After 14 years since I participated in the Earth Summit, I'm returning to Rio de Janerio... this time as a guest of Creative Commons (CC) and the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), with whom I worked with there in 1992. Although back then I paid for half my airfare and Pegasus Networks covered the rest.

Specifically, I've been invited to iSummit 06, to participate in the panel, Music, video and multimedia: the cultural commons. This will involve a brief presentation on the recent forum, Free Screen Culture and an overview of my CC projects which include Synesthesia Urbania and Secession Records. More significantly, it will focus on the online video resource tools for OPEN CHANNEL (OC) and our members being created in collaboration with EngageMedia.

This will also involve a one day workshop with TacticalTech on their international NGO-in-a-Box product which will see many of the new resources we plan to implement on the OC website available in a very affordable, easily installed, package.

This is a unique opportunity to meet with the key players involved in not only CC, but in broader social network tools development as well. I am seeking to engage with broader social networks applications in my work, in particular in the development of new opportunities for screen based artists and media makers in general.

My participation in the iCommons Summit will further knowledge of the opportunities for CC licensing for screen practitioners in Australia. I'm not so much interested in the policy aspects as I am in the application of its use to sustain creative endeavor and support for diversity, innovation and experimentation.

In practical terms, my experience at iCommons will be demonstrated through the establishment of a series of forums, if not a national conference to take up where Free Screen Culture left off. I will also provide a durable visual record of the Summit, a written report and blog entries. I have been invited to write for the icommons.org site and will provide input to it during the Summit.