Adam Haupt
South Africa
Dr Adam Haupt is a Senior Lecturer in the
Centre for Film and Media Studies at the
University of Cape Town. Haupt is the author of
Stealing Empire: P2P, Intellectual Property and Hip-Hop Subversion (HSRC Press, 2008). The book tells the story of people defining themselves as active, creative and politically conscious agents in a consumerist society. The author's publisher has afforded him the opportunity to practice what he preaches: they have made
Stealing Empire available as a free download from the
HSRC Press site. Also visit the site for the podcast, which features poetry performances by Burni Amansure and Caco, the Noble Savage (Marlon Burgess).
Haupt has taught in the English Department at the
University of the Western Cape as well as in the English and Drama departments at the
University of Stellenbosch. Other past life experiences: Cape Technikon; freelanced for the
Mail&Guardian,
SL and Y magazines; pay-for-play e-commerce ventures; dabbled in television and video production and experimented in music and spoken word/poetry performance.
Adam's iSummit '08 Keynote Address:
Enclosing the Commons - for Dummies: Creativity, citizenship and media ownership Haupt argues that legal threats issued
by SAB Miller and Wiley Publishing to Laugh It Off
Media and Mail & Guardian Online respectively, provide important
perspectives on democracy and commons enclosure. Both cases offer insights
into corporations' tendencies to employ narrow understandings of IP to
protect their own interests - often at the expense of public
interest.
