The premise of Eric Von Hippel’s book Democratizing Innovation:

Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users — both individuals and firms — often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. – MIT Press

These principles have quickly been adopted by big businesses and are the reason that Web 2.0 exists. Proving the sharing freely concept Von Hippel has made the book available for free as a .pdf download.

So check it out and see what all the hype is about.