The "alarming and impassioned"* book on how the Internet is redefining constitutional law, now reissued as the first popular book revised online by its readers (* New York Times ) There's a common belief that cyberspace cannot be regulated-that it is, in its very essence, immune from the government's (or anyone else's) control. Code , first published in 2000, argues that this belief is wrong. It is not in the nature of cyberspace to be unregulable; cyberspace has no "nature." It only has code-the software and hardware that make cyberspace what it is. That code can create a place of freedom-as the original architecture of the Net did-or a place of oppressive control. Under the influence of commerce, cyberpsace is becoming a highly regulable space, where behavior is much more tightly controlled than in real space. But that's not inevitable either. We can-we must-choose what kind of cyberspace we want and what freedoms we will guarantee. These choices are all about architecture: about what kind of code will govern cyberspace, and who will control it. In this realm, code is the most significant form of law, and it is up to lawyers, policymakers, and especially citizens to decide what values that code embodies. Since its original publication, this seminal book has earned the status of a minor classic. This second edition, or Version 2.0, has been prepared through the author's wiki, a web site that allows readers to edit the text, making this the first reader-edited revision of a popular book.

The reigning authority on intellectual property in the Internet age, Lawrence Lessig spotlights the newest and possibly the most harmful culture war-a war waged against those who create and consume art. America's copyright laws have ceased to perform their original, beneficial role: protecting artists' creations while allowing them to build on previous creative works. In fact, our system now criminalizes those very actions. Remix is an urgent, eloquent plea to end a war that harms every intrepid, creative user of new technologies. It also offers an inspiring vision of the postwar world where enormous opportunities await those who view art as a resource to be shared openly rather than a commodity to be hoarded.

The author of Free Culture shows how we harm our children—and almost anyone who creates, enjoys, or sells any art form—with a restrictive copyright system driven by corporate interests. Lessig reveals the solutions to this impasse offered by a collaborative yet profitable “hybrid economy” .
Lawrence Lessig, the reigning authority on intellectual property in the Internet age, spotlights the newest and possibly the most harmful culture war—a war waged against our kids and others who create and consume art. America’s copyright laws have ceased to perform their original, beneficial role: protecting artists’ creations while allowing them to build on previous creative works. In fact, our system now criminalizes those very actions.
For many, new technologies have made it irresistible to flout these unreasonable and ultimately untenable laws. Some of today’s most talented artists are felons, and so are our kids, who see no reason why they shouldn’t do what their computers and the Web let them do, from burning a copyrighted CD for a friend to “biting” riffs from films, videos, songs, etc and making new art from them.
Criminalizing our children and others is exactly what our society should not do, and Lessig shows how we can and must end this conflict—a war as ill conceived and unwinnable as the war on drugs. By embracing “read-write culture,” which allows its users to create art as readily as they consume it, we can ensure that creators get the support—artistic, commercial, and ethical—that they deserve and need. Indeed, we can already see glimmers of a new hybrid economy that combines the profit motives of traditional business with the “sharing economy” evident in such Web sites as Wikipedia and YouTube. The hybrid economy will become ever more prominent in every creative realm—from news to music—and Lessig shows how we can and should use it to benefit those who make and consume culture.
Remix is an urgent, eloquent plea to end a war that harms our children and other intrepid creative users of new technologies. It also offers an inspiring vision of the post-war world where enormous opportunities await those who view art as a resource to be shared openly rather than a commodity to be hoarded.

本書作者有「網際網路時代最重要的智慧財產權思想家」之稱（《紐約客雜誌》〔The New Yorker〕語），亦經常被視為文化環境主義者（cultural environmentalist）的領袖。此書中，他關注的焦點在於「科技與法律繞著『創意』所創造的環境」──不只是「市場權力集中化」，還有「因法律的實際影響範圍出現巨大變化而導致的權力集中化」。
我們的文化是從「自由文化」（free culture）的傳統中產生。藉由賦予智慧財產權，自由文化直接支持並保護創作者和創新者。但自由文化也間接限制了這些智慧財產權所轄範圍，從而盡量保證後繼的創作者和創新者能擁有自由、不受過去所控制。但法律正在改變，此變化正在改變我們的文化產生方式，眼看「許可文化」（Permission Culture）──亦即創作者只有在取得擁有權力者或過去的創作者的許可，才能進行創作──有取代「自由文化」的態勢。作者的目的，便是在呼籲眾人捍衛一個在「無政府」和「控制」之間取得平衡的自由文化。
書中作者旁徵博引諸多發明（柯達相機、新興媒體、校園網路，甚至電影、唱片工業等等）的簡史及發明問世時的法律環境，引導讀者審思「若當時的法律規定並非如此，該發明的命運會怎麼樣？現今的人們又會蒙受什麼樣的損失？」進而檢視「自由文化」傳統轉變為「許可文化」的軌跡。作者告訴大家，自由文化就像自由市場一樣，充滿了財產／財產權，而且不是（像許多反對人士以為的那樣）所有東西都免費──自由文化並不會令藝術家得不到報酬，它的「自由」毋寧是在確保後來的創意得以發揮、也在確保智慧財產能為更多人享有。

The intersection of ethics, law, business and computer software is the subject of these essays and speeches by MacArthur Foundation Grant winner, Richard M. Stallman. This collection includes historical writings such as The GNU Manifesto, which defined and launched the activist Free Software Movement, along with new writings on hot topics in copyright, patent law, and the controversial issue of "trusted computing." Stallman takes a critical look at common abuses of copyright law and patents when applied to computer software programs, and how these abuses damage our entire society and remove our existing freedoms. He also discusses the social aspects of software and how free software can create community and social justice.
Given the current turmoil in copyright and patent laws, including the DMCA and proposed CBDTPA, these essays are more relevant than ever. Stallman tackles head-on the essential issues driving the current changes in copyright law. He argues that for creativity to flourish, software must be free of inappropriate and overly-broad legal constraints. Over the past twenty years his arguments and actions have changed the course of software history; this new book is sure to impact the future of software and legal policies in the years to come.
Lawrence Lessig, the author of two well-known books on similar topics, writes the introduction. He is a noted legal expert on copyright law and a Stanford Law School professor.

什么可以打败强大的美国？
在哈佛大学法学教授劳伦斯·莱斯格眼中，答案是：美国自己。
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☆ 为什么美国至今没有真正的全民性医保？
☆ 为什么美国在全球减排问题上一直模棱两可？
☆ 为什么金融危机后华尔街依旧可以逍遥法外、继续牟利？
一切根源，在于 美国民主制度已经沦为了腐败的沃土。
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在今天，越来越多的美国人发现，他们引以为傲的民主制度已被金钱腐蚀：为了得到竞选资助，国会议员成为利益集团的傀儡；而通过提供大量政治献金，利益集团得以获得特权，甚至合法地剥削着纳税人。
通过详尽的数据、典型的案例和严谨的逻辑，劳伦斯·莱斯格直指美国选举制度为我们尖锐地指出一种合法公开的美式腐败：美元初选 、特权民主、赢者通吃、游说集团——在美国，人人生而平等，但有些人更平等。
同时，莱斯格也号召美国人民共同改变现状，提出了多种理性且大胆的可能性方案：修正宪法，两党和解，甚至公投选出一位完成政治改革后便辞职的总统。从中，我们可以看见美国当下的困境，乃至于未来可能发生的改变。
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莱斯格改变了事态，不是为了公司的利益，而是解放了数字时代普通人的创造潜力。——《卫报》
莱斯格是一位罕见的学者，既有明晰的叙事能力，又有一双讽刺历史的慧眼。——《华盛顿邮报》
火花四溅的论战，将复杂的法律和讲故事的技巧结合起来。——《华尔街日报》
有力的论证，重要的分析，也具有惊人的娱乐性。——《纽约时报》
作为一名研究者，劳伦斯·莱斯格用他的研究方法找到了一些奇闻异事，而这些奇闻异事非常适合他所要叙述的情况，他将这些奇闻异事的细节一一展开。精彩之处在于他能将这些故事有效地串联起来。因此，这本书非常有说服力，而且读起来也让人觉得愉快。——艾莱斯·侯德科,《大西洋月刊》
这本书提醒我们，腐败问题比立法策略不当，或不良品德所引发的后果更为严重。正如有识之士所思考的那样，我们如何从一连串的挫折中重新站起来？我们需要一个强而有力的计划使资本对政治的影响成为过去。这次，我们最好是认真的。——马修·伊格莱西亚斯,《美国瞭望》杂志

The Internet revolution has come. Some say it has gone. In The Future of Ideas , Lawrence Lessig explains how the revolution has produced a counterrevolution of potentially devastating power and effect. Creativity once flourished because the Net protected a commons on which widest range of innovators could experiment. But now, manipulating the law for their own purposes, corporations have established themselves as virtual gatekeepers of the Net while Congress, in the pockets of media magnates, has rewritten copyright and patent laws to stifle creativity and progress.
Lessig weaves the history of technology and its relevant laws to make a lucid and accessible case to protect the sanctity of intellectual freedom. He shows how the door to a future of ideas is being shut just as technology is creating extraordinary possibilities that have implications for all of us. Vital, eloquent, judicious and forthright, The Future of Ideas is a call to arms that we can ill afford to ignore.

'WHICH SIDE OF HISTORY' offers a collection of bold essays on how technology is affecting democracy, society, and our future.

Featuring prominent national voices such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Marc Benioff, Ellen Pao, Ken Auletta, Chelsea Clinton, Tim Wu, Khaled Hosseini, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Jaron Lanier, Willow Bay, Sal Khan, Sherry Turkle, Shoshana Zuboff, and many more.

The essays focus on the extraordinary impact of technology on our privacy, kids and families, race and gender roles, democracy, climate change, and mental health.

This groundbreaking audiobook challenges opinion leaders and the broader public to take action to improve technology's effects on our lives.

Featuring notable journalists, engineers, entrepreneurs, novelists, activists, filmmakers, business leaders, scholars, and researchers, including: Thomas Friedman, Kara Swisher, Aaron Sorkin, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Cameron Kasky, Tristan Harris, and many others.

With the rise of cyberbullying and hate speech online, issues around climate change and technology, and the "move fast and break things" mentality of tech culture, 'WHICH SIDE OF HISTORY?' will urge listeners to draw the line. This audiobook will help shape the conversations we have around technology in our society and our future for years to come.

A smart gift for anyone who approaches tech and the future with a healthy skepticism.

Edited by James Steyer, the CEO and founder of Common Sense Media.

Add it to the shelf with books like 'Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now' by Jaron Lanier, 'The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains' by Nicholas Carr, and 'The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power' by Shoshana Zuboff.

Hacking Politics is a firsthand account of how a ragtag band of activists and technologists overcame a $90 million lobbying machine to defeat the most serious threat to Internet freedom in memory. The book is a revealing look at how Washington works today – and how citizens successfully fought back.

Written by the core Internet figures – video gamers, Tea Partiers, tech titans, lefty activists and ordinary Americans among them – who defeated a pair of special interest bills called SOPA (“Stop Online Piracy Act”) and PIPA (“Protect IP Act”), Hacking Politics provides the first detailed account of the glorious, grand chaos that led to the demise of that legislation and helped foster an Internet-based network of amateur activists.

Included are more than thirty original contributions from across the political spectrum, featuring writing by Internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz; Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School; novelist Cory Doctorow; Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA.); Jamie Laurie (of the alt-rock/hip-hop group The Flobots); Ron Paul; Mike Masnick, CEO and founder of Techdirt; Kim Dotcom, internet entrepreneur; Tiffiniy Cheng, co-founder and co-director of Fight for the Future; Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit; Nicole Powers of Suicide Girls; Josh Levy, Internet Campaign Director at Free Press, and many more.

From two distinguished experts on election law, an alarming look at how the American presidency could be stolen—by entirely legal means
 
Even in the fast and loose world of the Trump White House, the idea that a couple thousand disorganized protestors storming the U.S. Capitol might actually prevent a presidential succession was farfetched. There are, however, perfectly legal ways of overturning election results that would allow a political party to install its own candidate in place of the true winner.
 
Lawrence Lessig and Matthew Seligman work through every option available for subverting a presumptively legitimate result—from vice-presidential intervention to election decertification and beyond. While many strategies would never pass constitutional muster, Lessig and Seligman explain the ways that some of them might. They expose correctable weaknesses in the system, including one that could be corrected only by the Supreme Court.
 
Any strategy aimed at hacking a presidential election is a threat to democracy. This book is a clarion call to shore up the insecure system for electing the president before American democracy is forever compromised.