The Economist has a pretty good article summarizing a law school journal article by Benkler, called Sharing Nicely where he argues that we are seeing the rise of third economy based on sharing that exceeds the sharing of intangibles.
I am super excited to read the Benkler piece as he is probably my favorite lawyer/thinker/writer when it comes to issues about IP, speech, sharing etc in the digital domain. His thinking is sharp and his writing style is very accessible, a real plus when dealing with the complexities of this world.
Since I have not yet read the Benkler, I am reticent to comment. But according to the conclusion of the Economist, they state Benkler’s position as follows:
“Mr Benkler does not limit his analysis to computing and bandwidth, but tries to make a broader point in favour of sharing goods far beyond information technology.