Steven Johnson coined the term “mob spots” to describe a group creating political spots using simple desktop tools. Jason Kottke suggests campaigns create spaces filled with seed material specifically so people can voluntarily create material for the campaign. We have dipped our toe into the community creativity pool with our Moving Image Contest and most…

“Silenced: Censorship and Control of the Internet” is a new paper covering findings from a 12-month study of Internet censorship around the world. The study, published jointly by Privacy International and GreenNet Educational Trust, found that in the wake of September 11, 2001, over 50 countries stepped up efforts to control the Internet within their…

Developers interested in Creative Commons may like a new O’Reilly book authored by Shelly Powers called Practical RDF. A couple chapters discuss real-world applications using RDF and Creative Commons is covered in one section. It summarizes our metadata model and builds upon other concepts in the book. A comprehensive review of the book was posted…

Magnatune is an amazing new record label that is completely rethinking old music industry business models. They offer music from a wide range of genres that you can download, stream, and listen to. And, like computer shareware, you buy stuff you like only after trying it out first. The label splits profits with artists 50-50…

This week we’re highlighting Derek Powazek‘s online storytelling work at The Fray, specifically The Fray Audio Archive. The Fray is a site where people tell stories and others comment on those stories, and once a year there are worldwide gatherings to do open-mic storytelling live, dubbed Fray Day. The Fray Audio Archive contains recordings from…

If you send us a remix of Superego Exchange by September 23rd, we will send you a free Creative Commons T-shirt — a $20 dollar value. The best entry will go on the Creative Commons promotional CD. Send us your remixes in now!

“Whatever Will Be Will Be Free on the Internet,” by Steve Lohr.

We’ve just learned that the Institute for Social Inventions (UK) has named our licensing project the Best Social Innovation in 2003 in the Communications Category. The Institute is an educational charity founded in 1985. Its patrons include Brian Eno, Anita Roddick, and Fay Weldon. We’ll pass on details as we learn more.

A piece on digital music from the Sunday New York Times mentions Creative Commons and quotes our chairman.

September 11, 2001 was a day of shock, horror, sadness, and confusion for many of us. In the midst of all that, a few tried their best to gather as much information as they could about it, to help make sense of things. Kottke.org’s September 11 post was a hub for breaking news, photos, and…