I think [shag's] moving the goalpost. No one's disagreeing that exploitation is at the heart of capitalism. Dwayne's talking specifically about people wanting stuff free on the internet. I think maybe things are progressing in typical fashion. The first one is free.
....
Yes, and there's more.
It took awhile, but media companies have finally crafted a strategy to retrain perceptions re: "free". Apple's joint venture with the NYT, Wired mag and a number of others -- designed to close the "free" gap via the use of the iPad as the first of a new class of info gate-keeping devices -- is the completion of the circle first sketched with iTunes.
Although these corps aren't concerned with building or maintaining a positive feedback loop for artists, writers, performers, etc and 'consumers' (that is, they have no interest in the issues shag raises) their efforts will, I project, have the effect of decisively ending the theory and practice of "free" we object to - except on the margins.
People's freetard beliefs are irrelevant...just as the creation of auto culture was, in part, shaped by necessity (the US's vast territory, not all of which is suitable for rail) and in part by corporate design -- leaving those who longed for other arrangements in the dust, I project that "free" is rapidly becoming yesterday's argument.
Of course, the new configuration won't necessarily benefit artists, etc; I'm not declaring the problem 'solved'. I'm just saying that this focus on the perfidies of "free" is, at this point, a look in the wrong direction.
It's like vacationing in the Ardennes and remaining vigilant for Panzer divisions.
.d.