Via Topsy: * Estimating the Development Cost of Open Source Software * The 10 Most Important P2P Trends of the Year * Cory Doctorow. Makers * Abundance Creates Utility But Destroys Exchange Value * Greenwashing or conscious capitalism? * Will the Web bankrupt government? * Facebook and your data * Could American Democracy survive 13… Continue reading
Review: Cory Doctorow, The Makers
in this review I try to give a theory that’s different from Kevin Carson´s on how the ´New Work´movement collapsed, or, more generally, what is needed in order to make a Maker Culture sustainable. Cory Doctorow, The Makers, San Francisco; Tor books, 2009, pp. 416, also available at http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=38507 What is a viable business model… Continue reading
Pharmaceutical industry questions whether maximalist IP is in its own interests
Open innovation thinking gains a foothold even within the large multinationals, reports IP Watch, in a summary of the annual BioSquare meetup: “On a panel on open innovation, Ludo Lauwers, senior vice president for Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals, said that the current innovation model is not sustainable for the pharmaceutical sector, and companies should seek… Continue reading
Mark Rutledge for Cap and Share models for sustainable energy commons
Via Feasta: “Cap and Share: mechanisms to share scarce resources and provide economic incentives for renewable energy and efficiency investment. Mark Rutledge, an environmental consultant, argues that the adoption of Cap and Share, Feasta’s proposed framework for a global climate treaty, is a necessary tool for dealing with peak oil and the current world recession…. Continue reading
UK Labour to choose mutualism as core political message?
Something’s brewing in UK politics, where both parties are embracing cooperative approaches, writes the New Statesman. Excerpt from the report by James Macintyre: “Strategists have settled on a big idea … – the idea of mutualism. Labour is focusing on the best-known modern example: the John Lewis model, in which every employee is a “partner”… Continue reading
Pirates and Piracy: special issue of darkmatter journal
“Debates about piracy have long featured certain telling contradictions. At different times, pirates have been seen as both violent monsters and colourful folk heroes. They have been cast by historians and cultural critics as both capitalist marauders and militant workers fighting for a restoration of the commons. The pirate has become a compelling symbol of… Continue reading
RepRap — Manufacturing for the Masses
Via Keimform: “Adrian Bowyer gave a talk at FOSDEM 2010 in Brussels about RepRap, the cool GPL licenced 3D-printer which could (partly) replicate itself. Watch the talk and learn, why personal fabrication will succeed over old industrial mass production, even in its decentralized form, and why personal fabrication will succeed in the run for creativity.”
Ludwig Schuster on the need for a New Monetary Pluralism
Ludwig Schuster talks about A New Monetary Pluralism: from a recombination of regional economic circles to investing in a sustainable future. Recorded on day two of The New Emergency Conference: Managing Risk and Building Resilience in a Resource Constrained World. Held on 10-12 June 2009, All Hallows College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland This conference was… Continue reading
A collaborative approach to funding early stage social ventures
Our mission is, in part, to solve the systemic problem that impedes the flow of capital into social ventures because we believe that the development of an infrastructure that supports social ventures would be beneficial to humanity. Suresh Fernando presents his OpenKollab Ecosystem Pooled Fund: (it’s written as a letter to funders) OpenKollab’s is developing… Continue reading
Report from the Washington DC Free Culture X Conference
A report by Israel Saeta Pérez (CC-BY), on the recent free culture conference in Washington DC: (the original article has many more links) “The Free Culture X Conference and Unconference took place the past 13th and 14th of February at the George Washington University, in Washington, DC. I had the privilege to attend thanks to… Continue reading
The two economies
Mr. Obama’s most dangerous belief is the myth that the economy needs the financial sector to lead its recovery by providing credit. Every economy needs a means of payment, which is why Wall Street has been able to threaten to wreck the economy if the government does not give in to its demands. But the… Continue reading
SKDB: An infrastructure for DIY manufacturing?
H+ Magazine has a great article, * From Hackerspace To Your Garage: Downloading DIY Hardware Over the Web, written by: Bryan Bishop & Surfdaddy Orca It focuses especially on the SKDB project as an example, but offers a lot more than that, so we recommend going to the full article. “The Social Engineering-Knowledge Database (SKDB)… Continue reading
Is free software private property?
In a 2003 essay, BENJAMIN HAK-FUNG CHIAO makes the startling claim that FOSS is actually Private Property, not in the legal sense, which creates a fictional Common Property, but in a economic sense, as individuals and companies can effectively exclude others from using it, thereby achieving one of the key characteristics of private property. See:… Continue reading
Paying Attention: Digital Media Cultures & Generational Responsibility
P2P-oriented net.art (2)
This is the second part of a text taken from a presentation at Medialab Prado in Madrid, by Juan Martín Prada, for the Inclusiva-net meeting in July 2009. Our first excerpt yesterday dealt with the commons, today, Juan covers specific p2p dynamics. Juan Martín Prada: NET.ART AND “PEER TO PEER” PROCESSES “Clearly, given that for… Continue reading
Transitioning to money system reform
Via Thomas Greco: James Robertson on the need for monetary reform: (also see the video trailier below) 1. EDITORIAL: THE TRANSITION TO A NEW DECADE “The ‘Noughties’ have shown that we in the “democratic West”, led by a global super-power in the USA, can no longer claim a specially democratic and influential position in world… Continue reading