Richard Crawford, in his weblog, The Literate Penguin, questions the meaning of the cliche “Information wants to be free.” I wrote a comment there, but found the question interesting enough to put it here too (so that I can find it again easily).

My comment was that information is social. All knowledge (which really isn’t the same thing as information — I may have mixed them up a little in my response to him, but I think this is what the cliche is actually talking about) is built on other knowledge. In return, good information becomes a source for new information. For example, so-and-so cites somebody and then somebody-else cites so-and-so. Suggesting that information wants to be free is a personification; if we are going to personify information, wouldn’t it also be fair to say it wants to stay around for as long as possible? It is in information’s best interest to mingle as much as possible because this is how it ensures its own survival. Information that doesn’t exist in a social context, dies (is forgotten).

There are those who use information to make a profit (authors, publishers, etc.) and those who want to share it (librarians, authors, etc.). Those who use information to make a profit have indentured it for a certain amount of time until it, by law, passes into the public domain. Many times, they fight to maintain their ownership of it for as long as possible (cf. Disney and Mickey Mouse). Other times, they release it within a reasonable amount of time. There are even those who maintain ownership, but encourage it to be free at the same time (for example, some authors write and publish a book, but then offer for download for free over the Internet). Indenturing information is a balancing act that attempts to let information mingle, but still keep a tight rein on it so that profits can be made.

An interesting development in the publishing world related to all this is the Open Access movement. These people want to make quality (peer reviewed) information available free of charge and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Wow, someone standing up for information! Maybe it will get what it wants after all. For more on the cliche see this website