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The Pearls and the Landfill -- A Modern Fable
with apologies to Eric S. Raymond
Once there was an Oyster that made beautiful pearls. Wonderful, valuable creations they were and sought by many. There was also a landfill in town and--as odd as it may seem-the local custom was for the Oyster to cast his pearls into the landfill. The landfill owner would sift them out and display them, along with other items found in the debris. Every day, people would line up at the landfill, hoping to obtain pearls. Since the landfill owner had no ‘cost of goods sold’ he grew extremely wealthy selling the product of the Oyster’s labors.
And curiously, the landfill owner was sometimes overheard saying to the Oyster, “Pearls just want to be free!”
“Pearls just want to be free!” believed the Oyster. And there was none in the land that disagreed.
And the Oyster made no money and had to keep his day job, although he had a great reputation for making fine pearls. It was a slight consolation also knowing he had helped pay for the gasoline to mow the lawn on the Tragic Commons, true--and also to see his name as another brick in the wall of donors. But what he really needed was some money to fill his pantry and buy some clothes and firewood as winter approached. Sadly, there was no market for pearls, he was told. Despite the Pearlright Act, money was not even to be expected for pearls anymore.
Epilogue
And great valuation was created for the landfill. The owner sold shares of stock to the public at a fabulous profit. They built enormous electronic bulldozers and other machinery to find pearls. And all the shareholders told the Oyster, “Pearls just want to be free!”
And the Oyster kept producing and casting his pearls.
Application--Good News.
Perhaps it has occurred to you, that YOU have been that Oyster...
...that your blog or other online content--or the information you seek--are the pearls...
...and that the search engines--sometimes even human researchers--are the landfill owners that sift through all the junk and try to package it up for you--often giving you some of both, along with ads that make them money. Their approach sometimes disenfranchises you and makes you a have-not. Sorry about that. But you can now start properly valuing your intellectual property as the valuable ‘commodity’ it is.
Cast your pearls before those willing to pay what they’re worth, without advertising getting in the way of the transaction.
Don’t believe the junk-dealers who say there is no market for your writing except when it drives searchers to third-party ads. They have fences and junkyard dogs around junkyards. Information just wants to be paid. If it didn’t, Google wouldn’t mind Open Sourcing its algorithms--which would make them a low-value commodity like you do when you waive your copyright and cast your pearls into the landfill of the Internet.
Question the judgment of those who reject out of hand any Walled Garden. Note how they might profit without paying royalties to you when your copyright wall is torn down. Many profitable examples exist online, for example note the publishers of high-priced business reports. With micropayments we can accomplish similar results for general public benefit. That includes you.
Join us as we build a better Net that is truly win-win.
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