[tiahura]

Information wants to be free. The ethos of the open web - the levy hacker ethos, has always been about unrestricted access and fair use. When content is published openly online, it inherently invites broad consumption, reproduction, and creative reuse by the public. This principle is deeply rooted in the fair use doctrine as applied to the digital realm.

Fair use is evaluated based on the purpose of use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount used, and the effect on the market. These factors generally favor the free use of openly published web content. The transformative nature of many reuses, the public availability of original works, the necessity of using entire works in some cases, and the absence of a traditional market for such content all support this interpretation.

This longstanding practice has driven unprecedented innovation and information dissemination, establishing a social contract between content creators and users that treats open web content as "freeware." Any move to impose strict copyright limitations now would stifle innovation and contradict decades of established legal precedent and digital norms.