'People' are a diffuse interest. Big budget publishers and intermediaries are a concentrated interest; they can create demand/cultural relevance for their produ

'People' are a diffuse interest. Big budget publishers and intermediaries are a concentrated interest; they can create demand/cultural relevance for their products and demand protectionist regulation. Because publishers are the path to popularity/cultural relevance (with a minor price discrimination/marketing assist from piracy) it doesn't make any sense for creators with aspirations of even minor stardom to go outside the system. Stross (edit: guest poster Hugh Hancock) and zillions of others are complaining about the outcome of this dynamic, not proposing any way to change it. I like your critique (don't complain, go outside system personally) but as a personal recommendation it will be rejected almost always (see above). To have a real crack at changing the dynamic, 'people' need to figure out how to peer produce cultural relevance independent of the system and compete on policy in a way that furthers peer production rather than merely mitigates excesses. Demanding public domain for public funding is one policy item to push on, currently outre for cultural funding/subsidy.