Access to Knowledge and Cultivating the Good Life

• In Event: Extended Session: Communication Law, Policy, and the "Good Life"

Abstract

The Access to Knowledge [A2K] movement encompasses a broad theoretical, political and activist landscape that is concerned with the use of information and creative works outside the realm of intellectual property [IP]. A core principle of A2K is that the expansion of IP law is often anti-democratic, restrictive and an outright threat to cultural participation and creative practice. Restricting sharing, openness and access to information can prove a direct threat to “the good life” as imagined in an information society. In this position paper, I provide an overview of the problem of emerging IP enforcement regimes and explain how A2K approaches to information policy can cultivate social well-being.

Author

• Lucas Logan, Texas A and M University