Review of the Chapter "Free", from Lawrence Lessig's Book "The Future of Ideas"
"Your fair use of this book is restricted. You may only read this book once." ~ Anonymous.
Lawrence Lessig in the chapter “Free” from his book the Future of Ideas hands us a picture of the future we are “taking” without question or even deliberation, one which we might already have set our foot in. It is a future where limitations and restrictions would be put on the freedom of speech, expression, and even ideas; a future where the power of the Internet in enhancing this freedom of intellectual and even commercial resources is regulated to the point of eradication. The creativity that is produced through such freedom is facing a threat by the so-called Copyright Law. As an example, Lessig presents to us the simple process of including a small piece of artwork (or any concept in general) in a film is a decision that ultimately has to be made by the lawyers, not the director of the film, if the film needs to avoid any legal actions pertaining to Copyright. He tries to convince the reader of a blindness regarding “property” and a need to keep a control on the sharing of resources. He believes that this blindness will “undermine the potential of the Internet” and will prevent growth of innovation and hence innovative people (like authors or artists…).
Lessig says that media broadcasting isn’t constrained by the high costs of production or distribution anymore with the use of digital technology and the internet.
Rather other constraints (technical and legal) are denting this process of free resource sharing. These constraints include intellectual property or government-granted exclusive rights and a one-way medium of sharing. The established corporations (governmental and private) who are employing these constraints are trying to impose restriction on the “borrowing” or “sharing” of resources, which they consider as a threat for the commercial (or political) scene set by those corporations.
Considering these as “morally” wrong principles to follow, Lessig tries to indicate that corporations, more specifically media corporations should not view the receiver of their services as a “consumer”, a term which signifies a passive recipient of a one-way service. He believes that to enhance innovation, everyone needs to “individually and collectively participate in making something new”. For example, blog writers, digital artists, music mixers e.t.c on the internet play their part in the growth of internet by not just being consumers of the services, but by injecting their own creative developments on the sharing medium.
The question that Lessig tries to establish in the mind of the readers is that are we right in saying that we are a “free society”. He talks about two systems for the allocation of resources in a society that are not free either by the government in a socialist society or by the market in a capitalist society. But the debate is not about the better of the two systems, but about which of the resources should be controlled by the system and which of them should be deemed “free”. By a ‘free resource’ in a society, Lessig means those resources which one can use without anyone’s permission or with a permission of a neutral authority if required. Only through the use of those free resources and have corporations established, masterpieces in music and art created, and significant scientific discoveries made. Hence creativity stems from the sharing of resources (ideas, expressions, and research e.t.c).
The simple fact that Lessig explains to the readers about free resources is that all resources does not fit into the simple model of produce-and-sell (like roads and public parks for example). Also, not all resources in a society can be forced to be free, to prevent misuse of the resource or, more importantly, for their continued production and maintenance. Hence control and restrictions should be applied but only where necessary. Lessig says that the important thing is that we decide which resource should be control and which not, so as to ensure the progress of creativity and innovation.
"Your fair use of this book is restricted. You may only read this book once." ~ Anonymous.
Lawrence Lessig in the chapter “Free” from his book the Future of Ideas hands us a picture of the future we are “taking” without question or even deliberation, one which we might already have set our foot in. It is a future where limitations and restrictions would be put on the freedom of speech, expression, and even ideas; a future where the power of the Internet in enhancing this freedom of intellectual and even commercial resources is regulated to the point of eradication. The creativity that is produced through such freedom is facing a threat by the so-called Copyright Law. As an example, Lessig presents to us the simple process of including a small piece of artwork (or any concept in general) in a film is a decision that ultimately has to be made by the lawyers, not the director of the film, if the film needs to avoid any legal actions pertaining to Copyright. He tries to convince the reader of a blindness regarding “property” and a need to keep a control on the sharing of resources. He believes that this blindness will “undermine the potential of the Internet” and will prevent growth of innovation and hence innovative people (like authors or artists…).
Lessig says that media broadcasting isn’t constrained by the high costs of production or distribution anymore with the use of digital technology and the internet.
Rather other constraints (technical and legal) are denting this process of free resource sharing. These constraints include intellectual property or government-granted exclusive rights and a one-way medium of sharing. The established corporations (governmental and private) who are employing these constraints are trying to impose restriction on the “borrowing” or “sharing” of resources, which they consider as a threat for the commercial (or political) scene set by those corporations.
Considering these as “morally” wrong principles to follow, Lessig tries to indicate that corporations, more specifically media corporations should not view the receiver of their services as a “consumer”, a term which signifies a passive recipient of a one-way service. He believes that to enhance innovation, everyone needs to “individually and collectively participate in making something new”. For example, blog writers, digital artists, music mixers e.t.c on the internet play their part in the growth of internet by not just being consumers of the services, but by injecting their own creative developments on the sharing medium.
The question that Lessig tries to establish in the mind of the readers is that are we right in saying that we are a “free society”. He talks about two systems for the allocation of resources in a society that are not free either by the government in a socialist society or by the market in a capitalist society. But the debate is not about the better of the two systems, but about which of the resources should be controlled by the system and which of them should be deemed “free”. By a ‘free resource’ in a society, Lessig means those resources which one can use without anyone’s permission or with a permission of a neutral authority if required. Only through the use of those free resources and have corporations established, masterpieces in music and art created, and significant scientific discoveries made. Hence creativity stems from the sharing of resources (ideas, expressions, and research e.t.c).
The simple fact that Lessig explains to the readers about free resources is that all resources does not fit into the simple model of produce-and-sell (like roads and public parks for example). Also, not all resources in a society can be forced to be free, to prevent misuse of the resource or, more importantly, for their continued production and maintenance. Hence control and restrictions should be applied but only where necessary. Lessig says that the important thing is that we decide which resource should be control and which not, so as to ensure the progress of creativity and innovation.
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