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Why I Feel (Mostly) Hopeful About Open Internet Activism

E. Bell — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:06:21 +0000

I spend a lot of time reading and posting (on Twitter and elsewhere) about the politics of the Internet, particularly issues regarding online speech and the open architecture of the web. I am vocal about my positions on many “offline” political matters as well, and try to back them up with action, but there’s something about advocating for the web that feels more communal, more urgent, and maybe ultimately, more effective. I don’t mean this in the illusory quasi-utopian sense put forward by techno-activists in the early days of the web (not that the days aren’t still early), but rather in the very concrete sense that the web’s history, technology and body of stakeholders are unusually harmonious.

Everyone has something at stake

One important (and practically cliche) characteristic of the Internet, as it has evolved in recent years, is that regular users have increasingly become content producers. They have a real ownership stake in the way the web works and the rules that govern it. Linking, sharing, quoting and remixing are fundamental to the web, but also fraught with legalities (legitimate and otherwise), which is why things like CreativeCommons and EFF have sprung up from within the industry to bring some order and balance to online copyright, while preserving and promoting the existing culture of openness. While citizens in “real life” (or whatever), through years of being beaten down, ignored, and propagandized, may be prone to letting harmful and irrational legislation pass unchallenged, those of us who create content on the web frequently respond to power-grabs, injustices and legislative threats with an immediacy that is uncommon offline. This perhaps reflects the “right now” nature of the network. But I think this immediacy is also related to the fact that many of us understand just how fragile the web actually is (technically, legally and culturally), and how easily it could be fundamentally changed or even destroyed by the rash actions of the ill-informed and/or ill-intentioned.

Internet Enforcers

While there is ample room for debate and disagreement over tactics and ethics, I find in web protests like those of Anonymous or the Reddit-led mobbing of Cook’s Source an undeniably populist and democratic spirit. Many - notably the music and film industries – have complained that the Internet generation has an outgrown sense of entitlement. There may be some truth to that, especially when it comes to pirated content, but all in all, the web’s “power users” have also displayed a very sharp sense of justice, an affinity for the theater of public relations, and a knack for rapid coordination. Imagine the world we might live in were offline political organizing so fast and effective. (There is, of course, the obvious dynamic of anonymity at play here, which is not to be discounted. But one could argue that is equally the case for any sufficiently large protest, on the web or on the street. Anonymity is what makes the mob a mob, and mobs can be blamed for acts of brutality as readily as they can be credited for acts of liberation.)

“Go web young man!” (groan)

While it’s beyond ridiculous to call the web “the wild west” or the “cyber-frontier” or whatever the hell people say or used to say with that newscaster-y blend of vague understanding and condescending doom, it’s still an apt metaphor (or at least one that’s good enough to indulge for the next few sentences). The web really has always been about opportunity, possibility, growth, and a great push into the unknown. As with the westward expansion of 19th century America, the web has seen it’s share of gold rushes (real and hysterical), fortunes made and lost, an array of ever-shifting economies, and an embrace of the classically-liberal capitalist ideal that markets (in the modern case: investors, developers, and users) will decide the natural order of things, distant legislators be damned. (Of course, laissez-faire societies are rife with all forms of collateral damage. Perhaps we should begin to regard the 20th century version of the music industry as the wild buffalo of the digital age.) As the colossus crawls west, possibilities emerge for the young and recede for the old. In this dead horse of a metaphor, the web is both the prairie and the railroad, the developers are the prospectors, and users the settlers (California is basically still California). The danger and the promise are one: only the real frontiersmen know how to get things done out in this wilderness of ones and zeros, and yet our so-called statesmen have failed to even commission themselves a Lewis and Clark (to clarify, I’m talking about this horse shit).

Industry is on our side for once

The web/tech industry is historically rooted in openness and decentralization. Reading up on the history of the Internet and the web (see for example Johnny Ryan’s History of the Internet and the Digital Future or James Gleick’s The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood), you will see a recurrence of geeks (boy, am I tiring of that word lately) pushing back against authority, circumventing military protocol, skirting institutional bureaucracies, and escaping co-optation. The web and its core of makers have always pushed toward the fluid and open, and against the staid and stable. In many tech companies, one can almost detect a sort of institutional joie de vivre. Not to overstate or even fully accept such an assertion (corporations being profit-oriented legal constructs and not actual moral/emotional beings), but it makes sense in light of the fact that these companies are made up overwhelmingly of people who do what they do for a living because they would otherwise be doing it for free. The industry and it’s constituent parts have a shared interest in keeping the web as open as it was when they walked in the front door, and as fluid as it was when they were first seduced by its possibility.

Old media operates on a culture that could not be more opposed to that of the web, which is why they and their frighteningly-effective lobbyists have been cast (rightly) as enemies of the open web. Where the web fosters openness and decentralization, old media culture is one of centralization, hegemonic control, and hair-trigger litigation. For the most part, this is the culture of corporate America as a whole, but even the giants of the tech industry have a stake in maintaining an open, fair and free Internet. On the most obvious level, legislation like SOPA and PIPA present a very real threat to the existing legal and technical foundations of the web, which is why web and tech companies, joining open web activists, have been waging a very public fight against them, even as politicians and old media outlets struggle (or perhaps refuse) to understand what’s actually being proposed. But perhaps less obvious to some is the longer term threat posed by such heavy-handed intervention. It’s not just that SOPA, PIPA, and the like threaten the web of today (curbing speech while propping up the decrepit media titans of yesteryear), it’s that it threatens the web of tomorrow, and a whole range of innovation and opportunities yet unknown. As such, open web activism has yielded an unlikely common interest that includes citizens of every type, free speech activists, software engineers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, lobbyists, universities and massive multinational corporations.

That’s quite an unusual alliance and frankly if we can’t make progress to protect the web with that constituency, then one has to wonder about the entire premise of representative democracy. But I’m hopeful that progress will be made in the coming years, and while attacks may continue, I don’t think the dynamic described above will change any time soon. As we look down the barrel of yet another absurd and borderline retarded election year, it just feels good to be hopeful about something.

These bills are scheduled to come to a final vote on January 24th, 2012. If you haven’t already (and maybe even if you have), visit americancensorship.org, fightforthefuture.org or EFF.org to learn more about SOPA/PIPA and how you can help stop their passage. I know it’s a drag but you should really consider calling your representatives in Congress. Using a telephone.

Why I’m (Probably) Deleting My FaceBook Acount

E. Bell — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:39:25 +0000

Mecha-Zuck ruthlessly semantifies your profile

By now, everyone has heard about the latest round of FaceBook updates. Without a doubt, some of the changes are really cool and lots of folks will love the way that certain websites will seamlessly adapt their content to suit their tastes and preferences (based on FaceBook profile information). After all, who doesn’t want more relevance on the web? We can also expect just about every major content provider to be adding a “Like” button to their sites within a matter of weeks. I just tested it out on TechCrunch and it is in fact the best social sharing widget I have ever used. On the other hand, as with most FaceBook updates, those concerned with openness and privacy have some legitimate concerns. Rather than paraphrasing what others have already summed up very well, I instead offer a short reading list for those who are interested. Make an informed decision.

As we have seen before, there is always an off chance that FaceBook will adjust their policies in response to outcry from their user base. However, given the current size of their user base and the amount of money FaceBook stands to make from this (in the high krajillions, according to analysts), I really doubt they are losing sleep about a micro-exodus of privacy activists and open web nerds. However unlikely, things can change. So I leave the “Probably” as a qualifier just in case. Also, I have to admit that I am accustomed to the convenience and utility of FaceBook as a way of casually keeping in touch with people you might never hear from or see otherwise. So it’s possible I might just sanitize my profile and stop using FaceBook altogether but keep the account active so I can receive the occasional message from or hunt down (stalk) a casual acquaintance or old friend. Generally speaking though, I think FaceBook as I knew it is over. Knowing what I know, and knowing what they know, I no longer feel comfortable signing into or socializing on the site, and that is not likely to change.

UPDATE:
I took the plunge and deleted my profile for good after letting it sit unused for a couple weeks. Below are a few more of the articles that contributed to that decision, which was made easier still by the fact that I was late to join FaceBook to begin with and always found it kind of annoying and ripe for drama in the same way as MySpace (in fact, after leaving MySpace ahead of the exodus, I tried to get everyone to follow me to Twitter, skipping Facebook altogether, but to no avail). Nevertheless, Facebook did/does have its uses and was occasionally really fun and entertaining. I must admit that leaving it behind leaves me feeling a bit disconnected from some casual friends and acquaintances. The good news is that it looks like a real open alternative may be emerging in a new project called Diaspora*.

Liberal Guerillas to Fling Terror Poo at G-20 Summit!

E. Bell — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:07:35 +0000

I will rarely address current events on this site, but a friend of mine in PA sent me a link to a completely ridiculous story from KDKA TV News Pittsburgh, a CBS affiliate. Hit the break for the video and the full story, annotated with my first hand clarifications. If you think Fox News is the only one towing the right wing agenda, think again. Luckily, these dupes are so roundly unconcerned with journalistic standards that their absurd inferences and tabloid commentary actually (almost) come across as satire.

Let me clarify a few understandable journalistic mistakes here, since I frequent the liberal terror underground (also known as Ikea).

1. “Sources indicate that graffiti left under a downtown bridge was put there by G-20 protestors… [video shows graffiti reading "We the People..."]“

That was me. It actually said “G-20 is a total dick, dude” before we changed our minds and went with an obscure quote from noted Anti-American radical, the US Constitutional Convention.

2. “A fire at a local park was reportedly started by protestors staying in a tent… [video shows extinguished campfire hole]“

I’m not sure how they figured it out, since I left no apparent evidence, but that was also me. Camping is one of the most extreme of all seditious acts, and provides a great ambience for toasting vegan s’mores and planning future acts of librul terror.

3. “A young man, who did not want to be identified, says he’s been told protestors are renting South Side homes…. [video shows a conspicuously disguised hippy-surfer type listlessly exclaiming 'people are gonna die.']”

That was actually me, incognito of course, dressed as “a total duder from Portland.” I will just say it now, I am an agent provocateur for the Securities and Exchange Commision. The disguise was chosen by my case agent, who has been watching a lot of John From Cincinnati.

4. “Sources indicate protestor advance teams have been spotted by police taking video and photographs of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Omni William Penn Hotel, City Hall, County Courthouse, Fort Pitt and Liberty Tunnels… [video shows rapid fire montage of these and other buildings]“

After some extensive investigation, it appears this one was just Japanese tourists.

5. “Sources indicate highly-organized protestor advance teams are mapping out possible attack points…”

The sources actually differ here, which was not disclosed by the crack team of KDKA investigative journalists. While some observers report that the Anarchist Black Cross was behind this nefarious “mapping,” key detainees have claimed innocence, insisting they are geocaching enthusiasts caught up in the haze of espionage. Others still insist that it was actually a roving band of GIS hacks building a geolocation iPod app for the PA Board of Tourism.

6. The part about “stockpiling human waste.”

That’s totally true, but unrelated.

In all seriousness, our media continues to plumb the depths in pursuit of the ever-growing simpleton demographic. My special lady fired off a nice letter to KDKA that sums it up nicely. If you are so inclined, you might do the same.

Dear Marty Griffin,

A friend of mine sent me link to your report about protesters at the G20 summit. I must say that you made your channel and it’s staff look foolish and anti-American. The tone of the entire piece treated protesters like terrorists. Peaceful protest is LEGAL and it is a truly American act. I am very curious as to how rigorous the source and fact checking was on your “feces throwing” accusations. The graffiti you showed was a quote from the preamble of our constitution yet you treated it as if it came from some terrorist manifesto. You gave no evidence that what was obviously the remains of a basic camp fire came from radical, pyromaniac agitators. I am sick and tired of the scare tactics used by so many local news channels both in my hometown of Cleveland and in Pittsburgh. You show little respect for your audience and appear to take for granted the freedom of speech that keeps you and other more serious journalists in business.