Zachary McDowell - Turning us into pirates: Mashups, Digital Sharing, and Second Order Cybernetics
Channel: communicationplusone
Date: 06/06/2016

Presentation by Zach McDowell at the 2016 Cultural Studies Association conference on June 3rd at Villanova University.

Abstract:
In 2009, Lawrence Lessig suggested that we are "turning our children into pirates" through our inadequate understanding of creative process and the limitations of current copyright laws. Lessig was, of course, referring to the trend towards remixing as the form of creative expression in the age of the Internet, the rapid expansion so called "remix culture."  The "turning into" that Lessig expresses concern over, is comes from an intersection between legal forces and technical media. The turning that comes from law is both determinant in Hall's notion of determination, but also in a nomological sense. It names the pirate. This naming arises from the force of law, which creates its own force. Copyright law, as it is an instantiation of state power, is a hegemonic practice determines, it, forcing, pre-determining, shaping, "our children" (and thus us) into pirates as it is our only option, as the horizon of opportunities, the space for movement, has been determined, "without ever its object becoming exactly known", as piracy. The turning that comes from technical media a cybernetic one that is in conversation and discourse with the law. Different types of feedback loops that come from technical media change, evolve, and have different effects as they themselves evolve, building complex messages of access, agency, and participation. This paper explores the intersection of a boundary policing by copyright law and the influence of remix (particularly mashups) and digital sharing through a framework of second order cybernetics; a framework which understands not only the intersection of these interactive structures, but delves into the influence of digital architecture on culture as it continues to replicate its own systems into future cultural production. Through this struggle I argue that Lessig was right, that we are all “turning” into pirates, and the boundaries between what is legal and normalizing extralegal behavior are shifting.