Over the past few weeks, I have been examining a number of resources on openness and OERs (Open Educational Resources), and consequently, I have viewed some very compelling documentaries. As a colleague, Karen Gadowsky, has so aptly stated, this has “reactivated the activist in me.” In particular, after viewing Lessig’s speech on “Aaron’s Laws – Law and Justice in a Digital Age" and The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (written and directed by Brian Knappenberger), I am morally baffled as to why we as a society continue to grant corporations, interest groups (private or public), the middleman, and ironically the law, sufficient power to limit seemingly reasonable freedoms (i.e., sharing) with regard to material that, in my opinion, should be Open Content or public domain (with public access). Furthermore, many of these freedoms have been limited as a result of laws made many years ago … laws initially made to benefit industries, or to protect the wealth and/or distributing rights of a middleman. I wonder, do we know we are doing this? A few short weeks ago, I certainly considered myself ‘relatively uninformed’ (I still do to a large extent, so feel free to let me know if I am misguided). Are we trading away our rights so industries may provide us with the entertainment (i.e., movies, music), education, etc. that we as a people produce? Are we willingly sacrificing our freedoms (historically often obtained through blood shed) for these services?
RIP: A Remix Manifesto - an open-source documentary film about "the changing concept of copyright” - outlines how far corporate control (by record labels, the movie industry, etc.) can go to limit the creative freedom to remix. Yet, are we not a society built upon remix? Hasn’t the decorating of your home been a remix of styles from past influences and loved ones? Isn’t the food we eat, for better or worse, a result of the remix of DNA (i.e., ‘recombinant DNA’)? Aren't teachers’ courses and lessons a remix of ideas, content and information garnered from others (including students – my students often help in the updating of my courses though pieces of work they have allowed me to use, suggestions they have made, etc.)? Hasn’t your family had recipes passed down by friends, neighbours and family members, often modified and improved upon, which are then perhaps published in a cookbook for a fundraiser? Yes, this would fall under Open Content; one is allowed to retain, reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the recipe(s). Below is the Remixer’s Manifesto (from RIP: A Remix Manifesto). How do you weigh in on the statement that the past tries to control the future? To be free, do we need to limit this control?
Control … or not?
As outlined in our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, our fundamental freedoms include the “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication”. In other words, is it not a fundamental freedom to create, educate, and thereby progress as a culture? In RIP: A Remix Manifesto , Brett Gaylor (from BC, Canada) states that a healthy public domain is part of evolution. Do we have the freedoms necessary for a healthy public domain? Do we have the freedom and power to say things differently (to remix and recreate)? Some say we are losing control of this freedom, while others say this freedom does not exist. In fact, Aaron Swartz committed suicide at the age of 26 fighting for this freedom and the freedom of educational resources (for which the public is often charged an access fee). Aaron Swartz believed ideas, creativity and knowledge should be free to share, thus to benefit us all … to make the world a better place. Aaron fought hard against control – control by teachers, corporations, the law, etc. He believed that everybody was entitled to be informed, thus enabling them to formulate ideas, create, recreate, and hopefully find the good to overcome the bad (whether it be pancreatic cancer, problems of basic human survival, etc.). Let’s honour his life and share his vision.
In Lessig's speech, “Aaron’s Laws – Law and Justice in a Digital Age", Lawrence Lessig states:
“We can’t kill the instinct technology produces …we can only criminalize it.”
“We can’t stop our kids from using it … we can only drive it underground.”
“We can’t make kids ‘passive’ again … we can only make ‘pirates’.”
“Kids now live against the law… we ought to do better for them.”
“Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves.”
“Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. I think a lot of what people call intelligence boils down to curiosity.”
~ Aaron Swartz 1986-2013