Believing we know what makes prosperity work, ignoring the nature of the actual prosperity all around, we change the rules within which the Internet revolution lives. These changes will end the revolution.
Interpretation
The quote warns against altering the foundational rules of the Internet, as it could lead to the downfall of the digital revolution.
Lawrence Lessig's quote highlights the danger of assuming we fully understand the dynamics that drive prosperity in the digital age, particularly within the context of the Internet. When we attempt to change the established rules without appreciating the existing prosperity and innovation that the Internet has fostered, we risk undermining the very revolution that has transformed society. This cautionary statement serves as a reminder that the complexities of the Internet and its impact require respect and careful consideration rather than reckless modification.
In practice
In a tech conference discussing the future of online commerce, this quote could be used to emphasize the importance of maintaining a stable regulatory environment.
And with a practice of writing comes a certain important integrity. A culture filled with bloggers thinks differently about politics or public affairs, if only because more have been forced through the discipline of showing in writing why A leads to B.
In these times, the hardest task for social or political activists is to find a way to get people to wonder again about what we all believe is true. The challenge is to sow doubt.
Overregulation stifles creativity. It smothers innovation. It gives dinosaurs a veto over the future. It wastes the extraordinary opportunity for a democratic creativity that digital technology enables.
So uncritically do we accept the idea of property in culture that we don't even question when the control of that property removes our ability, as a people, to develop our culture democratically.
The war against illegal file-sharing is like the church's age-old war against masturbation. It's a war you just can't win.
Of all the creative work produced by humans anywhere, a tiny fraction has continuing commercial value. For that tiny fraction, the copyright is a crucially important legal device.
The Internet offers opportunities that are more unique than ever before. With TV, I know I'm making 22 minutes; I know there's a commercial in the middle. With the Internet, no one knows anything. No rules.
Previously, we might use machine learning in a few sub-components of a system. Now we actually use machine learning to replace entire sets of systems, rather than trying to make a better machine learning model for each of the pieces.
Ultimately, users visit your website for its content. Everything else is just the backdrop.
One thing about open source is that even the failures contribute to the next thing that comes up. Unlike a company that could spend a million dollars in two years and fail and there's nothing really to show for it, if you spend a million dollars on open source, you probably have something amazing that other people can build on.
There is a difference between what technology enables and what historical business practices enable.
Technology and the Internet are not just changing politics here in the U.S. It's also happening abroad. In the Philippines, where I grew up, grassroots organizers used text messaging to help overthrow a president.
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