I know it’s early to nominate something for the best of the week, only being Thursday. But I’ve been watching the headlines, and looking since Sunday to see if something better came up.

Nothing has. Nothing likely will.

I watch headlines. I like the news. I enjoy seeing if someone can encapsulate the meaning of a long essay, or article, or tale in a handful of words. It’s a fine art, or a science, depending upon your belief system, education, upbringing, or desire to argue.

My nomination for best title of the week is The Hippie Professor and his PDF book. Second best title is that of the PDF book mentioned in the first one: Free Culture (PDF), which I suspect works on at least a couple of different levels.

The Professor mentioned is no Hippy, though you can figure that out for yourself fairly quickly with a visit to his blog. He’s not advocating a time of “free” love or anarchy or irresponsibiilty or a legalization of drugs.

Rather, he’s asking us to understand how the internet can transform society, and how there are forces that want to shape and control this growth to their own benefit and profit. Here’s a snippet:

The warriors have turned to the courts, to the legislatures, and increasingly to technology to defend their “property” against this “piracy.” A generation of Americans, the warriors warn, is being raised to believe that “property” should be “free.” Forget tattoos, never mind body piercing—our kids are becoming thieves!

There’s no doubt that “piracy” is wrong, and that pirates should be punished. But before we summon the executioners, we should put this notion of “piracy” in some context. For as the concept is increasingly used, at its core is an extraordinary idea that is almost certainly wrong.

No, the professor isn’t a hippie, but he is challenging large media companies, and their control of intellectual property. And, while the PDF book is 352 pages long, I’ve found myself having read the first third of it while writing this post. Take a look. It might make you think about the internet in a slightly different way.