Title: Intellectual Value | WIRED
Headings: Intellectual Value
Intellectual Value
A radical new way of looking at compensation for owners and creators in the Net-based economy.
The half-life of value
Seen one, seen them all
Paradise lost and regained
The curve of intellectual value
Approaching zero
The bifurcation of content
The vacuum of attention
Return of the middlemen
A market of visibility
Software Metering
tracking usage rights
Digital Watermarks

Content: Certainly, advertisers will continue to pay people to develop advertising content for them, even if that content is to be distributed free. I am not saying that content is worthless, or that you will always get it for free. Content providers should manage their businesses as if it were free, and then figure out how to set up relationships or develop ancillary products and services that cover the costs of developing content. Or players may simply try their hands at creative endeavors based on service, not content assets: filtering content, hosting online forums, rating others' (free) content, custom programming, consulting, or performing. The creator who writes off the costs of developing content immediately - as if it were valueless - is always going to win over the creator who can't figure out how to cover those costs. The way to become a leading content provider may be to start by giving your content away. This "generosity" isn't a moral decision: it's a business strategy. The half-life of value
Imagine you're a farmer in the 19th century headed into the 20th.