Posted on: Friday 12th of June 2009
Doc Searls EmanciPay idea is a classic control shift. It’s for media content which is given away (ie priced at zero) but which people appreciated as having value.
It’s a VRM model to monetise excellent content given away on the Internet.
First you make it clear to the customer just what they use, read or listen to. The customer can form a much clearer idea of what they value. And you make it easy to pay.It adds clarity and removes friction.
There’s no coercion. The buyer sets the price. You vote directly for what you like with your wallet. It doesnt happen via premium priced voting lines. Journalists and photographers are liberated from advertiser-driven publishing. Susan Boyle is emancipated from the clutches of Simon Cowell.
As the Murdoch empire considers retiring behind a pricing wall, Doc says we should hand the pricing gun over the the readers. Makes sense.