If you read this book, you will learn that we truly stand at a turning point. You will learn that ideas of ownership, copyright, patent, and intellectual property in developed nations do not sit easily with ideas of ownership in other nations. You will be told of how the colonizing British declared Australia legally empty, without owners, and how the purpose of some Aboriginal music is sacred “rather than to go platinum.” You will learn how academic peer production of open science evolved into being, replacing the ethos of secrecy in the pursuit of “nature’s secrets.” But you will also learn that open science is under threat as universities come under increasing pressure to commercialize their research activity. You will learn that developed nations have been bullying others to adopt their ideas of ownership, copyright, patent, and intellectual property to suit the needs of their business enterprises. But you will also learn of hypocrisy, when a bioprospecting company chose not to renew a license that protected indigenous intellectual property. You will learn of a startling paradox: the US is trying to tighten its control on copying and distribution in ways similar to those employed to control information in the former Soviet Union. If you read this book, you can imagine a 1984 future where the commons (public domain) has been closed off, and where every button-click you make is monitored and a charge automatically paid to the owner of the material you have consumed, whether the material is a song, a poem, a movie, a book, an article, or even a review such as this. You can imagine a future where even creativity itself is stifled because few of us will be able to afford the lawyer needed to understand licensing agreements, let alone the cost of paying for the licenses.

But, if you read this book, you will be reminded of the phenomenal success of free software, such as Linux, that we can work on simply for pleasure or recognition by others as we have been doing throughout history. We can create works for the public good in ways that free market doctrine cannot assimilate. If you read this book, you suddenly realize that computer networks can facilitate new ways of creating works, managing intellectual property, and rewarding creativity that can subvert the need for complex organizational, legal, and technical frameworks. The new digital economy can promote rather than stifle creativity, reclaim rather than close off the commons, and reawaken cooperative strategies that the book reveals may be part of our genetic makeup.

CODE is a book with contributions from diverse fields: anthropology, computing, economics, and law. Reading outside your own specialization is rarely easy. Computing specialists are advised to read chapters 12 through 16 first. Who should read this book? I can strongly recommend it, especially chapters 12 through 16, to any concerned citizen. My only criticism: the book lacks a substantial index.