The video industry seems determined to follow the music industry in trying (unsuccessfully) to stifle the Net.

Proof comes from Europe, with its well-developed cellular industry, where competition minister Mario Monti (pictured, from Der Spiegel of Germany) plans to investigate the refusal of video rights-holders to deal on licensing.

What makes this ironic is that the cellular industry, from top-to-bottom, is totally intent on "protecting" content for rights-holders, and getting the very highest price for licensing it. What else can you call a $2.50 ringtone?

Me, I blame Mark Cuban.

Cuban (left, from ESPN) made his multi-billion dollar fortune in the 1990s with Broadcast.Com, which took Internet rights to sports games for free, before the rights-holders knew they had any value, and at a time where the stock market thought they had immense value. Cuban then sold Broadcast.Com to Yahoo for stock, and sold the Yahoo stock at the top of the boom. Badda-bing, badda-boom, badda-billions.

Obviously European rights-holders fear that happening to them in cellular. So the broadcasters who pay for rights get Internet and cellular rights written-into the contract, and refuse to deal for them, even though they have no other way into those markets.

The fact is, as Cuban's case reveals, those rights are worth far less than they know think, and they're worth nothing unless they're properly exploited.

Government should not have to make people do business in their own interest, but when the businesses are this Clueless a little nudge can't hurt.