Content

Finished June 30
Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future by Cory Doctorow

This collection ranges from around 2004 to 2007 in terms of original publication. Because there is a fair bit of overlap in the subjects of some of the essays, I would have liked it more if they had been organized in chronological order. It would have been easier to see the evolution of his ideas and opinions over time that way. I was also a bit surprised at the date of the original material given that this was published recently. While all these issues are still relevant, there have been changes to the technology, environment, and public sentiment since these were written.
That said, I did find the content interesting. DRM (digital rights management) is still an issue, particularly for libraries. The standards and models for ebooks are still evolving, copyright is still important and still not balanced as well as it could be between creators and users, and privacy is a bigger issue than ever before.
Cory, with his life including both technology activist and fiction author, has a different outlook than many creators of content, more open to reuse, less concerned with protecting his own territory. He uses facts to show his point of view, arguing on the side of increased ability to use what others have created to create new material.
Something I'd recommend to other librarians as food for thought.