A late notice of a discussion event today at NYU, all welcome. Note there isa live webcast.*What*: ISOC-NY Event – Beyond the Bleeding Edge: Confronting the Ghosts inthe Machine*Where*: Warren Weaver Hall NYU, 251 Mercer St NYC, Room 109*When*: Saturday, June 18, 1-5 pm*Who*: Public Welcome. Admission Free.*Webcast*: http://bit.ly/isoctv*Hashtag*: < at >isocny <http://twitter.com/#!/search/%40isocny>*We have designed our civilization based on science and technology. We havealso arranged things so that almost no one understands science andtechnology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with itfor a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance andpower is going to blow up inour faces.” – Carl Sagan*Never has a clear comprehension of the technology surrounding us been morecritical than today. We tell machines what to do and hope they’ll do it, andwhen they don’t they leave us vulnerable to technological accidents and actsof malice we cannot comprehend. This event will bring together technologistsfrom a variety of disciplines and backgrounds to explore technology on agranular level, from perspectives ranging from user behavior in virtualenvironments to the exploitation of functions at the hardware level.*SPEAKERS**David Solomonoff*: Overview: Cargo Cults and Ghosts in the MachineDavid Solomonoff is the President of the Internet Society of New York (ISOC-NY), a chapter of the global Internet Society (ISOC).*Josephine Dorado*: Virtual Actions, Real World EffectsJosephine Dorado is a virtual worlds and online community consultant,educator, interactive events producer and skydiver. She was a Fulbrightscholarship recipient and initiated the Kidz Connect program, which connectsyouth internationally via creative collaboration and theatrical performancein virtual worlds. Josephine also received a MacArthur Foundation award toco-found Fractor.org, which matches news with opportunities for activism.She currently teaches at the New School and is the live events producer forThis Spartan Life, a talk show inside the video game Halo.*Carol Parkinson*: The Evolution of Computational ArtCarol Parkinson is the Executive Director of Harvestworks and has beeninvolved in the programming and development of the organization since 1982.She is a founding member of TELLUS, the experimental audio series andcontinues to support and distribute experimental and innovative work in thedigital media arts. Her primary interest is the development of newtechnological tools for art-making and the cultivation of a new aestheticinvolving sound and image in the electronic arts.*Aram Sinnreich*: MondoNet: Wireless Mesh Networking By the People, For thePeopleAram Sinnreich is an assistant professor at Rutgers University’s School ofCommunication and Information, and the author of the recent book “Mashed Up:Music, Technology and the Rise of Configurable Culture.” He has writtenabout music, media and technology for The New York Times, Billboard, andWired, has testified as an expert witness in several cases including theSupreme Court file sharing suit MGM vs. Grokster, and has offered hisexpertise as an analyst and consultant to hundreds of companies, from theFortune 500 to fledgling startups, since 1997.*Jeremy Pesner*: Behavior While Under the Influence (of Gaming)Jeremy Pesner graduated from Dickinson College in 2009 with a BS in ComputerScience. He is very curious about the digital landscape and the elementsshaping its future. His interests and prior work include educational gaming,website design, tech policy, government 2.0, and cloud computing. He will beattending Georgetown University this fall in the Communication, Culture &Technology program.*Mike Goodman*: An Introduction to NES HackingMike Goodman, aka Invaderbacca, has been creating visualizations and hackingvideo games within the chip music community for several years. He hasdeveloped a novel glove interface for manipulating video signals in realtime. He has performed at venues including Blip Festival, Pulsewave, I/OChip Shows and the Engadget Show.
Dear Colleagues,A Korean actress supporting Jin-Sook Kim, the Korean worker who’s been staying on a crane for 160 days protest. But there is an impending threat from the corporate and riot police to suppress the protest and people’s support. Here are links: 1. South Korean Actress Promotes Labour Protest (Al Jazeera English, The Stream)http://youtu.be/cCBdYcC54d82. Actress tweets visit and arrest at labor sit-in site: Kim Yeo-jin has used Twitter to mobilize a group in support of labor groups (The Hankyoreh, Korean Newspaper)http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/483059.htmlPlease read, watch, and circulate the links widely. Thank you,Sangmin
Democracy is born in the squaresChristos GionanopoulosThere may be no better proof of the rupture that is brought about by the “movement of the squares” other than its open, participatory, directly democratic way of organising and functioning. Within a single week it has given birth to a political culture of a different type, one that literally overcomes all known models of organising and struggle to date.Even if the issue of its procedures is incomplete, it comes up again and again and comprises the most important legacy already left to the political and social life of the country. This does not mean there are no issues with disorganisation, inefficiency, delays. Taking into account however the explosive rhythm of its development, the lack of previous experience on the side of those who created it, along with the need to compile, step by step, heterogeneous and different opinions of all participants through open procedures, all this is to be expected. Even if time-consuming, its procedures are flexible and are altered by the day; they are self-criticised, adjusted according to mistakes, comments and suggestions deriving from them being tested in practice.The open, egalitarian and participatory character of the procedures and ways of organising derives from the will to find such procedures that can unite all who are affected by the crisis and dissatisfied with the current political system. The pacifist and non-party character of the original call-out was the condition that shaped a common public sphere where everyone would meet without any badges to co-decide by discussing at the same level.The refusal to assign or elect representatives does not only cause unease to the forces of the state who do not know how to deal with this, as it overturns their tactic of manoeuvring, of libelling and destroying popular expressions of rage. More than that, this “facelessness” as Pretenderis would have it [a well-know reactionary TV journalist — trans], is the best way for the movement to safeguard transparency in its organising, as well as the will for whatever is created to express everyone — not just its most so-called “vanguard” or “politicised” part.And so, the matter of procedures is not simply a matter of organising but a key issue regarding its political essence. An issue of safeguarding the conditions of unity, involvement, free participation to the right of speech and in the decision making process of the people’s assemblies; working groups, thematic assemblies and their immediate review and control. This understanding that rejects any kind of representation or mediation, is safeguarded by the constant circulation of revocable positions and runs through all structures and functions born by this movement.In this spirit, the stance of the movement toward Mass Media is also differentiated, with the refusal to engage with them, not even by way of issuing press releases. With the screening of what part of its procedures and organising is photographed or taped, and most importantly, with the creation of the movement’s own channels of communication — with its main website www.real-democracy.gr, being the only medium-voice of its decisions.The people’s assemblyThe daily people’s assembly of Syntagma square (at 9 pm), like the corresponding ones in other cities, is the only one that holds the right to decision-making. The topics in each popular assembly are defined according to discussion, the demands and the proposals submitted in previous assemblies.These are recorded in minutes that are published on-line. Suggestions are also collected, both on-line and physically in person and these are all grouped together in the corresponding topical groups and return in the form of specific proposals to the popular assembly for its consultation and approval.The final resolutions are shaped during the assembly according to the comments of the speakers and are put up for approval, always before midnight, in order not to exclude those who work and those who have to use public transportation to return to their neighbourhoods.Everyone has a right to speak and in the beginning of each assembly, after reading out and approving its topics, tickets are distributed to everyone who wishes to do so; speakers are selected by draw during the assembly. Usually speakers range between 80 and 100 in their number, while more than 2000 people take part in the assembly on a daily basis. Despite this element of chance, experience so far has proven this to be the best way to avoid any phenomena of imposition of specific agendas or the influencing of the assembly’s decisions by organised interventions.After midnight, which is the moment until when the assembly must make its decisions, the assembly continues as an open speaking forum.The working groupsAt the moment, there are more than 15 working groups and 12 thematic ones. The working groups comprise the cornerstone of life at the square and their contribution so far has been priceless. Not only because they offer practical solutions and because so far they have responded, despite many problems and delays, to the ever-increasing needs for the shaping, the functionality and the procedures at the square, but most importantly because these groups themselves comprise the spirit of contribution of the people, their will to take life into their own hands and the capacities of their self-organising, without experts and capital, based on their own capacities. Thousands have joined up the group lists and this availability is the driving force of the movement even though it has not been utilised in the most effective of ways so far, partly due to the movement’s swift growing.It is indicative that despite the substantial financial needs and despite peoples’ offer to contribute financially in response, the idea of setting up a fund has been rejected. Not only because of the looming dangers in the management of the money but also in order to prove that there are other ways to get things done. And so, the practice is to propose instead for contributions in anything ranging from writing materials to food, PA equipment or film projectors. And the contribution of the people has exceeded all expectations.Until now, functioning groups include those of technical support, material supply, artists, cleaning, administrative support, canteen-nutrition, translation, respect (patrol), communication/multimedia, legal support, neighbourhood outreach, health, time bank and service exchange, composure and messengers. Each groups has been divided into subgroups according to each specialist work section. The groups meet in open assemblies every day at 6 pm and the messenger group makes sure that their needs and suggestions are known to all groups in order to safeguard the smooth cooperation and solving of any problems that may arise.The thematic assembliesThe functioning of the thematic assemblies was born from the need and demand of the people, as expressed through the open channels of the assembly and the websites (real-democracy, facebook etc.) to have processes that will shape positions on the burning issues, on all those reasons that brought people to the streets and to the squares. They also serve the need for the shaping of appropriate conditions for a more extensive discussion of particular issues before their approval—something that the central popular assembly cannot, as a procedure, cater for. And so thematic groups have been formed for the crisis, for employment and the unemployed, education and students, health and insurance, environment, technology, solidarity, people with special needs, justice and legal issues, consultation of the debt. These assemblies meet daily between 7 and 9 pm and hundreds of people participate in some. Making their functioning substantial will largely aid and feed the discussion and topics covered in the main popular assembly, along with the attempt to articulate some concrete discourse for the overturning of the current system and the country’s escape from the crisis according to the will of the people.# distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission# <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets# more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l# archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime< at >kein.org
Hi guys.I think that the problem is bigger than just Holland.Maybe we have to:1.- report from each country in the EU the cut downs.2.- look for who is the representing in the arts and culture in the EUparliament.3.- recollect enough signs or firms (sorry but I don't know the exact termin English) and present it to make them to do a question in the parliament.4.- maybe Nettime could coordinate that and present it.Is my thought.Here in Spain the situation is also dramatic.BestsV
I would support the idea of a "european map" of cultural cuts and restructuring. as I understand the situation in hungary, there is cuts and there is restructuring culture to be the support of a nationalist idea.bestt
dear nettimers,I just posted this short text on the newTactical Media Files blog, a first attempt to reflect on the remarkable street protests (the 'movement of the squares') from Tahrir to Puerta del Sol, from Tunis to Athens and beyond. It seems slowly possible to start taking this discussion a bit further than the necessary mobilisation statements witnessed so far.http://blog.tacticalmediafiles.net/?p=106bests,Eric-----------------The Tactics of Campingby Eric Kluitenberg, June 20, 2011.Yes We Camp!Michel de Certeau observed that the tactics employed by the 'weak' are always on the watch for opportunities, and that these opportunities must be seized "on the wing". Tactics, de Certeau writes, have no base at their disposal from where they can capitalise on their advantages, prepare their expansions, or secure their independence from circumstances. Instead tactics 'insinuate' themselves into the places of others. They operate on the terrain of strategic power, 'fragmentarily', without taking it over in its entirety. Whatever these tactics win, they cannot keep. [1] Hence, tactics are always nomadic.The Spanish elections of 2011 certainly presented one such opportunity to appropriate the moment and a strategic space tactically. The spill-over of resentment over youth unemployment, political inaction and incompetence, and the continuing spectre of austerity sparked a spontaneous anti-movement; the Indignado, the outraged. The Indignado started massive street protests taking the city squares in cities all over Spain by camping on them, repurposing the strategic space for civic deliberation and protest.Perhaps most remarkable about this 'anti-movement' is precisely its refusal to be or become a movement. In their manifesto for Real Democracy they write: "We are ordinary people. We are like you: people, who get up every morning to study, work or find a job, people who have family and friends. People, who work hard every day to provide a better future for those around us." [2] And in the call for nothing less than #Globalrevolution the initiators identify themselves as "the the outraged, the anonymous, the voiceless", who no longer gaze at vertical power, but instead look sideways, horizontally: "No political party, association or trade union represents us. Nor do we want them to, because each and every one of us speaks for her or himself." [3]When scrutinising the websites and resources that are connected to the central anchoring point, http://takethesquare.net/, no final set of principles or demands can be found, except for a call to involvement in working towards a 'better world' that puts 'people and nature' before 'economic interests', and >useful documents< that can guide the process of bottom-up, collective decision making, avoiding the need for leadership or 'organisation'. "The time has come for the woman and man in the street to take back their public spaces to debate and build a new future together." [4]http://takethesquare.wordpress.com/useful-documents/Camping BluesAn important question is where to locate your camp? The city square is for obvious reasons a well chosen site. As Greek activist Christos Gionanopoulos maintains, "democracy is born in the square", the classical site for a people's assembly. In his view the 'movement of the squares' has initiated a startlingly new political culture, one that its open, participatory, and offers a 'directly democratic way of organising and functioning'. "Within a single week it has given birth to a political culture of a different type, one that literally overcomes all known models of organising and struggle to date", Gionanopoulos maintains. [5]There is a deeper sense of media awareness in this (anti-) 'movement of the squares'. Gionanopoulos writes: "..the stance of the movement toward Mass Media is also differentiated, with the refusal to engage with them, not even by way of issuing press releases. With the screening of what part of its procedures and organising is photographed or taped, and most importantly, with the creation of the movement's own channels of communication — with its main website www.real-democracy.gr, being the only medium-voice of its decisions." But obviously, the well-chosen site, the public city square derives much of its power from its public visibility. It is certainly impossible, and also highly undesirable for this public spectacle not to be picked up by mass and mainstream media. In fact the public camps on city squares are one of the most mediagenic forms of popular protest to have emerged in recent years, from Tahrir to Puerta del Sol, and this status has undeniably facilitated their international dispersal by the very system the activists claim to deny. www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2011/06/09/613-democracy-is-born-in-the-squares/Some activists can also get disheartened with the lagging nature of collective and non-hierarchical decision making procedures. In a text of 2002, The Dark Side of Camping, Susanne Lang and Florian Schneider reflect on the daily experience of the International border camp in Strasbourg, July 19 - 28, 2002. [6] They recall how by the time that the 'radical-democratic decision-making process' had come to the point of stating positions, the sun had already reached Zenith, without actual decisions having been made. The urgency of the matter on the table, the inhuman border, detention and expulsion regimes appears to get lost in the haze of bottom-up democracy for activists in a hurry to address them head on. Exasperation and frustration can easily set in. Thus, de-centred decision making always needs to navigate a precarious balance.Refusal of the media question was prevalent in those days, more so than in the current 'movement of the squares'. Lang and Schneider lament the ignorance towards the media activist component in the border camp, derided internally as 'silicon valley'. But they also point out how the complete refusal to co-operate with any media outlet, not even the indymedia type, leads to a fatal distortion of public perception of the actions: "Clearly, the manner in which the whole event is perceived from the outside will necessarily shift if the simple attempt to mediate ones own positions will be dismissed as opportunistic. : calls for freedom of movement might easily be interpreted as calls for freedom to muck about and act the fool. Who is protesting on the streets and why, which actions have been chosen and for what reason? The history, background, aims and ideas of the camp were concealed. Therefore the press relied on the statements of the police and the mayor", Lang and Schneider write. And while scepticism about playing the mainstream media game might be justified, relying on at least self-organised media outlets and communication channels to the wider public seems an essential step forward for the activists. Lang and Schneider had to recover from a severe case of camping blues in those days. For them the marriage of camping and media activism was about about political communication: "networking understood as situational negotiations that are based on the possibility of changing ones own standpoint as well as the standpoint of the other". However, what they encountered was an introverted political culture, what they call a 'a neo-romantic motivated anti-capitalism'. Lang / Schneider: "Prevalent in those ten days in Strasbourg was a hermetic culture of immediacy that was neglecting and dismissive of every form of artificial or technical supported mediation, due to the fear of it being a hindrance on some amorphous idea of natural self-development." [6]www.tacticalmediafiles.net/article.jsp?objectnumber=44087From the media to the streetOne of he central claims of the tactical media 'movement' has been to state that power has shifted to the symbolic domain of electronic mediation, and therefore power also has to be contested in the sphere of symbolic mediation, as for instance Steve Kurtz of Critical Art Ensemble has claimed [7]. This shift also implies that to intervene in and tamper with the symbolic (in real-time mediation) means to intervene in and tamper with 'real' power. So, why then this seemingly regressive move back to the street and the square? One important lesson can already be drawn from the Syrian uprising, an escalating conflict bordering on civil war whose outcome is still completely uncertain while this text is written. Dubbed the 'Syrian Cyber Revolution' the tactical appropriation of social media tools played a prominent role in organising the street protests, as they have done in many other places. The Syrian youngsters / activists derived a strong sense of empowerment from their newly found capacities to organise, coalesce and unify around common interest via social networking tools such as facebook.However, a painful lesson was to learn that the newly established networks could also be 'read' - necessarily so because of the relatively open and public character they required to be useful for intended purposes - by the Syrian authorities, whose prime interests was to seek out the central nodes in the network and eradicate them, working outwards towards the mass of networked participants. Visibility here means not just empowerment, but also vulnerability, becoming a discrete, identified, and localised target.A strange paradox emerged: In the seemingly private space of the social network activists had now become identified as an individual and more importantly as a discrete target for authoritarian repression. On the street however, the individual protester dissolved into a crowd to become a public. The rising death-tole from the Syrian protests indicates that this act of dissolving in the public is by no means without risk. It does, however, escape the targeted designation of the social networking space, which as an activist tool had de facto become ineffectual or even counter-productive for the local activists. Only in exile, out of reach of a repressive and violent authority, could the social networking space be used for effective public political communication, and possibly to mobilise the international diaspora.The tactical operations, both in the streets as well as in the media, necessarily needed to remain nomadic in these circumstances, always on the look out for temporary spaces of opportunity. Hybrid tactics in a hybrid spaceEmbodied public spaces and media spaces do not exist independent of each other anymore. They constitute each other. As much as that the spaces of opportunity in the media are determined by the physical and political conditions they are built upon, so is the physical public space constructed by the media flows that permeate it; communicative practices, surveillance, mediated representation. As a result the logic of these spaces is hybridised: the media flows have to locate themselves to become manifest and meaningful, to escape their inherent virtualisation, while physical presences are permeated by electronically mediated flows that both construct and capture them.Activists need to understand the hybridised logic of hybrid space [8], its variability, its moments of opportunity and closure, to make use of them. The newest generation of civic activists, the (anti-) 'movement of the squares' seems to have ingrained and internalised this hybrid logic, almost unthinkingly. Social media tools, wireless devices, digital networks, self-publication channels seem nothing less than self-evident to them, and they are learning how such spaces of opportunity can suddenly close down, at which point it is time to move on - thus producing a continuous nomadic movement that as yet is unclear where it will land.www.tacticalmediafiles.net/article.jsp?objectnumber=48405References:1 - Michel de Certeau - The Practice of Everyday Life, University of California Press, 1984, p. xiv.2 - www.democraciarealya.es/?page_id=8143 - See the archived announcement for June 19, 2011, at: www.tacticalmediafiles.net/article.jsp?objectnumber=532484 - ibid.5 - Christos Gionanopoulos, "Democracy is born in the squares", June 6, 2011 www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2011/06/09/613-democracy-is-born-in-the-squares/6 - Susanne Lang and Florian Schneider, The Dark Side of Camping, 2002. www.tacticalmediafiles.net/article.jsp?objectnumber=440877 - See amongst others Critical Art Ensemble, "Digital Resistance" www.critical-art.net/books/digital/8 - See also: Eric Kluitenberg, The Network of Waves, 2006 www.tacticalmediafiles.net/article.jsp?objectnumber=48405Source:Tactical Media Files Bloghttp://blog.tacticalmediafiles.net/?p=106
i am will risk taking my and your important time away from studying howperfect and revolutionary are facebook and twitter to draw attention to yetanother science-fiction fairly tale about what might happen someday ifcomputers get in the wrong hands, courtesy of yet another of my wacky,paranoid, near-apocalyptic sources of worry. if you choose even toread/consider that some part of it might be true, go ahead, take a deepbreath, and go back and open up WoW again. someone else will take care ofit. someone open source.America fights and thinks about its wars. Predator drones, the Cessna-sizedworkhorses that have dominated unmanned flight since the Sept. 11, 2001,attacks, are by now a brand name, known and feared around the world. But farless widely known are the sheer size, variety and audaciousness of a rapidlyexpanding drone universe, along with the dilemmas that come with it.The Pentagon now has some 7,000 aerial drones, compared with fewer than 50 adecade ago. Within the next decade the Air Force anticipates a decrease inmanned aircraft but expects its number of ???multirole??? aerial drones like theReaper ??? the ones that spy as well as strike ??? to nearly quadruple, to 536.Already the Air Force is training more remote pilots, 350 this year alone,than fighter and bomber pilots combined.???It???s a growth market,??? said Ashton B. Carter, the Pentagon???s chief weaponsbuyer.The Pentagon has asked Congress for nearly $5 billion for drones next year,and by 2030 envisions ever more stuff of science fiction: ???spy flies???equipped with sensors and microcameras to detect enemies, nuclear weapons orvictims in rubble. Peter W. Singer, a scholar at the Brookings Institutionand the author of ???Wired for War,??? a book about military robotics, callsthem ???bugs with bugs.???Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker, War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny asBugs <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/world/20drones.html>, *The New YorkTimes* (June 19, 2011)[image: microdrones]Chang W. Lee/The New York Times. A microdrone during a demo flight atWright-Patterson Air Force Base.Filed under:surveillance <http://www.uncomputing.org/?cat=62>,war<http://www.uncomputing.org/?cat=64>,what are computers for <http://www.uncomputing.org/?cat=10> by dgloumbiahttp://www.uncomputing.org/?p=91
Statement in relation to the outlawing of the Copenhagen Free University:All power to the free universities of the futureThe Copenhagen Free University was an attempt to reinvigorate the emancipatoryaspect of research and learning, in the midst of an ongoing economisation ofall knowledge production in society. Seeing how education and research werebeing subsumed into an industry structured by a corporate way of thinking, wemessy life people live within the contradictions of capitalism. We wanted toreconnect knowledge production, learning and skill sharing to the everydaywithin a self-organised institutional framework of a free university. Ourintention was multi-layered and was of course partly utopian, but alsopractical and experimental. We turned our flat in Copenhagen into a universityby the very simple act of declaring 'this is a university'. By thistransformative speech act the domestic setting of our flat became a university.It didn't take any alterations to the architecture other than the small thingsneeded in terms of having people in your home staying over, presentingthoughts, researching archival material, screening films, presenting documentsand works of art. Our home became a public institution dedicated to theproduction process of communal knowledge and fluctuating desires.The ethos of the CFU was critical and opinionated about the ideological nature of knowledge, which meant that we did not try to cover the institution in a cloud of dispassionate neutrality and transcendence as universities traditionally do. The Copenhagen Free University became a site of socialised and politicised research, developing knowledge and debate around certain fields of social practice. During its six years of existence, the CFU entered into five fields of research: feminist organisation, art and economy, escape subjectivity, television/media activism and art history. The projects were initiated with the experience of the normative nature of mainstream knowledge production and research, allowing us to see how certain areas of critical practice were being excluded. Since we didn't wanted to replicate the structure of the formal universities, the way we developed the research was based on open calls to people who found interest in our fields or interest in our perspec tive on knowledge production. Slowly the research projects were collectively constructed through the display of material, presentations, meetings, and spending time together. The nature of the process was sharing and mutual empowerment, not focusing on a final product or paper, but rather on the process of communisation and redistribution of facts and feelings. Parallel to the development of the CFU, we started to see self-organised universities sprouting up everywhere. Over this time, the basic question we were constantly asking ourselves was, what kind of university do we need in relation to our everyday? This question could only be answered in the concrete material conditions of our lives. The multiplicity of self-organised universities that were starting in various places, and which t ook all kinds of structures and directions, reflected the diversity of these material conditions. This showed that the neoliberal university model was only one model among many models; the o nly one given as a model to the students of capital.As the strategy of self-institution focused on taking power and not acceptingthe dualism between the mainstream and the alternative, this in itself carriedsome contradictions. The CFU had for us become a too fixed identifier of acertain discourse relating to emancipatory education within academia and theart scene. Thus we decided to shut down the CFU in the winter of 2007 as a wayof withdrawing the CFU from the landscape. We did this with the statement 'WeHave Won' and shut the door of the CFU just before the New Year. During the sixyears of the CFU's existence, the knowledge economy had rapidly, andaggressively, become the norm around us in Copenhagen and in northern Europe.The rise of social networking, lifestyle and intellectual property as enginesof valorisation meant that the knowledge economy was expanding into the tiniestpores of our lives and social relations. The state had turned to a wholesaleprivatisation of former public educational institutions, converting them intomines of raw material for industry in the shape of ideas, desires and humanbeings. But this normalising process was somehow not powerful enough to silenceall forms of critique and dissent; other measures were required.In December 2010 we received a formal letter from the Ministry of Science,Technology and Innovation telling us that a new law had passed in theparliament that outlawed the existence of the Copenhagen Free Universitytogether with all other self-organised and free universities. The letter statedthat they were fully aware of the fact that we do not exist any more, but justto make sure they wished to notify us that "In case the Copenhagen FreeUniversity should resume its educational activities it would be included underthe prohibition in the university law ?33". In 2010 the university law inDenmark was changed, and the term 'university' could only be used byinstitutions authorised by the state. We were told that this was to protect'the students from being disappointed'. As we know numerous people who aredisappointed by the structural changes to the educational sector in recentyears, we have decided to contest this new clampdown by opening a new freeuniversity in Copenhagen. This forms part of our insistence that theemancipatory perspective of education should still be on the map. We demand thelaw be scrapped or altered, allowing self-organised and free universities to bea part of a critical debate around the production of knowledge now and in thesociety of the future.We call for everybody to establish their own free universities in their homesor in the workplace, in the square or in the wilderness. All power to the freeuniversities of the future.The Free U Resistance Committee of June 18 2011. Practicalities in Denmark: Please send a mail to the Minister of Science,Technology and Innovation declaring your university (min-91wR1lEMfcY< at >public.gmane.org) and cc. to theThe Danish Agency of Universities (ubst-8Rl2kCDU9AU< at >public.gmane.org)
i am will risk taking my and your important time away from studying howperfect and revolutionary are facebook and twitter to draw attention to yetanother science-fiction fairly tale about what might happen someday ifcomputers get in the wrong hands, courtesy of yet another of my wacky,paranoid, near-apocalyptic sources of worry. if you choose even toread/consider that some part of it might be true, go ahead, take a deepbreath, and go back and open up WoW again. someone else will take care ofit. someone open source.America fights and thinks about its wars. Predator drones, the Cessna-sizedworkhorses that have dominated unmanned flight since the Sept. 11, 2001,attacks, are by now a brand name, known and feared around the world. But farless widely known are the sheer size, variety and audaciousness of a rapidlyexpanding drone universe, along with the dilemmas that come with it.The Pentagon now has some 7,000 aerial drones, compared with fewer than 50 adecade ago. Within the next decade the Air Force anticipates a decrease inmanned aircraft but expects its number of “multirole” aerial drones like theReaper — the ones that spy as well as strike — to nearly quadruple, to 536.Already the Air Force is training more remote pilots, 350 this year alone,than fighter and bomber pilots combined.“It’s a growth market,” said Ashton B. Carter, the Pentagon’s chief weaponsbuyer.The Pentagon has asked Congress for nearly $5 billion for drones next year,and by 2030 envisions ever more stuff of science fiction: “spy flies”equipped with sensors and microcameras to detect enemies, nuclear weapons orvictims in rubble. Peter W. Singer, a scholar at the Brookings Institutionand the author of “Wired for War,” a book about military robotics, callsthem “bugs with bugs.”Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker, War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny asBugs <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/world/20drones.html>, *The New YorkTimes* (June 19, 2011)[image: microdrones]Chang W. Lee/The New York Times. A microdrone during a demo flight atWright-Patterson Air Force Base.Filed under:surveillance <http://www.uncomputing.org/?cat=62>,war<http://www.uncomputing.org/?cat=64>,what are computers for <http://www.uncomputing.org/?cat=10> by dgloumbiahttp://www.uncomputing.org/?p=91
A possibly interesting development particularly if it becomes more widelysupported among the BRICS! M ---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Paul D. Fernhout <pdfernhout-8m8MC6unOGE8Nicj8z0LpdBPR1lH4CV8< at >public.gmane.org>Date: Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 3:58 PMSubject: [Open Manufacturing] Russian President: Time To Reform Copyright -SlashdotTo: Open Manufacturing <openmanufacturing-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw< at >public.gmane.org>http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/06/07/0358209/Russian-President-Time-To-Reform-Copyright"While most of the rest of the world keeps ratcheting up copyright laws byincreasing enforcement and terms, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appearsto be going in the other direction. He's now proposing that Russia buildCreative Commons-style open and free licenses directly into Russiancopyright law. This comes just a few days after he also chided other G8leaders for their antiquated views on copyright."http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110606/07525814563/russian-president-proposes-creative-commons-style-rules-baked-directly-into-copyright.shtmlhttp://torrentfreak.com/russias-sane-thoughts-on-copyright-110530/Also related:http://hken.ibtimes.com/articles/153988/20110529/g8-closes-with-internet-declaration-and-russian-objection.htm--Paul Fernhouthttp://www.pdfernhout.net/====The biggest challenge of the 21st century is the irony of technologies ofabundance in the hands of those thinking in terms of scarcity.
You know what scares me? The online mobby MARGARET WENTEThe Globe and MailThursday, Jun. 23, 2011 2:00AM EDThttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/you-know-what-scares-me-the-online-mob/article2071519/http://tinyurl.com/6c3dbyjWhen a young man named Nathan Kotylak was caught on cellphone stuffing a gas-soaked rag into the fuel tank of a Vancouver police car last week, I was as outraged as everyone was. What a punk. But now I’m feeling sorry for the guy. The promising young athlete is the most hated 17-year-old in Canada. After his image was posted online, he and his family were deluged with threats. They had to flee their house, and his father temporarily closed his medical practice. The young offender turned himself in to police, declined his (theoretical) right to anonymity, and read a lengthy televised apology.“I want to say as clearly as I can that there is no excuse for my behaviour,” he said, through sobs. “I have let my family and friends down, and I will face the consequences and take responsibility for my actions.”But not everyone is content to let justice take its course. Citizen vigilantes want him run out of town on a rail. Fortunately for them, tar and feathers are harder to find than websites with names such as publicshamingeternus.The online mob that formed in the wake of the Vancouver riot is as scary as the mob that vandalized the city. People want the miscreants not only punished by the law, but publicly humiliated, kicked out of school and fired from their jobs. As one of the milder online comments put it, “String ’em up.”In some ways, the new powers of citizen watchdogs are a good thing. I’m glad that ordinary people can use their cellphone cameras to expose misbehaviour by police and other authorities. I am not so glad that so many ordinary people are in such a rush to turn in their neighbours.Many of these online vigilantes say there’s no problem here. After all, if you’re not doing anything wrong, then you have no reason to be worried. This is same argument made by the surveillance state.At first, Vancouver’s mayor and police chief were eager to distance the rioters from law-abiding citizens by calling them “thugs” and “anarchists.” Now the online vigilantes are making the same mistake. Mostly, the rioters were our kids and our neighbours’ kids.“What was going on in my head?” wailed Camille Cacnio, a young looter caught on cellphone taking two pairs of men’s pants from a clothing store. Ms. Cacnio is a student at the University of British Columbia majoring in conservation biology. In an online self-exculpation, she blamed the influence of the mob for her actions. “As bad as it sounds, the stealing was purely fun for me. I just wanted to get a souvenir at the time. … I was immature, intoxicated, full of adrenalin, disappointed in the loss, filled with young rage. … It was a spur of the moment kind of thing and I just got caught up in the chaos.” Besides, she says, she tried to stop some people who were vandalizing trees.It’s easy to heap scorn on Ms. Cacnio, who positively beamed as she posed online with her trophy pants. But her description of mob psychology – while not excusing her behaviour – is reasonably accurate. Take a too-large crowd of overly excited young adults, add stupendous quantities of alcohol, and watch the mayhem. Ms. Cacnio and her ilk deserve probation, fines, a long stint of community service, and a serious spanking. Most of them do not deserve jail time. None deserves a lifetime of infamy. Unfortunately, no one’s infamy can be expunged in cyberspace.There’s a reason we’ve delegated the administration of justice to the state, instead of to our neighbours. Neighbours aren’t always very rational. They have a disturbing tendency to hang ’em high and ask questions later. And some are all too eager to turn in other people. Societies where neighbours are routinely encouraged to spy on one another and report them to the state are not societies in which I’d particularly care to live.The social media expert Alexandra Samuel writes, “Precisely because social media is such a powerful tool of mass mobilization, it has the potential to turn selective co-operation with law enforcement into a mass culture of surveillance.” In other words, as she puts it, we have seen Big Brother. And he is us.-Flick--* WHERE'S MY ARTICLE, WORLD?http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Flick_Harrison* FLICK's WEBSITE & BLOG: http://www.flickharrison.com
A tale of two riots: the role of social media WENDY STUECK VANCOUVER— Globe and MailThursday, Jun. 16, 2011 11:42PM EDThttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/a-tale-of-two-riots-the-role-of-social-media/article2064685/http://tinyurl.com/626a3w6It was not a planned experiment. But two Stanley Cup riots in the same city 17 years apart are resulting in what is almost certain to become a landmark study of social media’s role in mob behaviour, police tactics and public response.Thousands of tweets, photos and videos from people on the street, as well as live television coverage, mean people were watching the 2011 riot unfold in real time – unlike 1994 when news reports trailed the event.As well as changing how the public witnessed the riot, social media in 2011 became a tool and platform for those involved, whether that was in bragging of their exploits on Facebook or using texts to tell acquaintances where looting was under way.In 1994, police obtained search warrants to compel television stations to turn over riot footage. In 2011, the Vancouver Police Department has set up a channel for people to upload photos and videos in the hopes of prosecuting those who trashed property and looted businesses.Some of the ways in which social media played a role:As fuel: Social media “exacerbates” the mob mentality that drives a riot, says Christopher Schneider, assistant professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. And the social media habit of photographing and broadcasting one’s activities and whereabouts gives another push. “The law-abiding citizens who normally would get out of Dodge are sticking around because I want to be part of the action, and I’m going to prove it, so I’m going to take a picture of myself beside this burning cop car.”As a way to fight back: Even as the smoke was clearing, Facebook groups were forming to identify people who had smashed and looted the city and to galvanize early morning clean-up crews that featured students, parents and their children and a group from the First United Church homeless shelter. On Twitter, the hash tag #thisismyvancouver became a rallying cry for messages that decried the riot’s violence and vandalism.As a tool for police: For police, online posts and the public’s videos and photographs are expected to play a significant role in identifying and charging those directly involved in the mayhem. Police can be expected to come down hard on people who bragged of their involvement to discourage the link between social media and future mass gatherings, Prof. Schneider said.The mob mentality phenomenon, which sees people in crowds act in ways they wouldn’t typically act on their own, has a parallel in cyberspace.“This idea of a lack of accountability has carried over into social media and cyberspace – where people are posting, ‘Hey, I robbed a store,” Prof. Schneider said. “Facebook is a society of 600 million people, and there’s this idea that, ‘Hey, nobody’s going to pay attention to my silly posting’ – but they are.”Social media may also have played a role in how police responded to Wednesday’s riot, Prof. Schneider said, noting that police would have expected that every move they made would be caught on camera. Early police response may have been muted in part because of a positive experience in the 2010 Olympics as well as memories from 1994, when police were slammed for being too tough on protesters, he said.In a blog post Thursday, Alexandra Samuel, director of the social and interactive media centre at Emily Carr University, warned of the dangers of “citizen surveillance,” citing potential risks such as informants in authoritarian states tracking tweets or posts critical of government.Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly quoted Professor Christopher Schneider as saying Facebook has six million users. The correct quote states Facebook has 600 million users. This version has been corrected.--* WHERE'S MY ARTICLE, WORLD?http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Flick_Harrison* FLICK's WEBSITE & BLOG: http://www.flickharrison.com
http://pastebin.com/1znEGmHaLulzec's claimed to have fathered a great number of the recent hacks against governments, institutions and corporation (CIA and Sony among). Now it's the time for them to disappear 1. . /$$ /$$ /$$$$$$ 2. .| $$ | $$ /$$__ $$ 3. .| $$ /$$ /$$| $$ /$$$$$$$$| $$ \__/ /$$$$$$ /$$$$$$$ 4. .| $$ | $$ | $$| $$|____ /$$/| $$$$$$ /$$__ $$ /$$_____/ 5. .| $$ | $$ | $$| $$ /$$$$/ \____ $$| $$$$$$$$| $$ 6. .| $$ | $$ | $$| $$ /$$__/ /$$ \ $$| $$_____/| $$ 7. .| $$$$$$$$| $$$$$$/| $$ /$$$$$$$$| $$$$$$/| $$$$$$$| $$$$$$.$ 8. .|________/ \______/ |__/|________/ \______/ \_______/ \_______/ 9. //Laughing at your security since 2011! 10. 11. .-- .-""-. 12. . ) ( ) 13. . ( ) ( 14. . / ) 15. . (_ _) 0_,-.__ 16. . (_ )_ |_.-._/ 17. . ( ) |lulz..\ 18. . (__) |__--_/ 19. . |'' ``\ | 20. . | [Lulz] \ | /b/ 21. . | \ ,,,---===?A`\ | ,==y' 22. . ___,,,,,---==""\ |M] \ | ;|\ |> 23. . _ _ \ ___,|H,,---==""""bno, 24. . o O (_) (_) \ / _ AWAW/ 25. . / _(+)_ dMM/ 26. . \< at >_,,,,,,---==" \ \\|// MW/ 27. .--''''" === d/ 28. . // SET SAIL FOR FAIL! 29. . ,'_________________________ 30. . \ \ \ \ ,/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 31. . _____ ,' ~~~ .-""-.~~~~~~ .-""-. 32. . .-""-. ///==--- /`-._ ..-' -.__..-' 33. . `-.__..-' =====\\\\\\ V/ .---\. 34. . ~~~~~~~~~~~~, _',--/_.\ .-""-. 35. . .-""-.___` -- \| -.__..- 36. 37. Friends around the globe, 38. 39. We are Lulz Security, and this is our final release, as today marks something meaningful to us. 50 days ago, we set sail with our humble ship on an uneasy and brutal ocean: the Internet. The hate machine, the love machine, the machine powered by many machines. We are all part of it, helping it grow, and helping it grow on us. 40. 41. For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could. All to selflessly entertain others - vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy. It's what we all crave, even the seemingly lifeless politicians and emotionless, middle-aged self-titled failures. You are not failures. You have not blown away. You can get what you want and you are worth having it, believe in yourself. 42. 43. While we are responsible for everything that The Lulz Boat is, we are not tied to this identity permanently. Behind this jolly visage of rainbows and top hats, we are people. People with a preference for music, a preference for food; we have varying taste in clothes and television, we are just like you. Even Hitler and Osama Bin Laden had these unique variations and style, and isn't that interesting to know? The mediocre painter turned supervillain liked cats more than we did. 44. 45. Again, behind the mask, behind the insanity and mayhem, we truly believe in the AntiSec movement. We believe in it so strongly that we brought it back, much to the dismay of those looking for more anarchic lulz. We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us. The support we've gathered for it in such a short space of time is truly overwhelming, and not to mention humbling. Please don't stop. Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve. 46. 47. So with those last thoughts, it's time to say bon voyage. Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind - we hope - inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love. If anything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere. Anywhere. 48. 49. Thank you for sailing with us. The breeze is fresh and the sun is setting, so now we head for the horizon. 50. 51. Let it flow... 52. 53. Lulz Security - our crew of six wishes you a happy 2011, and a shout-out to all of our battlefleet members and supporters across the globe 54. 55. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 56. 57. Our mayhem: http://lulzsecurity.com/releases/ 58. Our chaos: http://thepiratebay.org/user/LulzSec/ 59. Our final release: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/6495523/50_Days_of_Lulz 60. 61. Please make mirrors of material on the website, because we're not renewing the hosting. Goodbye. <3
Dear Friend and Colleagues : How to stop the tidal wave of political extremism in the Netherlandstoday? The extreme right PVV and its leader Geert Wilders inparticular have hijacked virtually all the debates on culture,education, minority rights and freedom of speech, but theirneo-liberal agenda smacks of a particular brand of fascism of by gonedays, as they have co-opted virtually the entire Dutch Politicalestablishment into this horrific misadventure.What has become of the Dutch historical tolerance? What are we goingto do to make sure that this country does not fall into the abyss ofirrational right wing fanatics in the name of preserving their ownbrand of European-ness. The enemy is NOT Islam. It is NOT strugglingartists, It is NOT the intellectuals, university students, hospitalworkers nor even ordinary citizen from all walks of life. The enemyis really the clique of neo-liberal capitalists who refuse to let goof their power and their jingoistic fear mongering in the name ofnational preservation, for their personal power aggrandizement andultimate idealogical control.I urge you all to please take a moment and look for possibilities offinding a pro-active way to protest the proposed actions of the DutchGovernment.We must stand against this tyranny of oppression of using publicfunding to silence the public itself!!!We cannot allow the fundamental destruction of our civil-society forpolitical expediency that services the right wing agenda here in theNetherlands or anywhere else!!! This has happened before in the UnitedStates under consecutive presidencies, beginning with Ronald Regan(1980-1988) and the US have never recovered from its own nationaldemise. As a matter of public record, education, culture, scientificresearch, social services, infrastructure, and all walk of life havebeen terribly effected by the American model : unbridled capitalismwithout responsibility!Do we really wish this neo-liberal nightmare to permanently destroythe foundations of our socio-political, cultural multiplicity?If all culture stopped for one day, all newspapers stop printing,all schools stop functioning, all hospitals closed their doors, alltelevision stations and all other forms of digital media stoppedbroadcasting, what would happen???This may be naive, but there must be a creative way to show resistanceagainst political tyranny. If change is happening in the Middle Eastafter 30 years of systematic oppression, we can also find ways tochange our direction before its too late!Please join me and thousands of others to voice their dismay at thecurrent demise of culture, civil society and ultimate diversity here.Monday 27 June 13.00-16.00 Plein & The Malieveld The HagueAAlso please go to other websites like : http://www.schadekaart.nl andhttp://www.marsderbeschaving.nl/index_en.php to find out how you cancontribute and get involved in this moment of extreme urgency.ibrahim quraishi www.ibrahimquraishi.org ps. as always to be removed from this mailing list, please click -->: [take_me_off_list-9TmWirt3NeG5PLkItHSBe0B+6BGkLq7r< at >public.gmane.org]
Louder Voices and Learning Networks http://wp.me/pJQl5-76Posted on June 25, 2011 by Michael GursteinThere is a stream of contemporary thought (with which I generally agree)which sees knowledge as being largely produced and disseminated by andthrough networks. That is, networks-social, technical, organizational-areseen as providing the basic framework within which knowledge activitiesincreasingly are taking place and where knowledge workers increasingly aredoing their work.This all seems really quite straightforward and even somehow commendable inthat it suggests that knowledge is being disengaged from the older top-downauthoritarian structures and institutions which so many have come todistrust or even despise. And of course, these networks are (or at leastappear to be) immaterial and placeless-existing or taking their form andsubstance through invisible wires, the ether, software such as Facebook, orother seemingly virtual products, themselves the outcome of the digital age.An upcoming conference "Mobilityshifts" is as good as any as an example ofthis kind of thinking-asserting in a somewhat breathless way that "Thefuture of learning will not be solely determined by digital culture but bythe re-organization of power relationships and institutional protocols."...http://wp.me/pJQl5-76
original to:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304887904576399871831156018.html#ixzz1QJzHz74YInside the Anonymous Army of 'Hacktivist' AttackersBy CASSELL BRYAN-LOW And SIOBHAN GORMANAnonymous, a loosely organized group of young computer experts oncefocused just on Internet freedom, has turned to more menacing attacks,including not only paralyzing websites but breaking in to steal data.Cassell Bryan-Low explains.HOOGEZAND-SAPPEMEER, NetherlandsIn this sleepy Dutch town last December,police burst into the bedroom of 19-year-old Martijn Gonlag as hehurriedly pulled on jeans over his boxer shorts. He was hauled away onsuspicion of taking part in cyber attacks by the online group callingitself Anonymous.Mr. Gonlag admits taking part in several attacks on websites, but herecently had a change of heart as some hackers adopted increasinglyaggressive tactics."People are starting to grow tired of" the hackers, he said in aninterview. "People are also starting to realize that Anonymous is a loosecannon."Now he appears to be a target himself. A chat room he hosts faces frequenthack attacks, he says.Mr. Gonlag's role reversal provides a glimpse of the unrulyhunt-or-be-hunted world underpinning a string of online attacks againstmajor companies and government bodiesincidents that have sparked adigital manhunt by law-enforcement agencies in several countries.What once was just righteous rabble-rousing by Anonymous in the name ofInternet freedom has mutated into more menacing attacks, including by asplinter group of Anonymous called LulzSec, which is alleged to have movedbeyond paralyzing websites to breaking in to steal data.The tumult over online agitators like Anonymous comes at a time when theworld's computers are under unprecedented attack. Governments suspect eachother of mounting cyber espionage and attacks on power grids and otherinfrastructure. Criminal gangs using sophisticated viruses cullcredit-card and other sensitive data to steal from bank accounts.Now "hacktivists" who populate groups like Anonymous and LulzSec, mostlyyoung males from their teens to early 30s, have also ignited increasingconcern among computer experts over the security of corporate andgovernment systems.Authorities in the U.K., Netherlands, Spain and Turkey have made more than40 arrests of alleged Anonymous participants. In the U.S., the FederalBureau of Investigation has conducted sweeping searches as part of acontinuing probe into various attacks. On Wednesday, U.K. police charged a19-year-old believed to have ties with both Anonymous and LulzSec, a groupwhose name is a blend of "lulz," or laughs, and "security."Anonymous and LulzSec pose a problem for law enforcement partly becausetheir membership and operations are difficult to pin down. They areamorphous entities with scant leadership structure or formal process formaking decisions.Anonymous is "an idea" rather than a group, said Gregg Housh, a34-year-old Web designer from Boston. "There is no one group, no onewebsite. That is what makes it so powerful in my eyes." Mr. Housh said hehelps Anonymous with logistics but doesn't take part in attempts to shutdown websites or do anything illegal.Waves of infighting spring up periodically within Anonymous, Mr. Houshadded. "This is very natural. It's what happens."A watershed in its tactics came in February when it hacked aCalifornia-based Internet-security firm called HB Gary Federal LLC, whichsells investigative services to companies and government agencies, andreleased tens of thousands of internal emails.Types of attacks by Anonymous or LulzSec:The incident sent a chill through the security industry."Computer-security specialists are afraid to challenge Anonymous," saidMikko Hypponen, of computer-security firm F-Secure Corp. "No one is thatconfident in their own systems."Some participants involved in that hack formed the LulzSec splinter group,according to security specialists and participants. LulzSec has claimedcredit for a string of computer break-ins, intensifying the response fromlaw-enforcement groups.Anonymous grew out of an online message forum formed in 2003 called 4chan,a destination for hackers and game players fond of mischievous pranks. Itsfollowers became more politically focused, embracing an ideology ofInternet freedom. In 2008, it made headlines with a campaign against theChurch of Scientology, protesting what Anonymous claimed was the religiousgroup's effort to control information about itself online.The campaign included "denial-of-service" attacksbombarding websites withdata to try to knock them offline. Later attacks targeted the movie andmusic industries, because of their efforts to stop piracy.In December, the group hit on a cause that propelled it into thespotlight: WikiLeaks. Anonymous began attacking organizations and peoplewho tangled with WikiLeaks and founder Julian Assange, who had beenarrested in London over sexual-misconduct allegations in Sweden, which hedenies.Anonymous attacks shut or slowed websites of businesses that had cut tieswith WikiLeaks, including MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc. and PayPal, a unit ofeBay Inc. All said their systems weren't compromised. PayPal said theattacks temporarily slowed payments via its website but not significantly.The campaign, Operation Payback, brought Anonymous new followers fromaround the world. Via online chat forums and social-media websites,participants disseminated instructions about how to download attacksoftware and about sites to target. Software called LOIC, or low-orbit ioncanon, was downloaded tens of thousands of times, security specialistssay.Among recruits was Mr. Gonlag, under the nickname Awinee, an online handlethe Dutch youth had used during a lifetime of intensive video-gameplaying. Spurred by talk of the WikiLeaks campaign in chat rooms, he piledin, at one point writing: "Fire, fire fire."Mr. Gonlag has admitted he participated in attacks including one againstthe website of a Dutch prosecutor who announced the arrest of a16-year-old in connection with the WikiLeaks campaign.Returning home in the early hours of Dec. 10, Mr. Gonlag said in aninterview, he typed the address of the prosecutor's website into theattack software and let his computer fire data for about half an hour.That afternoon, Dutch police arrested him and seized his desktop computerand phone.Mr. Gonlag, who awaits trial, is charged with crimes related to destroyinga computer network and inciting others to cause an attack, which carry apossible six years in prison.Tapping at his keyboard recently in jeans and a green T-shirt, Mr. Gonlagsaid that he took part in several pro-WikiLeaks attacks, which he likenedto a "digital sit-in," but that he wasn't guilty of the charges because hedidn't destroy or steal anything.He indicated he grew disenchanted as some arms of Anonymous allegedlymoved from paralyzing websites to stealing from them, putting the group in"a very, very bad position."Alluding to the cyber attacks he himself now faces, he said that when hiscomputer server that powers the online chat rooms comes under fire, hetakes the server offline and waits until his attackers tire of the effort.Then he connects back online again.Each online Anonymous forum, such as AnonOps and AnonNet, has multiplechat rooms or "channels," typically focused on a particular operation ortheme.While there may be a hundred or so active followers of a network on aregular basis, numbers swell into the thousands during popular campaigns.Many channels are public, but participants can also set up invitation-onlychat rooms or send each other private messages. Participants often speakonline using audio or camera software, and they also can share videos andother files. Many participants are U.S.-based but there is also asignificant following in Europe and elsewhere.Discussion ranges from political theory to technical chatter to juvenilebanter. In one chat log, a participant promised to push a company "so farinto orbit that they'll transmute into a gravitational dip and exudeHawking radiation."Anonymous does have a hierarchy of sorts, with a core group of about 15leaders who run the online chat rooms, participants say. They can issuesanctions, including banning someone from a channel or an entire network."There are nodes of power and authority, but it is pretty decentralized,and no one is calling the shots for all the operations," said GabriellaColeman, a New York University academic who follows Anonymous.The Anonymous attacks turned more ominous in February, when some membersbroke into HB Gary Federal's systems.The Internet-security company's then-chief executive, Aaron Barr, noticedthe problem one morning when he was unable to access corporate email viaan iPhone.He instantly suspected Anonymous, as he had been quoted in a newspaperarticle saying he had uncovered key participants. Soon, his Twitteraccount was hijacked and used to post racial slurs and his Social Securitynumber. Then Anonymous announced it had hacked his email and would makethe contents public."I was shocked and consumed by it," Mr. Barr said.By hacking into the company's public Web page and stealing passwords,attack participants obtained about 70,000 emails, which they postedonline. The traffic included details of a proposed effort to gatherinformation on critics of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in an attempt toprove illegal activity by labor-union members. Mr. Barr said theinitiative was only intended to show what information could be retrieved.The attackers also exposed minutiae of Mr. Barr's marital issues. He saidthe personal communications were taken out of context.Mr. Barr stepped down from his job in late February.Anonymous participants say the attacks expose weaknesses in the systems ofcomputer-security companies and large organizations. "They should bescared," said Corey Barnhill, a 23-year-old New Jersey native who uses theonline nickname Xyrix and who said he took part in the attack on HB GaryFederal. "You're college-educated and you can't secure a server? How hardis it? They can't keep a kid out?"Mr. Barnhill said the HB Gary Federal hack was designed to teach Mr. Barra lesson for suggesting he could unmask Anonymous. "Whacking him down apeg was pretty funny," he said.In April, an Anonymous denial-of-service attack against Sony Corp. wasfollowed by a breach of its computer system that resulted in the theft ofnames and birth dates and other personal information on about 100 millionpeople who play online video games through Sony's online gaming services.Sony shut down its PlayStation online network for nearly a month and hasestimated the attack cost it $171 million, including costs for enhancedsecurity.Sony has said that it isn't clear that any credit-card data were everaccessed. The company said it has added security to its systems.Sony told U.S. lawmakers it found a file left on its servers called"Anonymous," the contents of which said "We are Legion," a tagline oftenused by Anonymous.Anonymous participants claim responsibility for the denial-of-serviceattacks, in press releases and via their Twitter account. They said thegroup didn't orchestrate the data breach but didn't rule out that someonefrom the group could have been involved. Meanwhile, the LulzSec groupformed.Security experts who follow LulzSec say it has about 10 core participantsand is known for its hacking expertise. In recent weeks it has claimedresponsibility for breaking into computer systems of severalorganizations, including the U.S. Senate and an FBI affiliate calledInfraGard.Last week, LulzSec said it had knocked the Central Intelligence Agency'swebsite offline for about an hour. The CIA said no internal or classifiednetworks were affected.A call to a phone number set up by the group, 614-LULZSEC, wasn'treturned. One LulzSec follower called "tflow" responded to a Wall StreetJournal reporter in an online chat room, saying: "Unfortunately the gnomesare too busy to pick up your clearly inferior call.""For the past month and a bit, we've been causing mayhem and chaosthroughout the Internet, attacking several targets," LulzSec said in astatement last week. "This is the Internet, where we screw each other overfor a jolt of satisfaction."This week, LulzSec claimed to rat out a couple of individuals it said had"tried to snitch" on it. In a document addressed to the "FBI & other lawenforcement clowns," the group appeared to reveal the full names,addresses and other contact information of two U.S. men it claims wereinvolved in some hacks. "These goons begged us for mercy after theyapologized to us all night for leaking some of our affiliates' logs,"according to the document, accessed via a link on LulzSec's twitter page."There is no mercy on the Lulz Boat."Ian Sherr contributed to this article..........................................................................Insert: Terms explanation:Denial-of-service attacksComputer users bombard website servers with data in the hopes of knockingthem offline. Among targets have been companies, such as PayPal andMasterCard, as well as government sites, including the CIA's. Such attackscan cost tens of thousands of dollars for the victim, including the costof defending against the attacks and improving security.HackingBreak-ins into computer systems, potentially giving access to sensitivedata such as customer information and internal emails. A hack into Sony'ssystems resulted in the theft of personal data of about 100 million onlinevideo-game users. Sony shut its popular PlayStation online network fornearly a month, and has estimated the attack cost it about $171 million.Anonymous participants said the group didn't orchestrate the attack, butcouldn't rule out that someone involved in the group could be involved.DoxingInvolves finding personal information about people and disclosing itonline. LulzSec this week claimed to rat out two U.S. individuals it saidhad "tried to snitch" on the group, apparently disclosing names, addressesand other contact information.
friends forwarded this initiative against the cuts in the netherlands: Please forward ! ARTBOMB - JOIN THE GROWINGINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN AN ACTION TO SAVE THE ARTS Dear art friend,Express the value of art! Show your support for culture! On Friday the 24th June at noon local time, we needyou to join this initiative in shrouding art locations across theworld incoloured smoke. This visual act will be a sign of resistanceagainst the growing disdain for the arts within societies andgovernments worldwide, and a sign of support for colleagues who facemajor cutbacks. Now is the time to act to show your appreciation andthe necessity of the arts! ARTBOMB is a peaceful art intervention initiated inThe Netherlands. The Dutch Government is about to cut 40% of allcultural funding. This will result in the disappearance of a multitudeof organizations that excel internationally in their field. This losswill be felt not only by the Dutch public but by the internationalcommunity. One signal, one moment, one act to show support. Youcan contribute visual ammunition against the disproportionate cuts tothe arts budget. This visible intervention will rise up around theworld where people value the arts and want to express their supportfor artists and cultural organizations. Everybody who joins the ARTBOMB intervention willbecome part of this chain reaction and is invited to upload the photosand films of their own intervention to the website www.artbomb.nl<http://www.artbomb.nl/> as a token of solidarity and a symbol ofstrength. WHAT IGNITE COLOURED SMOKE AND DOCUMENT THE EVENT WHEN 12 NOON LOCAL TIME, FRIDAY 24th JUNE WHERE ART LOCATION OF YOUR CHOICE AFTER UPLOAD YOUR IMAGES/FOOTAGE TO www.artbomb.nl<http://www.artbomb.nl/> Information about ARTBOMB and how to join:www.artbomb.nl <http://www.artbomb.nl/> Email: artbombnow-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w< at >public.gmane.org SEND THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR COLLEGUES AND FRIENDS INTHE CULTURE SECTOR!!
An important new book series from The MIT PressInformation PolicyEdited by Sandra Braman and Paul T. JaegerInformation policy provides the context for, and thus affects,all communication, interactions, and social processes. Theparametric functions of information policy at the boundaries ofsocial, knowledge, and technological systems undergoing change areparticularly significant during this period of transformations inlaw-state-society relations.The MIT Press Information Policy Book Series will advance scholarlydiscussion about and offer ideas for addressing significantinformation policy problems. The Series broadly defines informationpolicy as all laws, regulations, policies and decision-makingprinciples that affect any form of information creation, processing,flows, access, and use. It encompasses not only the formal decisions,decision-making processes, and entities of government, but alsothe formal and informal decisions, decision-making processes, andentities of private and public sector agents capable of constitutiveeffects on the nature of society as well as the cultural habits andpredispositions of governmentality that support and sustain governmentand governance. Information policy as defined in this way provides anumbrella for analyses of those decisions and practices that enable orrestrict information, communication, and culture ? and, conversely,the ways in which decisions and practices involving information,communication, and culture shape society itself.The Series is intensely interdisciplinary series and invitesmanuscripts from scholars in any field with an interest in the making,implementation, and effects of decision-making about informationpolicy.For information on the submission of proposals and manuscripts, pleasecontact the series editors or the publisher.Sandra Braman, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee braman-V3m1P2mwIcs< at >public.gmane.orgPaul T. Jaeger, University of Maryland pjaeger-e45ueOrobK4< at >public.gmane.orgMarguerite Avery, MIT Press Acquisitions mavery-3s7WtUTddSA< at >public.gmane.orgTHE MIT PRESS News55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 ? Publicity 617-253-5643
SKOR presents: SKOR Online & NetArtWorksWednesday July 6, 17:00Location: Garden SKOR | Foundation for Art and Public DomainRuysdaelkade 2, AmsterdamSKOR Online presents its new and improved website. The new www.skor.nl offers advanced navigation through the extensive archive of art projects in the public domain, that were realised since SKOR was founded in 1999.NetArtWorks is SKOR's new online space for project-driven exploration through networked media.NetArtWorks presents Heath Bunting, Lernert & Sander and Mouchette.SKOR asks artists to critically engage with networked environments through addressing and exploiting the characteristics of these domains. New and historical works can be experienced side by side. In the first three commissions of 2011 the artists reflect on issues of identity and power in relation to the Internet.Mouchette, well known from her website, will open a temporary Guerilla Fanshop in De Inkijk (July 6 through August 5, 2011).Thanks to: Museum de Paviljoens, Schunk, Marvia, Mister Motley and NIMk.Support SKOR, sign our petition: http://petities.nl/petitie/waar-is-de-kunst-in-de-openbare-ruimte-gebleven