Chris Anderson has done a useful exercise to estimate the value of the ‘really free economy’ (which excludes free as a gimmick and advertising-supported media), which he considers to be in the ballpark of $300 billion. The article starts by explaining a typology of the free economy, which I think has been done better elsewhere…. Continue reading
Date archives "July 2008"
Jeff Howe’s Crowdsourcing trailer
This is a well done short trailer of Jeff Howe’s new book on crowdsourcing.
Marc Dangeard proposes a commons for entrepreneurs
I missed this new concept, which makes a lot of sense, when it came out last June. Marc Dangeard says the venture capital model, which leaves 99% of the enterpreneurs unfunded, is largely broken, and something new is needed, which he calls the Entrepreneur Commons. Marc: “A not-for-profit social network of entrepreneurs providing financing for… Continue reading
From Peak Oil to Peak Hierarchy
In the beginning was the Horizontal, and it was everywhere, but it was local. Then came the Vertical, and it was stronger, and became global, eventually tempered by the Diagonal. But one day, the Horizontal learned to interconnect, and it too became global, outshining the Vertical. As it became the strongest, it became tempered by… Continue reading
Civil vs. corporate peer production
With civil peer production I understand a project that is mostly staffed by unpaid voluntary contributors, or, if the contributors are paid, such payment is not directly related to the contributions. For example, you can be paid as a researcher or teacher, or you can receive a pension and unemployment benefits, and use that ‘basic… Continue reading
Reboot lecture: Liberation Technology
“[Gwendolyn Floyd and Joshua Kauffman of Regional] gave a talk about the burgeoning field of liberation technology, synthesizing their studies from both developing world and leading-edge technological and social environments. The talk outlined their vision for how technologies liberate societies at critical developmental inflection points – including our own. They outlined our arrival at the… Continue reading
Open data mash-ups for government
Bill St. Arnaud has started a new blog on Next Generation Democracy. One of the first entries deals with open data mash-ups in government. The articles mentions a new white paper by W. David Stephenson, presented here with many examples of open data mash-ups, some of which are covered in our Politics section of our… Continue reading
We need customer-owned internet infrastructure
Via Bill St. Arnaud: “Around the world there is growing alarm at attempts by carriers, ostensibly for traffic management reasons, to install deep packet inspection equipment, but now being used for local web ad insertion and other activities. Network neutrality is increasingly also an issue about network privacy. As such various organizations like the prestigious… Continue reading
Does every human being need a computer?
What is the exact role of computer networks for development? Here are two illuminating contributions to the question: does every human being need a computer, as a tool of personal and collective empowerment? Two contributions from other mailing list in the p2pfoundation ecology, that shed light on this debate, 1. Franz Nahrada, of Global Villages:… Continue reading
Global governance through shared operating platforms
As Joanne Richardson once wrote, the rhizome is not characteristic of civil society-based peer production communities but a general characteristic of all power structures: “It is naïve to invoke a rhizomatic mode of organization as a means of contestation and as an alternative to global capitalism since it has become what they have in common… Continue reading
Community protection in product-service platforms
Service Innovation is a big buzzwords in business and management circles right now, because in this participatory and connected age, simple physical produces are making way more and more for product-service platforms that bring together the supply of the product, and the user community, which is allowed various degrees of participation. Alex Steffen writes: “PSS… Continue reading
The Long Tail and the Crisis of Value
Readers know that I’m very keen on the crisis of value concept, first identified by Adam Arvidsson and elaborated since. In short, my take on it is that we now have a peer production method that increases use value exponentially, but where monetisation only increases linearly, leading to an increasing gap between social production and… Continue reading
We need an Outquisition
As Gerrit Visser reminds us of this most wonderful website, service, and movement: “Worldchanging was founded on the idea that real solutions already exist for building the future we want. it’s just a matter of grabbing hold and getting moving.” This is very much inline with the spirit of the age and our own philosophy… Continue reading
P2P in Education – Could ShiftSpace help?
Some days ago, Michel Bauwens pointed to a developing open source application, ShiftSpace, asking how this could be relevant to P2P. ShiftSpace is an open source layer above any website. It seeks to expand the creative possibilities currently provided through the web. ShiftSpace provides tools for artists, designers, architects, activists, developers, students, researchers, and hobbyists… Continue reading
Peter Barnes: commons-based carbon capping
This excerpt is from Peter Barnes new book Climate Solutions: A Citizens Guide (Chelsea Green). His 2001 book Who Owns the Sky? presents the Cap-and-Dividend model or Skytrust model in detail. Via On The Commons. Peter Barnes: “Carbon capping comes in three varieties: cap-and-giveaway, cap-and-auction, and cap-and-dividend. All start with descending caps. The differences among… Continue reading
Douglas Rushkoff on the promise of a digital renaissance, and what may derail it
A great speech for the Personal Democracy Forum, which you should read in full. Key message: the digital rennaissance is not about blogging and expressing yourself, but about reprogramming social and political processes. Via Edge. It starts with a critique of the first Renaissance (and subsequent Enlightenment) and their myth of the individual, a cultural… Continue reading