Thanks For Putting Air in the Airbags!

Mark Pilgrim:

Also, Eben Moglen punctured the Web 2.0 hype bubble and said what I’ve been trying to say for years now. Praising companies for providing APIs to get your own data out is like praising auto companies for not filling your airbags with gravel. I’m not saying data export isn’t important, it’s just aiming kinda low. You mean when I give you data, you’ll… give it back to me? People who think this is the pinnacle of freedom aren’t really worth listening to. Please, we need a Free Data movement. (Yeah I know, Tim predicted it already. I was the one who told him, at FOO Camp the month before.)

Anyway, the Next Big Battleground™ isn’t on the web, it’s in your pocket — cell phones, routers, set-top boxes, spimes. Spimes already trigger the GPLv2 “distribution” clause, and soon they’ll trigger the GPLv3 Tivoization clause too. Eben’s got that whole “internet of things” thing covered, and everyone will get to reap the benefits. Even Tim.