[FC-discuss] An essay introducing the FC movement to students - request comments and criticism

[Jonah Bossewitch]

 > Here is the link:
 > http://aneeshblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/first-taste-of-freedom.html
 >
 > I would be grateful for any and all feedback.

Hi Aneesh,

This is a very nice piece that is written well and makes some important 
arguments. Thanks for writing it.

I wonder if it makes the best first introduction to the free culture 
movement though. First, it is a bit long. I think Fred has already 
announced they will be working on op-ed pieces this semester, but 
advocacy groups need issue briefs, that are, uh, brief. Op eds are 
usually < 500 words and should entice people to learn more about an 
issue (where a longer piece like this might come in).

As for substance, I have personally had more success approaching the 
topic of free culture by explaining how the current system is 
threatening free speech and is being (mis)used as an instrument of 
censorship. Along these lines there is the important point that the 
world has changed around the existing laws, and activities that used to 
be unregulated are now overregulated.

In my experience this starting point is a bit more accessible than 
ethics or economics - the right to free speech is pretty well entrenched 
in people's value systems, and the notion that digital works are speech 
acts is an easy argument to make. The tough part about the ethical 
argument is that I think it leads to alot of cognitive dissonance - 
shouldn't anyone who believes it to be true be donating all their 
surplus income to charity?

Though, if it's so easy, I suppose I should make it at some point...

Has anyone else had experience opening with the ethical argument?

BTW -I learned alot about issue breifs, op eds, and traditional activist 
campaigns from this book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0813340950

best,
/Jonah