A diverse group of writers has released the first version of the "Definition of Free Cultural Works." The authors have identified a minimum set of freedoms which they believe should be granted to all users of copyrighted materials. Created on a wiki with the feedback of Wikipedia users, open source hackers, artists, scientists, and lawyers, the definition lists the following core freedoms:

• The freedom to use and perform the work
• The freedom to study the work and apply the information
• The freedom to redistribute copies
• The freedom to distribute derivative works.

Inspired by the Free Software Definition and the ideals of the free software and open source movements, these conditions are meant to apply to any conceivable work. In reality, these freedoms must be granted explicitly by authors, through the use of licenses which confer them. On the website of the definition a list of these licenses can be found. Furthermore, authors are encouraged to identify their works as Free Cultural Works using a set of logos and buttons. The definition was initiated by Benjamin Mako Hill, a Debian GNU/Linux developer, and Erik M ller, an author and long-time Wikipedia user. Wikipedia already follows similar principles to those established by the definition. Angela Beesley, Wikimedia Advisory Board Chair and co-founder of Wikia.com; Mia Garlick, general counsel of Creative Commons; and Elizabeth Stark of the Free Culture Student Movement acted as moderators, while Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation and Lawrence Lessig of Creative Commons provided helpful feedback. As more and more people recognize that there are alternatives to traditional copyright, phrases like "open source," "open access," "open content," "free content," and "commons" are increasingly used. But many of these phrases are ambiguous when it comes to distinguishing works and licenses which grant all the above freedoms, and those which only confer limited rights. For example, a popular license restricts the commercial use of works, whereas the authors believe that such use must be permitted for a work to be considered Free. Instead of limiting commercial use, they recommend using a clever legal trick called "copyleft:" requiring all users of the work to make their combined and derivative works freely available. M ller and Hill encourage authors to rethink copyright law and use one of the Free Culture Licenses to help build a genuine free and open culture.

Negotiators work on Nth Korea deal to close nuclear facilities

• Burkino Faso is marked as Upper Volta (it's only been 22 years) with a capital as Duagadougou.
• Rwanda seems to be a small horizontal bar across a country marked both as Ucanda and Buhuno.
• Zimbabn is labeled clearly while Morocco, clearly divided into two countries, is not marked in either of the resulting (and differently colored) states.
• A missing border and a color identical to the ocean (!) renders Egypt completely underwater. Yemen, Iraq, Thailand, Romania, Austria, Croatia, Finland, (whose name is missing), and the eastern quarter of India are better off in that they blend into the ocean but have river colored borders demarcating them from the rest of the sea.
• The Arabian peninsula is host to Qatah, the United Arab Emiraies, and the Saudi capital of Rivaiih.
• A bit to the north, Jurdan borders Irae and Lebanaw.
• The countries Czek and Slovak seem to be located just above Czechoslovakia which, in turn, is just above Huudatn.
• A similar situation happens in Yugoslavia which seems to be next to Monienegro and other more familiar Slavic states.
• Amstercam is right next to the the German city of Roro.
• Swirzerlano sits in the middle of Europe.
• England's Lworpool and Rirmingham are clearly, and clearly incorrectly, marked.
• Both Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States are clearly marked while China, despite having dozens of its cities labeled, is not.
• St. Petersburg seems a full 1000+ kilometers from any body of water and closer to Bellarussian than to a port.
• Lapan shows many cities including Tokya, Kyole, and others -- while most seem to be located somewhere off the coast of Lapan in the Pacific ocean.
• The Korean peninsula contains N. Korea and S. Aurla.
• Myanmar is marked as Burma (although I might forgive that one if I had reason to believe it was intentional).
• Malaysia is labeled Malaskia.
• The continent at the South Pole is proudly marked Tarctica.