The Hi-Tech Gift Economy by Richard Barbrook
The hi-tech gift economy heralds the end of private property in ‘cutting edge’ areas of the economy.
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Net users will always obtain much more than will ever be contributed in return. By giving away something which is well-made, they will gain recognition from those who download their work. For most people, the gift economy is simply the best method of collaborating together in cyberspace. Within the mixed economy of the Net, anarcho-communism has become an everyday reality.
I think it is all marvelous, but something is not quite right. Perhaps it is more that there is a revolution brewing, that the means of production – and the nature of the fundamental commodity has changed. Its not communism thats for sure.