Someone Else Notices Blogging is Godless Communism

Implies that a cash-enabled internet would allow scholars to find and talk to each other. Probably implied unconsciously.

https://dergigi.com/2022/12/18/a-vision-for-a-value-enabled-web/

tl;dr web payments rely on credit, which means KYC and "trusted" third parties and hence inordinate transaction costs. Cash is anonymous and that's what makes it great, and natively digital cash is far from impossible. 

Extension: indeed it's an extremely obvious idea which is only baffling in that mortals seem to have such trouble with, like, just doing it.

Extension: but perhaps a trust-using network would be fine. Have everyone issue their own currency, and users can choose to trust them, or not. The advantage is this system should be technologically simple; the costs are offloaded to cognitive resources, meaning it's money for smart people. Inegalitarian. Bonus round: this is kind of like making every account a central bank, hence democratizing "central" banking aka legalized counterfeiting, is inegalitarian.

 

Nitpicks:

Identity and consequential actions are only one piece of the puzzle. Not all pieces are known yet, let alone in place. Nevertheless, many people are working on various technologies and protocols that might help to fix some of the issues described above. My hope is that—once we understand the problems properly and have the right thesis and vision—we will figure out the details as we go along.

Alternatively they can just ask someone like me and just get told the answer. It's really not a difficult problem. 

When it comes to JPGs, mp3 files, blog posts, or similar digital artifacts, we have to stop pretending that the files themselves are scarce or precious.

Incorrect focus. The marginal printing cost of the artifact is not the important part; the important part is ownership. 

When you sell someone data, you inevitably also sell them the blueprint and reproduction rights. Price the sale accordingly.  

 

The challenge is to make the experience enjoyable and seamless without reintroducing the ills of counterparty risk.

A small counterparty risk not contingent on State identification is also fine. In other words, short-term credit. Mainly used to reduce transaction costs. 

 

Sending people money for information that they can retrieve for free is still a strange concept for most, but the proliferation of new podcasting apps and other "boost" mechanisms clearly shows that the cultural shift is happening.

Unreconstructed Communist brainworm.

No, don't pretend to own things you don't own. Don't try to sell things you're not selling.

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