I am currently most interested in the geography of freedom. This can be represented by the diffusion of open source throughout the world wide web. This topic would also lend itself to a visualization type approach, such as mapping the uptake and social impacts of open source software. I would also be able to look into some of the differences in a continuum from non-disclosure agreements, to standard closed source licenses, to more copy left licenses, such as the GPL or public domain licenses. This topic would also lend itself to some economic analysis of changing flows of capital stemming from information spreading electronically. This could include the role of open online archives and libraries, such as the Project Gutenberg movement. Looking at current academic journal online publishing movements would be relevant as well. There is some scholarly research that exists on freedoms and diffusion of ideas. A large amount of the open source and open knowledge literature exists in non-standard channels to promote freedom of exchange. These are usually of high quality, but there are significant barriers towards using these media for presenting scientific ideas, as they are not formally accepted on the ISI listings.
I have been collecting and reading literature on this topic for quite a while. I was initially involved open source when I became a volunteer Mozilla quality assurance member in 2002. This was an introduction to how the open source community functioned, by each member contributing their skills and knowledge to the whole community. This functions as an alternative economic system to the traditional capitalist or socialist model. Political geography could play a role in explaining the open source dissemination of information.
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