Wharton-SMU Research Center

In-House Seminar

Guest Speaker:

Dan Hunter
Robert F Irwin IV Term Assistant Professor of Legal Studies, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Date & Venue:
Date: 2 August 2005, Tuesday
Time: 4.00pm-5.45pm
Venue: Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Level 2, Seminar Room NSR2.3
Singapore Management University
50 Stamford Road, Singapore 178899
(Location Map) Please note our new campus address.

Topic:
Culture War

About the Seminar:
Over the last ten years, much of copyright and patent has come under attack from those who suggest that capture by private interests has had a pernicious influence on public policy in this field. In the related areas of telecommunication spectrum management and internet regulation there have emerged strong arguments for not allocating private property interests, and instead considering these domains as commons property. I suggest that, together, these developments form part of a culture war, a war over the means of production of creative content in our society. I argue that the best way to understand this war is to view it as a Marxist struggle. However, I suggest that copyright and patent reform—where commentators have actually been accused of Marxism—is not where the Marxist revolution is taking place. Instead I locate that revolution elsewhere, most notably in the rise of open source production and dissemination of cultural content.

Registration:
This seminar is free. Please register early. (Admission on a first-come-first-served basis.)
For registration, please click here

Enquiries:
Ms. Lim Lih Yeng
Email: lylim@smu.edu.sg, Tel: 6822-0197
Ms. Priscilla Cheng
Email: priscillacheng@smu.edu.sg, Tel: 6822-0383