Aspen Institute Reports
Since the mid-1980s, I have written reports that chronicle and interpret conferences convened by the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program. Reports include:

2007: "The Rise of Collective Intelligence: Decentralized Co-Creation of Value as a New Paradigm of Commerce and Culture"

2006: "Connect and Catalyze: Can India Leverage ICT for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth?" a report for the Aspen Institute India/ C&S Joint Conference on Communications Policy

2005: "When Push Comes to Pull: The New Economy and Culture of Networking Technology"

2004: Redrawing the Global Economic Landscape: The Role of Information Communications Technologies"

2003: People / Networks / Power : Communications Technology and the New International Politics, Aspen Institute Communications and Society report, 2004

2002: The Rise of Netpolitik: How the Internet is Changing International Politics and Diplomacy

2001: Uncharted Territory: New Frontiers of Digital Innovation

2000: Ecologies of Innovation: The Role of Information and Communications Technologies

1999: The Global Wave of Entrepreneurialism

1998: The Global Advance of Electronic Commerce: Reinventing Markets, Management and National Sovereignty

The Politics of Information and Creativity
As more of our economy and culture "goes digital," intellectual property law is increasingly determining who can use information and creative expression, and under what terms. The flow of information is being politically engineered, usually to serve market interests. Yet this fact is not widely appreciated, and the public still has little sustained representation on IP issues. Here are some of the critiques and initiatives that I have made in this area:

"Political Advocacy in the Networked Environment," essay, December 2006.

Public Knowledge. This is a policy advocacy organization that I co-founded with Gigi Sohn, President of Public Knowledge, and Laurie Racine to represent the public's interest in pending Internet and intellectual property policymaking.

Why the Public Domain Matters: The Endangered Wellspring of Creativity,
Commerce and Democracy
This report for the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge, released in May 2002, gives an overview of the many threats that copyright law, contract law, technological locks and public policy pose to a robust public domain.

Saving the Information Commons: A New Public Interest Agenda in Digital Media
This report -- produced for the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge and released in May 2002 -- describes the "information commons" as a new paradigm for organizing a public-interest agenda in digital media. Numerous creative initiatives and policy proposals are showcased.

Artists, Technology and Ownership of Content
The report summarizes and interprets a major conference at the Norman Lear Center, USC Annenberg School for Communication, on March 31, 2001, which brought together artists, copyright scholars, public policy leaders and industry representatives to explore how new technologies and copyright law are affecting creativity and the commercial control of creative products.

The Future of Creative Control in the Digital Age
My keynote speech for the Symposium on Artists, Technology and the Ownership of Creative Content, USC Annenberg School for Communication, Los Angeles, March 31, 2001.

Can the Information Commons Be Saved?
A strategy memorandum for the Ford Foundation that surveys the new political culture being imposed by new intellectual property law and technologies.

Reinventing Democratic Culture in an Age of Electronic Networks
This November 1994 strategic analysis for the MacArthur Foundation sketches some of the key issues that the public-interest community should grapple with. Dated, but still relevant.

Philanthropy in the Digital Age
"Asserting the Public Interest in Digital Media: The Challenge for Philanthropies," a speech given at New York University Law School's conference, "The Future of Free Information in the Digital Environment," April 1, 2000.

Postcards from the Digital Future: How New Technologies are Transforming the Fitness Landscape for Organizations -- and Why Creative Leadership Is Needed, American Theological Library Association, June 28, 1998.

The Importance of Free Software and Open Source Code Software

Why Open Source Software Is Fundamental to a Robust Democratic Culture. Remarks at Georgetown University Open Source Summit, October 18, 2002.

The Power of Openness. This March 1999 essay, written for the Harvard Law School's Berkman Center on Internet and Society, explains why free software/open source code software are important to an open society.

The Value of Transparent Technologies in Education, Markets and Democracy. A briefing seminar for U.S. Senators and staff, "Beyond Connectivity: Educational Applications of Open Source Technology", September 20, 2000.

The Public Interest Obligations of Digital Broadcasters
I was the official writer for the Gore Commission's report, Charting the Digital Broadcasting Future: Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters, December 1998. A task force politically rigged for failure, so this is not my most inspiring work . . . but it is a useful benchmark of sorts.