> If the author is arguing that information cannot be intrinsically valuable because it is so abundant, you cannot create a monopoly on top of it. Sure you can

> If the author is arguing that information cannot be intrinsically valuable because it is so abundant, you cannot create a monopoly on top of it. Sure you can, that's exactly what copyright does. You create artificial scarcity by forbidding people to make use of an otherwise abundant resource. >it is useful to incentivize the creation of valuable ideas which is difficult when they are used freely. I don't think it's that difficult, it's just hardly anyone is seriously considering alternatives to the copyright model, not least because its proponents have elevated it to morality status. We are starting to see a possible alternative in the form of Kickstarter and Patreon. Some creators using these services happily give away some or all of their creative output, and primarily sell their continuing labour. And I think many of those who currently restrict their content will begin to care a lot less about piracy, once they're not relying on piecemeal sales for their income. I don't know if that model can scale to all content creation, but I think people have underestimated it in the past.