Gilberto Gil is one of Brazil’s most famous musicians, and his experiences reflect that of Brazil as a whole. A gifted musician, he was arrested by the US-supported military dictatorship in Brazil in 1969. After his release, he went into exile in London. Almost four decades later, Brazil has seen their stifling and brutal dictatorship collapse and be replaced by one of the largest and most complex democracies in the western hemisphere. Brazil is no longer led by right-wing military generals but instead by the far left-wing Workers Party and that party’s progressive policies are leading the rest of the world in regards to open source software and universal digital access. And, Gilberto Gil is no longer an exiled dissident but Brazil’s Minister of Culture. He was recently at the southbysouthwest conference in Austin, Texas to promote open source copyright licenses like Creative Commons, creater-owned distribution networks and universal access. Read more here.