1996.
Nokia is the undisputed cellphone king of the world.
2007.
The iPhone is invented. The world goes crazy. Nokia thinks it’s more toy than phone.
2008.
The Android platform is unleashed by Google. Apple laughs. Nokia tries to innovate.
2010.
Nokia is still king... of a dying empire. Google and Apple head to war.
The narration of milestones above almost mimics the way nations have fought wars in the last millennia. Today, for the most part of the world anyway, the terrain and motives of conflict, have shifted: why invade a country when you can invade their pockets? For these giants, in particular, the field of competition isn’t just the volume of cellphone sales but rather the interesting notion of platform penetration. If the desktop has Windows, what should the cellphone have? And why should it matter to law and policy?
For now, let’s ignore the first question and let me attempt to answer the second. And the answer to this, I think, lies in the best invention that has graced mobile phones in the last decade: the App Market. Here, third-party developers, Tom, Juan, and Abdul, can make an app (shorthand for “application”), place it in the App Market, and have this purchased by willing buyers for their cellphones. The percentages vary according to platform but the developer usually gets a 60-70% share of the sale. Though the buying is, in a sense, local, the market is quite global. Let’s look at this ecosystem from a legalistic angle: the parties involved - buyer, telecom, developer, and market owner - stem from jurisdictions where laws will inevitably vary. Which one will govern? Will mere contract apply or should a model law exist for these kinds of international relationships?
These questions, already being asked in reference to online transactions, might be avoided if they were addressed early on. But practical reality dictates otherwise. The market has to develop and problems need to occur before regulators decide to enter the picture. As Apple and Google trade blows and Nokia starts to wonder whether it should side with one or whittle away into obscurity, one thing is becoming certain: local laws are no longer sufficient to deal with the status quo: particularly the importation and exportation of virtual goods which do not (and will not) respect territorial boundaries.
For now, let’s ignore the first question and let me attempt to answer the second. And the answer to this, I think, lies in the best invention that has graced mobile phones in the last decade: the App Market. Here, third-party developers, Tom, Juan, and Abdul, can make an app (shorthand for “application”), place it in the App Market, and have this purchased by willing buyers for their cellphones. The percentages vary according to platform but the developer usually gets a 60-70% share of the sale. Though the buying is, in a sense, local, the market is quite global. Let’s look at this ecosystem from a legalistic angle: the parties involved - buyer, telecom, developer, and market owner - stem from jurisdictions where laws will inevitably vary. Which one will govern? Will mere contract apply or should a model law exist for these kinds of international relationships?
These questions, already being asked in reference to online transactions, might be avoided if they were addressed early on. But practical reality dictates otherwise. The market has to develop and problems need to occur before regulators decide to enter the picture. As Apple and Google trade blows and Nokia starts to wonder whether it should side with one or whittle away into obscurity, one thing is becoming certain: local laws are no longer sufficient to deal with the status quo: particularly the importation and exportation of virtual goods which do not (and will not) respect territorial boundaries.
2 comments:
Mars, your Nexus One is ugly!
No it's not. It's refined. And on the bright side, at least I'm not an Apple fanboy. :)
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