"...Recently a group of Spanish free-culture supporters demanded the withdrawal of the campaign and a public apology from the government. In protest, they arranged a demonstration on the doorstep of one of the leading political parties in Spain.

"Here’s my official symbol for the year 2009 [...] The font is professional but playful, inspired by the rise of free software that helps us at work and at play, to connect, to share our ideas, our feelings, and our own personal worlds. None of this could be possible without the massive contributions made to society by the free software movement..."

"I first read it onslashdot, but more mainstream media like cnn.com are now also reporting that Microsoft has applied for a patent on “Pay-As-You-Go” computing [...] I am reminded of Richard Stallman’s story, The Right to Read. When Stallman published that story in 1997, a lot of people laughed at it. Don’t laugh. It’s happening."

"...There is a battle underway between those who value freedom, and corporations such as Microsoft who wish to profit by taking that freedom away. DRM and absurd licenses are at the heart of that battle. Please join us on the side of freedom by saying NO not just to Windows Vista and other DRM-enabled products, but to proprietary software in general.

"...All Wikimedians should be conscious they are part of a broader movement, the Free Culture movement, itself a kissing cousin to the Free Software movement..."

It seems that anymore all we hear about Linux and FOSS is it's free of cost, and that desktop Linux is just as good as Windows because it's all pointy-clicky and you don't have to touch the nasty command line which is frightening and must be avoided, and "just like Mac and Windows" you don't have to learn a thing because it's all magic.

Recently in US History class we have been studying The Gilded Age. Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, and other businessmen ruled the US with such power that it made the government useless. When the government could do something about the problem with the cases that came through Supreme Court, it almost always sided with the corporations.

We balance freedoms (sacrifice one freedom for another) everyday. We sacrifice the freedom to do whatever we want to live in a society where laws keep us safe. And we'd rather be safe than do the things that are illegal (well most of us anyway). So we sacrifice a freedom we wouldn't exercise (to commit crimes) for ones we do want to exercise (to live without being the victim of crime).