Capitalism, Copyright and the Commons

Free Culture is a new flash-based "game" produced by subversive Italian group Molleindustria that playfully simulates the interplay of free ideas in the Commons and the destructive effect that intellectual property enforcement has on the free flow and sharing of ideas in the Commons. As an artist's statement, it's provocative. As a dynamic simulation, awesome. As an interactive expression of the relationship between Capitalism and the Commons - I've never seen anything like this and fully respect its impulse if not its conclusion. Much better described by Cory Doctorow at boingboing:

The argument seems to be this: When ideas are shared, everyone gets richer, because the total number of ideas tends to increase in a recombinant explosion of creativity. Copyright is kind of fallacious, because all patterns of information are by default in the commons of vast, unexplored or previously explored possibility space. Ideas only become intellectual property when someone takes them out of the commons and stamps a (C) on it. The game is basically inviting you to say: "Fuck that!"