In his 2008 book, Remix, Lawrence Lessig describes a derivative culture based upon changing and improving copyrighted works in order to create a “remix” culture. The very basis of Lessig’s argument was recently challenged by the government, who issued a bill known as SOPA, the stop online piracy act, which targets any web-related content for the use of unauthorized, copyrighted material. Lessig, a researcher, Professor of Law at Stanford, and columnist for publications such as Wired and Red Herring, would most likely be utterly opposed to such an idea. Such an act would enforce a “Read Only” (RO), consumer based culture in which only a small elite would define the culture and the rest of us would look on and only “consume” the culture without altering it. SOPA clearly challenges the core value of democracy, what this country is all about. Lessig defines democracy as a “Read/Write” (RW) culture in which the public takes in the culture, tweaks it and remixes it into a culture of their own. We not only look at the culture from afar, but are a part of the making of it.
Would it be possible for the worlwide web to exist were this new act to be successful? According to Lessig, the web is a consortium of ideas, an integration of innovations. The Internet is a RW culture; it is a web weaved by global users building upon each other’s ideas. Just look at what 99% of the web consists of: blogs! The most used websites, such as YouTube and Facebook are built upon this very idea of interacting with the culture, not just overseeing it.If you really ponder about this recent bill, it seems a bit mindless to even consider passing it because, in reality, if you were to apply the essence of this act, the Internet should be shut down. Lessig purposely framed his argument for a Read/Write culture in a book given that his audience consists of highly literate, educated individuals. A book reflects just that, a Read/Write culture in which his readers can read, absorb the argument, and play an active part in producing this culture. He also made it freely available online, again implementing the idea that our culture should not be consumer based; rather, our ideas should freely flow from one person to the next, yet remain connected.
As mentioned above, Lessig made his book “Remix” something that can be used in a RW culture. He is demonstrating that a RW culture is useful in discussing ideas and being creative. Lessig is successfully enforcing his idea through his book.
I agree that our culture in the United States has been built upon the largely untrue idea that the individual has a duty to succeed and create a prosperous life for them-self without regard for others. In Lessig’s book “Remix” he tries his best to illustrate how our consumerist culture only seeks to alienate individuals who create content from those who are influenced by it. However where did this prefence between who arrives at a product become so important if an even greater product can be created through a combined effort.