Adobe's Minor Clarification.

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 10:20:34 +0300

'Free Knowledge' - Its significance in the global village.

noreply@blogspirit.com () — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 16:05:00 +0200

A silent debate rages on between the advocates of free knowledge dissemination and the bigwigs in the commercial/corporate sector. One of the major issues concerning the world today is the availability and usability of 'free knowledge'. What exactly does the term indicate? It highlights a result more than an issue. The stand here is that Knowledge should be Free. I am referring to sources (of knowledge) that are available to anyone- be it open source journals, open software or other content-bearing works. What made me ponder on this issue was the instance of surfing through the books of E-brary, the online library. Content in e-brary is not free; for every letter,every word you copy , you are deducted money from the account you have already paid to join the service. Knowledge dissemination should be free. Online Services like E-brary, EBSCO, Infotrac, Encyclopedia Brittanica should be open to access by everyone.Such access is important in today's world because the same has been reduced to the status of a global village. Man, suddenly, is not confined to any particular sphere of life. He needs knowledge that is a conglomerate of various sectors.Taking a personal example, a student of law has to be well-versed in science (esp. biotechnology) if he is to study Intellectual Property law purely because there are a lot of segments from both science and law that merge to form Intellectual Property. Research scholars and students find it exceedingly hard to extract information on little-known topics. Sources that provide info on such content always, almost without exception, charge currency for obtaining it.

There is, as there will always be, a flip side to the issue. The recent controversy surrounding Wikipedia's publishing of wrong, misleading content (concerning accusation of prominent people in JFK's assassination) BBC News :Wikipedia joker eats humble pie. is an eye-opener. It, in no uncertain terms, shows us what exactly could go wrong once content(majorly on the web) is given open access. Wikipedia, undoubtedly, is a pioneer towards the enobling cause of Free Knowledge Dissemination. It's also encouraging to notice that there is a significant group strongly supporting the movement. However, the recent spate of events show that flaws creep into the system. Open access is misused and misleading knowledge (worse than no knowledge at all) is provided. The plausible solution to this issue, is perhaps restriction. Restriction, however, need not be in monetary terms. See BBC News:Wikipedia tightens online rules. Then again, other restrictions have their own errs. The solution is not clearly visible at the moment. Wikipedia's progress needs to be followed closely as the movement's success is imperative to the whole concept of free, open access knowledge.

Thinkin' on your stomach. - web

Adobe's Minor Clarification.

'Free Knowledge' - Its significance in the global village.