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.'"
...and it's called the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
They are currently active in fighting the DMCA and Fritz Hollings' efforts regarding the CBDTPA, and lots more worthwhile stuff. I'd recommend you check out their site and get involved in any way you can...
:wq
If anyone thinks they're conscripting me, I'll move to some other Internet in protest.
The "movement" is a few actual activists (read, "people who get up off their ass and actually do something") surrounded by a large horde of greedy children who find it's a great chance to shoot of their mouth and get "free as in beer" everything. It's a movement that supports P2P (since it allows them to use others creations as they choose) while damning anyone who would take "their" software, modify it, and distribute the binaries without releasing the code.
Sure, the internet is moving from free to fee. That's because, despite popular belief, these services actually cost money. Bandwidth isn't free. Hardware isn't free. And the internet is rapidly proving that advertising isn't really all it was claimed to be. (since now the companies can better track ad results themselves).
Is slashdot free? For some, but those people get a big ass ad in the middle of the story and a banner ad the size of Mount Rushmore. Is Fast Company free? Sure. If you want the big banner ad there too. That's how they manage to afford to keep having a website up and running.
Do you really think John Ellis, when he wrote the article, did it gratis? Be real. He got paid and someone has to pay him. That someone passes the bill onto everyone else or gets money from advertising, public funding, or grants.
Here's the hint of the day. The people capable of getting things for free are the people also capable of paying for it, since they're the people whose ass isn't glued to a computer screen waiting for the latest p2p copyright violations to get to their system. They don't care that it's no longer free. What they care about it is that's reasonably priced. They can start their own pay service (read: "porn site") and quickly be able to afford all the nice pay things on the internet with a minimum of fuss. It's not hard work or rocket science. It's basic economics. Even Bucky Fuller realized that some things need to be paid for, just as some things are better to give away. You just have to know which and get off your butt and do it.
Them that do, have.
No Zen is good zen
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, which is certainly useful but hardly motivational. And in no way will it rally the troops in the way Mr. Ellis seems to desire here.
(Mandatory disclaimer: I have tremendous respect for, and am greatly indebted to, the EFF. They perform a great service for this entire community on a daily basis and I'm not questioning their goals or motives. Just worndering aloud whether or not they fit the definition of a "grass-roots" movement into which the "internet army" could be actively conscripted.)
So while it's great to have rallying cries like this FastCompany article, perhaps what we really need are a few ramparts on which we can all stand, wave flags, and yell somewhat threatening slogans in French. Help me out here, folks. That is to say, in addition to all this writing -- either a checks to foundations or letters to government reps, what we really need are some good old-fashioned symbolic activities that, while not incredibly effective on their own, serve to get a large segement of a population involved in and excited about a movement on a personal level.
A perfect example, in my mind, would be the wartime "victory gardens" found in U.S. backyards during the first half of the 20th century.
So... any suggestions?
P.S. - Pardon any typos. Sliced my right hand on a piece of case metal while slotting a card this morning, so I'm down to pecking at keys with the left. Please mod this at (-1, Klutz) accordingly.