If a significant share of the new information exchanges develops outside
markets and currency-mediated exchanges (for instance using freeware and
barter-like models), how can people involved in these exchanges make a
living? More generally how can these exchanges be sustained and articulated
with the economy at large?
Can the positive aspects of the new media in terms of accessibility (for
potential posters of information), visibility and medium quality (for instance
non-pollution by 3rd party advertising) be durably maintained
and extended for non profit players and how?
Should visibility of information in these media be equitable? If yes, how?
What does it mean for the operation of indexing, search and archive services?
Can the new types of information exchanges form the basis for a new
global exchange paradigm? If yes, will it just be non-currency mediated,
but still describable as an economy at another level of description, or
radically non-economic?
It is initially much easier to mobilise indirect funding (such as advertising,
or to a lesser extent, tax and license fees) for the initial development
of new information exchanges. Is there a risk that this will durably lock
these information exchanges into a very restricted share of the global
economy (as happened at the beginning of the TV era)?