August 4th, 2005
Truth and Dare
Dare Obasanjo on AttentionTrust:
The notion of mobile attention data basically requires Web companies like Netflix & Amazon to give up what for them is a key competitive advantage. It makes no business sense for them to want to that. I wish Steve Gillmor and company luck with their new endeavors but unless they plan to lobby lawmakers I don’t see them getting much traction with some of their ideas.
Dare, you’re so right. But read the 4 principles of the AttentionTrust again. Remember: just as it makes no sense for companies to give up "their" attention metadata, it also makes no sense for the original owner of that data, the user, to give up his or her key competitive advantage as authors of gestures of attention. It makes no business sense for us to want to [do] that. We don’t need luck, just the flexing of our own muscles. We trust you’ll sign on, Dare.
