Skip to content

Lessig and the three economies

The discussion continue commercial, shaing and hybrid. Is there an ethico-moral element to the openness and transparency connected with Web 2.0 and social media? John Buckmann at Magnatune certainly seems to think so. Lessig is more cautious, and talks in economic terms:

The point of my Web 2.0 post is probably clearer to anyone who read my earlier post about the three economies of the Internet — commercial, sharing, and hybrid. As that post suggested, in my view, the really critical question for the Internet economy is how well companies negotiate the hybrid economy. In my view, those who follow Web 2.0 values are likely to profit most; those who don’t, won’t. Thus, when David Bowie tries to jump into the mashup/remix world by offering prizes for the best remix of his content, but demanding the rights to all the creativity produced by the remixers, he’s violating a Web 2.0 principle, and by doing so, weakening the extraordinary potential his effort could have. Put differently, sharecropping is no better a strategy for the virtual world than it was in the physical world.

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.