2. 1. 3  Software supply. Distribution

Just because the software is free, this does not mean that we cannot have companies that exclusively supply related IT products and services.

To begin with, one possible business is the distribution of free software. In addition to selling CDs containing the free software, these companies provide technical support to the consumers and businesses that opt to use free software (Red Hat is the best-known example of a company that has developed this line of business). Therefore, the company offers its experience and knowledge of the software to clients, guaranteeing them any technical support they may need.

If we think about it, this business model is perhaps not as uncommon as it might appear. For example, the publishing house Aranzadi has created a very similar business model.

Aranzadi

Aranzadi offers its clients (legal professionals) a comprehensive source of legal information. It also provides the technical support needed to process all of this information efficiently.

The information has always been freely available (Spanish legislation is published in the Official Gazette and all law firms subscribe to it). However, organising the information in useful ways is a complicated task, and this is the service that these publishing houses offer to their clients. And, naturally, these companies have incorporated digital technologies to serve their clients, as we see in the following press release:

The offices of law firms and tax experts are still bedecked with yard upon yard of solemn legal tomes. But these are increasingly becoming mere decorations. Most legal experts are already opting to access the necessary documentation for their work through the Internet, an out-and-out revolution sparked by the big legal publishing houses such as Corporación El Derecho, which has set a benchmark in new technologies.

Corporación El Derecho provides legal information to state prosecutors (through a call for tenders organised by the Spanish Ministry of Justice) and basic tax information to the Tax Office.

El País, 22 July 2007.

Recommended reading

You can read the full article published in El País, 22 July 2007 "El tomo ha muerto, viva la red".