Fwd: [Fwd: [Cc-icommons] PRESS RELEASE: Microsoft and Creative Commons Release Tool for Copyright Licensing]

Shane M. Coughlan shane at shaneland.co.uk
Sun Jun 25 20:05:21 UTC 2006


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Stefano Maffulli wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-06-21 at 11:02 +0200, Andreas K. Foerster wrote:
>> Wow, now Creative Commons authors have the FREEDOM to restrict their
>> works to customers of Microsoft at last!
> 
> Yes, I personally concur: endorsing so enthusiastically this very silly
> plugin is the stupidest move that Lessig did lately.  How can somebody
> write something like "Code is law" and then be happy about having a
> license applied to content encoded into non-standard format and non-free
> software?  Who cares, I say.  

The problem is that this endorsement (and this move in general) is
designed to give a certain amount of 'freedom' legitimacy to Microsoft
Office in the eyes of the average computer user; in short, this is a
perfect public relations tool for ensuring the perception of increased
freedom without engaging with actual freedom.

I'm concerned that Joe and Joan Bloggs will think Microsoft are doing
something good and will wonder why annoy geeks like us are kicking up a
fuss.  Microsoft have made a move that effectively undermines those
seeking true freedom.

Smart public relations.  Bad news for freedom.  The real question is
"how do we ensure that a clear freedom message is being broadcast when
there is all this interference?"

Shane

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Shane Martin Coughlan
e: shane at opendawn.com
m: +447773180107 (UK) +353862262570 (Ire)
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