Marc Ringuette (mnr@cs.cmu.edu) writes:

True, the abandonment of copyright isn't going to happen right away.

I agree, too. But there are many things here to look at. Economics is a strange bird, indeed, and I pretend to know little of it. But here are some points that the future may bring into focus... 1) It is easy to copy software (music, programs, video, etc.) 2) No matter what copy protection is developed, it will always be easy. 3) People will always pay for the *production* of software (a program that needs to be written, or live music, or...) (note that the Grateful Dead, top money maker, invites tapers) 4) People will always pay for support, maintenance, storage, etc. (note cygnus) 5) Storage and indexing become more valuable as info-quantity grows. 6) Likewise, effecient and accurate filtering (access) 7) People will pay for access to the info they want *now*. 8) Human editors will team with electronic filters to provide this service. In conclusion, there will always be money to be made. In (one of) the more radical futures (that I happen to ascribe to) there will be less income from past works (ala software patents) and more for storage and timely access. But the developer of good software (the musician) will always be in demand. Fen