Paying for the Web

photo by pugluv89

Will we start charging for Internet services, as Jaron Lanier whines? Or will we side with Chris Anderson’s “Free! Why $0.00 is the Future of Business”?

Lanier pleas “pay me for my content,” but his plea quickly bumps against Anderson’s statement that “practically everything Web technology touches starts down the path to gratis.” Anderson, then, eclipses Lanier’s plea.

Lanier is what Anderson would call a “traditionalist,” one amongst many who “wring their hands about the ‘vaporization of value’ and ‘demonetization’ of entire industries.” But Lanier has it all wrong, and here’s why.

All of the best content I access regularly is free. But this is not the “demonetization” of an industry—it is simply an alternative economic approach. A few of sources that I visit regularly come to mind:

ZNet is an incredible resource, and most of its content is free. But tech guys like Lanier can still get paid. I’ve purchased books from ZNet, for example, and I also donate to the website because I want the service to be maintained and improved.

Radiohead offered their latest album free, but I paid the standard price for the album because I enjoy their work. There were also reports of massive contributions for Radiohead’s album, not because people liked the music, but because they liked the concept of free.

Democracy Now! and the other Pacifica Radio stations are all listener supported, and the recently launched Real News is a phenomenal service based in Toronto that is driven entirely by donations.

Staff at Democracy Now! and The Real News are paid, and make a reasonable living. The list can go on, and Canadian organizations like rabble.ca are adding to the fray, but the essential point is that people can get paid by not asking for money.

I’m all for free—in fact, I intend to make a living off of it now.