Licensing Developers?

[Vurbal]

Just musing here, but I'm kind of curious as to when developers will need to have a license to write code.

-Renegade (August 11, 2013, 11:12 PM)

You already do to an extent under certain circumstances.  When working for a company, you don't- it's the company that assumes the risk.  But once you you're not 1040, you have to have a whole lot of things that while not really a license, they are, in effect, the same sort of thing- an assurance that you are responsible for your code.

Think about it:
Liability Insurance
Escrowed Code
W-9

And having been on both sides of the equation, I can tell you that those three things are a big part of the business.

-wraith808 (August 12, 2013, 09:47 AM)

That's just the price of running a business. You have concerns people in other industries don't but so do the people in those other industries.

[wraith808]

That's just the price of running a business. You have concerns people in other industries don't but so do the people in those other industries.

-Vurbal (August 13, 2013, 08:55 PM)

The problem becomes when the barrier to entry is too high to be anything but a large corporation.  And most of these things are in place not because of the price of doing business, but the price of defending yourself against lawyers and the practice of defining playing fields.

In other words, we don't want you playing in our court, so we're going to make you have to pay an entry fee we know that you can't afford.

[Renegade]

The problem becomes when the barrier to entry is too high to be anything but a large corporation. 

-wraith808 (August 13, 2013, 09:34 PM)

No no no! That's the ANSWER!

And most of these things are in place not because of the price of doing business, but the price of defending yourself against lawyers and the practice of defining playing fields.

In other words, we don't want you playing in our court, so we're going to make you have to pay an entry fee we know that you can't afford.

-wraith808 (August 13, 2013, 09:34 PM)

Yes. Exactly. Because people cannot be trusted. Only corporations that can afford the lawyers can be trusted.

You might die tomorrow, so where exactly do we get our pound of flesh?

But with big companies, they take care of harvesting a bit of flesh from all the people they hire, and we get our pound with nobody the wiser.

[wraith808]

Hah!  Score one for me!  I was able to get Ren's tongue out of his cheek!

[Vurbal]

That's just the price of running a business. You have concerns people in other industries don't but so do the people in those other industries.

-Vurbal (August 13, 2013, 08:55 PM)

The problem becomes when the barrier to entry is too high to be anything but a large corporation.  And most of these things are in place not because of the price of doing business, but the price of defending yourself against lawyers and the practice of defining playing fields.

In other words, we don't want you playing in our court, so we're going to make you have to pay an entry fee we know that you can't afford.

-wraith808 (August 13, 2013, 09:34 PM)

I think I see what you're saying now. It's certainly the same in the sense the rich and powerful have rigged the system in their favor across the board. Licensing in the taxi market isn't fundamentally different from predatory pricing by powerful retailers or IP laws in the software industry. However you dress it up it's about stifling competition.

[wraith808]

I think I see what you're saying now. It's certainly the same in the sense the rich and powerful have rigged the system in their favor across the board. Licensing in the taxi market isn't fundamentally different from predatory pricing by powerful retailers or IP laws in the software industry. However you dress it up it's about stifling competition.

-Vurbal (August 13, 2013, 10:45 PM)

Exactly.  If you can keep them from getting in the business, then you never have to compete.  There was an episode of white collar recently where people were counterfeiting taxi licenses in New York, and I was thinking that was stupid.  Then they said how much they were and I thought, you can't be serious.  But then, I found out they were.

That's just ridiculous!

[Renegade]

However you dress it up it's about stifling competition.

-Vurbal (August 13, 2013, 10:45 PM)

Stifling competition?

That's just ridiculous!

-wraith808 (August 13, 2013, 11:51 PM)

Ridiculous?!?

Just have a quick look here:

http://www.bloomberg...es-price-table-.html



But keeping prices high enough that only wealthy and successful people can afford them, you guarantee that non-successful people, e.g. young adults, stay out of the industry. This keeps quality and safety high.

Now, that chart is somewhat out of date now, and things have improved significantly.

http://www.nyc.gov/h...edallion_price.shtml

As you can see there, prices are now well above $1,000,000 for individuals.

Indeed, here you can see the improvements are quick and dramatic:

http://www.nyc.gov/h..._price_2013_july.pdf



In fact, prices are rising so fast that it would make a good investment to simply purchase New York city taxi/limo licenses, sit on them, and allow the price to rise. As you can see there, had you purchased a license in January and sold it in July, you would have profited by over 30%. This again would help keep individuals from thinking that they are competent enough to drive people around the city in exchange for money. Any sane person would realize the folly of this, and that only corporations are truly fit to assume the responsibility for the safety of people in New York traffic. Why, anything could happen!

And aren't New York taxi drivers simply the best in the world? They have the best cars. They have the friendliest people. They have the nicest artificial air fresheners. They have the best and greatest city on the planet that everyone loves because it's the seat of all that is good and virtuous.

And who do we have to thank for that? Well... it certainly isn't your average Joe. It's the all the TLC in New York from the New York Taxi & Limousine Commission.

If we could apply that same rigor and dedication to the software industry, wouldn't that bring more jobs there? Wouldn't companies and potential employees flock to the higher regulations and standards knowing that by being a part of that they are serving the greater good and making the world a better place for everyone? Including all the children that everyone in this thread seems intent on killing!

I think I've illustrated a solid case here.
 

[Vurbal]

I think I've illustrated a solid case here.

-Renegade (August 14, 2013, 12:55 AM)

Yeah, but a solid case of what? And why did you do illustrate it in crayon?

[Renegade]

I think I've illustrated a solid case here.

-Renegade (August 14, 2013, 12:55 AM)

Yeah, but a solid case of what? And why did you do illustrate it in crayon?

-Vurbal (August 14, 2013, 05:56 AM)

Because I ran out of lipstick and mirrors.