I’ve decided to release my blog under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). This means you can use my blog however you like, as long as you share it with others, too. You can modify my blog, translate it, and even publish it for money–as long as you give others the same freedom I give you.
This announcement is a bit premature, but I’m planning to write an e-book in a few months under the same license. And as a programmer, I’m thinking about releasing my software under similar open licenses.
I don’t support the idea of restricting access to information. A good idea is like the wind. It is immaterial in substance and so it’s impossible to hoard. It has no real owner, nor point of origin, since it flows wherever it pleases.
When it comes to useful knowledge, I want to promote free sharing instead of hoarding. More people need to hear about Greenimalist living, not less. So if someone wants to e-mail a copy of my book to his friends, I don’t want him to worry about being sued by a team of lawyers. I just want him to enjoy it without a guilty conscience.
We’re at a crossroads in digital technology. Using what we have today, we could reduce our environmental impact to practically zero. Videoconferencing can replace international travel, search engines can replace entire libraries, and digital downloads can replace newspapers, books, DVDs, television, and radio. All this is possible because software and data can be transmitted without the need to change hardware.
But our technology is being stymied by a lack of openness. Digital restrictions and intellectual property law have created a litigious atmosphere that has stopped us from fully enjoying the fruits of our technology.
I like e-books a lot. They’re superior to printed books in every way; the image quality is better, delivery is instant, storage is simpler, and the environmental impact of a 10MB download is negligible. But what I hate about e-books is the lack of openness in the publishing platforms. I enjoy taking old computers, which would otherwise end up as e-waste, and rehabilitating them with GNU/Linux. But because of the restrictions on these platforms, I won’t be able to read e-books even if I pay for them. I have to buy a Kindle or an iPad or whatever overpriced gadget is on the market.
Without open software, I can’t salvage old computer parts. Instead, I have to buy items with a short, planned obsolescence. So if I do buy the e-reader, either I purchase the latest version year after year, or risk losing access to my books.
What I find especially disturbing about digital information is that I am losing control over it. If I buy a printed book, I can loan it to my friends, sell it at a bookstore, or donate it to a library. With an e-book, I don’t have those rights. Simply opening a document or watching a movie requires that I sign an ironclad legal agreement. Technically, because of my operating system, I’m breaking international patent law each time I play a DVD or listen to an mp3, even though I legally pay for the content (1). So in spite of the potential of digital downloads, I still visit the old-fashioned library.
I’m tired of this—and I don’t want to put you through this nonsense.
I can’t control what happens in the netherworlds of the digital universe, but I can control what happens at Greenimalist. I’m making my content freely sharable.
So please share; the more people hear about the Greenimalist life, the better.
[[Note: To avoid confusion, CC-BY-SA 3.0 allows you to sell content. The license protects the user's ability to share/copy/transfer/print content once purchased. Think of it as granting the user extra freedom, rather than the content being without price.]]
1 If I recall correctly, DVD decryption and mp3 decoding is protected by patent law. So even if I legally buy mp3s, I’m not allowed to play them using open-source software since they don’t pay licensing fees to Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. Correct me if I’m mistaken.
This is a great idea! I just went to their website and added it to my own blog. Its very simple and it’s certainly an idea I can get behind. I’m amazed at the free-culture movement. Thanks for pointing me along!
Hi David,
Two months ago, I was reading Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig. It amazed me to discover that most of the creativity we take for granted today actually borrows heavily from the work of others. Everybody borrows and shares — artists, writers, recording studios, cable TV companies, and radio stations. Unfortunately, today the law calls this “stealing intellectual property.”
Creative Commons is a way to make the world less litigious. Somehow, calling an idea “property” doesn’t seem right to me. I wasn’t the first person to invent Greenimalist, and I’m sure I won’t be the last. I just lived it, described it, blogged about it. It’s not mine to own or keep.
Circumvention of DVD CSS is a federal offence under DMCA (with a few exceptions). This forbids you from copying the DVD to your computer; however it is perfectly legal to play it using whatever software you wish as long as it honors the DRM restrictions.
For MP3s there is nothing illegal about playing the MP3 using whatever software/hardware can understand the encoding. It is the duty of the software creator to reconcile the intellectual property rights necessary to legally to interpret the MP3 encoding.
Neither of these mean you are breaking patent law by virtue of your operating system in regards to playing DVDs or listening to your MP3s. You just can’t do much more than that (which is a really big nuisance).
Side note: when some minimalists encourage you to rip your DVDs and CDs to a computer and sell the originals: ignore them. Circumventing DVD CSS is a federal offence. You may rip CDs to a computer only because case law indicates this is fair use; however, your fair use defense becomes invalid as soon as you no longer own the original CD.
Thanks for that info, Seth — I did not know that.
Aaron, I totally agree with your thoughts about open software and free sharing. I do still love “real” books, however, though I’ve pared my collection to fewer than 100, and plan to follow the “one in, one out” rule. I have no plans at present to buy an e-reader, so I LOVE my library, where I can read lots of books for free without having to own them myself!
Hi Seth,
I used to use Ubuntu. It actually has great support for mp3 and DVD playback, but by default it’s disabled for residents in the USA. I used to have to install the ‘forbidden extras’ folder; I never could figure out why exactly it was forbidden, only that it was. In fact, if I remember correctly, I needed to use Synaptic to download libdvdcss. It was intentionally hidden to make it hard to download, probably for legal reasons.
Thanks for the heads up about ripping DVDs. I usually try to respect copyright law by purchasing music/movies. But I still find myself breaking it at times. I know artists need to earn money, too–I just wish we could figure out how to pay them without using burdensome digital restrictions.
Hi Karen,
I love my local library, too. The way modern intellectual property laws are structured, I find it easier to just get the physical copy instead of a digital download. It’s great for borrowing documentaries or books that I’ll just watch once. To think I once spent $1500 on Amazon.com just for books!
BTW, I love the photos you post with your comments, Aaron. This one of your wife in the big lecture hall is not only appropriate, but a cute idea!
I try to get Hsinya in more photos but she’s so shy. I let her know you liked this one!
I found your blog a few weeks ago and I am a big fan of it. This is one of my favorite posts so far. I hate the idea of intellectual property. I love your idea that “A good idea is like the wind. It is immaterial in substance and so it’s impossible to hoard. It has no real owner, nor point of origin, since it flows wherever it pleases.”
Hi Phil,
I’ve heard from some artists that it’s more profitable for them to let their customers copy freely rather than restrict them. In the end, it drives up sales, because even though only a small fraction will actually pay, the word of mouth more than makes up for it.
Hi Aaron. I was so pleased to discover your blog. I am enjoying your minimalist thoughts and especially coming from a Christian perspective. I’ve been coming back to several of your posts to keep me inspired to live more minimally.
I share your frustration about having to buy specific gadgets to read e-books. I do have a Kindle because I find portable e-books and electronic ink so convenient, but yes, it ties me to that device or to a Kindle app on my computer or phone. Did you know that books on Google Books can be read via a web browser? That removes the need for a proprietary device – except that for those of us who still want electronic ink, uploading the books to such a device is either impossible or so complicated that I haven’t attempted it.
I look forward to hearing more in the future about how you manage these issues.
Hi Margaret,
Google Books is definitely an improvement over Kindle and iBooks. At least you can read the books on the web, which is a device-neutral platform. But it’s still not ideal, since it’s still vendor-specific: once you sign up with Google, you can’t transfer the books elsewhere.
I might end up reading Google Books. Right now, I’ve been able to find many restrictions-free tech/software books online (O’Reilly, Informit, Apress, PragProg, PeachPit, Creative Commons, and GNU FDL). When I can’t, I usually just visit a local library.
Since I’ve been in Taiwan, though, I haven’t been able to find most books in English. So I might settle with Google books as a last resort.
Does anyone else have special reasons for buying DRM books?