Fair use

What is fair?

What is use?

pub wan is use. The implementation of pubwan requires the use of volunteer labor. Since labor involves people, pubwan involves the use of people. Is this use fair? This is an important question that cannot be ignored. It should be pointed out that the people being used don't get paid. It must also be pointed out that they are not slaves; they are volunteers.

In addition to people, the implementation of pubwan requires the use of things, data and ideas. Is this use fair? In reference to the use of things, data and ideas, the term "fair use" has been quite the buzzphrase lately. The people promoting the use of this buzzphrase are often advocates of the idea that use of things, data and ideas is by nature fair, and ought to be considered fair unless proven otherwise. Pubwan activity takes place under a code of ethics that requires lawfulness. This means that the pubwan movement must never be involved in intellectual property infringement. Depending on how the statutes and precedents stack up for a particular place and time, the range of activities that are lawful for pubwan volunteers to be involved in might include anything, nothing, or anything in between. Hopefully, the doctrine of fair use will prosper and so will the pubwan movement.

Pubwan was envisioned (essentially) in reaction to the seeming proliferation of the humyn use of humyn beings (a beautiful catch phrase due to Norbert Wiener). This use of humyns includes the use of the individual and collective ignorance of consumers to extract an economic abstraction called "producer surplus." Is this use fair? It is not the place of (neutral) pubwan to decide. Pubwan activity can and perhaps should serve certain other purposes. One such purpose is that of empirically testing the hypothesis that such use of humyns might be taking place. There are many other uses for pubwan which may be consistent with pubwan principles. Many are discussed at length elsewhere in the pubwan literature.