It may feel more fragmented, but it's actually becoming more centralized. Years ago, I said (both quip and serious observation), "China is the prototype." Now

It may feel more fragmented, but it's actually becoming more centralized. Years ago, I said (both quip and serious observation), "China is the prototype." Now, every political entity has the ability to lock down and survey its piece. Perhaps by purchasing a system, configuration, and support from China. That might feel like fragmentation. But, a lot of those capabilities are working more and more in concert, particularly when it comes to IP rights and the influence, including coercive as well as incentive, of IP rights maximalists (as in, "the most for me"). As the old saw goes: "Follow the money." That's why I keep telling people to focus on creating other, independent physical layers. For a long time, I tried to live with the legal rules. To find that really, they only let those same powers screw me sooner, longer, and harder. I'm all for compensating creators. Not so much, the ever more monopolistic and perpetual rent-seekers, nor their authoritarian facilitators.