Free beer, free XXX?

Programmer-turned-social activist Richard Stallman has repeatedly argued that free software is “free as in freedom,” not “free as in beer.” In my own studies of free/open source adoption — specifically Linux — I’ve found that free beer (not ideology) is the reason firms adopt.

Free is a powerful motivator. This is so obvious that it made it impossible for us to get our study published in a top-ranked journal.

Even in cases where openness matters in principle, in the end what matters is not openness but competition. A month ago, Dave Mock of Motley Fool made this point yet again — price is what matters — for Verizon’s “open” network plans.

So it was through the prism of “free” that I read this paragraph earlier this week by LA Times columnist Jonah Goldberg:

Last year may have marked the beginning of the end of the Internet's greatest financial success story: hugely profitable pornography. While the mainstream media spent billions of dollars and nearly a decade trying to make a buck off the Internet, the porn industry raked in cash from the moment Al Gore invented the thing. But with the rise of such free sites as YouPorn (the YouTube of the pornography business), the online subscriber model is imploding. DVD sales are plummeting too, and the adult video business is actually laying off workers (no pun intended). YouPorn is now the most-visited adult site in the world, and its traffic is growing at nearly 40% a month.

Despite the claims of Glenn Beck that 99.5% of American men either view porn or lie about viewing porn, I know almost nothing about the subject beyond a few movies in college (more than any reader wants to know). However, I once had a knowledgeable coworker who would tell me about places like WhiteHouse.com (until it went legit), so I was clear many years ago that online (as elsewhere) sex sells.

So this seems to be another example of how “free” online business models win out. Or, perhaps, an improbable triumph for Web 2.0, specifically user-generated content.

Now all that YouPorn customers could hope for is free beer to go with their free entertainment.