Lawrence Lessig, the Stanford Law professor who played a large role in popularizing the “free culture” movement and in bringing “intellectual property” policy to the mainstream as the founder of Creative Commons, has publicly announced that he will be shifting his focus away from copyright issues:

I have decided to shift my academic work, and soon, my activism, away from the issues that have consumed me for the last 10 years, towards a new set of issues… “Corruption” as I’ve defined it elsewhere will be the focus of my work. For at least the next 10 years, it is the problem I will try to help solve.

I applaud the courage it must take to abandon the field that has given one fame, comfort, and stability. Even among the wealthy or others in stable academic positions like Lessig, this sort of thing is all too rare. I wish him luck.