The Pirate's Dilemma

This truly helped establish my feelings on the many benefits of art and the internet, and my feelings on greedy SOB's manipulating the law to stifle future creativity in this world so they can benefit financially.

A good book detailing the rise and fall of youth culture, hip-hop, graffiti, medicine patents, and many other things. Also includes a great analysis of the open-source community and the economic and political motives behind all of it. It's a very music-centric book, linking what we see in the physical world of art with what we are doing online.

This book is available online as a free PDF.

great concepts, but really not a great writer. the core idea here is that in order to thrive as a business in a world of infinitely replicable goods, we take the prisoner's dilemma (where game theory states its always in our best interest to work solely in our personal best interest) and factor in the good of society in our decision making. if we can benefit society with our business model, AND monetize the new value that the pirates have discovered, then theres hope for a new type of business to emerge. Some big gaping flaws, but all around a worthwhile read.