The fact that the most characteristic commodities of cognitive capitalism are information- and knowledge-goods introduces an intrinsic factor of uncertainty that did not exist during the era of Fordism. The nature of these goods (their indivisibility, non-rivalry and non-excludability) makes them similar to public goods. This is a major challenge, because private ownership of such goods is the exception rather than the rule. On the other hand, digitisation and new information technology are eliminating the major obstacles to the violation of property rights.