Slashdot Mirror
The Internet Power Grab
Maple Syrup writes: "Fast Company has an interesting article written by John Ellis about the power shift on the Internet, as large corporate interests use political means to take over what had been a populist medium. The most interesting material comes at the end: 'There are no grass-roots efforts on the Web. The Internet army, which is enormous, hasn't been engaged or conscripted.'"
There cannot be an effective resistance to corporate interests by some rag-tag "grassroots army" of internet users.
The fantasy of some socioeconomic revolution fueled by internet connectivity is naive at best. Geeks and techies are about as potent a political force as are sheep rangers in Manhattan.
The multinational corporations control everything about us and feel very secure in their poisition. Get over it.
Same thing happens in real life. Consider small settlements with only a few people and a single general store. As the town grows the number of stores increase until big consumer interests see a profitable market. Then WalMart steps in and is soon followed by McDonalds, etc.
Sure these large stores (and web sites) drive the mom and pop shops out of business, but the reason for that is they can afford lower prices with a greater selection. The real problem is after all the competition is gone, they can raise prices to whatever they want.
P2P file-sharing networks might keep prices in check, but only for those who consider them competition (such as Listen.com). The xIAAs still consider them unlawful enemies of capitalism and are attempting to legislate them out of existence. Hopefully it will have as much success as Prohibition.
A steaming cup of soykaf would be real wiz right now.
Mark this one under -1 Subversive...
Seriously, though, if you believe that corporatism on the Internet is evil and must be fought, then surely supporting an underground resistance movement to fight and deface the corporate internet presence is a valid response?
Consider -- you read something like Thoreau's commentary on civil disobedience and he basically says that paying your taxes under an unjust regime is in itself a crime, and NOT paying your taxes is a virtue. Now, considering that our options for resisting the corporate takeover are non-existent since laws and social institutions are in place to enable their power (ie: automatic deduction of taxes from income, which the government distributes to corporations as it sees fit (in other words, corporate socialism)) there is no way to deny them the money they feel is owed to them, as Thoreau says he thinks we should do. In that sense, can we not regard this as theft as retalliate accordingly?
For instance, if a company is promoting immoral behaviour and has a web presence, is it not justifiable to go after their web presence, if this is the only way I can fight back?
(Don't mind me, I'm just trying to see how fast I can get "wrinkledshirt" into an FBI file.)
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Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
> I hope that other companies that think about the
> same and realize that no matter how big they
> are, they cannot step on the rights of individuals.
You say "am doing with Mattel", not "have done".
Come back and crow after you've won. I doubt we'll
ever hear from you again.
Like it or not, the public tends to support the brands
they've been brainwashed into buying. You probably
don't even have a chance of gaining positive public
opinion support.
Legal challengers such as yourself are hardly even
an annoyance to these companies and they'll slowly
drain your blood with court stalling actions (if they
don't just outright pass bribes against you).
The little guy is doomed. Corporations run the game
now.
We have to stop saying: The Internet should be free as in beer, and start designing, specing and implementing payment mechanisms. They should be implemented in "our" browsers, and who knows, perhaps it could be a "killer app" that breaks MS monopoly.
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
"Geekdom is fantastic at being AGAINST something, and it's hopeless at being FOR something" says the The Register's Andrew Orlowski in a piece entitled "Congressman vows Pigopolist legislation". He talks in glowing terms about representative Rick Boucher's efforts on behalf of individuals' rights vs. the RIAA and its ilk. Orlowski goes on to say "Boucher has scoped the battlefield, defined it in terms we can understand, and elaborated a battle plan, and now it's up to the rest of the community to see how far this notion flies." but suggests that such things as the efforts of the EFF and Slashdot rants do little to get the word out to the common man. He says "It's pretty easy to rally a Slashdot crusade against something, but for every one of us hollering, there are maybe twenty or so friends and relatives who are none the wiser".
He's probably right. Is it time for a look in the mirror?
That's exactly the drawback to entities like the EFF, though; the ways in which one can get involved are usually limited to writing out a check
To support this point a little further, I like to quote Albert Einstein:
"I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The example of great and pure characters is the only thing that can produce fine ideas and noble deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and always tempts its owners irresistibly to abuse it. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus, or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie?"
Though throwing EFF a buck isn't a bad thing...
Ya know, an EFF flag wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
I used to fly an American flag proudly -- no, I am not an American: I am temporarily in the U.S. on an H1B visa, but I have a great deal of respect for the principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Americans can be forgiven the sin of pride when it comes to those documents. They may only contain words, but they're good words and sharper than any sword out there, to bend a cliche, and worth living by. The American flag, was, for me, a symbol of those words, and the beliefs they represent.
I no longer fly an American flag.
In recent times, it has become a popular symbol of perverse xenophobic nationalism and fear. It is flown by many a coward, cheerfully prostituting the rights their forefathers died for, for an illusion of security.
So, yeah, I'll renew my EFF membership (money's been kinda tight lately and I've been procrastinating), gimme a flag to fly, if only in my imagination.
You could've hired me.
I'm trying to figure out if this is the same John Ellis, cousin of George W. Bush, who misreported election 2000 for FoxNews?
I can't find any confirmation as he appears to be trying to hide his history, but the tone of the article, and the subjects of his other comments seems to point to that conclusion.
Reading the column it seems to be a case of someone trying to manipulate people by playing off their hot buttons. It's pretty standard political boilerplate opinion column. Reading through his blog I see a variety of the same.
Anyway, I guess the point is, it's good to know whose opinion it is you are reading. This certainly appears to be the same John Ellis, and I personally would not trust him to have my interests in mind.
It's good to know that I won't be the only one here in South Carolina voting out the Senator from Disney. He's been in the senate far too long... we need to try to get as many of our friends to vote against him as possible.
How's that for grassroots?
Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen
Huh? She's a democrat senator from the state where Hollywood is. Hello? McFly?
Fritz isn't. Hollywood is thousands of miles away but they have no trouble finding him to send their checks to. Isn't FedEx wonderful?
Remember what else is in California? Ever heard of Silicon Valley?
If the entertainment industry were to pack and leave Southern Califonia, they'd see a localized moderate recession. Living in Northern California, I don't have much of a problem with this.
If high-tech R&D / production has to leave the country due to CBDTPA, we'd see a major depression leaving the USA sliding towards Third World status. You'll see companies that still bother with the US market selling us dumbed-down versions of consumer products years after they get to Japan and Germany. California is one of the states that would be hit hardest as Silicon Valley became part of "The New Rust Belt"... a few years from now, high-tech types who didn't manage to emigrate would be looking at NOW as "the good old days".
The difference is between a cold and bubonic plague.
The other difference? The entertainment industry sends campaign contributions to Congress. High-tech companies are just starting to learn that they ought to do this.
Is Feinstein working in the interests of the majority of her constituents?
Certainly. However, in her mind, her votes are counted in campaign dollars. The people who made the mistake of electing her? To the best of my knowledge, she isn't the least bit interested in us.
If you hadn't combined politics and Internet business models in random chunks of the same post, you might have made sense.
Tech Public Policy stuff