[fsf-members] The role of freelance/small business in the digital era

[Alessandro Vesely]

Hi all,
is there any data about how much (free) software is being produced by
freelance/small businesses, rather than large companies?  Any pointer?

I saw a per-country distribution of computer-related employment,
showing that small businesses account for only the 32% in the US,
while that figure goes up to 67% in the UK and 73% in Italy.  That's
figure 4 in
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/small-business-2009-08.pdf

I also found this rather oldish page:
http://p2pfoundation.net/Free_Software_Production_-_Class_Structure

Finally, I read that "The current legal definition of small business
does not allow small businesses to compete effectively against giants
in the telecom industry."     http://www.sba.gov/advocacy/7540/12143

My concern is about Internet governance issues, as participation in
the organizations committed to do that --ISOC, IETF, ICANN, and the
like-- seems to be strongly skewed in favor of large companies.  That
way, the Internet revolution becomes destined for the same kind of
capitalist market-oriented economy experienced after the industrial
revolution, which it was supposed to supersede.  Since software has a
key role in the Internet, the opinions of its producers deserve
adequate attention.  But who are such producers?

Ale