The Economist’s Global Economy Survey

Every year, the Economist publishes Survey on Global Economy. I try not to miss this one because they are by far the best source from which you can get a glimpse of the global economy from the ultimate free-trade advocate’s point of view.

If you don’t have enough time, at least try to read this executive summary;

The New Titans (The Economist, Sept. 14, 2006)

A few excerpts that I want to discuss on;

Two great bakeries in SF

This past weekends, I went to SF bay area. (Oh how much I missed that place!)

We spotted two fantastic bakeries in the city that I’ve never been to . Shame on me. I lived there for 3 years and never been to these places… But always it’s better late than never, right?

Tartine Bakery

Near Dolores Park

I went there on Saturday and of course there was no seating available. Even for take outs, I needed to wait 10-20 minutes. But the food was absolutely worth the wait.

We had croissant, chocolate croissant, scones, banana creme tart and bread pudding. Everything was fabulous. Seriously, it was one of the best bakeries, I believe. I never liked scones until I tried Tartine’s scones. Oh, I should not forget, the espresso was fantastic. I am a big coffee lover so I know when the coffee is good. Theirs was the finest.

Citizen Cake

Near Opera Hall

We had Sunday brunch there. We got lucky ’cause a reserved table was cancelled right before we arrived. Otherwise we would have waited for an hour. The foods were not big, actually quite right size for me. We had omelette, quiche, french toast and egg sandwich. My favorite was quiche. We wanted to try out some pastries but we were so full! Too bad..

Whoever goes to SF, try these restaurants. You won’t be disappointed!

YouTube Model Is Compromise Over Copyrights

YouTube Model Is Compromise Over Copyrights (Subscriber only, WSJ Sep. 19, 2006)

YouTube is rolling out technology designed to automatically spot copyrighted material that users upload without the permission of media companies, and then to share ad revenue with those companies.

YouTube’s new system, announced yesterday and set for release in the next few months, is an ambitious effort to give media companies more control over the video on the site and to address their fears that others will profit from consumers’ piracy of their content. The first entertainment company to embrace the system is Warner Music Group. The two companies have agreed that Warner Music will post its catalog of music videos on YouTube and collect an unspecified percentage of the revenue from advertising appearing alongside them. The deal doesn’t cover live performances captured on video cameras or other devices, because Warner doesn’t own the copyrights to those recordings.

Youtube 가 Recording Industry 와 compromise 하고 있다. 그동안 Youtube 의 성장에 놀라워 하면서도 대다수의 비디오들이 Copyright 에 위한한 컨텐츠임을 걱정해 왔었다. Youtube 는 자체 시스템을 개발해서 copyright 된 content의 audio 시퀀스를 비교하여 같은 컨텐츠임을 확인할 수 있게 하고, 그에 기반해서 해당 페이지의 광고 수익을 recording companies 와 share 하겠다는 계획이다.

이 approach 가 상당히 마음에 드는 것은, 똑같은 기술을 가지고 해당 컨텐츠를 삭제하는 방향으로 나가지 않았다는 점. 알다시피 인터넷 세상에서 보호의 목적으로 운영되는 서비스는 사용자들을 앞서 나갈 수 없다. 지우고 올리고 또 지우는 악순환의 되풀이는 지난 10년간 이미 보아왔던 것. 사용자들의 현재 행태를 바꾸려고 하지 않고, 대신 기술을 이용하여 copyright holder 들에게 benefit 을 일부나마 돌려주려고 하는 시도가 마음에 든다.

물론, 위의 기사에서 보듯이 전체 recording industry 가 이 시도를 embrace 하고 따라오기에는 시간이 걸릴 것이다. 하지만, 그들 또한 오픈된 인터넷을 막는 것만이 능사가 아님을 이미 뼈저리게 느꼈을 것으로 희망한다.

물론 Youtube 의 이런 approach 조차도, Youtube 가 현재 가지는 힘 (이또한 사용자들로 부터 나온 것이지만)이 있기 때문에 가능한 것이지, 처음 시작하는 사이트가 ‘광고 수익 share 하겠다’ 고 영화사나 음반사에 들이댄다고 가능하지는 않다.

여하튼, 오늘의 요지는, 사용자들은 지금 하던 행동을 변화할 필요가 없다. 이게 Key 다. 사용자를 화나게 하지도 말고, 행동을 바꾸려고 하지도 말라. 다른 방식으로 문제를 해결할 방법을 찾을 것.