The iSummit has attracted former filmmakers, television producers, lawyers, IT specialists, remix artists and amongst the many more vocations declared here, we even had a “I was once a punk rocker” in our midst. They showed us photos of themselves in dreadlocks just to prove it. A few hours later they declared, “as a punk rocker...”!

I wonder what it is that motivates some people to discard then adopt their heritage? The punk movement is one that I could not dive in and out of as required. Although we don't have the raw urgency displayed in the 1970's, the vigorous denial of that which imprints homogeneity the world over is as alive today as it was when Johnny Rotten busted out with “I am an Anti-Christ, I am an Anarchist”.

Punk grew into a movement that stood against... well, just about everything! The punk ethos, in my experience of it, was to debunk the motivations behind just about everything. It was by no means a strategic movement, it was more or less a catalyst for change... for many many many people... it still lives whether one subscribes to the Situationist punk discourse or that of Sid Vicious.

Whether one was a punk rocker, a punk singer, a punk author or a drunk punk with no kidneys, I don't think one should pull out one's involvement with it as needed... Honestly, some of the more vigorous users of Creative Commons are extremely punk in their attitude, as someone said to me yesterday, “the Creative Commons community is so much more radical than its founders”.

Some of the more extreme artists I know don't give a toss for copyright and even less for Creative Commons. They take from the media that is thrust into their worlds and regurgitate it back into the public domain... not the Internet, not in galleries, but on the walls of houses, shops, factories and bridges. That's totally punk and they don't declare it on t-shirts, in their workshops, on the street and at conferences.

Don't opt in nor opt out of your heritage and certainly don't license it. Embrace and live it!