Introducing Ben, the licensing team's fall intern

Hi, I'm Ben. I just graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a BA in Political Science, and a minor in Justice Studies. My primary interest is the intersection of law and technology. This has lead me to explore issues of copyright, patents, and trademarks, and how they are applied online. I have also studied how online communication platforms have been used to foster political movements around the world.

I believe that copyright must be reevaluated in an increasingly interconnected era. It no longer makes sense to hold a highly collaborative, interactive, and derivative culture to the standards of a centralized, exclusive, one-way culture. New technology has enabled every person to be an author, yet the law still treats us as simple consumers. Copyleft licenses advanced by the Free Software Foundation and Creative Commons acknowledge the role that every individual is not simply a consumer, but a contributor and an author that should be empowered to advance the useful arts, technology, and all of society.

The Internet has become an essential component of nearly all commercial, private, and political relationships. It offers a common means of communicating all kinds of information. Free software is necessary to enable free and secure communications. Users cannot and should not trust proprietary software to uphold their rights. Support of free software promotes all other freedoms, online and offline.

If you have any questions, you can reach me via our licensing address at licensing@fsf.org.

More information about the FSF's internship program is available at https://www.fsf.org/volunteer/internships.