[chapter-delegates] Lessig statement -- relevant to web site standards

[Gene Gaines]

Wonderful statement made today (below).

I think on-topic for ISOC and particularly for its chapters.

Some time spent browsing Mr. Lessig's web site adds much
strength to ISOC's "The Internet is for Everyone" and I
particularly recommend the "Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial license" he describes below.

Gene Gaines
Sterling, Virginia USA

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Subject: never again
Date:   Tue, 15 Mar 2005 22:29:13 GMT
From:   <Larry Lessig Blog at www.lessig.org/blog>

So I did something today for the very last time in my life. I'm
publishing a comment in the Minnesota Law Review about an article
by Brett Frischmann titled "An Economic Theory of
Infrastructure." His is a great article; I was happy to write the
comment.

But today, on the brink of publication, I had to confront the
"Publication Agreement." In order to give the Minnesota Law
Review my work, I have also to give them my copyright. In
particular, they get the "exclusive right to authorize the
publication, reproduction, and distribution" of my work. They
have in turn sold that right to Lexis and Westlaw.

Never again. It has taken me too long to resolve myself about
this, and it was too late in the process of this article to
insist on something different. But from this moment on, I am
committed to the Open Access pledge:

I will not agree to publish in any academic journal that does not
permit me the freedoms of at least a Creative Commons
<http://creativecommons.org> Attribution-Noncommercial
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/> license.

This is, of course, much less than RMS insists upon. My views are
more confused than his. I am not yet convinced of this point
w/r/t books. I am not yet convinced w/r/t eliminating the
non-commercial restriction. But, still, there is no academic or
scholarship related reason why the publishing of academic works
today should require more of me than this. And to the extent
academic publishing demands more of me than this, I will not
support it.

At this point, I know of one law journal that may, soon, be able
to publish my work. I hope there will be more. But until there
are, there will be no more law review articles by Lawrence Lessig
- a relief to many, no doubt; a loss to none, to be sure.