Open Source

The resistance to ownership of intellectual property can be seen in the advent of Open Source software and licensing systems. Steve Mann says that “the overprotection of intellectual property has emerged as a situation that could threaten scholarly discourse, computer science, and fair use” (Existential Technology, p.3). Mann’s art installation Ouijagree questions the lack of access that users have to their computers and the software on them. In this installation he opens up a new computer, which is tagged with software that he did not ask for, and has a Terms and Services agreement that “forbids the practice of science (e.g. trying to understanding how a program works, its underlying operational principles, etc)” (Existential Technology, p.3). The name of his installation plays with the idea of the Ouija board, since him and three of his students all had their hand on the mouse when they clicked on “Yes, I agree”, or Oui, j’agree in French, and this calls into question the idea of who that agreement pertains to, which one of those individuals? Allowing free access to information is a form of rebellion against corporations that work to commodify knowledge.

Open Source software allows the user to have access to the source code of a product so that they can understand how it works and even alter components of it for their own use and possible distribution. If privatized information is gold in our new economy, then Open Source software is trying to change that. Instead of hoarding information for capitalist purposes, the code has to be made available to other individuals, even if changes have been made to it. There are many benefits to Open Source software because it ensures that data is not lost forever, as may be the case for software that becomes obsolete and whose source code is hidden and private. This allows for backwards compatibility since data made using Open Source software can still be accessed after that software has become obsolete. This takes the control of an individuals data out of the hands of the creator of the software, because they are the only ones who know how to access that data.

Linux is a great example of a popular Open Source operating system that people can use, modify, and distribute freely. These kinds of endeavors call into question the capitalist systems that we have created which require us to purchase information. Many Open Source circles and ideologies function around ideas of collaboration and consensus. It is this kind of ideology that fosters community and responsibility, rather than a monolithic power structure. The CAE claims that “‘[t]he people united is a falsehood; this concept only constructs new exclusionist platforms by creating bureaucratic monoliths and semiotic regimes that cannot represent or act on behalf of the diverse desires and needs of individuals within complex and hybridizing social segments” (Digital Resistance, p.15). Open Source creates a space for different individuals to contribute to the gathering of information. This creates a form of reciprocity and response because the users respond to the software code and can change it and send it back out to the community. Wikipedia exhibits a similar structure since anyone who has access to the site can change the content on it or call into question previous content. These are forms of resistance because they shift away from a system of privatized information that is created by those in power and into a system that supports collaboration and free access to information.