11-29-95. FiTi: "Information highway needs rules of the road, says report." Pointing out the possibility of technical incompatibilities and trade friction if companies are treated differently in different markets, the report outlines the case for a "global regulator" within the structure of the new World Trade Organisation. It points out that issues such as intellectual property rights, encryption and government control on cross-ownership have global rather than national aspects. "Encryption, for example, raises tricky and emotive issues connected with organised crime and national security and cannot be treated simply as a business problem." No revolution for software [Editorial] Today's software market is the way it is not because of some evil conspiracy in Seattle, Microsoft's home town, but because it meets most consumers' interests most of the time. The power to set standards follows from that success. Changing technology widens the range of possible market structures, but does not affect customers' underlying needs and preferences. In the battle between the technologically possible and the economically attractive, economics always wins. WAY_lad (7 kb) FiTi on-line at <www.ft.com> for waylaying top article.