Special Projects
The Information Commons
Nancy Kranich
Senior Research Fellow
Free Expression Policy Project

BACKGROUND

The emergence of the information age in the last half of the 20th century brought the promise of abundant, open access to an infinite array of information that would enrich the way we live, learn, work and govern. Observers of this explosion of technology imagined an information world that would migrate from a state of scarcity to a state of abundance, transcending geographic, legal, and political boundaries. This dream envisioned a utopia where people could connect with myriad ideas and individuals just by clicking a mouse, no longer constrained by location, format, cost, time of day, on-site rules and regulations, or other barriers. In essence, anyone, anytime, anyplace could receive, interpret and exchange ideas outside the limit of government controls or the marketplace. Many enthusiasts assumed that this new information infrastructure would reserve public spaces for educational and research institutions, libraries, nonprofits, and government agencies charged with promoting and fulfilling the public interest, and would constitute a public sphere of free speech and open intellectual discourse that enhances democracy.

However, over the past 20 years or so, a national policy of deregulation prompted the industries that create, transport, and disseminate information to transform from independent operators mostly involved with infrastructure into highly integrated, multinational conglomerates eager to increase market share and dominate access to both the home and business. The convergence of new technologies empowered these industries to expand their reach while controlling the terms and conditions of the electronic marketplace. This evolution has resulted in what many describe as a "walled garden" or "enclosure" that creates a highly inequitable information marketplace.

Today, many Americans have no access or ability to use the new technologies. Others cannot afford the high prices and limited usage rules created by the industries that control the copyrights on books, articles, and other forms of information and ideas. Meanwhile, with Congress continually extending the duration of copyright, the chance of these works ever entering the public domain keeps diminishing. And for those items that are freely available for public use, no plan for permanent public access has yet been devised.

Indeed, technological protection measures now restrict what Americans can read or view in libraries, in schools, and at home. Encryption and other technologies prevent individuals from lending and sharing creative works, as they have a right to do under the "first sale" doctrine of copyright law. They also drastically restrict our right to make "fair use" of copyrighted works through parody, scholarship, news reports, and criticism. Internet filters and other restrictions further stifle access to information online. Finally, commercial and governmental entities mine data and profile our reading and viewing preferences, activities that intrude on both our privacy and free expression rights.

Given the array of new restrictions limiting public access and free expression, the promise of a free and open 21st century information society is simply that. The technology that enables unfettered access is just as capable of restricting personal information choices and the free flow of ideas. The dream of a high-tech society is now threatened by the perils of a highly controlled society. To protect our most precious right in a democratic society - the right of free speech and inquiry - we must develop a more balanced public policy. The information commons is a crucial part of this quest to preserve free expression in the digital age.

NEXT: CHALLENGES TO INFORMATION ACCESS IN THE DIGITAL AGE