See www.juhanavenalainen.net/teaching/new-commons/

1. Juhana
Venäläinen
Researcher,
PhD
Student
University
of
Eastern
Finland
School
of
Humanities
juhana.venalainen@uef.fi
5516126
New
Commons
/
Juhana
Venäläinen
/
University
of
Eastern
Finland
/
Spring
2013

2. freeasinfreedom
/
flickr.com
/
by-­‐nc-­‐nd

3. [25 August 1991]-> comp.os.minix
Hello everybody out there using
minix -
I'm doing a (free) operating
system (just a hobby, won't be
big and professional like gnu)
for 386(486) AT clones. This
has been brewing since april,
and is starting to get ready.

4. ¡ Most
studied
of
all
operating
system
projects
¡ “Adaptability
over
planning”
¡ “Naturally
emergent”
organization
¡ …from
the
romantic
view
of
authorship
to
the
spontaneous
organization
of
the
commons…

5. ¡ I
Networking
commons
§ The
idea
of
”the
networking
commons”
§ Example:
the
political
economy
of
Wikipedia
§ Licensing
as
commons
governance
¡ II
Peer
production
§ The
idea
of
”peer
production”
§ Some
critiques
of
the
P2P
paradigm
§ Preliminary
notes
on
network
value

6.
networking
commons
=
shared
means
of
productive
communication

7.
-­‐>
A.
communication
as
a
catalyst
of
production
(knowledge
economy
thesis)
-­‐>
B.
communication
as
the
target
of
production,
a
goal
in
itself
(immaterial
economy
thesis)

8. ¡ Technological
infrastructure
§ The
tools
and
routes
for
communication
¡ Organizational
norms
§ Institutions
for
regulating
the
communication
¡ Cultural
values
§ The
“good”
and
“bad”
habits
of
communication
¡ Frameworks
of
assessment
§ How
to
measure
the
productivity
of
the
system
in
whole?
§ How
to
measure
the
efforts
of
individuals?
¡ Principles
of
equity
§ How
is
the
added
value
distributed
among
the
participants?
¡ Means
of
reproduction
§ How
does
the
networking
system
sustain
itself?
§ How
does
the
networking
system
sustain
the
individual
participants?

9.
Wikipedia?
1)
Shared
practices
of
communication…
2)
…
for
building
a
shared
base
of
knowledge
-­‐>
networking
commons
+
knowledge
commons

10. ¡ Technological
infra
(hardware)
§ Internet
▪ Communications
cables
▪ Internet
exchange
points
(IXPs)
§ Data
center(s)
▪ WP:
300
servers
in
Tampa,
FL
§ Electricity,
power
grids
¡ Code,
services,
protocols
(software)
§ Maintenance
and
improvement
of
MediaWiki
§ Resistance
to
cyberattacks
etc.
¡ Sociocultural
practices
of
sharing
(netware)
§ Attraction
to
contribute
(social
“barrier
of
entry”)
§ Mechanisms
of
quality
control
§ Communal
“goodwill”

11. ¡ Factors
of
(re)production:
§ Financing
the
fixed
capital
/
rents
§ Financing
the
variable
capital
(wages)
§ Sustaining
the
supply
of
voluntary
workforce
§ Sustaining
the
“good
atmosphere”
of
sharing

12. ¡ Wikimedia
Foundation
§ Non-­‐profit
charitable
organization
¡ Input-­‐output-­‐streams
§ Donations
-­‐>
WMF
-­‐>
monetized
assets
§ Non-­‐paid
voluntary
work
(playbor)
-­‐>
WP
-­‐>
non-­‐monetized
assets
¡ Externalities
§ WP
provides
positive
externalities
for
knowledge-­‐intensive
production
§ -­‐>
the
knowledge
commons
of
WP:
economically
valuable
factor
of
production
§ -­‐>
the
networking
commons
of
WP:
a
“non-­‐market”
way
of
building
and
sustaining
that
factor
of
production
¡ -­‐>
market
value
produced
outside
of
the
market

13. ¡ Open
software
§ E.g.
Firefox,
OpenOffice,
Linux,
Apache,
MySQL
¡ Open
knowledge
§ E.g.
Wikipedia,
Project
Gutenberg,
Internet
Archive
¡ Open
protocols
§ E.g.
Internet
standards
(RFCs),
OpenDocument,
Google
APIs
¡ Open
hardware

14. ¡ Alternative
namings
§ ”Free
software”
▪ The
Free
Software
Foundation
(1985-­‐)
§ Open
Source
software
▪ Open
Source
Initiative
(1998-­‐)
§ Software
Libre
▪ European
Commission
(2000-­‐)
§ ”FLOSS”:
free
/
libre
/
open
source
software
▪ Rishab
Ghosh
2001
¡ Licenses
§ Copyleft
licenses
▪ E.g.
GNU
General
Public
Licence
(1989,
1991,
2007)
▪ Most
widely
used
open
software
licence
▪ Guarantees
end
users
the
freedoms
to
use,
study,
share
(copy)
and
modify
the
software
▪ Prohibits
commercial
redistribution
(”share-­‐alike”
clause)
§ Copycenter
lisences
▪ E.g.
MIT/X11
licence
(1988),
BSD
licences

15. ¡ Knowledge
that
”one
is
free
to
use,
reuse,
and
redistribute
it
without
legal,
social
or
technological
restriction”
(Open
Definition)
¡ “Knowledge”
=
§ 1.
Content
(music,
films,
books…)
§ 2.
Data
(scientific,
historical,
geographic…)
§ 3.
Administrative
information
¡ Licenses
§ Creative
Commons
licenses
(2002-­‐)
§ GNU
Free
Documentation
License
(2000-­‐2008-­‐)
§ Free
Art
License
(2000-­‐2007-­‐)
§ Etc.

16. ¡ Open
Data
movement
§ Open
Knowledge
Foundation
(2004-­‐)
§ OK
Festival
(http://okfestival.org/)
¡ APIs:
freedom
of
”machine-­‐to-­‐machine”
communication

17. ¡ Physical
artifacts
that
§ Use
open
source
code
§ Use
standardized
open
protocols
§ Use
standardized
parts
§ Use
other
kinds
of
”open
design”
principles
(e.g.
crowdsourcing)
¡ http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=2686
¡ E.g.
Arduino
(a
multi-­‐purpose
programmable
circuit
board)
§ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWkUFxItWmU

18. ¡ ”Information
wants
to
be
free.
Information
also
wants
to
be
expensive.
That
ension
will
not
go
away.”
(Stewart
Brand,
1984?)
§ -­‐>
freedom
of
information
as
right
to
open
access
¡ ”Free
as
in
free
speech,
not
as
in
free
beer”
(Richard
Stallman)
§ -­‐>
”Libre/gratis”
distinction

19. ¡ Licence:
a
legal
framework
for
regulating
the
use
of
networking
commons
¡ Contractual
-­‐>
does
not
restrict
freedoms
based
on
fundamental
civil
rights
(e.g.
fair
use)
¡ Main
concern:
balancing
the
economic
rights
of
the
producers,
distributors
and
end-­‐users

20. Tacit
norms
Institutions
of
self-­‐regulation
Regulation
of
the
networking
infrastructure
Constitutional
rights

21. WORLD
OF
COPYLEFT
¡ Knowledge
as
commons
¡ Legal
enforcement
of
the
open
access
to
the
cultural
artefacts
¡ Derivative
works
are
also
determined
to
be
copyleft
WORLD
OF
COPYRIGHT
¡ Propriety
rights
¡ Legal
enforcement
of
the
private
ownership
of
the
cultural
artefacts
¡ Relapse
to
the
public
domain
through
expiring
copyright
terms

22. ¡ Attribution
(by)
§ Rights:
to
copy,
distribute,
display,
and
to
make
derivative
works
§ Obligations:
the
name
of
the
author
and
the
original
work
have
to
be
mentioned,
as
well
as
the
license
¡ Share-­‐alike
(sa)
§ Derivative
works
shall
have
the
same
license
as
the
original
¡ Noncommercial
(nc)
§ Prohibits
commercial
use
¡ No
derivative
works
(nd)
§ Only
identical
copies
/
performances
allowed

23. ¡ Dmitry
Kleiner:
”artists
can
not
earn
a
living
from
exclusivity
of
‘intellectual
property’
and
that
that
neither
copyleft
licenses
like
the
GPL,
nor
"copyjustright"
frameworks
such
as
the
creative
commons,
can
help."
¡ Peer
Production
Licence
§ only
other
commoners,
cooperatives
and
nonprofits
can
share
and
re-­‐use
the
material,
but
not
commercial
entities
intent
on
making
profit
through
the
commons
without
explicit
reciprocity

24. ”FREE”
LICENCES
Attribution
(by)
Attribution
+
No-­‐derivatives
(by-­‐nd)
Attribution
+
Share-­‐alike
(by-­‐
sa)
NON-­‐COMMERCIAL
LICENCES
Attribution
+
Noncommercial
(by-­‐
nc)
Attribution
+
Noncommercial
+
No-­‐derivatives
(by-­‐
nc-­‐nd)
Attribution
+
Noncommercial
+
Share-­‐alike
(by-­‐nc-­‐sa)

26. ¡ peer
(n.)
c.1300,
"an
equal
in
rank
or
status"
(early
13c.
in
Anglo-­‐Latin),
from
Anglo-­‐
French
peir,
Old
French
per
(10c.),
from
Latin
par
"equal”
¡ par
(n.)
1620s,
"equality,"
also
"value
of
one
currency
in
terms
of
another,"
from
Latin
par
"equal,
equal-­‐sized,
well-­‐matched,"
also
as
a
noun,
"that
which
is
equal,
equality,"
-­‐>
perhaps
from
PIE
root
*pere-­‐
"to
grant,
allot,"
with
suggestion
of
reciprocality
(Online
Etymology
Dictionary)

27. ¡ Peer
=
§ 1.
A
person
who
has
equal
standing
with
another
or
others,
as
in
rank,
class,
or
age:
children
who
are
easily
influenced
by
their
peers.
§ 2.
▪ a.
A
nobleman.
▪ b.
A
man
who
holds
a
peerage
by
descent
or
appointment.
§ 3.
[Archaic]
A
companion;
a
fellow:
"To
stray
away
into
these
forests
drear,/Alone,
without
a
peer"
(John
Keats).
(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/peer)

28. CENTRALIZED
(SERVER-­‐BASED)
PEER-­‐TO-­‐PEER

29. ¡ Napster
(1999-­‐)
¡ BitTorrent
(2001-­‐)
¡ Internet
(esp.
WWW)
as
a
P2P
network

30. OPTE
Project
/
Matt
Britt

31. ¡ Yochai
Benkler
(2006):
commons-­‐based
peer
production
§ Socio-­‐economic
system
of
production
§ Emerges
in
digitally
networked
environment
§ Collaboration
among
large
groups
of
individuals
§ Organized
independently
of
market
pricing
and
managerial
hierarchies
¡ Michel
Bauwens
(2012):
Peer
production:
”when
a
pool
of
voluntary
contributors
can
create
commons-­‐oriented
value,
under
conditions
of
participatory
governance,
i.e.
through
the
social,
and
not
market
or
hierarchical,
allocation
of
productive
resources”
¡ -­‐>
The
Wealth
of
Networks
(Benkler)
-­‐>
a
”P2P
Society”?

32. ¡ “Digital
revolution”
through
ICT
&
Internet
§ New
global
opportunities
for
free
self-­‐expression
§ Emergence
of
information-­‐based
economy
§ Inexpensive
and
effective
tools
for
data
processing
¡ -­‐>
Constitutes
a
new
mode
of
production
(“Networked
Information
Economy”)
¡ -­‐>
Poses
new
regulatory
challenges
&
struggles

33. ¡ 1.
Peer
production
as
complementary
to
the
market
dynamics
¡ 2.
Peer
production
as
a
pioneer
form
for
building
a
”peer
society”
¡ 3.
Peer
production
as
a
harmful
illusion
¡ 4.
Peer
production
as
a
double-­‐edged
phenomenon
¡ (Bauwens
2012:
”From
the
Theory
of
Peer
Production
to
the
Production
of
Peer
Production
Theory”)

34. ¡ P2P:
flexible
complementary
to
more
traditional
market
dynamics
(Benkler)
¡ Lowers
the
transaction
and
coordination
costs
of
production
¡ Embraces
classic
Liberal
concerns
and
values
(liberty,
equality,
diversity)
¡ Seeks
to
improve
and
balance
negative
aspects
of
capitalism

35. ¡ Free
software
as
a
forerunner
for
wider
social
transformation
§ E.g.
the
Oekonux
movement
(Stefan
Meretz,
Christian
Sie{es)
¡ Peer
production
as
an
autonomous
mode
of
value
creation
¡ Problems:
§ Commons-­‐based
reproduction
of
human
life
(“wetware”)?
§ New
ways
of
extracting
and
enclosing
value
from
the
common?

36. ¡ “Peer
production”
as
an
extension
of
capitalism
and
the
market
¡ New
way
of
distributing
products
and
workforce
-­‐>
increased
productivity
¡ Real
peer
production
would
require
commonly
owned
stocks
of
physical
“counter-­‐capital”
¡ E.g.
Dmitry
Kleiner:
venture
communism

37. ¡ Two
kinds
of
commons:
§ Capitalist
commons:
used
by
the
capital
for
its
self-­‐
reproduction
(against
the
interest
of
the
commoners)
§ Anti-­‐capitalist
commons
produce
“other
values”
that
escape
and
subvert
the
logic
of
the
capital
¡ -­‐>
a
sharp
antagonism
between
the
“liberal”
and
“anti-­‐capitalist”
commons
projects
¡ E.g.
George
Caffentzis,
Massimo
de
Angelis

39. Humilde
Fotero
del
Pánico
/
flickr
/
by-­‐nc

40. ¡ Bauwens,
Michel.
2012.
“From
the
Theory
of
Peer
Production
to
the
Production
of
Peer
Production
Theory”.
Journal
of
Peer
Production
(1).
http://peerproduction.net/issues/issue-­‐1/invited-­‐comments/from-­‐the-­‐theory-­‐of-­‐
peer-­‐production-­‐to-­‐the-­‐production-­‐of-­‐peer-­‐production-­‐theory/.
¡ Bauwens,
Michel.
2005.
“The
Political
Economy
of
Peer
Production”.
CTHEORY.
http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499
¡ Benkler,
Yochai.
2006.
The
Wealth
of
Networks:
How
Social
Production
Transforms
Markets
and
Freedom.
New
Haven
[Conn.]:
Yale
University
Press.
¡ Kelty,
Christopher
M.
2008.
Two
Bits:
The
Cultural
Significance
of
Free
Software.
Durham
[N.C.]:
Duke
University
Press.
http://twobits.net/pub/Kelty-­‐TwoBits.pdf
¡ Pasquinelli,
Matteo.
2008.
Animal
Spirits:
A
Bestiary
of
the
Commons.
Rotterdam:
NAi
Publishers
/
Institute
of
Network
Cultures.