Stephen Downes has a new post (URL unavailable at the time of writing) pointing to the book The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind. The book discusses the public domain in the broadest sense, including things beyond copyright law, such as the environment. The book is available at Google Books. From the description:
Boyle identifies as a major problem the widespread failure to understand the importance of the public domain—the realm of material that everyone is free to use and share without permission or fee. The public domain is as vital to innovation and culture as the realm of material protected by intellectual property rights, he asserts, and he calls for a movement akin to the environmental movement to preserve it. With a clear analysis of issues ranging from Jefferson’s philosophy of innovation to musical sampling, synthetic biology and Internet file sharing, this timely book brings a positive new perspective to important cultural and legal debates. If we continue to enclose the “commons of the mind,” Boyle argues, we will all be the poorer.
