Freedom (CC_BY_NC flickr:paingouin)

Free, as in free to use, free to contribute, free to distribute. What’s that worth to you? Can you put a price tag on it? What if the “sum of human knowledge” was there for you to just reach out and grab it. Would you pay for that priviledge?

Some people would, anyway. Mindpark and Joakim Jardenberg just did, in donating 25 000 SEK to the Swedish chapter of Wikimedia Foundation.

“It’s substantially less than what we pay to [Swedish commersial encyklopedia] every year, and it’s far less than a months wage would cost us.”

Joakim hopes that more media companies will follow his lead, and expresses that it’s a reasonable amount to secure a free swedish encyklopedia for the future.

I can only agree. So, if you’re not already supporting the Wikimedia Foundation in your country, or globally, please consider it.

Freedom doesn’t have a price tag. There’s noone sending you a bill for using it. But keep in mind that if someone’s to pay for your freedom – it might as well be you.

IPRED painkiller ad

There’s a lot of discussion about the Swedish Ipred implementation. Basically, the government want to allow rights holders to be able to sent threatening letters to people downloading copyrighted material, outsourcing law enforcement to private interests.

Here’s my favorite contribution so far – the Green Youth of Sweden edited the well known “Ipren” ad, as seen to the right.

Ipred
Unintelligence 400mg
Stops technological development and cultural exchange. Reduces integrity.

For politicians out of touch with reality

As far as I’m concerned, the most disturbing aspect of the new law is that it will make investigation of child pornography and other serious crimes on the Internet harder. Apparently, copyright laws must be implemented and defended at any prize whatsoever. If you thought that the media industry comparing file sharing with stealing cars was too unrealistic for anyone to really agree, think again. If you press the download button, you’d better think twice – to some you’re worse of a criminal than child pornographers or basically any other criminal on the net. You’re the lowest of low.

I’ll have that pain killer now, thanks!