1. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes First African Digital Curation Conference 12-13 February 2008 by Paul F. Uhlir Director, Office of International Scientific and Technical Information Programs, and U.S CODATA The National Academies Washington, DC USA puhlir@nas.edu

2. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Information Gulags—the international non- network of dark repositories at both the individual and institutional levels, inaccessible to [most] outsiders

3. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Principle #1: The value of data increases with their use

4. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Comparison of some key characteristics of the print and digitally networked paradigms PRINT GLOBAL DIGITAL NETWORKS (pre) Industrial Age post-industrial Information Age fixed, static transformative, interactive rigid flexible, extensible physical “virtual” local global linear non-linear, asynchronous, with time/space collapsed limited content and types unlimited contents and multimedia distribution difficult, slow easy and immediate dissemination copying cumbersome, not perfect copying simple and identical significant marginal distribution cost zero marginal distribution cost single user (or small group) multiple, concurrent users/producers centralized production distributed production slow knowledge diffusion accelerated knowledge diffusion

5. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes “Life plus 70 years”

6. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Intellectual Straightjackets Intellectual property laws have become longer, broader, stronger  Copyright revisions, including digital copyright  Restrictive licenses plus technological protection  Statutory database protection Other restrictive laws, especially those based on national security

7. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Principle #2: Public information wants to be free

8. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Characteristics of a “public good”: It is non-depletable—it cannot be diminished by use It is non-excludable—the benefits cannot be captured exclusively and kept from others Information is always non-depletable and to various extents non-excludable. Public information has strong public good and public interest characteristics that make free and open access online with no reuse restrictions the most beneficial distribution option in most cases.

9. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Broad implications of excessive restrictions on access to and reuse of government and government-funded research data: 1) Higher research costs. 2) Significant lost opportunity costs. 3) Barriers to innovation. 4) Less effective cooperation, education, and training. 5) Developing countries especially disadvantaged.

10. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Can avoid hyper-protection of data and information, especially in the public sector, by: Balancing IP laws between the rights holder interests and the public interest, consistent with the country’s level of development Carve out broad public-interest exceptions for the public sector Use common-use licenses, with “some rights reserved” for government and academic information online (www.creativecommons.org)www.creativecommons.org

11. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Memory holes—(1) the intentional alteration, suppression, or destruction of significant factual information, or (2) the inadvertent loss of such information through improper management or neglect.

12. Information Gulags, Intellectual Straightjackets & Memory Holes Principle #3: Digital preservation does not happen by accident