I had the opportunity to read Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig, and I've discovered that there was a previously unnamed part of me that was advocating Free Culture. But this entry isn't about me; it's about the book - and yet, in a way, the book is about all of us and how technological and legal issues can hamper us if we let them.

Technology itself is a fickle thing; it requires society to balance it so that it serves us - so that it serves the people in a positive way. Technology that doesn't improve the quality of our lives is not necessarily worthless - it could also be seen as harmful.

Law is very much the same as Technology in this regard. The problem these days is that the two are so closely intertwined. In the book, as a matter of fact, Lessig writes about how Code is effectively becoming law (Chapter 10, Architecture and Law: Force). This is true on many levels, and in the mentioned chapter, Lessig mentions how his eBook reader actually takes a public domain work and limits the use of the public domain work. Is this what we really want?

Of course, Free Software is mentioned a few times in the book, and it was refreshing to hear someone else talk about why it's necessary. But this book isn't about Free Software. It's about Free Culture, which transcends and includes Free Software. It's about democracy, it's about the fickleness of law in this Age of Intangible Property. Willy Smith was kind enough to place a PDF version of the book here. Download it if you want to read it offline! He was also kind enough to stay his pen so I could write this; you can blame him.

I got closer to the book than the casual reader through working on the eAsylum remix with two really great people - Robert and Riri. This was possible because Lessig is 'eating his own dog food'; his work's been published digitally with only some rights reserved.

The particular remix we did took advantage of the Wikipedia, which was really a great complement to the book itself. Why? Because Lessig draws a lot of references, and the references themselves are worth the read. And it's also us eating some of the Free Culture dog food.

I highly recommend this book not to the Penguinistan Rebels, not just to Rights activists. I recommend it to your mother. I recommended it to MY mother (and I *think* she's actually reading it). I recommend it to anyone who uses the internet, or who will use the internet. Anyone who listens to music, or watches movies. This book is a must read, and there are plenty of ways to read it - including the hard copy.

If there's one book you read this year, this is the one you should. It's a story, and it's our story. The bonus is that we get to affect the ending.

Join us now and share the Kulchur. You'll be Free.