Our challenge is staying focused because the Internet presents infinite possibilities, and we get flooded with great ideas for projects. We have had to trim our sails and say, What we re about is the project of building an open foundation on which new institutions of cyberspace will be constructed. Put as simply as possible, code is the system of characters and functions programmed into the software that runs on the hardware, which together constitute the architecture that shapes and defines cyberspace. Closed, or proprietary, code is published without its source code. To illustrate the value of open code, Lessig offers the analogy of scientific research.
Scientists publish their findings and conclusions.
Anyone can look at these findings, the logic, the conclusions, and apply them to their own use. The center promotes open code through its own software platform and programming, and in May held a conference on open platforms for teaching and discussion, attended by academics, software mavens, industry leaders, and foundation leaders. It s an error to think that whenever we turn on our computers, the code will simply be there, and that it s all fungible.