http://crookedtimber.org/2006/05/30/mediating-the-social-contradiction-of-the-digital-age/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:51:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/05/30/mediating-the-social-contradiction-of-the-digital-age/comment-page-1/#comment-157539 yochai Wed, 31 May 2006 21:12:17 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=4726#comment-157539 not clear to me what the implication of paul's post is. if it means that the parable cannot mean that everyone interacting in an environment will be noncommercial and freely share, then I agree. But I don't see either what I said, or what Jack said, as a claim about everything converging to a noncommercial world. As I understand what Paul said, the business model of offering a platform and distribution, and charging a cut, for people who don't want to or can't charge for their expression, but nonetheless want to create it and distribute it, is a nice example of the ability of market and nonmarket to coexist in a mutually beneficial relationship. This is part of my claim as to why being skeptical of regulatory regimes like copyrights is not "anti market," but against certain kinds of regulations of creativity that curtail nonmarket expression. not clear to me what the implication of paul’s post is. if it means that the parable cannot mean that everyone interacting in an environment will be noncommercial and freely share, then I agree. But I don’t see either what I said, or what Jack said, as a claim about everything converging to a noncommercial world. As I understand what Paul said, the business model of offering a platform and distribution, and charging a cut, for people who don’t want to or can’t charge for their expression, but nonetheless want to create it and distribute it, is a nice example of the ability of market and nonmarket to coexist in a mutually beneficial relationship. This is part of my claim as to why being skeptical of regulatory regimes like copyrights is not “anti market,” but against certain kinds of regulations of creativity that curtail nonmarket expression.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2006/05/30/mediating-the-social-contradiction-of-the-digital-age/comment-page-1/#comment-157495 paul Wed, 31 May 2006 13:04:45 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=4726#comment-157495 It seems to me that this simple parable fails in any world where the accumulation of stories, aka intellectual capital, over time becomes an important component of social or economic value. In the current "democratic"/decentralized/whatever part of the web, the pattern that comes out most strongly to me is that of many people telling stories for free (or paying to tell their stories) while others sell access, directly or indirectly, to the compendium of stories. Hard to produce, easy to distribute means that there's a very good business model in outsourcing production to people who won't (or can't effectively) demand significant compensation for their efforts, and then taking a cut of whatever money comes in from distribution. It seems to me that this simple parable fails in any world where the accumulation of stories, aka intellectual capital, over time becomes an important component of social or economic value. In the current “democratic”/decentralized/whatever part of the web, the pattern that comes out most strongly to me is that of many people telling stories for free (or paying to tell their stories) while others sell access, directly or indirectly, to the compendium of stories. Hard to produce, easy to distribute means that there’s a very good business model in outsourcing production to people who won’t (or can’t effectively) demand significant compensation for their efforts, and then taking a cut of whatever money comes in from distribution.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2006/05/30/mediating-the-social-contradiction-of-the-digital-age/comment-page-1/#comment-157493 James Wimberley Wed, 31 May 2006 12:41:16 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=4726#comment-157493 A piece of good news: an appellate court in California has just issued a ruling (<a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blogs/gelman/archives/H028579.PDF" rel="nofollow">O'Grady vs. Apple</a>) tha gives web journalists a total, Nelsonian victory over Apple's attempt to stifle their publishing inside information about a new Apple product. Jack Balkin was a signatory of one of the <i>amicus</i> briefs, so congratulations. Hat tip to <a href="http://www.discourse.net/archives/2006/05/apple_v_does_we_won.html" rel="nofollow">Michael Froomkin</a>. The judgement cites online references extensively, including Wikipedia, as authorities for the changing meaning of internet terms. A piece of good news: an appellate court in California has just issued a ruling (O’Grady vs. Apple) tha gives web journalists a total, Nelsonian victory over Apple’s attempt to stifle their publishing inside information about a new Apple product. Jack Balkin was a signatory of one of the amicus briefs, so congratulations. Hat tip to Michael Froomkin.
The judgement cites online references extensively, including Wikipedia, as authorities for the changing meaning of internet terms.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2006/05/30/mediating-the-social-contradiction-of-the-digital-age/comment-page-1/#comment-157452 john c. halasz Tue, 30 May 2006 18:13:59 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=4726#comment-157452 Isn't the "social" contradiction between openness of access and opportunities for expansion of quasi-monoply proprietary control also an intersectoral economic contradiction, as well? The large investment costs of building productive infrastructure face-off against the lowered barriers of entry and costs of information content production. Wouldn't that suggest a role for publicly financed investment in infrastructure as a public good? Isn’t the “social” contradiction between openness of access and opportunities for expansion of quasi-monoply proprietary control also an intersectoral economic contradiction, as well? The large investment costs of building productive infrastructure face-off against the lowered barriers of entry and costs of information content production. Wouldn’t that suggest a role for publicly financed investment in infrastructure as a public good?

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2006/05/30/mediating-the-social-contradiction-of-the-digital-age/comment-page-1/#comment-157441 Russell L. Carter Tue, 30 May 2006 16:26:14 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=4726#comment-157441 This analysis seems to assume a monolithic nature to the underlying communication fabric, which in turn is governed by a monolithic slate of evolving laws. I think we may see (oh dear, I can't help myself) a balkanization of environments. For instance, there's no technical or cultural reason why much of South America couldn't implement some reactionary alternative to the evolving US infrastructure. This analysis seems to assume a monolithic nature to the underlying communication fabric, which in turn is governed by a monolithic slate of evolving laws. I think we may see (oh dear, I can’t help myself) a balkanization of environments. For instance, there’s no technical or cultural reason why much of South America couldn’t implement some reactionary alternative to the evolving US infrastructure.

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