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Sure, perhaps we would suddenly see thousands more videos a la Rodney King or perhaps even volunteer "Thought Police"-types of citizan groups (there's a Louisville, KY paper called "Snitch") but isn't that reason alone NOT to make such things? Enabling people to securely document unseemly behaviour of authorities would surely prompt many "corporate privacy protection" laws or the outright declaration that video recordings of Federal, State, and Municipal employees are verboten. On the other hand, the goody-two-shoes neighborhood snitch crowd would threaten the private citizen's right to be anonymous.

But despite these objections, these things are already starting to happen -- the surveilence culture is already well established. Xcam, anyone? Indymedia is an example of how cheap video equipment, the internet, and PHP can provide an alternative news service for those who disdain the mainstream sources. The cops routinely videotape everything they do, and sometimes re-edit it later as they see fit.

The difference between the current trend of surveillence culture and Sterlings's pleas to geeks are that regular joe can't compete with the likes of CNN in getting those memes out there. Plus States' resources in information management; ie. linking downtown London's streetcorner cameras to Interpol mugshots.

Imagine a Slashdot style system of posting video clips (except really really user-friendly); user-moderated, with "karma" exploded into multiple ratings axes (rather than being 1-dimensional), decentralized, with multiple points of entry (not just different browsers -- different ways of getting the info).

The difference between this and TV news is a reported doesn't simply present information -- they interpret and filter it to a large degree. However, how could a news organization ignore a video clip that gets boosted to the top of the pile?

Brainstorm, rant, reaction....

Given the new attempts to hardwire copyright enforcement system in the SSSCA, the cynical attempts of the copyright cops to link piracy to September 11th and the continuing jihad against file-sharing systems, it is clear that unless serious political opposition is mounted the infotainment cartel will continue to press their advantage.

Some recent events give reason for optimism.

Firstly the 11th circuit result in the Wind Done Gone case put the use of copyright as a means of censorship right back into the jurisprudence. The opinion is worth reading.

We are still waiting for the result of Universal v Reimerdes (Eric Corley/2600/deCSS)on appeal, given that two of the three arguments made in May were essentially first amendment claims, the 11th circuit decision comes at just the right time.

The Sklyarov case shows just how dangerous this can all be. Traditionally, the threat of an injunction might have been a force to chill some speech, but criminal liability under the DMCA will silence a helluva lot more.

This conference will be an opportunity for those of us at the wrong end of 'campaign finance' to get a strategy together. Rather than bleating on about the industry, it's about positive arguments in support of the public domain and for the commons (and exploring the difference between the two - think GPL). That means expressive freedom, autonomy and open systems.

Time for some intellectual self-defense training my friends.

Benkler's paper is great.

Unfortunately, the reality is that while bin Laden might know some spin (a debatable point - bin Laden's broadcasts are hardly slick, and have more in common with the broadcasts of various turgid national leaders than they do with Alaister Campbell-style spinning), he is not spinning a message out to the world via satellite. He's sending simple video tapes (pretty low-tech these days) to news agency people in Kabul (yes, they're there - they're just not CNN).

Robert Fisk of the UK's Independent has an interesting commentary on how the message is going out, via Qatar (remember: the site of the next WTO meeting, moved there to avoid anti-capitalist demos) and the Al-Jazeera network. A bit more detailed than Katzism.

This war should be approached as more than simply another opportunity to put the American Psyche on the couch. The logic of bin Laden might be tightly interwoven with the logic of US foreign policy (in ways obscure to many Americans because of their ignorance of said foreign policy), but it also powerfully follows its own logic: the logic of expansionist Islamism, a particular logic which advocates the capture of the Middle East under the rule of the self-proclaimed god-fearing leaders.

That's a logic just as rooted in capitalism (not a medieval return, not seemless hi-tech) as is the expansion of 'US interests'. Analysing this war (or war in general) in technocratic terms, as Katz, does, is ludicrous. It fails to explain Vietnam (leaving out the fraggings, the mass refusal to fight on the part of the US army, etc), it fails to explain Iraq (again leaving out the mass desertions of the Iraqi army). And it fails again here.

Peter

Bread and circuses were the Roman empires method of keeping the populace sedated. So it is possible for the masses to awaken and throw off the corporate/state control machine, and there is a historical precedent for it. Not everyone is hooked up to their TV in the world. Not only that but we all have friends and family we can communicate with to counteract the effects of corporate/state propaganda. It takes one person to influence thousands possibly even millions to question the status quo. Maybe voting etc may not be important but we still have a window of opportunity to inform as many people as possible about what is going on and to encourage them to be active. Don't give up! Use your cynicism constructively and creatively.
Interactivist info exchange

Semiotext(E) a line of realy bizzar anthologies & textbooks. My Aunt did some French to English translation and photography for the the Semiotext on Canada, called "Semiotext(E) Canadas" (the photo on the site is hers actually).

If I remember correctly, there was an interview with Gibson in it.

Semiotext(E) a line of realy bizzar anthologies & textbooks. My Aunt did some French to English translation and photography for the the Semiotext on Canada, called "Semiotext(E) Canadas" (the photo on the site is hers actually).

If I remember correctly, there was an interview with Gibson in it.