No prisons, no limits.

It doesn't make sense to put a jpg or a blog post behind a paywall. If it's good, it will be available for free in no time. Someone will right-click save the thing, or take a screenshot, and send it around or republish it. Trying to fight that is stupid. Putting chunks of data behind prisons is stupid.

All data can be reproduced at zero marginal cost, leading to infinite supply. That's why market prices are ridiculous for blog posts, and why it's equally ridiculous to try to sell a single blog post. What you CAN sell is access to an exclusive club or community, as well as access to the author. That's what all Twitch/YouTube/OnlyFans have figured out. But make no mistake: they're not selling JPGs. They might sell early-access (in the case of OnlyFans) which is fair, but it's not selling a JPG as you would sell an apple. Early access because if the stuff is any good, it will be available for free to anyone everywhere.

Here's the thing: people love to support other people, so let them. No limits. The success of Patreon and Substack does not come from paywalls, but from the inherent willingness of people to support others. Lean into that. Let people give without limits.

Social signaling is important. Community is incredibly important too. Do that right, and we can 100x the whole space just like a switch from $50 per game to free-to-play 100x'd the gaming industry, selling cosmetics and social status only.

Computers are copying machines. Information yearns to be free. People want to support the stuff they love, and they're willing to pay for it. Not all people, but ~4% of them. And that is enough.