Lawrence Lessig: … just over a year ago I reported that I was shifting my academic (and activist) work from free culture related issues to (what I called) “corruption.” At Stanford, a year ago, I outlined what this work would be: To focus on the many institutions in public life that depend upon trust to succeed, but which are jeopardizing that trust through an improper dependence on money.

While this is certainly an admirable project—and I have some idea that Larry Lessig is a saint to the web—this statement is baffling to anyone who lives in the real world. Who has kept their eyes open for a decade or two, or three or four. It is possible to be totally hopeful and also know the structure of this society for what it is: totally corrupted, totally corruptible. Read the rest of this entry »