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Category: intellectual property

On “Academia, Inc.” by Jamie Brownlee

On “Academia, Inc.” by Jamie Brownlee

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In Academic, Inc., Jamie Brownlee explores the multiple ways that corporatization affects the modern university system. He suggests that Under corporatization, the public mission of the university—which has often emphasized democratic goals and service to the broader community—is being reduced in favour of private and commercial interests. (5) In particular, Brownlee cites mounting tuition costs and the subsequent rise of student debt; the development of the student-consumer; the increasing casualization of the academic workforce as contingent faculty rates rise; the…

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On “Access, Ethics and Piracy,” by Stuart Lawson

On “Access, Ethics and Piracy,” by Stuart Lawson

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In “Access, Ethics and Piracy,” Stuart Lawson briefly explores the phenomenon of “academic piracy,” or the sharing of copyrighted, toll access research on sites like SciHub or aaaaarg. He relies on the historical framework that Adrian Johns lays in his book Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates to reinforce the idea that intellectual property is not a natural or necessary state, and only came about in response to the rampant copying of books in 18th century England….

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On “Piracy, Public Access, and Preservation: An Exploration of Sustainable Accessibility in a Public Torrent Index,” by John D. Martin III

On “Piracy, Public Access, and Preservation: An Exploration of Sustainable Accessibility in a Public Torrent Index,” by John D. Martin III

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In “Piracy, Public Access, and Preservation: An Exploration of Sustainable Accessibility in a Public Torrent Index,” John D. Martin III considers the argument that torrent sites like The Pirate Bay should be considered as public libraries, as some torrent advocates have argued. He concludes that there is a massive amount of cultural material on The Pirate Bay and other similar sites, and that “the variety and richness of the content found in torrent networks may eventually represent a tragic loss…

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On Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, by Lawrence Lessig

On Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, by Lawrence Lessig

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Lawrence Lessig is very concerned about big media’s influence on intellectual property laws in the United States. In Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, Lessig details the history of intellectual property and “free culture” in America, and explains why current regulations are running counter to historic precedent in this regard. Lessig argues that big media is destroying the traditional freedom to create cultural material that builds on the output…

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