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There is a surprising amount of wisdom to be gleaned from bumper stickers (you know, those rectangular stickers people like to plaster all over their cars ). Most bumper stickers are meant to support this or the other politician, so they’re not that memorable.

But occasionally, I stumble on a particularly humorous or profound bumper sticker. So, a while ago I decided to start writing down the cool bumper sticker slogans I stumble upon.

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Note: This is the last post in a series of posts about freedom of speech on the Internet.

You should read:
Part 1 – Remix Culture
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

And now on to Part 11, the final post….

If I’ve driven any point home in my last ten posts, its been that freedom of speech is a basic, essential characteristic of western society. The Internet – what was largely an unanticipated consequence of military funded research – has turned out to be the most important democratizing force in the history of the world.

The Internet’s success has largely been due to its free and open nature. Its importance to the functions of western democracy, as well as its power to bring information and democracy to the rest of the world should not be underestimated. The flourishing of a “remix culture” has made possible new forms of social expression and Internet conversations that give power and influence to the young people of the world.

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.

It’s our job to increase the protection for free speech on the Internet and do our best to reform out-of-date and unjust government policies. We are the only ones who can protect our rights from those who seek to oppress us.

And with that, I will end my final post on this topic. Whew! Glad that’s over! Hopefully I haven’t bored anyone too much over the past few weeks. If I did my job then hopefully you learned something new and feel motivated and excited about freedom of speech on the net and want to support new and better copyright laws, net neutrality, and other related initiatives!

If you’d like further reading, then check out SaveTheInternet.com and SaveTheNews.org.

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“In 1906, John Philip Sousa traveled to the U.S. capital to speak about the technology which he referred to as the ‘talking machines’ [the record player]. John Philip Sousa was not a fan of the talking machines. This is what he had to say: ‘These talking machines are going to ruin the artistic development of music in this country. When I was a boy . . . in front of every house in the summer evenings you would find young people together singing the songs of the day or the old songs. Today you hear the infernal machines going night and day. We will not have a vocal chord left. The vocal chords will be eliminated by a process of evolution, as was the tail of man when he came from the ape.’” [emphasis in the original]

– Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Professor of Law

Besides the threat of Internet censorship, Stanford Professor Lawrence Lessig also recognizes copyright law as another threat to free expression on the Internet.

He has been an outspoken advocate for copyright law reform, proposing reduced legal restrictions on copyrights and trademarks in the digital realm. Lessig has dedicated most of his career to copyright reform; he sees it as the single most important issue that will define the success of the Internet in the future.

The current copyright situation for digital media. Neither professionals nor amateurs are allowed to copy or remix existing copyrighted works. (Photo courtesy Lessig).

The ideal copyright scenario, after Lessig’s suggested reforms have been implemented. He proposes that amateurs be allowed to remix and modify copyrighted works without limit (free use). Only professional copying is off-limits. The “grey areas” are left up to the copyright owner to decide (Photo courtesy Lessig).

He produces many blog posts, podcasts, and speeches arguing in great detail his reasons for proposing reduced copyright 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 works (works that include copyright protected elements of other works).

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Remix Culture: The Early Years

One of the most exciting – albeit unintended – developments to arise from the Internet revolution is the development of cyberculture: social networks, online games, chat, USENET, bulletin board systems, e-commerce, peer to peer networks, and virtual worlds. With these new technologies, people are creating new forms of social expression, mash-ups, and cultural conversations. These social expressions and Internet conversations were made possible by the convergence of technologies like YouTube, cheap video cameras, and the free video editing software that comes included with most computers.

Anyone with access to a $300 computer and camera can now take sounds and images from the culture around them and remix them to express ideas in an extremely powerful way. The techniques of video production, once only available to movie studios and TV networks, has been democratized and unleashed for use by the masses.

The Internet enables people from around the world to engage in this new form of collaborative creativity and be part of the conversation no matter where they live in the world.

Update: You should read:
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

One 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