Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

cc-lessigletter - [cc-lessigletter] Commoner Letter #1 - Evan Prodromou

cc-lessigletter AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: An announcement list for letters from Creative Commons CEO/Founder Lawrence Lessig.

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lawrence Lessig" <larry AT creativecommons.org>
  • To: cc-lessigletter AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [cc-lessigletter] Commoner Letter #1 - Evan Prodromou
  • Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:55:26 -0700

Two weeks ago I said that we would be sending out letters from five
prominent CC community members over the next few months. This is the
first letter in that series.

----------------------------------

Hello, everyone! My name is Evan Prodromou. I'm excited and honoured
to be able to talk to all of you through this email newsletter. When
Creative Commons asked me to write for their fundraising drive, I
simply couldn't refuse.

In 2003, with my wife Maj, I started a project called Wikitravel
(http://wikitravel.org/) – an effort to create a Free, complete,
up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide. Inspired in part by
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Wikitravel's text, maps, and photos
are all collaboratively developed by Internet users from around the
world. Together, we're making travel guides that are as good or better
than those made by traditional, proprietary travel publishers.

Collectively, Wikitravellers have donated hundreds of thousands of
person-hours to realize our shared dream. But they didn't put in that
time to make great travel guides just for me personally. They did that
work for a common goal: so that every traveler in the world could have
high-quality, practical travel information in their own language.

Because of Wikitravel's liberal Creative Commons license
(Attribution-ShareAlike), our contributors know that their work is
free today and will remain available to all. The Creative Commons name
and badge on every Wikitravel page lets our users know that they are
free to use, share, and re-distribute our guides in whatever way their
imagination takes them.

I think that travel guides and encyclopedias are just the beginning
for collaboratively-created Free Content. For that reason, I've
started two new projects this year: Keiki (http://kei.ki/), a
collaborative parenting manual, and Vinismo (http://vinismo.com/), a
collaborative guide to the world's wines. I've also launched an Open
Content guidebook publisher, Wikitravel Press
(http://www.wikitravelpress.com/), to compete head-to-head with
proprietary publishers. There are opportunities to create Free
Cultural works in so many areas it's mind-boggling.

We are on the cusp of an explosive revolution in human knowledge and
culture. We now have the tools and the global infrastructure to let
the billions of humans on Earth collaboratively create their own
entertainment and reference works: films, textbooks, images, and
music. Regular people, working together, are smashing apart the
short-sighted, curmudgeonly cultural framework of micropayments, IP
portfolios, walled gardens, and dot-com data silos to free up
information for everyone to enjoy, use, and share. I truly believe
that within a generation we can open the world's knowledge to all of
its inhabitants and reduce or eliminate the misery caused by lack of
access to information.

And Creative Commons is a crucial part of the cultural compact that
makes that revolution possible. Free Culture licenses, like those from
Creative Commons, are a promise between global collaborators that
indeed we are working for the good of all. Creative Commons licenses
tell readers and listeners that they, too, can be participants in a
global community of creators.

As Creative Commons passes its five-year anniversary, the "first
generation" of CC-related projects, like Flickr (http://flickr.com/),
Magnatune (http://www.magnatune.com/), and yes, Wikitravel, are
showing the world the advantage of Open Content and massive
intercollaboration. But there are literally thousands of other Open
Content projects in hundreds of countries that are just getting off
the ground. They'll have new challenges, new opportunities, and with
your help they'll have the tools and infrastructure of Creative
Commons to lean on as they grow.

I hope that, as a friend to Free Culture, you'll continue to support
Creative Commons in all the ways you do: with your time, with your
attention, and with your advocacy. But I also ask that you make an
investment in the future by donating to Creative Commons in this,
their annual fall fundraising drive. Like a wiki, each contribution by
people like you and me builds into a powerful fund for advancing our
collective goal.

Thanks for your time,
Evan Prodromou



If you'd like to be spared these letters over then next three months,
visit http://creativecommons.org/about/lessigletter#unsubscribe


----------------------------------

This email is part of a bi-weekly series of letters written by members
of the Creative Commons community. If you would like to be removed
from this list, please click here:
http://creativecommons.org/about/lessigletter#unsubscribe

Alternatively, if you know others who might find these interesting,
please recommend they sign up at
http://creativecommons.org/about/lessigletter

Support the Commons
http://support.creativecommons.org

To link to this message, go to:
http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/7739

Archive of Lessig Letters
http://support.creativecommons.org/letters

Learn about CC, including comics and movies
http://creativecommons.org/learnmore



  • [cc-lessigletter] Commoner Letter #1 - Evan Prodromou, Lawrence Lessig, 10/15/2007

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page