Last week, in a much-anticipated decision, a judge in London ruled that Apple Computer’s use of the Apple logo on its iPod did not violate an agreement with Apple Corp., a Beatles-owned music label. Its no doubt a fascinating intellectual property case, and I’ve no doubt that TLF’s Tim Lee willl cover it (and blame the DMCA for it somehow).
But the real interesting thing here isn’t the case, but BBC’s coverage of it a few days later. It seems that the British network’s News 24 channel had meant to interview Guy Kewney, the editor of newswireless.net, and an expert on the subject. Turns out though that, due to an inexplicable Green Room fiasco, the man actually interviewed, live on-air, was Guy Goma, a Congolese IT expert who was at the BBC’s office’s for a job interview.
The video tells the whole story. Mr. Goma’s face shows horror when he is introduced as Mr. Kewney. The first question: was he surprised by the verdict? Yes, he was surprised, he says, no doubt sincerely.
Meanwhile, the real Guy Kewney, back in the reception area, sees himself being interviewed on TV. Well, not him, but another Guy. (Kewney later recounted the story in his blog.)
Meanwhile, the interview goes on. And it turns out that Guy Gomo, despite a thick accent and precious little knowledge of the subject, actually does rather well, mumbling things about Internet cafes and the popularity of downloads.
There are no doubt lessons here about 24-hour news and the mistakes that format engenders. But as a policy wonk and occasional guest on similar shows, I felt an enormous empathy for Mr. Goma. Who hasn’t felt that nagging fear that the next question will be on a subject they know nothing about? And that they will nevertheless be expected to answer?
The whole episode should raise concerns, moreover, for the whole policy wonk community. After all, if journalists find they can get half-decent interviews from someone randomly plucked from their lobby, we may be out of a job.
Well, there’s always the blog.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.