
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
Today's economic system, premised on the sale of physical goods, does not fit the information age in which we live. The capitalist order requires the maintenance of an artificial scarcity in goods that have the potential for near infinite and almost free replication. The sharing of informational goods through distributed global networks ā digital libraries, fileāsharing, liveāstreaming, free software, freeāaccess publishing, the freeāsharing of scientific knowledge, and open-source pharmaceuticals ā not only challenges the dominance of a scarcityābased economic system, but also enables a more efficient, innovative, just and free culture. In a series of seven explorations of contemporary sharing, Matthew David shows that in each case sharing surpasses markets, private ownership and intellectual property rights in fostering motivation, creativity, innovation, production, distribution and reward. In transforming the idea of an information economy into an information society, sharing connects struggles against inequality and poverty in developed and developing countries. Challenging taken-for-granted justifications of the status quo, Sharing debunks the 'tragedy of the commons' and makes the case for digital network sharing as a viable mode of economic counterpower, prefiguring a postācapitalist society.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Libraries and the Digital World
- 3 Peer-to-Peer Music Sharing Online
- 4 Live-streaming and Television Rights Management
- 5 Open-Source Software and Proprietary Software
- 6 Publishing: Academic, Journalistic and Trade
- 7 Genes, Genetically Modified Organisms, Patents and Agribusiness
- 8 Pharmaceutical Patents and Generic Drugs
- 9 Conclusions: Sharing ā Crime against Capitalism
- References
- Index
- End User License Agreement