Bob Frankston worries about content and connectivity bundling by Comcast and Disney.
I wonder… what if the various commons movements acted to create and enforce reciprocal responsibilities as part of their condition of use? As a Comcast subscriber, you would simply see your attempts to access Creative Commons on GPL licensed content blocked.
“We note you have attempted to access this content from a parasitical ISP. Due to our policy of reciprocal obligation for open access to connectivity and service, you will be required to contribute $10 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation before proceeding.”
Various other socially-minded web sites like BoingBoing could do likewise. “As a Verizon customer, you are now required to view 10 pages of Flash-ridden adverts before viewing the article. If you do not like this requirement, please call Verizon and discuss their e-mail blocking policies with them.”
The danger, of course, is that this could create a mutually-reinforcing fragmentation of the Internet, rather than the converse that we seek. I’m not a good enough game theorist to construct the right incentives to escape such a Prisoners’ Dilemma. BTW, where does the apostrophe go? Google doesn’t tell.
One of the weaknesses of the Internet and IP was that nobody thought through the social and economic sides of a standard means of interconnecting networks. Where’s the General Peering Agreement, a viral means of ensuring open access?
Posted by Martin Geddes at 11:53 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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