Monthly Archives: July 2006

OneWebDay: September 22, 2006

Posted on July 22, 2006 by Elaine Adolfo

The Web has changed millions of lives. Just two months from now, on September 22, we’ll be celebrating the first OneWebDay. OneWebDay is one day a year when we all – everyone around the physical globe – can celebrate the Web and what it means to us as individuals, organizations, and communities. In short, it’s like an Earth Day for the Internet–a day to stop and think about what the Internet means to us.

Add the OneWebDay Button to your site and get together with friends in your town to plan an outdoor celebration with an online component that people elsewhere on the Web can appreciate. Put a link on the OneWebDay wiki In New York’s Bryant Park, San Francisco’s Union Square, in London with the Lord Mayor, near City Hall in Austin, in downtown Chicago, in downtown Portland, Maine, all over Canada, and in Naples (Italy), and Canberra (Australia), OneWebDay will be celebrated for the first time on Sept. 22 — and those are just the celebrations we know about.

The goal of OneWebDay is to make the Web, and our individual connection to it, visible — so that we don’t take it for granted. We make progress when we make things visible. Continue reading →

Posted in guest post | 5 Comments

Bravo John Edwards

Posted on July 20, 2006 by Lessig

So I’m sitting at a hot Internet Cafe in Costa Rica, interrupting the month with the family, to follow Dave’s lead in drawing attention to just how Edwards’ gets the net. As Dave explains, former-Senator Edwards has begun distributing video using BitTorrent — demonstrating the important value of this technology that has nothing to do with “piracy.” Now if only he’d signal clearly the freedoms that run with his video…

(Thanks, Dave) Continue reading →

Posted in good code | 6 Comments

Remixed Heroes

Posted on July 20, 2006 by Lessig

One of the greatest moments in my career was when I got to introduce David Byrne at Wired’s Creative Commons Concert in New York. At that September 2004 event, we announced that David Byrne and Brian Eno intended to re-release their seminal Bush of Ghosts album with tracks available for remix under a CC license. A couple of months ago, the Bush of Ghosts remix contest launched with the component tracks of two songs available under CC for remix. So far more than 170 remixes have been submitted to this extraordinary site. I’m sure I’ll get in trouble for this, but as Byrne has always been an inspiration to me — long before I knew anything about copyright — I must confess nothing else in the history of CC has meant more to me. Pitchfork has a great new interview with Byrne on Bush of Ghosts, as well as his other cool projects (including his own fascinating blog) here. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Creative Commons SF Salon Tonight

Posted on July 12, 2006 by Elaine Adolfo

Join us for the July CC Salon, taking place in San Francisco on Wednesday, July 12 from 6pm-9pm at Shine. CC Salon is a casual get-together focused on conversation and community-building with 2-3 brief presentations from individuals and groups developing projects with relationship to Creative Commons. We look forward to seeing you there!

CC Salon – San Francisco
Wednesday, July 12, 6-9 PM
Shine
1337 Mission Street (between 9th and 10th)
San Francisco Continue reading →

Posted in cc | 1 Comment

GOOD Magazine comes to San Francisco

Posted on July 12, 2006 by Elaine Adolfo

Bay Area CC friends: You are invited to a party on July 14 at the 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco, hosted by GOOD Magazine! Join us for a night of art, music (provided by Odd Nosdam of Anticon), and an open bar. Admission is free if you purchase a year subscription to GOOD Magazine.

GOOD is a new publication focusing on people, ideas, and institutions that are affecting the world in innovative and positive ways. One very cool thing about GOOD is its Choose GOOD campaign, where you can subscribe to a year of the magazine for $20 and choose a partnering non-profit organization that you want 100% of your subscription fee to go towards helping. That means for $20, you can subscribe to a year of GOOD, make a contribution to CC, and gain admission to a night of great fun.

Details:
GOOD Magazine comes to San Francisco!
Friday, July 14; 9pm-2am
111 Minna Gallery (111 Minna St.)
Art, music (provided by Odd Nosdam), and open bar all night.
Magazine subscription required for entry. 100% of your subscription fee can go towards helping CC! Subscribe here.

To RSVP: (1) go to www.goodmagazine.com, (2) subscribe (all $20 goes to the organization you choose) and (3) email your name and confirmation number to [email protected] Continue reading →

Posted in cc | 2 Comments

How the Danes share files

Posted on July 4, 2006 by Lessig

Claus Pedersen has completed research on the pattern of filesharing in Denmark. His conclusions are (1) the decline in record sales in Denmark is explained by many factors, and (2) the decline that there is is finansed almost in full by the wealthiest artists. What’s particularly interesting about the study is that it uses data from the Nordic Copyright Bureau, which has a monopoly status in Denmark. That means the data are not estimates of sales declines, but actual sales. (Nordic records 99% of the market).

A summary of the paper was translated by Marie Elisabeth Pade Andersen. You can read it here. Claus now looking for support to get the full paper translated. If you’ve got an idea, email him at this address. Continue reading →

Posted in good code | 24 Comments

Off the grid

Posted on July 3, 2006 by Lessig

Since my kid was born, we’ve tried to have a month alone off the grid. That starts this year in 6 hours. I have not asked anyone to guest blog while I’m gone, so this space will be quiet. There are a couple times when I might make a surprise return (they’re all preprogrammed). But my apologies for the silence otherwise. This year has been an especially burdensome year. We really need this time alone. Continue reading →

Posted in eye | 11 Comments

CCd book: having fun with Google

Posted on July 3, 2006 by Lessig

55ways-cover.jpg

Phillipp Lenssen has written “55 Ways to Have Fun with Google”. The book is available for sale in book stores, and downloadable for free under a CC license. Continue reading →

Posted in creative commons | 3 Comments

McCain on McCain

Posted on July 2, 2006 by Lessig

The most extraordinary exchange at the McCain event last night was an exchange with McCain prompted by a question by Jonathan Zittrain. Zittrain had asked whether McCain had ever changed his mind. McCain answered that his core philisophies hadn’t changed, but that he had made mistakes that he had acknowledged. He then told the story of his debacle in the South Carolina primary in 2000, when he had said that the use of the Confederate Flag by South Carolina was a matter of states rights.

McCain said that after he lost the primary, he realized this was a mistake. More than a mistake, it was, as he said last night, a “bald face lie” that had ruined him in South Carolina, even though he had told it because he thought it would help him win South Carolina. And he described how he had returned to South Carolina to apologize for the mistake after the election.

What was so striking about this was, of course, not that he had made a “mistake.” But that his mistake was in telling a “bald face lie.” Had Z had a chance at a follow-up, I would have loved to hear the answer to: “So were there any ‘bald face lies’ that worked out for you? Or are you still open to telling ‘bald face lies’ that might help elect you?” Continue reading →

Posted in presidential politics | 4 Comments

McCain on the global warming

Posted on July 1, 2006 by Lessig

At an event here in Aspen, asked about global warming, something very close to: “I’ve been a supporter of the President … but this administration has betrayed the tradition of Theodore Roosevelt.” Indeed.

Strong, clear, passionate, and able to say things people don’t want to hear. Continue reading →

Posted in GlobalWarming | 19 Comments