yar. Insert comment about rectangular shaped thynges here.

I've heard people complain about notifications and then never suffer from it, but maybe I'm just forgetting to check. I'll tkae your word for it.

[matgb]

Cool; yup, had planned on digging out your post later today and saying yes, but you beat me to it, so yarr.

And yup, it happens rarely, but I do lose comments, which always annoys. I found yours because I came to reply to the below, it'll probably turn up in a few months. Odds are you've lost one or two as well, but it matters very little under usual circumstances.

[cyril-squirel.livejournal.com]

The House of Lords are what the Bureau of Sabotage are to governments in Frank Herberts novels 'Whipping Star' and 'Dosadi Experiment'

The idea is that all governments and other bureaucracies tend to snowball over time, getting legislation passed in faster and faster times,finally becoming juggernauts that crush mere humans unthinkingly. So the Bureau of Sabotage was founded with a legal right to throw wrenches into the gears of bureaucracies. No agency can sabotage the BuSab itself.

So what keeps the BuSab from turning into a juggernaut? Their promotion policy. The way you get promoted is to sabotage your boss.

[matgb]

That sounds, um, nuts. It also sounds like books I might like.

[innerbrat]

WHY isn't that a Guild in the Discworld novels?

[matgb]

The Patrician does the job fairly well himself?

[malkavelli.livejournal.com]

The Patrician would be the BuSab to the Guilds potential juggernauts.