Contesting Control of Knowledge through Copyright and Technology

Synopsis: This article deals with challenges to intellectual property rights in the wake of the Internet from a historical and theoretical perspective. It focuses on the emergence of Free/Libre/Open-Source-Software (FLOSS) as an alternative to proprietary software. It describes the use of copyright by FLOSS and counter strategies of proprietary software producers, amongst others their use of software patents. The article closes by emphasizing the political dimension of the subject, briefly contextualizing Brazil's informatics law in the 1980s and the country's recent large-scale use of FLOSS.

Reference: Kars Aznavour, "Contesting Control of Knowledge through Copyright and Technology" in: Revista da Faculdade Mineira de Direito, V.10, N.20, 2007, p.23-36