How do we get paid?

One of the hottest topics in media today - if not the ONLY topic - is how content providers can make a living in the new world, where the internet provides us with movies, TV, news, books, magazines and newspapers for free.

A conference in London debated these issues with every view under the sun, from erecting pay walls (as evil empire ruler Murdoch has suggested) to modifying the business model in the first place (ala iTunes).

Whatever happens, the genie is out of the bottle and it ain't going back in. In a massive shift, we'll see established content providers dissappear over the next few years with only the most creative and imaginative providers suriviving the revolution.

This would seem to be an opportunity for new, democratic media to emerge, one that isn't ruled by the corporate bottom line (and thankfully the BBC serve that role in the UK) and can provide a wider variety of content that isn't delivered top to bottom.

However, I fear that this won't be the case, and the powerful lobbysits will simply twist the weak governement arm into legistlation (as the recent u-turn from Mandelson on P2P shows) that will prolong their monopoly. This will delay innovation and advances in consumer benefits.

As Alain Delon says in Visconti's masterpiece THE LEOPARD: Everything must change so that nothing will change.