[WallStreetJournal] Lawrence Lessig: Online Artists Share Work–Tyrants Would Prefer They Share a Cell

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A Syrian tech wizard is jailed by the Assad regime. His sin? Spreading the word about utilizing the Internet. […]

Mr. Khartabil has also helped spread freely licensed software and culture throughout the region and in so doing encouraged Syrians to develop critical skills like remixing. The ability to take images and other material and mix them into social commentary—as the Jib Jab videos do in the U.S., for instance—is a free-speech right that Americans take for granted. But in a country like Syria, the ability to do something like juxtapose dubious claims by the country’s leadership with more truthful images from other sources makes remixing an important tool for political dissent. […]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324669104578204300433143478.html