[CREATE] Milkymist One Available + Qi Hardware Copyright and Patent Activism

[jon at rejon.org]

Hi all, check out what I've been working on for a while to release
copyleft hardware. Last week we released a batch of 80 of our
Milkymist One Video Synthesizers:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/28/milkymist/

I believe that open hardware is just too weak to really make a dent in
the hardware titans bolstering their weapons of control, aka Apple,
Amazon, Google, etc. Whereas free software is so much about the mind
of a computer and fixing the problem of not having control over the
mind of our hardware, I believe now that it is imperative to also take
control of the body of our hardware if we are to be able to have true
freedom over the expression of our ideas. This is for true libre
graphics control.

You can check out the Milkymist One which is being marketed as a Video
Synthesizer, but is really the first open source microprocessor that
is ready to go for hacking as well! All the plans are available under
a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license (you can see it
printed onto the motherboard pcb :), and all the software we can
access is available under GNU GPL or interoperable license. We also
are supporting patent-free technology: http://qi-hardware.com

The goal for the project is to make 100% copyleft hardware. That
doesn't mean we are in compliance or its completely possible to get to
this goal, but we will try.

On the business side, if you want to support this effort, then please
buy a milkymist one now http://sharism.cc/milkymist and/or help by
adding features: http://milkymist.org

On the list side, I wanted to get feedback on this project. What do
you think about the project from a copyright standpoint and from a
patents perspective? Also, what types of Libre Graphics Futures can we
make happen with new hardware? Can we do innovation beyond the
projects we current sustain? I found in that past that my mind stopped
thinking about copyright at the end of a dj spooky *remix* track for
example, but am reanimated about copyright and patent justice with
this jump into hardware. Also, I've been dismayed at the lack of new
software like I see on my phone or tablet sitting next to me. How can
we get more cool graphics apps onto new hardware? I hope to get more
of you all involved in this project in the future. For now, please
check out:

http://sharism.cc/milkymist
http://milkymist.org

Jon

-- 
Jon Phillips
http://rejon.org/ | http://fabricatorz.com/
chat/skype: kidproto | irc: rejon
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