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Re: Learning the Economics of Altruism
agree to this principle: if it contributes to the infrastructure of the Web, it can't be anybody's property. Free markets abhor a commons. Freeloaders starve altruists, free goods bid down financial incentives to innovate, and companies triage for risks and rewards. So commons die. Governments protect commons; that's their job. They do this by erecting rules and fences to assure neighborly behavior, by taxing to fund care for the commons, and by conscripting property through eminent domain to expand and improve the commons. Seizure through eminent domain may be an appropriate response to private sector IP that the people believe belongs in the commons. A patent that keeps everyone from shopping? VCs killing off a vibrant technology? Seize it and give it away! Think Internet Protection Agency. Jurisdiction? Complicated. The agency needs funding, cross border powers, and governance that works at Internet speed. Mostly, the agency needs an altruistic soul. - phil, http://dijest.com/
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