Chapter 8

Innovation from the Internet

In both artistic and commercial contexts in real space, there are barriers
that keep innovators out. These barriers, for the most part, have been eco-
nomic and real: the real cost of resources is a real constraint for most who
would create. These barriers are obviously not absolute; ours is an extraor-
dinarily creative culture; plainly some overcome the limits I've described.
Indeed, if markets were perfectly competitive, one might imagine the opti-
mal number that overcomes the barriers I have described. But markets are
not perfect, and costs can be regretted. Hence these barriers are enough to
keep innovators away whom we would not otherwise want to exclude. The
hassle, the uncertainty, the absolute cost: no doubt these together chill many.

These barriers in real space are a function of its nature or, we could say,
its architecture. Not "architecture" in its ordinary sense -- buildings and
streets -- but architecture in a much broader sense: architecture in the sense
of the set of physical constraints that one finds, even if these are constraints
that man has made. The constraints that are reflected through economics
are constraints of architecture in this sense. You can't perfectly and cost-
lessly copy a nutritious meal; that takes real resources. You can't costlessly
and instantly move your car from one coast to another: that takes time and
energy. The constraints of real space are built into the nature of real space,
and though technology presses against this nature, it is only so effective.
Real constraints remain.

Cyberspace has a different architecture. Its nature is therefore different as
well. Digital content can be copied perfectly and practically freely. You can
move a great deal of content almost freely and instantly. And you can repli-

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