Organizing Sharing to Preserve Data
Have we resolved the problem of preserving works now that, for the first time in history, we know how to duplicate informational goods at negligible cost? We could believe this, but the reality is very different. Closed formats and proprietary software make digital copies unexploitable, as do copy control technologies (DRM). The legal prohibition to make copies deprives us of the massive backup possibilities offered by libraries and personal Internet users’ multimedia libraries. The concentration in the data centers of a few large companies recreates in the digital world the same vulnerability of the great library of Alexandria.
Using open forms and freeware and encouraging copying and sharing could solve these problems. With the condition of offering the creators of immaterial goods alternative mechanisms of remuneration: together, we will address a few.
Art-Science Think Tank: Wednesday, June 13