[FC-discuss] "Change of the Century: Free Software and the Positive Possibility"

[Janet Hawtin]

copyright is.
capital is.
community is.
code is.
freedom is an international concept.
people make.

floss and creative commons do interoperate with the systems that are.
this is healthy and constructive.

whether their goals are defined by what is and not by what could be is
another question.

combat with and disconnect from existing ideas and systems are not
prerequisites for constructive change, but a clear statement of goals
and matching practice to those goals is probably helpful to make sure
the existing systems and their momentum do not define the goals.

for me the 4freedoms are explicit and precede any context.
they are inclusive goals which are concerned with makers and users of
information.
that they are able to be used in wider systems is not to me a concern
because the
goal and the practice match.

the creative commons projects i feel sometimes start with the
copyright law and look for ways to create flexibility for the creators
within the existing IP model.
this too creates opportunities where there were not opportunities before,
but yes it would be nice to see more projects which start with the
principle of commons and look at what the core values are for makers
and users.

the access to knowledge movement i feel is relooking at how
information functions as a social dialogue, as a habitat for thinking
and creating and participating in our culture, for engaging in the
information space which is our human state of play as participants and
not as subscribers.

for me the fundamental value of commons and free culture is that
people should be able to participate as citizens of our local and
collective cultures and human state of play, and not as subscribers of
franchised material.

for me participating in floss communities, wikipedia, any negotiated
'commons' project is about dialogue and sharing both making and using
are functions of the dialogue and sharing. they are about operating
freely in a habitat where information is the substrate.

there are good things about the progress we have made thus far.
there is much that is still broken.
do the author or yourself have ideas or projects which match better
your ideas and goals? what is your positive possibility which stands
outside of these efforts offering something different in terms of
cultural perception, practice or scope?

i think these questions are useful as a means to keep us close to our
goals, or to check them, and to be open to methods and ideas which do
not match with existing systems in order to move beyond the current
patterns to explore the new.

cheers

janet