Cool ideas

Piracy is Progressive Taxation

Tim O'Reilly has written a good essay that suggests a new light in which to view the recording industry. Obscurity is worse than piracy, piracy is progressive taxation and other very interesting thoughts.

I'm always interested in figuring out what the eventual steady state of the recording industry in the digital age will be. How will artists get rewarded? Will buying be easier than stealing? Will legitimate sellers of music offer more value than file sharing networks?

I think Tim is right on they money. While his essay doesn't paint a complete picture of the future, I strongly suspect that business models for the future will need to take his points into account. Either that, or they'll be doomed as the current record labels/publishers are.

Posted by Mayhem at December 12, 2002 10:16 AM