Zoom is the Exception Not the Rule

During the pandemic the importance of the tech industry as the main sector of future growth becomes ever more apparent. A prime example of this is the video conference platform Zoom, which is most likely going to have replaced many of the conference calls and in-person meetings that took place before the coronavirus outbreak. It is therefore surprising, that the current king of the hill for the video conferencing app war is not a subsidiary of the larger tech companies. While some may point to this as an example of innovation and competition in silicon valley, this is exception not Continue reading Zoom is the Exception Not the Rule

Patent Pools: Consumer Friendly Cartels?

Patent/intellectual property pools represent a key form of strategic cooperation, also known as cartel behavior. Before getting to far into it, what is a patent pool exactly? There is some variation within the concept of a patent/intellectual property pool, but generally, patent pools are organizations that are jointly owned by anywhere from a couple to a couple hundred companies that control intellectual property such as patents. These joint ventures allow companies to share patents, such as new technological equipment, thereby creating standardization across industries. While this may not seem beneficial, if we look to the specific example of the HDMI Continue reading Patent Pools: Consumer Friendly Cartels?

Take Craft Back: Beer Idealism or Crafty Marketing?

If you are connected with the world of beer, brewing, or hops, you may have heard of the campaign “Take Craft Back,” a campaign organized by the Brewer’s Association, a trade group of brewers focused on craft and home brewing, to buy out Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI). ABI is a Belgian-Brazilian-American brewing conglomerate which controls 70% of the US beer market alongside Molson Coors. ABI is currently valued at $213 billion, which is the alleged goal of the Take Craft Back campaign, which they describe as the world’s largest crowdfunding effort. On their website, they estimate it would take $653.57 from everyone in Continue reading Take Craft Back: Beer Idealism or Crafty Marketing?