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a little behind, but...
Jun. 5th, 2014 06:37 pmJune 5th isn't entirely over yet, right?
This is awesome: Reset the Net.
(boingboing has a nice piece here: http://boingboing.net/2014/06/05/today-is-the-day-we-reset-the.html)
So, yeah… i'm gong to be downloading the set and seeing how easy the various parts are to implement (because, yes, there's a bunch of stuff I could have done but haven't yet). And if I run into more than three snags, I'm going to put out a public call for a "reset party" (along the lines of a cryptoparty) and ask that somebody who knows these tools help out…
And… I'm going to ask that you all consider using these tools, as well (if you're not doing so already). To use a last-century model, these sorts of tools have the utility of a fax machine: one lonely fax machine is worthless, but the more fax machines there are in the world, the more machines each one can talk to. Encrypted email does absolutely nothing if the recipient's machine is not secure, but as more people use secured / crypto systems, they become logarithmically more useful. And while you, personally, might not "have anything to hide" there are a lot of folks who are not so privileged and whose only "wrongdoing" is a lack of conformity (whether through being queer, or not white, or not fitting in the standard binary gender profiles, or being female and loud, or being involved in a local green/political/economic protest, or ...). As Doctorow says, Those who have nothing to hide have a duty to protect the privacy of those who do.
The damage that surveillance does to freedom of speech and freedom of thought is huge. But we can reroute around some of the damage...
This is awesome: Reset the Net.
(boingboing has a nice piece here: http://boingboing.net/2014/06/05/today-is-the-day-we-reset-the.html)
So, yeah… i'm gong to be downloading the set and seeing how easy the various parts are to implement (because, yes, there's a bunch of stuff I could have done but haven't yet). And if I run into more than three snags, I'm going to put out a public call for a "reset party" (along the lines of a cryptoparty) and ask that somebody who knows these tools help out…
And… I'm going to ask that you all consider using these tools, as well (if you're not doing so already). To use a last-century model, these sorts of tools have the utility of a fax machine: one lonely fax machine is worthless, but the more fax machines there are in the world, the more machines each one can talk to. Encrypted email does absolutely nothing if the recipient's machine is not secure, but as more people use secured / crypto systems, they become logarithmically more useful. And while you, personally, might not "have anything to hide" there are a lot of folks who are not so privileged and whose only "wrongdoing" is a lack of conformity (whether through being queer, or not white, or not fitting in the standard binary gender profiles, or being female and loud, or being involved in a local green/political/economic protest, or ...). As Doctorow says, Those who have nothing to hide have a duty to protect the privacy of those who do.
The damage that surveillance does to freedom of speech and freedom of thought is huge. But we can reroute around some of the damage...
hard-core mood-crash
Nov. 12th, 2012 03:52 pmI'm glad I had the chance to see it when I did - Venice is suffering severe flooding right now. This is indescribably sad to me... I have to wonder how much culture is going to be destroyed by climate change in the next 10 years.
Pogo says, "We have met the enemy and he is us," #Occupy says "We are the bailout we've been waiting for." They're both right... (The Rolling Jubilee is picking up steam, donations, and good press.)
And there's more stuff happening on the "direct action" front - I'm saving the Forbes article on distributed "infrastructure" for future reference, and there's more thinky on doing more than just voting (didn't pick up on the Quinn Norton piece the first time around).
I feel like I should be optimistic given how many people seem to be really getting it right now, but there's so much that needs to be done; I'm really afraid whatever we accomplish is going to be much too little much too late.
Pogo says, "We have met the enemy and he is us," #Occupy says "We are the bailout we've been waiting for." They're both right... (The Rolling Jubilee is picking up steam, donations, and good press.)
And there's more stuff happening on the "direct action" front - I'm saving the Forbes article on distributed "infrastructure" for future reference, and there's more thinky on doing more than just voting (didn't pick up on the Quinn Norton piece the first time around).
I feel like I should be optimistic given how many people seem to be really getting it right now, but there's so much that needs to be done; I'm really afraid whatever we accomplish is going to be much too little much too late.
Like so many other people,
Nov. 7th, 2012 10:38 amI heaved a huge sigh of relief when Romney conceded.
But... This is only the beginning. As Eleanor Saitta puts it, "Voting is the smallest, most minuscule form of civic engagement. If you think it matters this much, I expect you all to move mountains." ("....or are you going to pretend that you've done your civic duty and can now go back to your jobs, your hobbies, your houses, and forget it?")
This is an utterly damning indictment of the system. But, I'm not sure how to get away from being forced to choose between the monsters the corporations present to us. (And, yes, Goldman Sachs is the biggest donor to both parties; we're not going to see banking/financial reform *or* election financing reform any time soon...)
So... Make a wish-list. Unhappy about local law enforcement having drones? Want to see Gitmo closed? Want not to have your email tapped, your motions tracked, your neighborhoods peppered with surveillance cameras? Make phone-calls, write letters, ask questions, learn how to use TOR and crypto. Know who your local politicians are, make *them* work. Write directly to the corporations that funded the opposition to labeling foods with GMOs, write directly to companies that make foods that probably contain GMOs (I think corn and soy are the most likely culprits).
Do things. Talk to other people who do things. Do things together.
But... This is only the beginning. As Eleanor Saitta puts it, "Voting is the smallest, most minuscule form of civic engagement. If you think it matters this much, I expect you all to move mountains." ("....or are you going to pretend that you've done your civic duty and can now go back to your jobs, your hobbies, your houses, and forget it?")
This is an utterly damning indictment of the system. But, I'm not sure how to get away from being forced to choose between the monsters the corporations present to us. (And, yes, Goldman Sachs is the biggest donor to both parties; we're not going to see banking/financial reform *or* election financing reform any time soon...)
So... Make a wish-list. Unhappy about local law enforcement having drones? Want to see Gitmo closed? Want not to have your email tapped, your motions tracked, your neighborhoods peppered with surveillance cameras? Make phone-calls, write letters, ask questions, learn how to use TOR and crypto. Know who your local politicians are, make *them* work. Write directly to the corporations that funded the opposition to labeling foods with GMOs, write directly to companies that make foods that probably contain GMOs (I think corn and soy are the most likely culprits).
Do things. Talk to other people who do things. Do things together.
And the gauntlet's been thrown.
Jan. 21st, 2012 12:41 pmMPAA threatens politicians:
This is a "Dear Hollywood, it is not ok to not know how the internet works" moment. Hollywood can "buy" legislators, spend for influence. But money cannot hold back technology, and there will always be too many people willing to ignore stupid laws, and too many smart people willing to actively undermine unreasonable laws - the powers you thought you bought cannot find them all, much less arrest all of them.
Also, Does anybody doubt that we need campaign-financing reform? I love this, think I'm going to print it out and send it, along with a paper letter, to DiFi's office.
"Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake..."
This is a "Dear Hollywood, it is not ok to not know how the internet works" moment. Hollywood can "buy" legislators, spend for influence. But money cannot hold back technology, and there will always be too many people willing to ignore stupid laws, and too many smart people willing to actively undermine unreasonable laws - the powers you thought you bought cannot find them all, much less arrest all of them.
Also, Does anybody doubt that we need campaign-financing reform? I love this, think I'm going to print it out and send it, along with a paper letter, to DiFi's office.
last link of the evening...
Jan. 20th, 2012 10:27 pmThis one's important - it's a review of sorts of the anti-SOPA/PIPA campaign (and a small slice of history). What worked, some of how/why it worked, what the surprises were, what might be good ideas for next time. Because there will be a next time...
http://dashes.com/anil/2012/01/the-history-and-future-of-web-protest.html
http://dashes.com/anil/2012/01/the-history-and-future-of-web-protest.html
last one for a bit...
Jan. 20th, 2012 01:12 pm... I do need to spend a few hours at work...
I took a look at #blackmarch, just out of curiosity. I am entertained by the split between "Hell, yes/They don't get to wreck the intarwebs for their money!" and "why don't we just pay for [some specific subset of content]" - those all seem to be from male handles. I guess they haven't seen the comparisons between what Big Media has been doing and an "increasingly dysfunctional relationship"... I wonder how long it would take for them to dump a date who treated them this badly (and how vocal they'd be about that process)?
I took a look at #blackmarch, just out of curiosity. I am entertained by the split between "Hell, yes/They don't get to wreck the intarwebs for their money!" and "why don't we just pay for [some specific subset of content]" - those all seem to be from male handles. I guess they haven't seen the comparisons between what Big Media has been doing and an "increasingly dysfunctional relationship"... I wonder how long it would take for them to dump a date who treated them this badly (and how vocal they'd be about that process)?
... and found this: Black March. Many thanks to nighean_isis for the headsup!
I'm in, with small caveats... One suggestion was to buy content (if you must) only from independent retailers/creators who opposed SOPA/PIPA, but avoid Big Industry entertainments. My neighborhood indie bookstore will be the only place I'll shop for books and such, and I'll only be buying used media for the month... (Not that it would be a hardship for me to go completely without for the month. But I like supporting independent retailers, and this is one way of doing that.)
I know there are independent creators who actually support those bills in spite of the legislation being poorly written, badly aimed and utterly ineffective. The question I'd love to ask, if I was speaking to them, is: Which way do you lose more business? Through "piracy" or through people like me who are adamantly against censorship (and the presumption of guilt, and punishment without trial) and shop by our ethics?
I'm in, with small caveats... One suggestion was to buy content (if you must) only from independent retailers/creators who opposed SOPA/PIPA, but avoid Big Industry entertainments. My neighborhood indie bookstore will be the only place I'll shop for books and such, and I'll only be buying used media for the month... (Not that it would be a hardship for me to go completely without for the month. But I like supporting independent retailers, and this is one way of doing that.)
I know there are independent creators who actually support those bills in spite of the legislation being poorly written, badly aimed and utterly ineffective. The question I'd love to ask, if I was speaking to them, is: Which way do you lose more business? Through "piracy" or through people like me who are adamantly against censorship (and the presumption of guilt, and punishment without trial) and shop by our ethics?
GoDaddy changed its mind about supporting SOPA... Bad PR (or at least *more* of it) and the rush of folks ditching for companies opposed to the blacklist bill well in advance of the proposed 12/29 date to leave GoDaddy probably had a little bit to do with that.
There are still many companies that support the bill (Wednesday's list is here, hasn't been updated to reflect GoDaddy's shift), and some of them might be "too big to boycott" (as JP Barlow put it)... but none of them are too big to completely ignore public opinion.
Personally, I don't think Mastercard and Visa are too big to boycott, at least in part... I don't know about you all, but I own too much damn plastic and am in the process of slowly cutting back to one "emergency card" and maybe one "daily use" card (and, no, I don't use all the plastic I own - it's another reason I'm cutting back). I'll happily write a letter to both behemoths stating that I'm cutting back in part because of the irregularities in the banking industry over the last couple of years (several of my card-issuing banks have been implicated in unsavory dealings), but that their support of a bill that will actually make the internet less secure is hastening my process of weaning myself off the use of plastic entirely.
I may or may not send polite and slightly puzzled letters to the cosmetics companies on that list, asking why they're supporting bad internet legislation... But I'm not a heavy customer of any of them, don't feel that "threatening to leave forever" is particularly useful.
There are still many companies that support the bill (Wednesday's list is here, hasn't been updated to reflect GoDaddy's shift), and some of them might be "too big to boycott" (as JP Barlow put it)... but none of them are too big to completely ignore public opinion.
Personally, I don't think Mastercard and Visa are too big to boycott, at least in part... I don't know about you all, but I own too much damn plastic and am in the process of slowly cutting back to one "emergency card" and maybe one "daily use" card (and, no, I don't use all the plastic I own - it's another reason I'm cutting back). I'll happily write a letter to both behemoths stating that I'm cutting back in part because of the irregularities in the banking industry over the last couple of years (several of my card-issuing banks have been implicated in unsavory dealings), but that their support of a bill that will actually make the internet less secure is hastening my process of weaning myself off the use of plastic entirely.
I may or may not send polite and slightly puzzled letters to the cosmetics companies on that list, asking why they're supporting bad internet legislation... But I'm not a heavy customer of any of them, don't feel that "threatening to leave forever" is particularly useful.
a little bit more direct action:
Dec. 22nd, 2011 01:16 pmIf you are opposed to SOPA and are a client of GoDaddy, you could move your domains (as well as your money)...
It's worth reading the comments for the cautions about "moving" accounts to a GoDaddy sock-puppet company, if you decide to do this.
It's worth reading the comments for the cautions about "moving" accounts to a GoDaddy sock-puppet company, if you decide to do this.