Park life: the commons and communications policy

This chapter looks at the re-emergence of an old property concept as a way of understanding the Internet’s design. Defined simply, the commons is a term to describe something that everyone owns and everyone can use. The commons has proved an important motif in theoretical and policy discussions concerned with the Internet’s architecture; in particular, how the idea of open access can encourage or restrict the development of new ideas and technologies. We map out the broader intellectual history of property and enclosure in order to see how the commons critique might apply to the Internet in Australia.