Free Culture comes to Malta

If you have internet access, you most probably have downloaded or streamed a    song or a movie online without paying for it, and then shared it with your friends.  You do this without thinking about it, without feeling remorse or guilt or even fear at  the reality that officially, you’re a criminal- a pirate.

Draconian copyright law which  calls for extreme enforcement would have us lock down creativity and look away  from the reality of digital culture of sharing. Yet the reality is that you don’t want to rob artists from their livelihood; you just want access to your art and entertainment and the freedom to use technology to participate in and appreciate the cultural commons of your society.

You might think that the reality of students being sued for millions in damages for having used the internet to access copyrighted digital files is something that’s far away from the local scene. Yet laws that restrict your access to cultural and media goods touch your life every day: the rumblings about the questionable legality of Dreambox use and the controversy surrounding the broadcasting rights of sports events are just the most high profile of such cases in a local context. Due to licensing agreements (justified by copyright discourse) Malta does not have access to alternative streaming music and film services based in other countries, and your only (legal) option to watch your favourite film or TV series is to wait months after the original airing in some cases. Faced with such restrictions, what some derogatorily call piracy is a natural and mainstream activity for many. Yet many continue to ignore the power of the web in unleashing and giving people access to what they want to read, see, and listen to.

Students for Free Culture is an international network of activists, students, and policy-makers based on University campuses all around the world. The local ‘chapter’ of the organisation, Free Culture Association – University of Malta, will be holding events and starting projects that will help raise awareness about these issues. As a group, the FCA promotes the public interest in intellectual property and telecommunications policy. We believe that through openness, collaborative creativity and the culture of sharing true innovation can be reached. The mission of the Free Culture movement is to build a bottom-up, participatory structure to society and culture, rather than a top-down, closed, proprietary structure.

You are invited to join the Free Culture movement! Learn more about us, our values and mission by joining our Facebook Group (just search for our name), our mailing list and read our newly launched blog at www.malta.freeculture.org

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