October 15, 2009. Are copyrights, patents and licensing schemes the best way to share information and motivate and reward information creators? Hell no! Information includes writings, drawings, photographs, the spoken word, music, movies, television and radio shows and even electronic signals from a brain. We can find ways of sharing and distributing information that reward information creators without adding usage and sharing restrictions which require force to enforce and limit the total value of a piece of information. Creating and distributing information in the public domain does not require any rules or laws. Creators just need some examples of how to do it and more will choose independence from established distribution middle-men and we will all benefit as it will create a massive, shared public library of information for which there are no barriers to access or rules against sharing and reuse. Voluntary payments can support the creation of a continuous stream of new information from many information creators rather than overcompensating a few for single works. We can decide how much to pay for information only after we receive it. Forcing a payment before receiving the information makes people overpay for information thay don't like and underpay for information they do. As a thought exercise, consider that information can flow away from our planet to a potentially unlimited audience. Forcing a certain payment amount for each 'copy' or 'view' would result an infinite number of transactions with infinite overhead. Information creators that embrace the public domain, ask for voluntary payments, set fair profit goals and transparently share total payments received can still get paid while maximizing the reach of their work. Another way to look at the issue of information freedom is to try to find a unified theory that fits information exchanges in all situations. Consider a verbal conversation between two people. To start the conversation, the first person gives the information (what they say) to the second without forcing any monetary transaction or information sharing agreement first. Does the first person own it? The second? Both? Does the second need permission from the first to remember it or write it down or tell it to someone else? What if somebody else accidentally overhears it? Do we need to wear a sign that says "I communicate in the publlic domain?" Information ownership is a confused concept. Worse, it limits and prevents the timely development of important ideas and inventions. |