For the source material, please go here. The difference between open access and defined property rights (private or common property), by contrast, is the difference between an unregulated and a regulated condition. The difference is fundamental. – Achim Lerch “The commons breaks with the individualistic vision as conceived by the capitalist tradition, a vision that… Continue reading
WordPress.com starts taking payment in Bitcoin
Source: Jeff Blagdon WordPress.com, the popular blogging platform / content management system is expanding its payment options for upgrades like going ad-free. Beginning today, users around the world will be able to pay with Bitcoin — the unregulated, decentralized digital currency built on public-key cryptography. Explaining its decision, the company noted that PayPal currently blocks… Continue reading
Making Piracy Obsolete Through the Payright System
* A Policy Proposal by the Pirate Party (U.S.): Make Piracy Obsolete: The Payright System. Primary Author: Erik Zoltán, Massachusetts Pirate PartyContributing Editor: Zacqary Adam Green, New York Pirate Party Zaq and his colleagues propose: “This document contains a specific policy proposal designed to address the concerns of the Pirate Party regarding copyright, patent and… Continue reading
Please donate to build a commons for the commons!!
Help the P2P Foundation construct the best possible global p2p database of p2p initiatives. Help us connect p2p initiatives the world over!! The world needs to change!! We need a thrivable world that combines a recognition of the necessary balance with the planet, with global cooperation on constructive alternatives. All over the world, local,glocal and… Continue reading
Book of the Day: The Globalization of Communes
Book: Globalization of Communes, Yaacov Oved. Transaction Publishers, 2012. Description “How have communes adjusted to a global world? After World War II, membership in communes and cooperative communities became internationally oriented and such communities began networking. Unlike earlier communal organizations, these groups shared openness to international relationships. This became evident both in the groups’ social… Continue reading
Crowdsourced Credit Rating Providers Join Forces
Source: PR Newswire In a major challenge to the world’s dominant credit rating agencies, two not-for-profit rating providers announced a strategic alliance today. Both of the NGOs – Wikirating and Public Sector Credit Solutions (PSCS) – employ crowdsourcing techniques to improve credit ratings. Zurich-based Wikirating uses the same technology as Wikipedia to gather and aggregate… Continue reading
Culture Must Always Be a Commons
Source: Nick Poole, CEO, Collections Trust In case I haven’t already made it abundantly clear – I love museums, libraries and archives. I think that investing in professional communities who bring together and protect our shared heritage and make it available for use and enjoyment is one of the most important marks of an enlightened… Continue reading
To Be A Maker in Lagos
Photos of the Maker Faire in Lagos, Nigeria:
Book of the Day: Cultures and Ethics of Sharing
Book: Cultures and Ethics of Sharing / Kulturen und Ethiken des Teilens, edited jointly by Wolfgang Sützl, Felix Stalder, Ronald Maier, Theo Hug. Innsbruck University Press, 2012 Description “It is a bilingual (English/German) collection of papers on empirical and theoretical aspects of sharing, both on-line and off-line. Some papers develop quite optimistic perspectives, but others… Continue reading
Paul Hartzog on the Advantages of Scale of Openness and Peer Production
A post on issues of scale in industrial vs. peer production, by Paul Hartzog Citations Centralized hierarchies should not be too rudely rejected, but should be seen as effective methods of production during specific periods when connectivity is low. Only as technology makes cooperation among large numbers of people possible does decentralization become a feasible… Continue reading