Every now and then you get a gift from the ether–today’s hearing “Innovation in America: The Role of Technology” at the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet was no exception.  It’s hard sometimes to convince lawmakers and staff that “yes, they really are that self-centered” when speaking of the groovier-than-thou Big Tech community, so it’s always nice when Big Tech does it for you.

First of all–get it straight that it is highly unlikely that anyone on today’s panel uttered a word that was not approved somehow by Google or its intermediaries. And certainly not one word was uttered that would give Google any heart palpitations (or as they say in the mountains, “agida”).

Having said that, I think the testimony of the witnesses at today’s hearing can be distilled into a few recurring themes, although I encourage anyone who thinks I’m oversimplifying to read the transcript…