Interesting blog post by Kevin Kelly, who has a certain
notoriety
as one of the founding editors of Wired magazine. Kelly
makes
the case that (a) (not very originally) the Internet is a
"copy
machine" and, hence, copyright enforcement of any kind
is
impossible, and (b) (far more usefully) there are a number
of
ways to monetize free content, for which he provides a
typology.
Most of the examples, as you would expect, come from pop
music,
but there is application to academic publishing as
well--because,
in the end, media is media. I don't think I have seen this
typology bettered.
Kelly does not take on any of the hard questions (Must a
copy
machine *always* make copies? Must a gun *always* be
fired?),
but for those resigned to a future of open access
literature, the
post prompts some thinking about business strategy.
Here is the link:
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/01
/better_than_fre.php
The name of the blog, "The Technium," is
apparently offered
without irony.
Joe Esposito
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