The modern commercial world moans and strains between greed and need. Corporations rage about royalties, whine about file trading and music swapping, devise harsh intellectual property protection schemes. Leaving aside for a moment the complex support structure of producers, publishers, advertisers, and retailers (none of whom you and I would deal with in direct online transaction), the artists themselves, artists of all types, must live, and more than live, must thrive. (Most artists do not really do better work when starving.) Creators, or as I think of it, co-creators, deserve their due, and the audience likewise deserves respect and regard. What could be more respectful than to say, here is the work, and you covey to us freely whatever portion of what's yours that you feel we have given you in like value. True support of the arts!

Is it too naive and trusting to think that putting out our hat on the ground in front of us while standing here by the side of the information highway playing our fiddles will bring us in enough money to live on, comfortably or otherwise? Can we be the successful big rock star, comic strip artist, writer, or programmer without forcing our "customers" to pay us and our various nefarious cohorts in the "business" of our art? Naive or not, many artists are now choosing to offer online, free for the downloading, some or all of their works (those which can be digitized--statuary is not yet available online), even if we risk thereby not profiting as greatly as we might have in traditional channels. But often, we offer material which is so ecclectic, so personal, or so inspired, that we wouldn't feel right or couldn't quite fit even the fringes of the traditional modern commercial channels of artistic distribution. Comic strips of all kinds of wild ideas, radio stations with unique personal slants, programmers of obscure but handy utilities, and all manner of artistic web-workers have gone beyond commercial ware, crippleware, and even shareware to fully voluntary "tips" financing. Not to put too fine a point on it, but for those of us who offer our works free online, financially we are throwing ourselves directly and completely upon the mercy of the perceiving public.

Consider that voluntary web contributors are actually supporting the most free and fair possible system of support of the arts. No tax dollars taken for government "arts" programs here. No commercial interruptions. Wherever you go, passing that amazing clarinet player in the subway or online at a fascinating personal-journal website, as we share some spare, we build a new world. Keep the flow going.