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I don't understand the barbed wire metaphor. Couldn't crypto have the effect of putting content that would otherwise be freely available in the current internet

I don't understand the barbed wire metaphor. Couldn't crypto have the effect of putting content that would otherwise be freely available in the current internet behind monetary barriers? Couldn't cryptocurrencies enable further control by monopolizing media industries? The technology is powerful, whether or not it will be liberating is to be determined. Edit: didn't realize this was from 1993! Amazing to read that perspective!

kang 9y ago
Crypto would enable inbuilt content use payment system if the user wants to pay, and reap additional benefits - freemium model Industries wont be monopolized cause forking and launching decentralised code would be free and instant.
- MacsHeadroom 9y ago
  Tell that to email. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge cryptonerd. But open source is not a panacea against monopolization.
  - andreasgonewild 9y ago
    Tell what to email? I'm deep into the process of telling it to shut up and forward the anonymous, encrypted data here: https://github.com/andreas-gone-wild/snackis https://github.com/andreas-gone-wild/snackis. It's still an excellent transport for async messaging.
52-6F-62 9y ago
It was very interesting! They nailed a number of points there in terms of the prominence of certain techs. They missed a big one, though. Today it was announced in the New York Times that Goldman Sachs is backing a payment fintech startup that operates on a public blockchain. JP Morgan, BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse, ING, are all involved in the EEA. Big money is making its way into cryptocurrencies presently. Groups like GS are fairly responsible for a lot of those barbed wire fences, and usually for their own gain.
- microwavecamera 9y ago
  No crypto-currency back then and openly available strong cryptography was a new thing. It was a different time.
  - 52-6F-62 9y ago
    Oh no doubt. It was just a comment, not a criticism.
Ajedi32 9y ago
As the saying goes: information wants to be free. In a world where everyone can interact with each other completely anonymously that becomes even more true, since governments cannot effectively penalize people for distributing said information. For example, imagine a version of The Pirate Bay hosted as a Tor hidden service, combined with a completely anonymous torrent-like P2P file sharing system.
- troymc 9y ago
  The full quote is: "On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other." - Stewart Brand, Whole Earth Review, May 1985
- optimuspaul 9y ago
  Ugh, I hate that "information wants to be free" nonsense. Information doesn't want anything, it isn't a thing that can want. People want information and very rarely do people actually want it to be free.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    People generslly want information they don't currently have but want to be free for then to acquire. People often also want information they do currently have to be expensive to other people to acquire.
    - Ajedi32 9y ago
      > People often also want information they do currently have to be expensive to other people to acquire. I don't think that's necessarily true. For example, pirated copies of media are typically created when someone legally purchases a copy of the work and then publishes it for others to use entirely for free. I find it very hard to believe that the people posting these pirated works want those works to be expensive for others to acquire.
msgilligan 9y ago
Actually, it was 1988.
mirimir 9y ago
Yes, cryptocurrencies could be used by media distributors. But anything that's popular and too expensive will get pirated, and distributed via darknets.
n8n3k 9y ago
Bitcoin can enforce property rights, like barbed wire.
- macawfish 9y ago
  Exactly. They article compared crypto to the wire cutters, but it can just as easily be used to make barbed wire.

kang 9y ago

Crypto would enable inbuilt content use payment system if the user wants to pay, and reap additional benefits - freemium model Industries wont be monopolized cause forking and launching decentralised code would be free and instant.

MacsHeadroom 9y ago
Tell that to email. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge cryptonerd. But open source is not a panacea against monopolization.
- andreasgonewild 9y ago
  Tell what to email? I'm deep into the process of telling it to shut up and forward the anonymous, encrypted data here: https://github.com/andreas-gone-wild/snackis https://github.com/andreas-gone-wild/snackis. It's still an excellent transport for async messaging.

52-6F-62 9y ago

It was very interesting! They nailed a number of points there in terms of the prominence of certain techs. They missed a big one, though. Today it was announced in the New York Times that Goldman Sachs is backing a payment fintech startup that operates on a public blockchain. JP Morgan, BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse, ING, are all involved in the EEA. Big money is making its way into cryptocurrencies presently. Groups like GS are fairly responsible for a lot of those barbed wire fences, and usually for their own gain.

microwavecamera 9y ago
No crypto-currency back then and openly available strong cryptography was a new thing. It was a different time.
- 52-6F-62 9y ago
  Oh no doubt. It was just a comment, not a criticism.

Ajedi32 9y ago

As the saying goes: information wants to be free. In a world where everyone can interact with each other completely anonymously that becomes even more true, since governments cannot effectively penalize people for distributing said information. For example, imagine a version of The Pirate Bay hosted as a Tor hidden service, combined with a completely anonymous torrent-like P2P file sharing system.

troymc 9y ago
The full quote is: "On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other." - Stewart Brand, Whole Earth Review, May 1985
optimuspaul 9y ago
Ugh, I hate that "information wants to be free" nonsense. Information doesn't want anything, it isn't a thing that can want. People want information and very rarely do people actually want it to be free.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  People generslly want information they don't currently have but want to be free for then to acquire. People often also want information they do currently have to be expensive to other people to acquire.
  - Ajedi32 9y ago
    > People often also want information they do currently have to be expensive to other people to acquire. I don't think that's necessarily true. For example, pirated copies of media are typically created when someone legally purchases a copy of the work and then publishes it for others to use entirely for free. I find it very hard to believe that the people posting these pirated works want those works to be expensive for others to acquire.

msgilligan 9y ago

Actually, it was 1988.

mirimir 9y ago

Yes, cryptocurrencies could be used by media distributors. But anything that's popular and too expensive will get pirated, and distributed via darknets.

n8n3k 9y ago

Bitcoin can enforce property rights, like barbed wire.

macawfish 9y ago
Exactly. They article compared crypto to the wire cutters, but it can just as easily be used to make barbed wire.