My friend Jim Munroe is a brilliant sf writer, author of Angry Young Spaceman (which I reviewed for Wired), Everyone in Silico, and Flyboy Action Figure Comes With Gas Mask. Silico is a particularily interesting novel about the corporatization of public spaces (Jim used to be a managing editor at AdBusters), and among Jim's publicity stunts for the book was a letter-writing campaign to corporations mentioned in the book, shaking them down for money for "product placement."
Jim has decided to release Silico online under the same Creative Commons license that I chose for the re-release of Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, a license that allows the production of non-commercial derivative works, such as fan-films, sequels, translations, and audio adaptations. He credits me with inspiring this, which is immensely gratifying — Jim's a talented writer and this is a wonderful book.
