Why This Blog is CC Licensed

by Devanshu Mehta

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You may not have noticed it (how dare you!), but this blog is licensed CC-Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This means:

You are free to:

  • Share– copy, distribute, transmit (send it to your enemies!)
  • Remix– adapt the articles (I’m waiting for the musical)

Under the following conditions:

  • Attribution– You must attribute it to me.
  • Noncommercial– You may not use it for commercial purposes.
  • ShareAlike– If you alter, transform or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same license.

So why did I choose this license?

  • To paraphrase Cory Doctorow, the only thing worse than an author who’s work is pirated is an author who’s work is not read. So share!
  • The Internet isn’t one-way. It is interactive. There is an archaic notion that my job is to write this blog and your job is to read. You and me are standing on the shoulders of giants. On the Internet, you stand on my shoulders, I’ll stand on yours and we’ll make one weird circus freak. So adapt and remix!
  • I have an ego, and I don’t like people taking credit for my work. So attribute (to me)!
  • Stand on my shoulders if you want, but don’t sell tickets to it (without my permission). So non-commercial! This is basically so that no one is making money off me without my knowledge. When asked, I’ve been known to give permission.
  • And clearly, I can’t let you share and remix my work, but then allow you to prevent further sharing and remixing. So share alike!

You’re free to use this license (or one of the many others Creative Commons has written) for any of your creative works. There’s even a comic (CC-licensed of course) to explain all the licenses.