30 Years vs. 30 Days: A Battle Lessig Had to Turn Down to Win His War

When Larry Lessig, Stanford University law professor and copyright activist, announced he would not in fact run for a seat in the US Congress last week, he disappointed thousands of supporters of his cause: to change congress.

In a five-minute video posted on his blog (www.lessig.org/blog/), Lessig reasons that his competition, longtime Democratic Party member Jackie Speiers, was an opponent too difficult to defeat. What’s more, the polls showed he would not lose the election (which was only 30 days away) just by a nose or two, but that he would “lose in a big way.”

Jackie Speiers has a 30 year-long history with the Democratic Party, and has also been campaigning for a seat in the US Congress for over a year. Thirty days, Lessig rationalized, was simply not enough time to sway the minds of voters and win against such a popular and well-known candidate. Nor would it be enough time gain support for his latest initiative, which he simply calls Change Congress.

In essence, the “30 years versus 30 days” loss would discredit Lessig’s new pet project considerably. Losing the election in the Bay Area (California) by a landslide would signal to the rest of the country “that a Change Congress message has no salience or support. That would, in my view, harm the movement more than it would help.”

So exactly what is Change Congress? True to what its name suggests, the movement was created by Lessig as a means to weaken what he sees as the stream of corruption running through the US Congress, and his chosen weapon in this war is — to no one’s surprise — the Internet. The advocate of a “read/write culture” and founder of Creative Commons is now building a website to tackle the problems he perceives as damaging the integrity of the US Congress.

According to Lessig, the initiative is based on three main changes he would like to see in the US Congress today: 1) the end of Congressmen accepting money from lobbyists and political action committees, 2) a ban on earmarks, and 3) public financing for Congressional campaigns.

On this new website, Congressional candidates will be able to indicate their level of support to Change Congress and its proposed reforms, and people can make donations to those who back the movement. In addition, a page will be set up that encourages running against candidates who do not support Change Congress’s reforms.

Although Lessig says he does not see himself entering public service any time soon, he still questions his decision to not run for Congress this time around, despite certain defeat: “It’s impossible to make a decision like that without fearing that you made a fundamental mistake. Succeeding could have been amazing. It’s not a decision I will ever feel 100 percent comfortable with.”

But will this new undertaking detract Lessig’s attention away from his passion for liberalizing copyright laws and lobbying for reforms on intellectual property? Probably not. But perhaps while this cyberlaw warrior is busy trying to revolutionize what have become traditional political campaign measures, we’ll see a cease-fire on the “permission culture” versus “remix culture” front.

As the man said, “I never expected that this would happen quickly. I think it is going to take many years and many cycles. It’s going to take many more people becoming involved.”

Good-bye Angel Eyes: Jeff Healy — an Inspiration to Artists Everywhere

March 2nd, 2008 was a sad day for music lovers of all genres. Jeff Healy, one of Canada’s most gifted, most versatile, and most loved musicians, lost his lifelong battle with cancer Sunday evening in a Toronto hospital. He was 41 years young.

Healy suffered from retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer that claimed his eyesight at the age of one. Still, undaunted by the ravages of the disease, he pursued his passion for music, and rose to become an accomplished, internationally renowned singer and songwriter, sharing his enormous talent as a classic rock, blues, and later on, jazz guitarist.

Healy’s publicist, Richard Flohil, in a statement to a CTV newscaster, said, “Visually, Jeff was an intriguing player to watch, because he played guitar — by any conventional standard — all wrong, with it flat across his lap. But he was a remarkable, a virtuoso player.”

No doubt Jeff Healy will be remembered for his diverse musical talent and for his awesome guitar playing, but I say Jeff Healy should also be remembered as inspiration to us all. Despite his crippling and often painful disease, this artist allowed his passion for music to rule his world.

Although blind, Healy began teaching himself to play guitar when he was just three years old. He was performing on stage by the age of six, and a few short years later, was considered a teenage prodigy, having put together his first band, Blue Direction.

As a rocker, The Jeff Healy Band produced such popular hits as the romantic “Angel Eyes,” the soulful “How Long Can a Man Be Strong,” and a stirring cover of the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” He recorded and played side by side with the likes of George Harrison, Mark Knopfler, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. As a blues guitarist, Healy paired up with such musical geniuses as B.B. King and Jimmy Rogers.

Not feeling limited by his success as a rock star, Healy explored the musical realm of jazz, his true love, and released several CDs later in his career, earning him acclaim as an accomplished classic American jazz guitarist.

In his close circle, Healy was described as having a wicked sense of humor, as never feeling sorry for himself because of his illness, and as a generous, down-to-earth, warm-hearted soul.

Now that’s a true artist, through and through.

Healy’s first rock-blues CD in eight years, Mess of Blues, is to be released in the next few weeks in Europe, and later in April in Canada and the US. Can’t wait to hear it, although it will be a bittersweet experience, knowing that these are the last notes that will ever be played by one of the musical greats of our time.

Sincerest and heartfelt condolences go out to Jeff Healy’s family and friends. We’ll miss him too — his music, his courage, and his angel eyes.

Violators of Copyright Law — Oh (No) Canada! Not You Too!

Imagine that. Placid, peaceful Canada, deemed year after year as one of the best countries in the world to live, has been accused along with 10 other countries of being a major violator of U.S. copyright law by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). Read more

Say It Again, Slim Shady

Eminem is about to share the intimate details of his chaotic life with us—yet again.

According to London-based Orion Publishing Group, the hip hop megastar plans to write an autobiography, aimed for release this Fall in the UK. And the book already has a title: Eminem: The Way I Am. Read more

Say Hello to Creativity, Culture & News

In the last few months the Free Articulator has grown beyond our expectations. We launched Free Articulator 2.0 on the 1st of January and soon after, introduced our first Feature that explored the mind and work of talented digital artist and model Lena Semenkova. We’re also hard at work on a slew of things you’ll find out about soon. Read more

Freely Articulated Web: Links for the 15th of February

Here’s the Free Articulator team’s latest favorite links from across the web. Check them out:

• The 5 Immutable Laws of Persuasive Blogging - Brian Clark offers a short but useful piece for bloggers. It’s a great read if you’re using blogging as a distribution or promotion tool for your creative work. The third rule is an important one.
• The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web - this practical guide to web typography is fascinating and insanely useful.
• 5 Inspiration Hacks for Creative People - Creativity stuck and blocked? Leo Babauta always has great advice for hacking that block out of the way.
• Selling your work in the US? You should really read this important market demographics research.
• This one is especially for writers: read about the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard and how it can benefit for you. It’s a shameless self-plug, but you might find it useful.
• Orwell Rolls in His Grave - get your daily dose of truth from this critical look at the so-called Fourth Estate. Can we make the phrase ‘Fourth Estate’ mean something again? Yes, I think so.
• Finally, a case in point: protecting your intellectual property is important.

Actor Heath Ledger Dead at 28

I have just been told that Heath Ledger is dead and as I write this, the announcement is on the radio as well. I find that utterly shocking and such a waste, as I have followed Heath Ledger’s career with great interest. As Lena Semenkova said, “I thought he would go superstar after Joker role.”

Our condolences to the Ledger family, friends, fans and colleagues. What a tragic, waste of a remarkable talent and good life. Heath, wherever you’ve gone now, thanks for the entertainment, a damn fine career cut short too soon, but fine nonetheless.

The cause of death is unknown at this time, but police have confirmed the presence of drugs.

A 2.0 Release & Six Months Under Our Belt - Our New Year Gift to You

One year ago, we put up a humble pre-launch website. It warned you of our plans for the future and asked for a few brave souls to jump on board and write along with us. Read more

Allforart’s Cornucopia Daze - 21 December a Creative Season Day to Remember

Yesterday was one of those cornucopia days at Allforart. A day where so much happens it seems as if a week just passed within the last 24 hours.

These are the sort of abundant days that we are working towards making happen every day, for at Allforart we think life and living should be filled with an abundance of good - productive and constructive - life-affirming things and events. But also because we like the notion that the worthy things artists wish for in their careers and life is what we help them achieve in ways small and large.

That’s what the cornucopia, the Horn of Plenty is all about. Boy, we have got plenty going on at Allforart!

Truly the 21st of December 2007 reflected the Creative Season we are enjoying, and creating daily. Here’s what happened, and a preview of what’s coming: Read more

An Urgent Message from Al Gore

Hi All,

As you may or may not be aware there is a very large and important meeting occurring in Bali on the subject of Climate Change. We just received this message from Al Gore and ask that you click the link and lend your support to moving up the agenda for the global treaty and let others know about this. There really isn’t anything more important than this. Read more