by Lee Stranahan
The issues of intellectual property rights and how corporations use government power to make money that I hinted at in my Barbie / Bratz post have been on my mind a lot lately. If you're interested in some extra reading on those subjects, I'd like to recommend two books. The great news is that since they have both been released under Creative Commons licenses, you can download them both and read them in their entirety. Free. Right now.
Economist Dean Baker wrote a great little book called The Conservative Nanny State : How The Wealthy use The Government To Get Rich and Stay Richer that knocks the myth of conservatives wanting a free market on it's plastic, featureless ass. Incidentally, I'm in the early stages of working on a series of short films based on this book...which is why these issues are on my mind lately.
Another really thought provoking read is Cory Doctorow's collection of essays called Content. He talks about issues like copyright and free culture that are relevant to anyone who either makes or enjoys art in the digital age. That's you, by the way.