Standards in the Digital Age

Raymond Gifford, Progress & Freedom Foundation

2/26/2008
(Original Publish Date: 5/18/2007)

Policymakers should proceed with a great deal of caution when considering standards mandates, where procurement policies and other government actions may distort a marketplace filled with competing standards and levels of interoperability. Because there are undeniable trade-offs from any standard-setting decision, governments should: a) be wary of thinking they have sufficient foresight to make proper standard-setting decisions; and b) be deferential to private attempts at standard setting. Varying models of open and closed standards with differing levels of interoperability will emerge and compete, with the market determining winners. There are numerous standards, from the open, non-proprietary TCP/IP standard that forms the basis for the entire packet structure of the Internet, to the relatively more closed and proprietary standards of Apple Computer and its companion the iPod. There are also numerous standards-setting bodies at work in the digital space. No one approach is the right choice, but instead each has strengths and weaknesses, and involves inevitable trade-offs.