Digital commons: Difference between revisions

{{a|devil|}}The central irony of the [[digital commons]]. Since the practical means of separating of [[information]] from its [[substrate]] became available to all<ref>The JC dates this to the widespread introduction of [[email]], but the fabulous {{author|James Burke}} makes a good argument that it started 200 is years ago with the [Jacquard loom]].</ref> any digital artefact — any code — can be instantly and costlessly replicated. No consumables materials,<ref>Barring a trivial amount of electricity and no I am not including [[Blockchain]] in that sweeping generalisation.</ref> no labour, no storage transport cost. —  unless tech companies can extract rent somehow, their profit margins will quickly tend to zero, as the code in their products, being its sole value, is freely reproduable.