Welcoming Larry Downes to the TLF

by on March 4, 2010 · 4 comments

It’s a great honor and pleasure for me to welcome Larry Downes to the TLF. Larry coined the term “Killer App” in his 1998 book, Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance. He’s written a few great pieces for CNET recently. And you can find our more about him at his website.

His latest book, The Laws of Disruption, was a rare bright spot in a decade of terrible books about technology and revived a venerable tradition of dynamist classics, including his previous book as well as Clayton Christensen’s 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail and Virginia Postrel’s 1999 The Future and its Enemies. The Laws of Disruption expresses both optimism about the capacity of ongoing disruptive innovation to improve our lives and a healthy skepticism about regulation—as Adam noted in his 10 Most Important Info-Tech Policy Books of 2009 review.

Larry’s taught technology law (Northwestern) and business (Chicago, UC-Berkeley) over the years and is currently a nonresident Fellow with the Stanford Law School Center for Internet & Society. He’s a terrifically nice guy, a great writer, and a welcome ally in the fight for cyber-freedom.

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About Berin Szoka

Berin is the founder of TechFreedom. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow at The Progress & Freedom Foundation and Director of PFF's Center for Internet Freedom. He covers Internet and media policy issues including privacy, advertising, neutrality, cybersecurity, free speech, child safety, and various other efforts to regulate the Net. Berin was elected in 2010 to the Steering Committee of the DC Bar Association's Computer & Telecommunications Law Section. Before joining PFF, he practiced communications, Internet and satellite law as an Associate in the Communications Practice Group at Latham & Watkins LLP. Previously, he practiced at Lawler Metzger, a boutique telecommunications law firm in Washington and clerked for the late Hon. H. Dale Cook, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma. A recognized expert on the legal and regulatory issues associated with space commercialization, Berin is a member of the FAA's Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC). He is a Director, and former Chairman, of the Space Frontier Foundation, a citizens' advocacy group founded in 1988 and dedicated to opening the space frontier by enabling "NewSpace." He received his Bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as Submissions Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law & Technology.

Read more articles by Berin Szoka.

  • http://techliberation.com/author/berinszoka/ Berin Szoka

    A clarification: A reader pointed out to me that the term “Killer App” preceded Larry's 1998 book, as you can see from this Google News search. Still, I think it's fair to say that Larry not only did much to popularize the term, but also flesh out a paradigm by which “killer apps” drive technology industries.

  • http://larrydownes.com/larry-downes-joins-technology-liberation-front/ Larry Downes joins Technology Liberation Front | Larry Downes

    [...] I’ve joined with the other courageous souls of the Technology Liberation Front and will be writing on their behalf starting immediately. (Two posts already this week.) The TLF is a loosely-affiliated group of “libertarian-minded analysts working in the field of technology policy” who “analyze and critique the important developments of the day. We will not hide our love of liberty on this site and we will take every opportunity to castigate those who call for expanding the reach of government into these fields.” Check out the site. [...]

  • Tony Healy

    Sorry, Berin, but that's complete rubbish. In the software industry, killer app was a household term at least from 1990 and possibly even the 1980s and so was the role of killer apps.

  • Tony Healy

    Sorry, Berin, but that's complete rubbish. In the software industry, killer app was a household term at least from 1990 and possibly even the 1980s and so was the role of killer apps.

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