John Perry Barlow

January 26, 2004

Barlow’s new blog is celebrated in song. In the gutter of his blog, in his “related stuff” playlist, you can hear Haley Suitt introducing this wonderful new addition to the blogosphere.

“John Perry Barlow is a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.” (this and more on his EFF home page)

I enjoyed listening to “Reimagining the Public Domain” from his “Appearances” playlist. He talks about ideas as a lifeform, the importance of language and metaphor, and his opposition to the use of the word “content.” Content requires a container. Thought has no container. Since I’ve personally been involved in the creation of various software containers, I’ve often felt uneasy with the prevailing terminology. Barlow describes the naming of content as “taking that which is immaterial, namely expression and thought, and turning it into a commercial product like a toaster.”

“Information and expression is a verb and not a noun.”

“The internet is not a medium it is an environment”

… the right to know is a corollary of freedom of speech …

“we need to preserve the right to be known, the ability of the idea to circulate.”

If you want to express yourself via MP3 in cyberspace, you can set up your own SoundBlox (free for non-commercial use).

---