The IBM antitrust case is usually viewed as a cautionary tale of wasteful government overreach into fast-moving technology industries. The case extended from the end of the 1960s to the beginning of the 1980s, when it was dropped by the Department of Justice. Far from being a failure, the Justice Department’s efforts to rein in IBM led to the creation of independent markets for software and personal computers. IBM’s fall from dominance, necessary to open the door for Microsoft, Apple, and the entire Internet industry, was not a foregone consequence of Schumpeterian forces, but the outcome of sustained government action. Unrelenting technological progress is not inherently self-actualizing. While regulators should consider potential innovation harms of intervention, they should not shy away from bold action to promote innovation in protomarkets that otherwise might never develop.

The Internet, from its roots a quarter-century ago as a military and academic research tool, has become a global resource for millions of people. As it continues to grow, the Internet will generate tremendous benefits for the economy and society. At the same time, the Internet poses significant and difficult questions for policy makers. This working paper examines some of these emerging issues at the intersection of technology, law, economics, and public policy.

In 1997, the US Federal Communications Commission issued my staff working paper, Digital Tornado: The Internet and Telecommunications Policy. It was distributed in hard copy and, in a novel twist, digitally through the FCC’s website, which I had largely coded on my laptop after work. As the paper relates, only 15 percent of Americans at that time used the Internet, and only 40 percent had personal computers. I didn’t think to mention that zero had Internet-capable smartphones, because such devices were still science fiction. Even smaller percentages of other nations were online. China, today the world’s largest Internet access market, connected its very first public Internet subscriber the summer before Digital Tornado was released.

This chapter illustrates the way in which Hollywood accounts for its profits and cash flows in both film and television productions and how profits and participations are calculated.

This chapter explains the universal psychological roots and “laws” that affect all media and entertainment products and services. The functionality of the Internet and the role of advertising is also covered along with accounting and valuation issues.

This chapter reviews the history of cable and its relationships to broadcasting and other telecommunications sectors. Operational and accounting aspects are also covered.

This chapter reviews the history, business cycles, markets, and assets that are important to the movie industry.

This chapter reviews the history of broadcasting and then describes the structure and terminology of operations and valuations and ties these to macroeconomic relationships.

This chapter reviews the major segments of performing arts. These include commercial theater productions, orchestras, dance, and opera, The coverage extends to art markets and museums and to financing and economic aspects.

One of the most plausible scenarios for how newer technologies might disrupt and reconstitute the Internet economy is based on blockchain and related mechanisms. Because of their fundamental decentralization, enforced through cryptography, these technologies hold out the promise of resisting the centralization of control by dominant digital platforms. The problem is that the power of blockchain to create trust without reliance on trusted third parties depends on immutable transactions. And that means prospectively limiting human freedom of action. Replacing human judgment with relentlessly logical machines operating self-enforcing “smart contracts” has already produced several spectacular failures. Immutability inevitably creates the possibility of catastrophe, unless paired with governance mechanisms that keep humans in the loop. The best possible approach is governance by design, incorporating layers of coordinated decision-making throughout the design of blockchain networks and applications.

This chapter reviews the history of theme parks and then covers the financial and economic features and valuation metrics that apply to amusement/theme parks around the world.

This chapter reviews the history of the music business and then describes music industry deals and structures. Accounting and valuations are also covered.