Monetizing content on the web - a different perspective

I watched this video from the Financial Times today - interviewing Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist with Microsoft, talking about his vision for how content should be created and shared on the internet.

It's not directly about MOOCs but I found it offered very interesting views on a lot of the areas relevant to MOOCs.

Should content be free?
In particular, he argues that demonetizing content will ultimately lead to less stability and more poverty.
If information costs money, there will be more wealth for all.

His solution is not to put up barriers and force people to pay for content - he views this as a 'negative' type of contract. Better is to create networks where people can both earn and pay for content, which is a far more 'positive' and constructive contract.

He also talks about intellectual property rights, and the shape of networks - at the moment the business model is to try and build tree-shaped connections with a business at the root that can 'milk value' out of content. Lanier argues that if we have a thickly-connected mesh of networks, the volume and flow of information becomes much greater and there is more opportunity for monetization by more people.