Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/12/us/new-york-reddit-founder-suicide
http://boingboing.net/2013/03/05/transcript-of-lessigs-talk.html
My Learning Journey |
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It’s been in another great week of learning. Getting neck deep into the in and outs of copyright, copyleft, creative commons and the four Rs (reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute.) I was planning on writing about my experiences with copyright and how they relate to the content I studied this week, when last night at 9pm pacific time, I got into the Lawrence Lessig’s speech on Aaron Swartz. At almost 2hrs running time, and after already attending a 2hr seminar on PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) earlier that afternoon, I was very skeptical that a recorded speech was going to hold my attention for more than a few minutes. I had never heard the name Aaron Swartz, nor was I aware of his accomplishments or tragic demise. I was immediately drawn in by Lessig’s presentation and impressed by Aaron’s many accomplishments, including co-writing the RSS specification and sharing in the development of Reddit. I was also temporarily distracted by my first visit to Reddit a very cool bulletin board style social media and entertainment site that Aaron had helped establish. Thirty minutes later I returned to Lessig’s speech and continued to learn about Aaron’s incredible life and crusade for internet openness. The Aaron Swartz story is tragic to me on three fronts. Primarily because of young man losing his battle to the disease of depression. Secondly because our society lost a brilliant mind and a driving force behind open access. Who knows what he could have accomplished given another 60 years on this planet? While martyrdom can be a powerful motivator, I believe his contributions would have been more profound in person. Finally the obvious tragedy is the disproportionate persecution of an activist, who committed a crime that many have interpreted as victimless. After a day of reflection I feel that Aaron’s attempts to liberate information and specifically academic information from institutions that attempt to profit from it albeit honorable, were probably in some form criminal. However, the resulting 13 felony charge with a potential for 35 year prison term, not to mention the FBI surveillance seems a massive overkill, and inherently unjust, much in the same way that an academic database can charge $20.00 for an 8 page scholarly article is also not only unjust but absurd. What we’re left with, as Lessig so bluntly explains is not a problem with copyright, but a problem with dumb copyright and the dumb laws that protect dumb copyright. When I talk to my students about copyright I think we are in agreement that pirating movies and music, although tempting is wrong. We may do it, because it’s made easy for us, but ultimately we have no defence for it, nor would most people object to fair laws that eliminated it in my opinion, I certainly wouldn't, but to hoard libraries of scientific information and research and limit its access to all but the western educational elite seems criminal in itself. Hopefully Aaron’s tragic and untimely end can help shine a light on the need for copyright reform. I know it did for me.
Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/12/us/new-york-reddit-founder-suicide http://boingboing.net/2013/03/05/transcript-of-lessigs-talk.html
2 Comments
5/9/2013 05:18:17 pm
Thanks Justin, well written post!
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5/10/2013 01:50:50 pm
I'm so happy that you were drawn in. Lessig is such an amazing presenter, and Aaron's story is so tragic and complex. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I am happy that you see the difficult irony of copyright - right/wrong end up being on both sides - those who 'steal' and those who hoard.
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AuthorJustin Mark currently works at Cedar Secondary School in SD68. He teaches French FSL and History 12 and he is the Modern Language and Networks Technology Department Heads. When he is not working, being a being a dad to his 3 and 5 years olds, you'll probably find him riding a bike, or trail running (when its super ugly out, or his bike is broken.) Archives
April 2014
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