US Policymakers Lagging on Tech Developments, Observers Say
Federal policymakers are looking backward in technology assessments, observers said on a podcast emailed Friday. FAANGs -- Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google -- "are the past," said Needham & Co.'s Laura Martin Aug. 20 after moderating a panel on…
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content (see first Notebook 1908200027) at the Technology Policy Institute in Aspen, Colorado. "They’re the past decade. They got big, now they’re being looked at. But the thing that’s going to get big based on consumer time will get ignored" by government "until it’s really, really big and hurtful." Esports and videogame dominance are rising in terms of time consumers spend there, the analyst noted. "Even Wall Street is just coming to grips with this, which means it’s probably three years in the future." CNBC's Brian Sullivan, who earlier that day spoke with DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim, noted government "isn’t the fastest moving entity." That mantra could be "move slow and break things," responded podcast moderator and TPI President Scott Wallsten. DOJ didn't comment and the FTC declined to comment now. While media companies are focused on over the top video, they may be missing out on the rise of esports popularity, especially among those younger than 25, Martin said in an interview Friday. "They’re not even watching TV," she said of that demographic. Scrutinizing advertising-based incumbent platforms means "government is late," Martin told us. "All those monopolists are going to compete with each other, they are going to put each other out of business. The government doesn’t need to." Policymaker views tend to look "backwards, but only a few years. They seem to have no historical perspective," Wallsten emailed us Friday. "It's difficult to know how to look forward since nobody can predict the future, but they do seem inclined to believe that the present is forever despite being much different than even a few years ago."