Reading Response 5

According to Lessing, three legal principles govern the way the Internet has been run over the past two decades.  Now, as he explains in his lectures "The Withering of the Net" and "How Creativity is Being Strangled", these core principles are at the center of the debate surrounding the Internet and how it should be regulated and used.  All three of these principles were created to ensure the Internet is an open, accessible environment.  Lessing is not necessarily denouncing regulation of the Internet, rather speaking against regulation that would make the Internet exclusive and/or take away from the read/write nature of the Internet writing medium.  Things like copyright enforcement are the major contributors to this growing problem.

In "The Withering of the Net", Lessing states “The right to innovate is held as common in this architecture... (where) less control over the right to innovate over this platform actually creates more innovation.”  Here he asserts the importance of freedom within the Internet.  If every source was regulated and every image was protected, the read/write nature of the Internet would be totally destroyed.  The fact that anyone can create on the Internet is what makes it the unique writing environment it is.  The lack of control over the right to innovate is why the Internet is truly remarkable, and Lessing explains this perfectly.

Creative Commons is one tool being used to assure the Internet remains a open mecca of knowledge.  Creative Commons collectively supports the open industry within the Internet by supplying images available to the public domain.  As the push for copyright enforcement grows -- with bills like SOPA -- Creative Commons has become even more important to the condition of the Internet.  If a bill like SOPA were to pass, we common Internet-users would rely on Creative Commons to avoid being prosecuted for copyright infringement.

Stallman shares many of the same views as Lessing.  He too agrees that the read/write relationship is what defines the Internet as a genre.  In Stallman's writings, he asserts more artists must make contributions to the public domain in order to create a more effective working environment on the Internet.  Much like Stallman and Lessing, I believe the government will not recognize the negative effects of copyright enforcement until it is too late.  Their money-first mind does not recognize the importance of innovation and creativity.