The Role Of Consortia In The Internet Age

What if they gave an Internet and nobody came?

The Internet and the Web provide the technical tools to enable an unprecedented wave of global collaboration. What we need now are governance and legal tools equal to the opportunities at hand.

For decades, legal structures of various kinds have been developed to support collaborative activity, all referred to generically as "consortia." While superficially quite different, each addresses the same core needs in its own way. In this article, I examine the ever versatile concept of the consortium, a uniquely appropriate vehicle for the rapidly proliferating collaborative initiatives of the digital age.

What exactly is it about the video/consumer electronics industry that craves a good standards war every few years? Whatever the answer, it's that time again. Only this time, with a new twist.

Please meet IT everyman Frank Adversego. And also begin to discover the dark deeds that are unfolding in the Library of Congress.

Once upon a time, a roustabout named Harold Ross created a magic magazine that managed to define sophistication while remaining accessible to everyone. When he died, his successor and authors like J.D. Salinger set out to redefine what sophistication in fiction was (supposed to be) all about, and a new type of story was born. Pity, that.