David Maizenberg's UPDATE to his "Hard Money and Political Retailing" post:

Since I wrote this post my predictions have come true beyond my expectations. The Armstrong Williams and Kos scandals are but two examples. The Ketchum Group recently did a major study on paid PR in the blogosphere and apparently blogs were a major discussion topic at the recent political gatherings, both the conservative caucus and the DNC vote.

When person X pays attention to person Y (be that reading Y's blog, or listening to Y's music, or watching Y's video) a beneficial economic transaction has occurred, and Y should get paid. How that transaction mechanism comes into being is still unclear, but one way or another, people who create content that is of value to others WILL GET COMPENSATED. There is no way around it. Right now it's all about voluntary compensation via paypal etc., some advertising, and the occasional "sponsorship" scandal -but that will change and evolve.

- D.M.