"Infrastructure: The Social Value of Shared Resources” with Brett Frischmann

Abstract: Infrastructure: The Social Value of Shared Resources by Brett M. Frischmann is a 2012 book that reframes infrastructure not just as physical systems, but as shared resources (commons) that create value through open, non-discriminatory access, impacting policy on everything from roads to the internet.

​Frischmann argues for managing infrastructure to maximize its social value, integrating economic theory with commons principles to analyze issues like network neutrality, environmental policy, and intellectual property. The book provides a framework for understanding how to manage these resources for broad societal benefit, challenging supply-focused approaches by emphasizing demand-side drivers and the importance of open access.

​Brett recently gave the keynote speech at the February 2026 Silicon Flatirons Conference at the University of Colorado Law School: siliconflatirons.org/events/annual-flagship-conference-2026-02-01/

​The recording of his presentation can be found on Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o41Brb-goYo&t=199s

game theoryhuman-computer interactionsocial and information networkslaw and economics

Audience: researchers in the discipline

( chat )

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Metagovernance Seminar

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- - > > Meeting Link: us06web.zoom.us/j/89433841305?pwd=lIX1rkSiVfqDd7hwwTUppQS8kDmbno.1 < < - -

The Metagovernance Seminar invites individuals working in online governance to present their work to a community of other researchers and practitioners. Topics of the seminar include, but are not limited to, computational tools for governance, governance incidents and case studies from online communities, topics in cryptoeconomics, and the design of digital constitutions.

See archived videos: archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Metagovernance%20Seminar%22

The seminar is intended for researchers and practitioners in online governance, broadly defined. We welcome guests and curious members of the public, but please note that the discussion is moderated. Our governance structure is defined here: metagov.pubpub.org/metagov-governance

Please contact a planning committee member (Nathan Schneider, Divya Siddarth, Michael Zargham, Joshua Tan, and Seth Frey) if you are interested in becoming a member of the seminar.

Where available, a direct link to the archived video is linked beneath the video tags.

Join our community to participate in the discussions around this series: metagov.org/join/community

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- Time: every Wednesday at 12:00pm ET (GMT-4). - Meeting Link: us06web.zoom.us/j/89433841305?pwd=lIX1rkSiVfqDd7hwwTUppQS8kDmbno.1

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