Archive:Call to action

Freeculture.org: A Call to Action

Become a leader in the student movement for free culture.

Human society is on the cusp of a new age---an age to be dominated by the digital flow of information and the spread of ideas. The Internet gives us the potential to connect many-to-many, offering the possibility of a new structure to media, our culture, and our society. We can't assume, however, that technology alone will set us free. Will the future be one in which an open network of ordinary people organized from the bottom up produces a global civil society that can keep corporate power in check? Or will it be a world in which technology serves as a means to extend and solidify that power into an irresistible controlling force?

Central to this decision that will have immense consequences for the future of culture and community is the question "To what extent can culture be owned, as if it were property?" We can't afford to let short-sighted interests endanger the ecosystem of ideas upon which our very freedom to create depends. We have the opportunity to participate in our culture on a scale that's never been possible before. Yet relics of the 20th-century media machine continue to push for tighter and tighter control over our common culture.

It's time to stop complaining and stand up ourselves, to take concrete steps to preserve our liberty. It's time to bring the free culture movement down from the ivory tower and out into the streets. It's time to find out who supports your rights and who is willing to dispense with them when it's convenient to do so. Big media and its lobbyists in Washington are locking down the future even as you read this call. We cannot afford to remain passive observers. We must fight for the free and open exchange of ideas on our campuses, in our legislatures, in our courts, and in our classrooms. Those who don't hear us today will soon find us impossible to ignore. We have the power to influence their bottom line, and the more they lash out at us, the more their public image suffers, and the more awareness and support we will receive. Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. Make noise. Take action. Freeculture.org will be your resource and your tool, your way to connect to other leaders in the rising movement. Make a film, write a blog, start a group, raise some hell. The future is being stolen from us even as you read this page. Nothing could be worse than staying silent.

What can I do?

Get involved! We're going to need all the help we can get making this site the best it can be, and we're going to need help spreading this movement to different communities all around the globe.