Snippets from Forbes

The April 11, 2001 issue of Forbes had worthwhile comments concerning copyright.  Lewis DVorkin in the article "The soul of media: For Forbes, it’s editing" observed that "On the Web today, knowledgeable people can publish content for next to nothing. With the tools of social media, those same people can build followings for next to nothing."

In recognition of this trend, Mr. DVorkin goes on to say "Forbes is adapting to this world while still adhering to what made us a trusted business news provider. Our full-time staff of experienced editors and reporters is now both covering the news and recruiting hundreds of qualified contributors — in effect, curators — to create the content our voracious audience requires. Forbes is “editing” these curators by hand picking them (just as we do our full-time staff) based on their credentials." A refreshing acknowledgement that it is better to adapt to a changing market by soliciting content from those willing to contribute.

 Jon Bruner in the interview "Steal This E-Book"  asks tech publisher Tim O'Reillly "On all your titles you've dropped digital-rights management (DRM), which limits file sharing and copying. Aren't you worried about piracy?"

Mr. Reilly responds with "No. And so what? Let's say my goal is to sell 10,000 copies of something. And let's say that if by putting DRM in it I sell 10,000 copies and I make my money, and if by having no DRM 100,000 copies go into circulation and I still sell 10,000 copies. Which of those is the better outcome? I think having 100,000 in circulation and selling 10,000 is way better than having just the 10,000 that are paid for and nobody else benefits. ... People who don't pay you generally wouldn't have paid you anyway. We're delighted when people who can't afford our books don't pay us for them, if they go out and do something useful with that information. ... I think having faith in that basic logic of the market is important. Besides, DRM interferes with the user experience. It makes it much harder to have people adopt your product."  Again, another refreshing acknowledgement that adaption to a changing market is a superior approach.