Provocative statements from Remix

I am happily reading Lawrence Lessig's newest book, Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy. I'm about a quarter of the way through it (Location 1271 on my Kindle to be exact), generously "clipping" as I go along. Here are a few of Lessig's many statements that challenged me:

Now I worry about the effect this war [on copyright piracy] is having upon our kids. What is this war doing to them? Whom is it making them? How is it changing how they think about normal, right-thinking behavior?

What does it mean to a society when a whole generation is raised as criminals?

Even the good become pirates in a world where the rules seem absurd.

The freedom to quote, and to build upon, the words of others is taken for granted by everyone who writes.

Whether justified or not, the norms governing these forms of expression [music and video] are far more restrictive than the norms governing text.

But what happens when writing with film (or music, or images, or every other form of “professional speech” from the twentieth century) becomes as democratic as writing with text?

Text is today’s Latin. It is through text that we elites communicate (look at you, reading this book). For the masses, however, most information is gathered through other forms of media: TV, film, music, and music video. These forms of “writing” are the vernacular of today. They are the kinds of "writing" that matters most to most.

This last comment looks like pretty good ammo for my "post-literate society" observations!

As always, these sorts of statements are best read in context. Pirate it, steal it, buy it, borrow it, or check it out from your library. What options!

Comments

[learningIT]

Great post that has left me somewhat speechless but deep in thought. For some reason I feel angered now (as I reach for my Naomi Klein and Greg Palast books). Not angry about what you have provided, but by what is going on regarding intellectual copyright etc. etc.
Seems the 'lunatics have taken over the asylum' - feel like listening to 'cut and paste' artists Coldcut too:
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=S6KnJ0k_u7w
Hmm, perhaps text is today's Latin, but change is needed right through the spectrum, especially the educational system. Why are we still catering to the remedial demands of entrance tests from universities and school systems that were developed during the Industrial Revolution? I would have hoped that they would be leading the way with change!
Oh dear. Blue Skunk Blog, I am going to be up all night now.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Frank,

Glad to know this stirred you up. I see on your website you have a Lessig video tribute. His book(s) are well worth reading.

All the best and thanks for the comment,

Doug