Make Free

I AGREE

IN ORDER TO “PROTECT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY,” THESE BANDITS ARE PERFECTLY WILLING TO TAKE AWAY YOUR RIGHTS TO YOUR PHYSICAL, PERSONAL PROPERTY.

By Cory Doctorow

BY READING THIS SENTENCE, YOU indicate your agreement to the following terms and conditions:

1. You agree that you will buy two copies of every issue of MAKE until further notice.

2. You agree that you will not lend either of your MAKE magazines, or allow them to be lent by a third party.

3. You agree that you will not sell your MAKE magazines.

4. You agree that MAKE is provided to you under license, and that it remains the exclusive property of O’Reilly Media, Inc.

5. You agree that you will be subject to these terms and conditions and other terms and conditions that O’Reilly Media might, from time to time, publish.

6. You agree that you have made this agreement freely and of your own volition, that if any term of it is found to be unenforceable that the remainder will remain in force, that the jurisdiction for any litigation arising from this agreement is the State of California, and that you will pay any legal fees accruing to O’Reilly Media in the case of such litigation.

I Agree (Check this box to proceed.)

It’s amazing how little it takes to form an “agreement” these days. I once heard an MPAA executive explain that you could “agree” to waive your fair use rights to record a TV show by changing the channel. My ThinkPad arrived from Lenovo with an eight-page “acquisition agreement” that explained all the things I’d just “agreed” to by sending them thousands of dollars. Amazon Unbox makes you agree to install spyware on your computer in order to download their videos. From the dry-cleaner’s ticket to the hotel room to the small print on the back of your cellular bill, these gotcha-greements lurk everywhere, waiting to leap out and clobber you with abusive terms and services. Woe betide the fool who installs Vista (you “agree” not to solve your own problems without authorization) — and don’t let’s get started on all the things you “agree” to before you get on a plane.

Civilization begins with an agreement: the social contract. The idea that we can meet as relative equals and hammer out a compromise practically defines what it means to be human. Can you have a social contract if you reduce the idea of a contract to “By standing there, shaking your head, and screaming, ‘No no no no no no! I don’t agree,’ you agree to let me come over to your house, wear your underwear, make some long distance phone calls, and clean out your fridge. Run away screaming to indicate your assent”?

These “agreements” set out the terms under which you can use your own property. They waive fair use, prohibit lending, resale, or reverse engineering — sometimes even swear you to secrecy!

If you’re a maker, your vocation is voiding warranties and creating fire hazards. These “agreements” set out two classes of people: lordly manufacturers who own and control everything, and lowly tenant farmers who merely borrow their goods from the lord.

Being a maker is about owning and Owning — having access to the lowest-level guts of the machine, putting Tab A into any slot that takes your fancy. It’s the right to break your stuff and fix it again. It’s all about real, non-metaphorical property.

Start a count of the “agreements” in your life. How many times a day do you “agree,” and what is it you “agree” to? Start pushing back. Don’t take it lying down.

Be disagreeable.

Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction novelist, blogger, and technology activist. He is co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing (boingboing.net), and a contributor to Wired, Popular Science, and The New York Times.