Remix, a book on the Creative Commons by Lessig!

[gunug]

You can download and read the Lawrence Lessig book "Remix" from this website:

http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/remix.htm

This is all about rethinking "copyright" so that it works in the future!

QUOTE

An “economy” is a practice of exchange that sustains itself, or
      is sustained, through time. A “practice of exchange.” For
example:
    1. A gives something to B.
    2. B (directly or indirectly) gives something back to A.
    3. Repeat.
    The “something” could have tangible, economic value—money,
or hours of labor. Or it could be intangible, and without ordinary
economic value—friendship, or helping a neighbor with a flat tire.
In either case, the trade occurs within an “economy” when it is a
regular practice of social interaction. People participate within that
economy so long as they get enough back relative to what they give.
This doesn’t mean everyone gets back exactly what he or she con-
tributes (or more): A talented lawyer working for a public-interest-
housing law firm gives more than her meager salary returns. (Meet
my wife.) But it does mean that people operating within an econ-
omy evaluate the exchange, how much they get versus how much
they give, and that we should expect they will continue in that
economy so long as they get enough from the exchange relative to
what they give.
    “Economies” in this sense differ in many ways. In the story that
follows, however, I radically and crudely simplify these differences
to speak about three types of economies only: a commercial econ-
omy, a sharing economy, and a hybrid of the two.

[Xairbusdriver]

Haven't read the book, obviously, and I assume he gets into the detailed explanations, but the "value" of what one gives/gets cannot always be reduced to monetary quantities, IMHO. Nor can all "gifts" even be considered to have been offered in an expectation of some kind of "payment." I can agree that a basic definition of an 'economy' involves providing a service that has some monetary value agreed to by both parties, but translating that into 'giving' and 'receiving' "gifts" seems to be pushing the analogy a little too far. The problem, IMHO, is when outside parties start manipulating he transactions that end up favoring one side or the other. Of course, that manipulation creates a whole 'economy' of those who seek to justify the perceived and actual unbalance of services and payments. Namely, a very large segment of the 'justice' system. So, things are not always as simple as they seem?