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Being the Pirate - August articles
Ahoy me hearties!
This month's articles discuss the notion of piracy. Even in the commons where we promote free culture and the value of sharing, there is a distinction between good borrowers and bad commercial pirates. Our intrepid writers confront us head-on, critiquing our own definitions of copying as right and noble, and where we draw the line.
I, pyrate, by Prashant Iyengar, introduces the topic by outlining these notions of two different types of pirates (the good and the bad) and argues that ‘bad’ piracy is a response to the global socio-economic status quo. This article draws compelling arguments that force us to look beyond simplistic definitions.
Allison Fish takes the discussion in her article The Asian Privateer, by challenging the perception that the Aisan cultural pirate as a crude copier of originals who does not himself produce anything of social value and inhibits the efficient functioning of the capitalist market. She draws on the notion of the 19th Century privateers who were “legitimised by the state since their activities were considered an effective technique for weakening an enemy nation that posed a direct threat to the nation’s stability and way of life.”
Paula Martini highlights a decision in Brazil which could press-gang Brazilians into piracy in her article, Everyone is a Pirate: DRM in Brazilian Digital TV. She raises concerns around Brazilian broadcasters calling for the implementation of DRM to be installed in all Brazilian set-top boxes (the digital signal decoders for analogical TV sets). Despite resistance from civil society and consumer groups, very few cabinet ministers oppose this call.
Finally, Paul Jacobson turns the ship slightly to focus on cultural repositories that are open today, but questions where they'll be tomorrow. His article Social(ly) responsible media highlights how social media services could close down or their repositories of content become inaccessible and what possible impact this could have on our digital cultural heritage.
tags:
culture local-context-global-commons research ip legal-resources openness framework heritage developing world collaboration
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