Of course, if we start treating information as the collective property of humanity, there are going to be some serious repercussions socially and economically. And that explains the fierceness of the battle between progressives and corporations (and governments serving corporations).
Progressive techies favor Free and Open Source Software because the collaboration needed to produce software means its ownership can't be restricted. Companies believe in proprietary software because they've built their wealth stealing people's thinking, claiming ownership over it, and then re-selling it to people.
Progressive techies believe in Internet privacy because any attempt to intrude upon, monitor or disrupt communication damages collaboration.
The government doesn't even know what that means.
Many progressive techies find selling information based on the experiences of the rest of the human race a bizarre obscenity. Corporations live off that obscenity and governments obscenely support them.
Finally, progressive techies believe that complete access to and flow of information is fundamental to the success of struggles for democracy, justice and freedom. Most of the leading governments on earth spend much of their time trying to figure out how to close the faucet on that information flow and close the door on its source.
In the United States, the Obama Administration has not only encouraged but has effectively used on-line communications, and the president even positions himself as a champion of Internet freedom -- periodically rattling a toy sabre at those governments that seek to curb it.
But that's until you reach the bottom line: challenging the idea that someone can own information. That's the Obama trigger: when people distribute on-sale information, copyrighted materials or information people need to have but that our government wants to keep hidden. At that point this administration has jumped on scores of techies and other Internet activists, taken them to trial, sent them to jail, or taken away their computers in a deal to avoid jail. They have done it with many techie activists, they are doing it with Bradley Manning and they want to do it to Julian Assange.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
4
4
3
