Stephen Downes

There are two parts to Ben Werdmuller's argument. The first is that people who develop new platforms should be able to earn a living. The second is the outline of a proposal for pro-social funding. I don't really disagree with either part; everybody needs an income of some sort, and the world does need things like open social software. But is the 'founder' approach really the way to go? I mean, even Werdmuller's admittedly progressive vision proposes, "Fund the founders, not the project... long-term success is tied more to founder mindset than to initial product ideas." In other words, "fund people like us". People who believe their service should make money. I don't think you can create essential social services on the VC model. The benefits are not realized by the providers of the service, but by the people using them, and there's no way to charge for the service without undermining access and renting it out to private interests. That's why they must be provided (and paid for) as public services.