Submitted by AnarchoSpook in Anarchism
Obviously exploitation through intellectual property reaches different domains of society. You have independent artists getting sued because they expressed a creative derivative of a work, you have the biggest tech-companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft) effectively using copyright laws to establish monopolies on the information market, you also have pharma companies which kill thousands of people through patenting drugs and consequently making them unavailable. Compared to the private ownership of physical things (like a factory, machines etc), the private ownership of information/art is much less visible, but an ever increasing method of oppression. Industrial machines, logistics, communications, and exchange and storage of money rely on software more than ever; the public consciousness relies on information/art that comes through huge social networking and video streaming platforms more than ever.
This is not an issue generally discussed in anarchist circles, but I found myself thinking about it a lot lately. How can an effective info-politics be constructed, only behind our keyboards? How do we continue doing our art under capitalism? Can we create an info/tech-resistance without creating a class of specialists? It seems like the only way to resist this info-system -an offshoot of the military-industrial complex- is through diverting its tools and using them against it.
adblocker wrote (edited )
Open source literally everything with the most liberal possible license. Fight as hard as you possibly can against DRM. I question whether piracy is an effective option or whether it will just bring DRM and abusive garbage like DMCA down on us even harder. I personally pirate as much as I can, especially from the big guys, while attempting to support the little guys.
Defensive patents perhaps? Use the system against them?
Also just don't touch their bullshit if you can. Anyone can live without listening to UMG music, or seeing Disney movies, or using Google Play, or Youtube, etc. Not giving them your money or data is basically half the battle.
Also you need to educate. Most of it will fall on deaf ears of people who don't give a fuck, mostly because they have no conception of the actual consequences or even what is happening right now. Some may listen though, and maybe enough can be converted to actually put a dent into these things that are just fueled by the masses. Heal thyself though, try to remove as much of this from your life as you can.