Piracy_ The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates - Adrian Johns [213]
On May i8, twenty-four of the leading manufacturers of receivers met with Kellaway to hash out the issue. Sparked by Marconi's proposal, the meeting set in train a series of negotiations -intricate, delicate, and often angry- that would culminate in the creation of the British Broadcasting Company. To see why piracy became a major concern, it is necessary to delve a little into this process. From the start, it focused on the prospect of a single overarching institution. Two concerns pointed this way: that of possible ether chaos, and that of violating intellectual property.
It was Marconi's Godfrey Isaacs who proposed a single conglomerate. His major rationale at first was not chaos, but patent ownership. As the holder of more than i5o relevant patents, Marconi believed that no other concern could build a transmitter without trespassing on its rights. Isaacs declared himself willing to cede those rights, but not to competitors; he would only countenance a single body operating in the public interest.8 He therefore proposed that the major manufacturers meet at Marconi House to decide among themselves the shape of this institution. In the event, the more neutral venue of the Institution of Electrical Engineers was adopted, but the manufacturers did indeed meet. They immediately delegated the details to a committee of the "big six" manufacturersMarconi, Metrovick, Western Electric, the Radio Communication Company General Electric, and Thomson-Houston. Just one representative of the many smaller manufacturers was added to their number, and that at the insistence of the Post Office. During the ensuing weeks this committee met frequently, at times on a daily basis. Its exchanges were often sharp, in particular when Isaacs confronted Archibald McKinstry of Me- trovick, who became the standard bearer of an anti-Marconi bloc. The problems they addressed were in their eyes "fundamental."9
We can tell what topics preoccupied these men because an agenda for their first meeting has survived. It was drawn up by Frank Gill, president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and chairman of the committee. Several of the issues that Gill listed as central were destined to remain constant themes in the subsequent history of British broadcasting. Should it be the preserve of a single institution, for example, or should there be competition? How should it be financed-should advertising be permitted? What about the handling of news and politics? But what is striking is how unproblematic these perennial issues proved at the time. The preference for a single company, for example, was clear. It would avoid "confusion and interference," circumvent patent clashes, facilitate oversight, make for "efficient and stable" programming, and provide a coherent system for "national use." And nobody wanted unrestrained advertising, so the need for some public provision was also uncontroversial. The problems lay in the implementation. In particular, such a plan would necessitate both restricting the market for receivers and imposing a license fee, both of which were politically problematic and therefore constituted "considerable obstacles" for the Post Office. The committee realized that a "united front" was essential if it were to succeed. What imperiled that prospect were three problems, critically important at the time, that have since dropped out of sight. Gill identified them explicitly: patents, protectionism, and piracy.
First and most urgent was the issue of intellectual property.