News About OpenBusiness

OpenBusiness.cc has recently received quite a bit of coverage. Obviously we fill a gap in the market for ideas and prevalent questions: In our case it is a much posed question which comes in different guises: how can giving away content sustain an activity? How can artists be remunerated if much of their content is available for free on the Internet? Well, the answers come from different angles, movements and different parts of the world. The creation of Open Source software is a much studied concept now. The code is available for free (as in libre) and the programmers contribute substantial work without direct compensation. Why? It seems to be a mix out of personal satisfaction and being accepted and admired by your peers. So the “Open Concept” is moving into new areas. The Economist recently looked at the question in an article called ‘Open – But not as usual‘ and said: ‘The “open-source” process of creating things is quickly becoming a threat—and an opportunity—to businesses of all kinds’. For this they interviewed Openbusiness.cc and now Open Democracy is re-publishing our interview with Yochai Benkler focussing on his new book the “Wealth of Networks”. If you read this you should also read our slashdotted interview with Esther Dyson, where she describes how Openess effects businesses.
And this all while we are preparing for the iCommons Summit, where we will talk about the creation of “Enterprise Commons” or a Commercial Commons License, to make commercial relationships free of legal costs. Then we are beginning to start analyzing the “Open Business Models” we have identified so far to make them into the Open Business Guide – for this we have help from the London School of Economics and whoever will help us. OpenBusiness is as open for collaboration as its main theme……