Clancy and Charlie began a discussion today about copyfighters who still use proprietary applications, particularly closed-source blogware. I'll agree that practicing what one preaches is definitely a good thing. I'll argue that one should definitely strive for integrity as much as possible. I'll even mention that I'm flattered that my blog hit their radar.
But here's the thing: I'm not a copyfighter. I am an intellectual property scholar, and there's a difference between those two things.
I am interested in the ways textual authorship functions in digital spaces, particuarly in spaces that might be considered a digital commons. My current project examines blogs (and to some extent wikis) as sites of the digital commons, and I do suggest that the text contained in those environments can be considered part of an intellectual commons. My blog has a Creative Commons license because I do indeed wish to practice what I preach regarding text.
However, I don't examine open-source philosophy or sites in my current work. I do not argue for the abolition of copyright, nor do I advocate copyleft or GPL, nor to I support rampant proliferation of Creative Commons licenses*. What I do is examine the theory and history of the intellectual commons and the author construct and then apply that research to digital environments. Here's an excerpt from the introduction to my thesis:
There is also a need for inquiry into the underlying principles of the intellectual and digital commons, particularly those principles that affect textual and rhetorical scholarship. My goal in writing this thesis is to work toward a theoretical underpinning for the digital commons, not to crusade for it. This project aspires to explore a small area of this large discussion: A contemplation of the origin and conditions of the digital commons. While I do suggest that current copyright law is not applicable to digital authorship, I do not argue for the abolition of copyright. Rather, I believe that copyright and the commons both have appropriate applications and can coexist in the world. As Lessig suggests, there are private drives and public parks, and both serve a place in society.
Studying something is not equivalent to campaigning for it. Scientists who study bacteria aren't pro-bacteria and anti-virus. They just study bacteria. I study intellectual property and copyright.
This discussion (and the labeling that goes with it) is very similar to the one I was involved in last summer about my study of Foucault, which led certain bloggers to label me a Postmodernist. (You can read my response to that here. If you want to know about the whole thing, search my blog for "Foucault" or "Postmodernism" and read the posts that are dated last summer.) My work does currently rely heavily on Foucault, Barthes, and Deleuze and Guattari. (Never mind that half those folks didn't consider themselves Pomo). As I said in that post, what we do here is a job. These are for me, at this moment, the best tools for the job at hand. I'm not rejecting other schools of thought, and I wouldn't hesitate to use a Modernist or Structuralist theorist if their work helped me ground mine. My use of Postmodern theory does not make me a Postmodernist. Similarly, my study of copyright alternatives does not make me a copyfighter.
And that brings me to a final thought: the tools for the job of blogging. I am a rhetorician, not a software engineer. I'm not interested in playing with different applications for the heck of it if the one I'm using does what I want it to do. For a long time, MT did everything I needed. Now, my needs have changed and it doesn't fulfill them- specifically, it doesn't handle comments and pre-set posting times sufficiently. I'm shopping for another blogware, but it's because I need the right tool for the job, not because I'm concerned with whether or not it's open-source or if Six Apart charges for their application. (Frankly, if MT did what I wanted it to do, I'd pay a reasonable fee for it.) I'm leaning toward Wordpress because my sysadmin is leaning toward Wordpress. (If Textpattern supported trackback, I'd actually be more inclined to use it instead.)
So there you go. I'm flattered to be considered a copyfighter, and that label would certainly put me in very good company with some smart folks. However, I'm a participant and watcher in the discussion, not an advocate. I walk my talk as well as I can, but right now, my talk only extends so far.
*Update: I should add that I'm not necessarily against GPL or copyleft. It's just that my current project doesn't entail a position on them.
