information doesn't want to be free.

[waider]

A great rant by Josh Ellis. What's interesting is that both the rant and the trackbacks indicate that quite a lot of people associate Cory Doctorow with the phrase "information wants to be free", even though the man himself says he never said that. Much, I guess, like certain people never said a particular country was associated with certain events; you drop enough hints to people and they make their own associations.

Comments

[wisn.livejournal.com]

The quote is at least ten years old, which was probably some time before Doctorow had heard of the innernet.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.03/economy.ideas_pr.html
Scroll down to section II. Barlow attributes it to Stewart Brand. I had thought it was Kevin Kelly. Since Barlow is Close Personal Friends with both, I'd trust his attribution more than my guess, especially since Kelly could have fact-checked the piece before publication. My second guess was Richard Dawkins, whose writings were grist for lots of mills.

[waider.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wasn't saying Doctorow originated it. Just that he gives the impression that he adheres to the concept despite having never actually said the words. C'mon, give me a little credit, eh?

[wisn.livejournal.com]

No. And while we're on the subject, Ireland still owes the US for liberation from threat of Nazi invasion. We will be sending Halliburton and Bechtel subsidiaries into Ireland beginning Monday to expropriate ownership of any interesting or profitable businesses you may have there. When we complete the work we began in 1941 by turning Ireland into a glorious Capitalist paradise of private property ownership, you can thank us, assuming you can still afford the phone call.

[waider.livejournal.com]

We will be sending Halliburton and Bechtel subsidiaries into Ireland beginning Monday...

You mean they're not here already?