This week, Radio Berkman returns from summer vacation with a big new episode in which Professors Zittrain and Lessig think through the Microsoft antitrust case and its implications for the current technology competition landscape, with some help from an audience of Berkman summer interns. From the MediaBerkman blog:
The year was 1998. Cher’s autotune anthem Believe was one of the year’s biggest hits, Titanic had swept the Oscars, and in some sterile software campus in the Northwest, Bill Gates was rehearsing a deposition.
It’s been over 12 years since Gates’ and Microsoft’s anti-trust battle with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission first hit the courts. It is still seen as a watershed for the management of technology companies in the dot com age.
But in the dozen years that have passed, people are still speculating whether the anti-trust case against Microsoft made any difference, and whether the software and technology companies of today are engaging in anti-competitive practices similar to or more risky than the ones that got Microsoft in trouble.
Who are the Microsofts of today? Facebook? Apple? Google? And how do we manage competition in the digital age?
Today, two of the leading minds on the Internet and law, Jonathan Zittrain and Larry Lessig, take on competition.
CONTINUE OVER TO MediaBerkman FOR THE AUDIO, A THICK SET OF OUTSIDE INTERVIEWS, AND MUCH MORE...
PLUS! This Lessig + Zittrain episode is hopefully the first in an ongoing Radio Berkman series that will bring the two professors together to discuss the toughest law and technology issues of the day:
This is just the pilot of a new monthly feature we hope to have with Jonathan and Larry. Any thoughts on the show? Compliments or criticisms? Share them with us in the comments. We’re also looking for a name for this series. If you have any brilliant ideas drop us a comment!