Openness is a feature, not a bug

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Today’s Observer column.

Openness is what makes the internet what it is. It enabled Tim Berners-Lee to dream up the web and release it on an unsuspecting world without seeking anyone’s permission. It’s also what enabled the guys who invented Skype to use the network as a carrier for voice communications, again without seeking administrative approval. But the same openness is what enabled Sean Fanning to launch peer-to-peer file sharing on the music industry. And of course it’s what enabled the sinister Eastern European crooks of Markoff’s nightmares to unleash the Conficker.B worm, with who knows what consequences.

So we’re stuck with the trade-off between the creativity, innovation – and, yes, insecurity – that comes with openness; and the security – and stagnation – that comes with a tightly-controlled network. Which do we prefer? You only have to look at the data traffic for web pages and file sharing to know the answer.

Did Google Earth find Atlantis?

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Sadly no.

“It’s true that many amazing discoveries have been made in Google Earth, including a pristine forest in Mozambique that is home to previously unknown species and the remains of an ancient Roman villa,” a statement from Google read. “In this case, however, what users are seeing is an artifact of the data collection process. Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor. The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data.”

Quack, quack

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BBC2’s Newsnight had an interesting item last night about the strange case of ‘Sir’ Allen Stanford, the flamboyant custodian of $8 billion of other people’s money. At one point they had a former SEC lawyer and a financial blogger on the programme. The presenter asked them both essentially the same question — why hadn’t Stanford been rumbled earlier? (That’s getting to be quite a popular question at the moment.)

The answers revealed something interesting about the role of the blogosphere. The SEC is staffed mainly by lawyers who — being lawyers — are looking for (a) infringement of US laws and (b) certainty — or at any rate cases that will stand up in court. The core of Allen’s operation was based in Antigua, which is not US territory, so it seems that the SEC’s lawyers felt obliged to turn a blind eye to the curious goings-on there.

In contrast, financial bloggers like Alex Dalmady are free to look at whatever piques their curiosity. And Mr Dalmady was most intrigued by what was going on in Stanford’s bank. And, unlike lawyers, bloggers don’t need certainty. They can follow their noses — which is exactly what Mr Dalmady did. His “Duck Tales” (in which he aired his suspicions about Stanford and now available as a pdf download) is a little masterpiece. The title comes from the old adage that “if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it is a duck”.

En passant: it’s always irritating to hear journalists unctuously using the ludicrous handles of ‘Sir’ and ‘Lord’. But it’s even more nauseating when they’re applied to cretins like Stanford and Jeffrey Archer. When I’m supreme ruler this practice will be abolished.

Scenes from City life

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Near the Bank of England yesterday. Flickr version here.

I love the City of London. My first job was in a company which was based between the Bank of England and the Stock Exchange, and once — for a bet — I managed to wangle my way onto the Exchange’s trading floor. My office window looked out on the side-entrance to the Bank and ever so often there would be a line of black limousines outside indicating that the Bank’s Court was in session. Later, when the Observer was based in Queen Victoria Street I used to get the train to Liverpool Street and walk down Old Broad Street, Threadneedle Street and Cheapside to St Paul’s, where I often popped in for a quiet moment before plunging into the maelstrom of the newspaper.

Yesterday I found myself at Liverpool Street and decided to walk my old route. Last time I was here was 14 months ago. The atmosphere is very different now. Much more subdued. Many of those expensive boutique shops which cater to the whims of investment bankers have ‘Sale’ and ‘3 for 2’ signs, though the cigar shop opposite the Bank is still in business, still displaying “the biggest cigar in the world” in its window.

Last time I was here it was Christmas and it was impossible, literally impossible, to get a taxi. But yesterday the vast majority of cabs had their ‘For Hire’ signs illuminated.