I see open music gaining public acceptance much as I see the way that cell phones gained public acceptance. The technology was in place for affordable, consumer-friendly cell phones long before the consumer acceptance arose. Then, as if a windstorm hit, suddenly everyone had a cell phone. Although cellular telephony had the advantage of massive capital in-flow into its development, it had and has numerous format, band, and technology disadvantages that, in theory, could have rendered the technology unpopular.

In the case of open source music, the challenge is less a challenge of which license is the most “free” (though that issue, which you covered well in your slide show, is very interesting) than an issue of how to let people know that technology has liberated music culture from corporate hegemony. Unlike with Linux, this is a battle that will be won by lay-people
rather than creative engineering/applications types. The battle for open culture, appropriately, will be one for the poets as much as the scientists.

Sounds like a fun set of presentations. We need one of those in the Dallas area.