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Overview
Many tech companies are fueled by libertarian ideologies that have kept billions of dollars away from governments. These companies have also nurtured illegal distribution systems and gained a dangerous amount of influence with politicians, while increasing their reach into the private lives of internet users. This has led to negative consequences that threaten to control our access to information, as well as severely damaging the livelihoods of artists and entertainment industries. If there’s to be a way forward, it will require communities taking back control over their online lives and work.
Silicon Valley is often heralded as the place where people with great ideas can make a fortune. However, many of those stories are tarnished by privacy invasion and data hoarding.
In his book, Jonathan Taplin argues that we need to stop relying on the big technology companies as the gatekeepers of our information. Instead, we should respect artists and their work more.
So, let’s take a look at the companies that are in Silicon Valley and see what makes them so successful. In this article, you’ll learn about how Google is pro-piracy because of government funding; why Facebook has such a huge user base; and how photographers can make money with their art.
Big Idea #1: Government-funded agencies have been responsible for some of the biggest technological breakthroughs.
What drives technology and innovation? Is it always entrepreneurs who are smart, creative, and profit-oriented?
Sometimes the government funds innovation.
For example, look at the internet. It was invented in 1968 by an American engineer named Doug Engelbart. In that year, he unveiled his NLS system—or “oN-Line System”—which incorporated windows, graphics, video conferencing, the mouse, word processing and a collaborative real-time editor.
But, he did not do this alone. He was funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which focuses on innovative projects with potentially useful military applications.
The NLS was the foundation for ARPANET, which is an early version of the internet. It also used TCP/IP protocols to send data across networks and eventually became our current standard protocol.
A lot of the technology we use today was developed by government-sponsored research. Bell Labs is an example of this.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, many communications companies competed with each other for business. This led to a messy system of wires strung all over cities in America.
The government allowed Bell System and Western Union to merge into one company, but the government had a stipulation: communication rates would be regulated, and a certain amount of profit would have to go towards research that benefited society. In 1925 Bell Labs was founded with the express intent of developing technology for society’s betterment. It went on to invent transistor radios, microchips, cell phones and many other technologies we use today because of its original purpose as a government-funded organization. So why do we believe it’s good for business when companies are privately run by investors who want to make money? Let’s find out…
Big Idea #2: Libertarian leaders have been taking over the tech world, and they’ve been dodging taxes.
The idea of a big government can be traced to the 1980s, when many libertarians were born. Many of them were inspired by Ayn Rand’s novels and Milton Friedman’s economic theories. As such, they opposed regulations and taxation under the premise that selfishness is beneficial for society.
Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal and one of the earliest investors in Facebook, is an influential libertarian. He was inspired by Ayn Rand as a teenager and has since embraced her principles. When he started Paypal, he wanted to disrupt the banking system while avoiding government regulations and taxes. His philosophy spread rapidly through Silicon Valley when Ebay bought Paypal for $1 billion dollars in 2002. Soon after that founders from his company founded YouTube, LinkedIn and Yelp (all companies that have shaped the online landscape).
