Conference On Public Domain and Intellectual Property

jonnystiles2 writes: "Duke University and the Center for the Public Domain are holding a conference from November 9 to 11 on intellectual property and the the public domain. The conference has a web-site with the papers to be delivered. There is also a discussion board about the conference. You will need to create an account to access the boards. Or, you can view them read-only. Of particular interest to readers of this site will be a paper by Yochai Benkler titled "Coase's Penguin, or Linux and the Nature of the Firm." The people at the conference are some of the leading legal minds in the field of intellectual property. If you are interested in the different debates concerning the ecology of networks, meanings of the First Amendment as related to the Copyright Clause of the Constitution and more, definitely check this out. While this is an legal and academic conference, most of papers require only a rudimentary familiarity with the issues and arguments regarding intellectual property."

time to get organised

[lazo]

Given the new attempts to hardwire copyright enforcement system in the SSSCA [cryptome.org], the cynical attempts of the copyright cops to link piracy to September 11th [autonomedia.org] and the continuing jihad against file-sharing systems, it is clear that unless serious political opposition is mounted the infotainment cartel will continue to press their advantage.

Some recent events give reason for optimism.

Firstly the 11th circuit result [nandotimes.com]in the Wind Done Gone case put the use of copyright as a means of censorship right back into the jurisprudence. The opinion is worth reading.

We are still waiting for the result of Universal v Reimerdes (Eric Corley/2600/deCSS)on appeal, given that two of the three arguments made in May were essentially first amendment claims, the 11th circuit decision comes at just the right time.

The Sklyarov [freesklyarov.org]case shows just how dangerous this can all be. Traditionally, the threat of an injunction might have been a force to chill some speech, but criminal liability under the DMCA will silence a helluva lot more.

This conference will be an opportunity for those of us at the wrong end of 'campaign finance' to get a strategy together. Rather than bleating on about the industry, it's about positive arguments in support of the public domain and for the commons (and exploring the difference between the two - think GPL). That means expressive freedom, autonomy and open systems.

Time for some intellectual self-defense training my friends.

Benkler's paper is great.

v. interesting paper

[solferino]

the paper buried in a link halfway through this long winded submission probably deserved to be submitted as a /. story by itself - i quote below the first paragraph of the abstract so as to pique yr interest into reading further (or at least to download the paper with an intention to read later as i have done (-: )

"The emergence of GNU/Linux as a viable alternative to the Windows
operating system and of the Apache webserver software as the leading web server
have focused wide attention on the phenomenon of free or open source software.
Most of the attention to the economic aspects of the phenomenon has been focused on
the question of incentives--why, it is asked, would anyone invest effort in a
productive enterprise in whose fruits they do not claim proprietary rights of
exclusion--and has been devoted to studying this phenomenon solely in the context of
software development. In this paper I expand consideration of the policy implications
of the apparent success of free software in two ways. First, I suggest that the
phenomenon has broad implications throughout the information, knowledge, and
culture economy, well beyond software development. Second, I suggest reasons to
think that peer production may outperform market-based production in some
information production activities."

consider me piqued... thanks

[Technodummy]

Well worth downloading [duke.edu]