So, does information really want to be free?
Yes, it does, according to technology activists (and Steward Brand, who coined the phrase; see Wikipedia).
It does if you are an insider trading apologist or fair disclosure objector. As I wrote on this blog, research has shown that Regulation FD can be harmful.
But others may not agree.
It is an interesting area to study, the tensions that exist at the borders of information: what forces want to keep it bottled up, what is our right to know, how do you reconcile the two?
Journalists may be of two minds. On the one hand, they want to report news, whenever they want, period. But what has our sense of entitlement to free, immediate and ubiquitous information done to their business models?
PR people (I am one) and corporations like to manage and control the release of information. Of course, this is getting harder to do.
Twitter is perhaps the poster child for leaky information. You’d guess that their executives just love how the platform has become famous for scooping the media. Yet, the company ironically fell victim earlier this week when poor financial results got out early, via Twitter; their stock tanked.
And what about the Average Joe consumer? You’d think they love free access to information, right? Not necessarily. The NY Times reported that football fans don’t like spoilers when it comes to the NFL draft.
