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One big difference is that the CTO role is not as regulator, so you don't have the large concerns you have with putting a cable company exec in charge of the FC
by magicalist 12y ago
One big difference is that the CTO role is not as regulator, so you don't have the large concerns you have with putting a cable company exec in charge of the FCC, or an RIAA lawyer in charge of the DOJ's copyright enforcement policy.
There may be some instances when a conflict of interest comes up, but as others point out, that's virtually impossible to avoid for anyone with expertise. Many here might not object to an academic being appointed to the role who specializes in open source and advocating for the limitations of copyright, but of course there's a huge conflict of interest there, too.
- azakai 12y agoWhat would be the "huge conflict of interest" with an academic in this role?
- magicalist 12y agoSorry, I missed your response. The conflict of interest would be their tendency to see everything from the lens of their life's work, and of course to actively advocate for their values, which are already well formed in the relevant domain. Barring financial conflict of interest (e.g. stock still owned from the previous job), it's just as much of a conflict of interest as someone previously at one of these related companies but no longer employed there.