“There is a legend that in the 1940s a computer error was produced, blamed on an insect that had made its home inside the machine. From this is derived the term “bug”. Our goal is to continue creating these bugs inside the system, to produce errors in order to open the system up to everybody.”
With this tongue-in-cheek statement Sebastian asserts that from this urban legend, and a modern commitment to freedom of information and open-access software, ‘Fabrica de Fallas’ was born; dubbing itself in the most accurate translation a ‘Bug Factory’!
The weekend of November 21-22nd will see the second annual festival of the aforementioned Fabrica. Hosted and organised by independent radio station La Tribu, the festival promises to include a wide variety of talks, exhibitions and events promoting the growth of free software and what the organisers have dubbed “copyleft”.
The concept of copyleft, created by Richard Stallman and Eblen Moglan, is a legal tool that turns traditional copyright law on its head. It is a form of licensing that gives the user express permission to download, copy and distribute the work of an artist or developer with their consent. Fabrica de Fallas utilises the precedent of copyleft to promote the use of open-access software and programmes. The festival also promotes the general use of cultura libre across different media, such as the internet, photography, books and radio.
The first festival of Fabrica de Fallas, hosted at the same time last year, generated a fantastic response, with between 600 and 800 people attending over the weekend. Some of the highlights included an interview with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, who could be considered one of the key protagonists in the legitimisation and growth of free software and the sharing of information. The event also offered free transmission of radio and film, even the chance for visitors to bring along computers and DVDs and have free software and media burned directly on to them.
Sebastian Vazquez, 27, is one of the organisers of Fabrica de Fallas. He has worked for La Tribu for five years, and currently co-ordinates the events and activities carried out by the station linked to the concept of cultura libre.
Shortly before the start of the second festival I had the opportunity to talk to him, and as well as clearing up any confusion over the name selection he provided an insight into why such an event is being staged, and its importance in today’s culture. “Basically what we organise is a festival of free software, bringing the concept to a wider audience. It demonstrates the ways in which the authorities control our media bodies, and the possibilities of going against this to be autonomous from the authorities and media corporations. Basically this is the concept of ‘cultura libre’.”
As well as La Tribu, Fabrica de Fallas incorporates myriad organisations and collective media outlets from around Buenos Aires in its staging. The festival is very much a collaborative effort; Sebastian tells me that as many as 40 different software, media and cultural groups are involved in the project, including worldwide names such as Mozilla and Wikimedia.
Last year’s festival also attracted participation from those outside the collective media movement – among the guest speakers were lecturers from the University of Buenos Aires and a speaker from independent daily newspaper Página 12, demonstrating the wider penetration of the open-access technology movement into intellectual circles.
The festival is intended as a showcase for the cultura libre movement, demonstrating that it is not necessary to have the backing of big business or the state to transmit ideas, art or technology. In many ways it appears that old issues of copyright and intellectual property are outdated, and that the internet will be used more and more as a medium for artists/ developers and the audience to reach each other directly, without the need for a profit-making middle man.
This was demonstrated when the last Radiohead album was released; fans were encouraged to download it directly off the band’s website, paying only what they deemed an acceptable amount for this privilege. Equally more and more bands are now releasing new tracks directly onto Mp3 for no charge, seeing it as the best way to expose their music to a wider fan base.
Of course such a movement is bound to be challenged by the powerful interests it aims to circumvent; just recently the British government proposed draconian new measures for dealing with illegal file-sharers, directly targeting those who share music and therefore deprive record companies of royalties. This provoked a mild scandal when it emerged Peter Mandelson, the minister spearheading the initiative, had holidayed recently with record mogul David Geffen, one of the most vocal critics of online music ‘piracy’.
In the eyes of Sebastian however Fabrica de Fallas, and the cultura libre it so extensively showcases, has a very promising future indeed, despite the best efforts of those who oppose it. “The free software movement is growing across the world. In just the year between the first Fabrica de Fallas and now, there has been a massive growth. In the number of people that are involved with cultura libre, in those that are working to widen it and to fight against restrictions on the movement and copyrights, across the movement there is a growth.”
The Second Festival of Fabrica de Fallas will be held at La Tribu radio station on the 21st and 22nd November. Entrance is free, and if visitors bring computers they will have access to a wide variety of open-access material. La Tribu can be found at Lambaré 873, Almagro.