Ralph Koster takes a look in VentureBeat at the recent dust up in Second Life caused by CopyBot. Will the small guys have our rights bypassed in the virtual worlds into which we upload our originality?
Microtransactions for digital assets and virtual goods is a rising, potentially multibillion dollar industry. To succeed, entrepreneurs who are building networked systems based on user content (be they citizens of Second Life or the makers of virtual worlds themselves) must realize that anything displayable is copyable; the value lies instead in service and in server-side functionality. Content is like songs around a campfire: destined to be enjoyed for free. Those who build businesses around hosting campfires would be wise to focus on making the campfire experience great, rather than charging listeners by the song.
Via O’Reilly Radar
Ralph Koster takes a look in VentureBeat at the recent dust up in Second Life caused by CopyBot. Will the small guys have our rights bypassed in the virtual worlds into which we upload our originality?
Microtransactions for digital assets and virtual goods is a rising, potentially multibillion dollar industry. To succeed, entrepreneurs who are building [...]
Comments
@ 09:42
Well, this all supports the creation of digital content as a service itself. Like the software as a service debate years ago.
The act of doing is worth paying for. But when it comes to copying and packaging, the creator is usually not the one to get any recompense. In fact, they normally get screwed and the publishers take the brunt of it and get angry when they get screwed.
Rethinking ‘property’ is in order. But Darn It, Lessig beat me to that.