Freedom of Speech on the Internet — Part 1: Remix Culture
July 18th, 2009 | 6,925 views | 2 Comments » | TweetOne of the coolest innovations of the Internet is the mash-up culture that brings us video gems like Bush Lip-Syncing With Blair, Star Wars Kid, and the Yes We Can song which helped Obama win the election. Lawrence Lessig, a former Stanford Law Professor and copyright reformer has a neat term for the phenomenon. He calls it “remix culture” and claims that it is a bastion of free speech for the American masses — essential for the expression of free thought, political ideas, and of course, all-important LOLcats.
Protect the Internet from this fate!
But freedom on the Internet is at risk. It’s under attack from greedy Internet service providers, intrusive governments, and powerful corporations. Not only is the success of the Internet at stake here, but also the success of our modern democracy. This vital service — the Internet — which has become such an essential part of our daily lives, cannot be curtailed, blocked, censored, slowed down, spied on, exclusivized, turned into a tiered service (a la cable TV), or otherwise modified from its current form without destroying the freedom which makes the Internet, well, the Internet.
The Internet has been such a powerful force in the world for freedom of thought, freedom of information, and freedom of expression. We should not let anyone — especially powerful companies and governments — mess with our Internet.
AT&T / NSA Protest - Honk for Internet Freedom
In order to raise awareness about this issue — one that’s not often in the public’s eye — I’m planning to make a series of posts on this blog to (hopefully) share some knowledge and let off a little steam. 
Look for these posts to appear on Feross.org in the coming weeks.
Until then, keep sticking it to the man!
Update: You should read:
Part 2 – Broken Promises
Part 3 – Network (Classic 1976 Film)
Part 4 – Concentration of Media Ownership
Part 5 – George Orwell Rolls in His Grave
Part 6 – The Internet Revolution and Citizen Media
Part 7 – Remix Culture (…again)
Part 8 – Threats to Freedom of Speech on the Net
Part 9 – Yes We Can Regulate Culture with Copyright Law
Part 10 – Lawrence Lessig = Awesome
Part 11 – Final Thoughts
[...] And Beans by Weezer It’s always nice to see the mainstream guys mimicking the little guys. Remix culture for the win! :memes, Music, remix, [...]
[...] restrictions. Lessig argues that one of the most important triumphs of the Internet is its “remix culture” – a phrase that he coined to describe the widespread acceptance and encouragement of derivative [...]