May 4th, 2007
Open source values and the Digg dispute
The t-shirt shown here was first put on sale in the year 2000. It displays the decryption key called DeCSS, and was created after an incident identical to the one which now has Digg in legal hot water.
What we're talking about, again, is a conflict between the law and Internet values. As the t-shirt demonstrates values usually win.
Ideas like consensus, connectivity and openness are built into the structure of the network, and have been internalized for over a decade by people around the world.
These values are at the heart of open source and, while the ride has been bumpy, the values have generally triumphed.They have triumphed because companies have created business models which accept those values and still deliver profits to the creators of new stuff.
The only thing I find infuriating is the surprise from reporters, lawyers, and bureaucrats each time this comes up. Doesn't anyone know the Google?
The economic fact is user time is more valuable than the list price of any digital product. The shorthand for this is the economics of abundance. Monetizing time turns 20th century business relationships on their head.
This is not a revolution. This is business evolution in action. What we need is an open source business model for content. Find it and become a hero, a very wealthy hero.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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