Inevitable

I am provoked in a good way by the New Stateman, which when I read the magazine, is usually a week behind. The first is a view of Xi Jinping’s China, detailing the increased authoritarianism, the anti-corruption drive and the constraints on its macro-economic and military strategies. As I argue, its victory as global hegemon is not inevitable. …

Pay not Play

“….the false belief that because some companies are successful, while some content creators are not, a saviour should just demand “fair compensation” and money will magically rain down upon the creative class. It doesn’t work that way. It’s never worked that way.” Mike Masnick @ techdirt .. read more….. …

Not so fast

The UK High Court granted Big Music a judicial review against the legalisation of private copying of music; it requires compensation for rights holders. The Government & Parliament’s fault was not to research the claims that the loss of income was trivial and already factored into the price. So two major principles established or overturned, music can only be rented, and more importantly, Parliament is not sovereign it must research its laws. (That’s a new one!) …

Changed times

The changing nature and political alignment of the Parliamentary Labour Party is viewed through their 2010 & 2015 nominations for Leader in this article at Left Futures. While their headline which emphasises that Liz Kendall is the inheritor of David Miliband’s base, there are other interesting nominations being made; John Cruddas journey for one. The choice for the Kinnocratic Sensibilists is stark. …