“Bounty Hunters”

The metaphors we use to describe the abstract concept of intellectual works bring along its own set of baggage. The metaphor of "property" automatically invokes the idea of "owner" and "theft" and "pirate". But some metaphors describe reality better than others. This book introduces the metaphor of authors and inventors as Bounty Hunters. The public offers a bounty to any individual willing to create some as-yet-undiscovered work. Creators provide a "service" in the same vein as a Bounty Hunter provides a service of catching bad guys. Creators are rewarded for their service as a function of the labor put into it and the risk taken to be successful. The community sets the reward to be as low as possible but just high enough that a Bounty Hunter collects. Read about the metaphorical town of "Eureka" and see how the history of intellectual works fit within this metaphor.



“a very insightful investigation of modern copyright law, patents (including software patents), the struggles of free software, and the impact of digital rights management”

Free Software Magazine



"a tremendous little book... tackles the economics of copyright through a fun, breezy little parable"

Cory Doctorow (BoingBoing.net)



"The writing is great and reminds me of Mark Jason Dominus and Richard Feynman."

Nat Torkington (OReilly.com)


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Copyright 2005 Greg London

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