Lawrence Lessig on the Free Beer project
For those who missed the coverage of this interesting ‘physical’ expression of the open/free production mode, do read Lessig’s commentary in Wired:
“In June, a Copenhagen artists’ collective called Superflex released version 3.0 of a new beer called – you guessed it – Free Beer. “Free beer?” you ask. “Think free,” Superflex members helpfully explained at the launch, “as in free software.” Under the supervision of Birthe Skands, former chief of development at Carlsberg Beer, the brewery is now scaling up quickly to meet unexpectedly high demand. The first batch of 2,850 70-cl bottles (generous at about 24 ounces, so the natural tendency is to share) sold out practically overnight. Distribution deals are being negotiated with other breweries, especially overseas. And Superflex has now established a Free Beer Foundation to spread the profits to other like-minded projects.
What makes Free Beer free is the same thing that makes free software free: Its recipe is open and licensed freely. Anyone can make improvements. But anyone who distributes an improved version must release the changes as well. Superflex keeps a log of the updates at www.freebeer.org, and it will release a new version every six months. Skands is inviting the world to help her make better beer, and in exchange the brewery is keeping the knowledge free for everyone.”
