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EFF Founder John Perry Barlow Has Died At Age 70 (eff.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the rest-in-peace dept.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports that its founder, John Perry Barlow, has passed away quietly in his sleep this morning. He was 70 years old. From the report: It is no exaggeration to say that major parts of the Internet we all know and love today exist and thrive because of Barlow's vision and leadership. He always saw the Internet as a fundamental place of freedom, where voices long silenced can find an audience and people can connect with others regardless of physical distance. Barlow was sometimes held up as a straw man for a kind of naive techno-utopianism that believed that the Internet could solve all of humanity's problems without causing any more. As someone who spent the past 27 years working with him at EFF, I can say that nothing could be further from the truth.

Barlow knew that new technology could create and empower evil as much as it could create and empower good. He made a conscious decision to focus on the latter: "I knew it's also true that a good way to invent the future is to predict it. So I predicted Utopia, hoping to give Liberty a running start before the laws of Moore and Metcalfe delivered up what Ed Snowden now correctly calls 'turn-key totalitarianism.'" Barlow's lasting legacy is that he devoted his life to making the Internet into "a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth... a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity."

30 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. RIP Your Legacy Lives on by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    RIP John, your legacy lives on and continues to do good. May more of us leave that kind of a positive impact on the world we leave behind.

    --
    If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    1. Re:RIP Your Legacy Lives on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I have nothing but RESPECT for Mr. John Perry Barlow

      One of his biggest legacy is his Internet Manifesto

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Declaration_of_the_Independence_of_Cyberspace

      RIP, Mr. Barlow

      I will miss you !

  2. If you depend on the Internet, support EFF by uCallHimDrJ0NES · · Score: 5, Informative

    I support EFF proudly and donate regularly, and have for years. If you depend on the Internet for any part of your livelihood, I encourage you to do the same. It wasn't invented to be a surveilled shopping mall. It's supposed to be for you, individually, to use as you will. EFF helps you in this effort.

    --
    Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
  3. EFF is an Amazon Smile charity by blahbooboo · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you use Amazon Smile (smile.amazon.com) EFF is one of the charities that can receive donations from your Amazon purchases.

    1. Re:EFF is an Amazon Smile charity by scottrocket · · Score: 1

      Thanks, I had forgotten about that service - same stuff & prices.

    2. Re:EFF is an Amazon Smile charity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Give to a charity which protects your freedoms (EFF) by surrendering your freedoms to an enemy of your privacy (Amazon).

      Do you even comprehend irony?

    3. Re:EFF is an Amazon Smile charity by Pseudonym · · Score: 3, Funny

      So if you have already done a deal with the devil, here's a way to assuage your guilt somewhat.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
    4. Re:EFF is an Amazon Smile charity by el_smurfo · · Score: 1

      That is not always true. Make sure you view the item in private browsing mode to compare...you might be surprised.

  4. Re:Who EFFing gives a shit? by uCallHimDrJ0NES · · Score: 1

    Lol! The fact that you can still troll is evidence that the "electronic frontier" is still very much alive. Enjoy being a coward about it.

    --
    Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
  5. He also wrote a lot of songs for the Grateful Dead by HouseOfMisterE · · Score: 5, Informative

    A Little Light
    Blown Away
    We Can Run But We Can't HIde
    Picasso Moon
    I Will Take You Home
    Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
    Hell in a Bucket
    Throwing Stones
    My Brother Essau
    Feel Like A Stranger
    Lost Sailor
    Saint of Circumstance
    Easy to Love You
    I Need a Miracle
    Heaven Help the Fool
    Estimated Prophet
    Lazy Lightnin'
    The Music Never Stopped
    Finance Blues
    Let It Grow (Weather Report II)
    Black-Throated Wind
    Walk in the Sunshine
    Looks Like Rain
    Cassidy
    Mexicali Blues

  6. Old This American LIfe Segment by Kunedog · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here's an old TAL segment about him meeting the love of his life (at the time):
    https://www.thisamericanlife.o...

  7. I will miss you John by humankind · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've run into John many times over the years. He was one of the tech industry's most colorful people. From the alcohol fueled parties at Comdex to the dusty plains of Black Rock City, John has been an iconic presence. He was one of the father's of modern technology. He will be so missed. He had much more to do too... it's really a shame his health got in the way. If you want to learn more about who he was, a great example of his brilliant writing is in his essay, "The Pursuit of Emptiness"

  8. Re:He also wrote a lot of songs for the Grateful D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    My first thought was that you were kidding (the founder of the EFF wrote for the Dead? huh?), but no... he apparently was a lyric writer for the Dead.

    Huh.

    Dude was eclectic!

  9. Good comment. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "It was never intended to be used by individuals..."

    Back then, I had friends at Tektronix who opposed the Internet becoming available to everyone.

  10. Re:He also wrote a lot of songs for the Grateful D by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

    ...nuthin' left to do but smile, smile, smile.

    yes, well aware of JPB and the gdead connection.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  11. Re:RIP by sgage · · Score: 1

    I am curious. You are an asshole, who has no idea what he is talking about. A flamebait/troll, no doubt. But what I want to know is were you born like this, or was it something you had to work at?

  12. We have lost a great human by davidshenba · · Score: 1

    RIP

  13. Re:He also wrote a lot of songs for the Grateful D by plopez · · Score: 2

    He also sued the hell out of the oil and gas companies in Wyoming. They were ripping through fences, bulldozing roads through pastures etc. So he sued them. They laughed. Little did they realize they were up against a multi-millionaire who had made beau coup bucks as a rock star. The companies lost.

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  14. Re:EFF is okay: Mozilla is Sorosized by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    He's not a Republican. He's not a Democrat.

    Oops, you managed to let 2 statements that were actually true slip in there...

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  15. Re:If you depend on the Internet, support #Gamerga by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    And we're supposed to feel sorry for the pedos, is that what you're saying?

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  16. Re:Say NO to the George JEW Soros funded EFF by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 2

    Looks like someone's lost his host files and his meds...

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  17. Re:Say NO to the George Soros JEW funded EFF by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Soros was 14 when the war ended. About a year older than you are now, I'm guessing.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  18. Re:He also wrote a lot of songs for the Grateful D by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    I'd forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  19. religion of science? by evanh · · Score: 1

    "... but it seems to have spread now to every part of the world where industrial economy and the religion of science have taken deep root since Jefferson, Voltaire, Locke, and their other practical colleagues kicked it off a quarter millennium ago."

    This would be better said as the religion of capitalism, not science. I think he missed the target on that one.

    Modern science is virtually suffocating from lack of funds. And what little is expended on science is carefully monitored for potential patenting opportunities.

  20. RIP, John by ebusinessmedia1 · · Score: 2

    A good man whose work will continue! Godspeed!

  21. Re:Who EFFing gives a shit? by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

    Closed, cleaned out (only used for keeping track of events), never had one.

    --
    Eat the rich.
  22. Re:Great News Folks! by Seeteufel · · Score: 1

    You are just trolling but I am indeed concerned that a technolibertarian EFF was taken over by social justice warriors. That gets me really sad. With JP Barlow a legend has died and the new antiliberal brand will rewrite his legacy.

  23. RIAA, Napster, and Copyright by gazelam · · Score: 1

    JPB was on a TV show in about 2002 where he represented artists interests against the likes ot the RIAA and Napster. After the show, I emailed him about how many times I had purchased his, and others', music just to have it on different media (vinyl, cassette, CD), and that I had hoped that artists were not getting bypassed in royalties. Moreover, I mentioned that I felt that I had already paid the labels their due and would hope that I could just pay the artists now if I got music on new media. His reply was very cordial and he agreed with my position, even though there was no mechanism in place to do that at the time. RIP gentle man.

  24. Re:He also wrote a lot of songs for the Grateful D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    My first thought was that you were kidding (the founder of the EFF wrote for the Dead? huh?), but no... he apparently was a lyric writer for the Dead.

    Huh.

    Dude was eclectic!

    As a longtime deadhead, I knew of him first as the lyricist who collaborated with Bob Weir on those songs. I had a similar reaction as you when I found out that he was the founder of EFF. Huh! Wow!

  25. This takes me back by superflippy · · Score: 2

    It warms my heart to see so many Slashdot friends from the old days commenting on this article. I first heard of Barlow and the EFF via Slashdot, back during the 1998 COPA protests. He helped open my eyes to the idea that the old laws for old technology were going to have unintended consequences when applied to new technology. He made me interested in activism, and his accomplishments still inspire me.

    The internet has changed a lot since the late 90's, but the struggle between freedom and safety continues. May we never stop thinking about the consequences of going too far in either direction.

    --
    Your fantasies contain the seeds of important concepts.