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Take a look at the Seven International Cooperative Principles, and you will see that this is very much in the spirit of either Free Software or Open Source Software - argumentitive, members contribute to the whole both in money and in work, and the whole darned thing is about process. I buy my outdoor stuff at a national cooperative, REI, I bank at a Credit Union, I buy groceries at a wonderful food cooperative, New Pioneer, and I am a member of Consumers Union.

This is not any political or hippy thing. I've just found that I get the best service from a business where I am part owner, part worker, part consumer. Likewise, I get my best investment from boxen about which I have knowledge.

If this works, I hope there is an option for national membership. I would be willing to pay a slightly higher fee as a non-working member, or would be willing to do writing, etc. to help it fly.

If you have not tried coops, give 'em a shot. It's amazing what happens when you participate in a business. Likewise, it's depressing to go to the monthly/annual meetings and find people who are driven by their egos, rather than the vision, or the day-to-day concerns. But somehow, coops still get the job done, and often at a better price and with better service than non-coops engaged in the same business.

The problem with selling information is that there will always be an individual somewhere in the world willing to give you the same information, or something comparable, for free. Physical product sales are the future of online revenue.

The problem with banner ads is that they must spell-out the product and establish honest expectation for the user before he clicks. This will never happen because advertising practices are based on persuasion and deception.

The problem with mega-store sites like Amazon.com is that they can be replaced overnight by a fleet of mom-and-pop sites. This will happen when an impartial licensing body similar to the Better Business Bureau or Consumers Union issues trust ratings for web sites.

The good news is that the power aggregators are wringing their hands behind closed doors uncertain about a future that is, for the first time, unwritten.