The Day I Got Napsterized
from the theory-vs.-reality dept
It's always fun to see when someone makes a theoretical argument, but then has to deal with the realities of the situation. That's what happened to writer Steven Levy, who felt that the internet was a good means of distribution of content... until he found his own books available for free online. He explains what happened, and his reaction to it - which isn't angry, but brings up some questions. Conceptually he understands why the internet is a good distribution mechanism, but at the same time he wants to get paid for his work. Of course what would be more interesting is seeing whether or not the free version helped or hurt sales, but I guess that's more difficult to determine.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team