Loosely edited notes from SanFran MusicTech Summit 2008.

Claudio Prado is an inspiring public figure. He represents Brazil’s Department of Digital Culture. A good starting point for learning about Mr. Prado’s work is in this video interview.

Mr. Prado’s presentation at the SanFran MusicTech Summit was generally an introduction to his work and an invitation to collaborate. The ideas that follow are his…

Advances in networked digital technology and communications can only be understood from a cultural perspective. These changes are redefining who we are and what we do.

He’s in favor of reinventing the rights of authors. He makes the compelling (if somewhat confounding) argument that copyright is obsolete.

Brazil’s Department of Digital Culture has set up hotspots in communities with an open source and creative commons approach to content creation and licensing. They’ve brought tools and data access to communities where previously their is no concept of copyright. They’re putting tools in the hands of kids, and watch how they deal with downloading, uploading content. They treat it as a laboratory for better understanding ways that society can improve on our obsolete copyright system.

He’s using new communication technology, open source tools, and indigenous wisdom to get a glimpse of what might be a more sustainable future vis a vis intellectual property rights. As he says in his video, the pursuit of happiness is not a metaphor. They’ve created conditions where it can take place. They’re in a position to witness the process taking place and document what you might call “best practices”.

No one in Brazil really has control of content. The culture is trying to go from a place of no rights to what the new world can be. The market in Brazil represents the rights of companies at the expense of the rest of civil society.

Mr. Prado suggests we redefine piracy. He believes the concept of piracy should be used to describe the actions of people who are greedy and focused on making money. It’s important that we don’t allow the music industry to continue defining piracy as something oppressive to the culture of making music. He stresses that we must recognize the distinct values of the culture of making music, and remain aware of how they differ from the values of commercial music marketing. This idea was a common theme at SFMusicTech.

The Department of Digital Culture is also interested in the redistribution of wealth. Although these ideas are popularly marginalized in the US, they are part of the accepted political discourse in Brazil. It’s a widespread belief in Brazil that the present economic system doesn’t work – large organizations are empowered and they don’t know how to effectively manage their power for the good of society. One of Mr. Prado’s goals is to learn how to find new commercial applications and business models can emerge from the cultural pursuit of happiness.

Mr. Prado has been successful in building partnerships around the world. Locally they’ve been involved with people at Stanford. Many view their works as a potentially explosive spark of positive and exciting changes.

The role of government in the program is both enabling and intellectually problematic. They know the force of the project needs to catalyze a movement that can function apart from the government. At the same time, they’re in a position where the government can help protect peoples’ ability to network and function outside of a centralized model.

Mr. Prado reiterates that Brazil is an important social science laboratory for researching emergent forms of socio-cultural organization. They’ve experienced how obsolete and dated copyright laws play a major role in constraining growth and preserving the status quo.

Member of the audience asks if Brazil can play a leading role in developing a legal alternative to WIPO. Mr. Prado says they’re fighting for it. He believes they have the public interest at heart, that the digital domain needs to be democratized in a way that better balances the rights of an author with the rights of people to have access to information.

Mr. Prado acknowledges that plenty of people in Brazil thinks these guys (Prado, Gilberto Gil, and others) are crazy. They’re from the 60′s counterculture. The US government sees little cause for taking Brazil’s Ministry of Culture seriously. He describes it as “oh yeah, there are these musicians guys doing some pretty stuff, how nice…”.

In the face of dismissive bureaucrats, Mr. Prado has the confidence of being on the verge of a powerful grassroots led cultural and technological revolution.

See also:
* SanFran MusicTech Summit Intro
* Artists, Copyrights, Technology
* Streaming: The Future of Radio
* The Paradise of Infinite Storage
* Promoting Music in the New Environment