February 2014 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

Fwd: Newsletter - Calls for Paper
by Michel Bauwens 13 Feb '14

13 Feb '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: collective-action <collective-action(a)uu.nl> Date: Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 3:08 PM Subject: Newsletter - Calls for Paper To: *NEWSLETTER * In case this newsletter does not appear properly on your screen, view this newsletter online *here <http://www.collective-action.info/_NWL_Vol11_Commons_February2014>* *3 CALLS FOR PAPERS RELATED TO COMMONS * *FOR UPCOMING CONFERENCES IN 2014* *Call for papers - Workshop 'Common People, Common Rules. Institutions and Self-Governance in Historical Perspective', Pamplona (Spain), October 30-31, 2014 (deadline abstracts March 25, 2014)* On October 30-31, 2014, the research group involved in the research project '*"Common Rules". The regulation of institutions for managing commons in Europe, 1100 - 1800'* <http://www.collective-action.info/_PRO_NWO_CommonRules_Main>will organize an international workshop, hosted by the University of Navarre in Pamplona (Spain). This workshop is aimed to discover how efficient and effective regulation can be developed, executed by well-functioning institutions. Earlier research has shown that regulation could allow an efficient use of common pool resources, even under severe external stress, but we do not know exactly how the commoners made sure that the body of rules remained effective, efficient, and sufficiently simple for all to understand and apply. Trying to find an answer to this research question will be the main focus of this workshop. Paper abstracts have to be submitted *by the 25th of March, 2014*. The organizers encourage in particular submissions that introduce new historical source material and novel ways of using historical sources, inspired by other social sciences. The organizers welcome in particular quantitative and long-term studies, that are also able to connect historical developments to current evolutions. A selection of the best papers will be considered for publication as part of a special issue for a relevant peer-reviewed journal in the field (in English). *Click here for call for papers <http://www.collective-action.info/_AGE_20141030_UPN-Pamplona>* *Call for papers - IASC 3rd European Meeting, Umeå, Sweden, September 16-19 <16-19>, 2014 (deadline abstracts April 1, 2014)* <http://www.slu.se/iasc-europe2014> >From September 16 until September 19, 2014, the 3rd European meeting of the *International Association for the Study of the Commons* <http://www.iasc-commons.org/>(IASC) will be held in Umea, Sweden and will be hosted by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The overall theme for this regional meeting is "From generation to generation - the use of commons in a changing society". Northern and indigenous commons are particularly emphasized. Across panels and keynotes, the conference aims at contributing to the on-going development of theory and methods concerning the commons. Abstracts with a maximum of 400 words are * due April 1, 2014*. *Click here for conference website and call for papers <http://www.slu.se/iasc-europe2014>* *Call for papers - IASC 2nd Thematic Conference on Knowledge Commons 'Governing Pooled Knowledge Resources with special attention to the fields of medicine and the environment', New York, September 5-7, 2014 (deadline for abstracts February 28, 2014)* On September 5-7, 2014, *NYU's Engelberg Center on Innovation, Law and Policy <http://www.nyuengelberg.org/>* will host the* International Association for the Study of Commons' <http://www.iasc-commons.org/>* *2nd Thematic Conference on Knowledge Commons*. The conference aims to provide a forum for presenting and discussing developments in the interdisciplinary study of knowledge commons. This year's program will devote several special paper tracks and policy sessions to knowledge commons in the fields of medicine and the environment. Keynote lectures will be given by Yochai Benkler (Harvard Law School), Eric von Hippel (MIT Sloan School of Management), and Michael McGinnis (Political Science, Indiana University, Bloomington). The conference will be chaired by Katherine Strandburg (NYU School of Law) and co-chaired by Charlie Schweik (University of Massachusetts, Amherst). Abstracts should be submitted *before February 28, 2014*.* Click here for conference website and call for papers <http://iasckc.nyuengelberg.org/>* Questions about this newsletter? Contact webmaster at webmaster(a)collective-action.info. For other questions and full contact details, *click here <http://www.collective-action.info/_CTC_Main>* The website www.collective-action.info and this newsletter have been made possible by (a.o.) funding from the ERC Starting Grant '"United we stand". The dynamics and consequences of institutions for collective action in pre-industrial Europe' (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no. 240928) and The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). We have sent you this newsletter to inform you about recent developments regarding the website www.collective-action.info and its related projects. We hope you enjoyed reading this newsletter. However, in case you wish to receive no more newsletters, you can Unsubscribe from this newsletter<http://www.collective-action.info/newsletter/confirm/remove/a94828ec753601t2> -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: You're Invited to the 23rd Annual HumanDHS Conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand
by Michel Bauwens 12 Feb '14

12 Feb '14

---------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 03:02:45 -0500 From: e.g.lindner(a)psykologi.uio.no To: houtart(a)hotmail.com Subject: You're Invited to the 23rd Annual HumanDHS Conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand CC: Having trouble viewing this email? Click here <http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=8db79549-c9c6-4986-bca3-b…> [image: HumanDHS] [image: World Dignity University Logo] * 'Returning Dignity'* Invitation to the *23rd Annual Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Conference * *Chiang Mai, Thailand* *8th - 12th March 2014* *Dear François, * "Majesty in the Mountains: Traditional Culture of the Highland Peoples of Southeast Asia" Exhibition of Photos and Artifacts by Victoria Vorreiter<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…> . We are delighted to invite you to the 23rd Annual Conference of our Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…>(HumanDHS) network, entitled 'Returning Dignity,' at Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 8th - 12th March 2014. *About Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies* The HumanDHS network hosts two conferences<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…>each year: one at Columbia University in New York City and one at a different location around the globe. Since 2003 our network has gathered together in Europe (Paris, Berlin, Oslo), Costa Rica, New Zealand, China, South Africa, and other locations. These global conferences allow us to bring together a diverse community of remarkable people working for dignity in the world! *How We Co-Create Our Conferences* For those of you who have never joined us for one of our global conferences, please kindly allow us to describe our unique approach. Rather than using a traditional lecture/presentation format, we join together to co-create a program that emphasizes conversations and collaboration. Over the years, we have adapted the 'Open Space Technology' format to create a mutually dignifying experience for all involved. Open Space begins with inviting people to propose ideas for dialogue, selecting shared topics of interest, scheduling dialogue sessions, and finally sharing the important highlights of these dialogues. We invite you to bring your idea for an Open Space dialogue led by you. This collaborative format allows us to define and design the entire conference experience as a community, beginning on the first day. Photojournalist Jeff Warner will share: Dignity Amidst The Rubbish<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…> *, *an hour-by-hour look at the lives of a community of refugees from Burma. *Our Conference Agenda: * - *8th - 9th March*: Two pre-conference days on the trail visiting tribal communities (still evolving): - Indigenous rights and land rights: Ending land grabbing - Living on the city dumps: Ending urban poverty - *Day One, 10th March (Women's Day):* - Introductory greetings - Planning the Open Space Dignilogue sessions (Dignilogue = dignity + dialogue) - *Day Two, 11th March:* Dignilogue sessions - *Day Three, 12th March: *Dignilogue sessions *Conference Arrangements* We warmly thank Chayan Vaddhanaphutimost<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…>and Kjell Skyllstad<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…>for welcoming everyone to this remarkable event! We are also grateful to all participants for taking full responsibility for their own visa, travel, transportation, and accommodation arrangements. *Registering for the Conference* There is no registration fee for this conference. To cover our expenses, we will summarize the costs during the conference and invite participants to contribute according to their ability. This collaborative approach to financing allows us to keep the conference affordable for all. If you are interested in participating, please kindly click here<conferences(a)humiliationstudies.org>to email us your introductory information. *How to Get to the Conference* Please fly to Chiang Mai in Thailand. The airport is about 15 minutes from the campus. Participants can take a taxi from the airport to the hotel or use the hotel van. From the hotel to the campus, we will arrange transportation for them to come to the conference. *Where to Stay and Where to Eat* The University of Chiang Mai has an international guest house on campus with inexpensive accommodations. For lunch during the conference, participants will have to pay. The organisers will arrange for someone to prepare lunch. *Pre and Post-Conference Experiences* Chiang Mai is surrounded by tribal communities that call on our interest and solidarity in their fight for full citizen rights. We look forward to having conference participants taking leadership by suggesting possibilities for learning more about these communities. In addition, we hope to visit the golden temple on Doi Suthep high above the city -- a once in a lifetime experience for anyone who attends! *We Warmly Invite You Join Us * Please feel free to share this announcement<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1102692382451&a=1116384154011&e…> with your colleagues or students. For the latest details about this conference, as it unfolds, please visit our conference webpage<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…> . *We would be honored and delighted to have you with us!Kjell Skyllstad, PhD <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…>* Global Advisory Board Member of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Professor at the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand Editor in Chief of the Journal of Urban Culture Research *Evelin Lindner, MD, PhD, PhD <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…>* Founding President of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies *Linda Hartling, PhD <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…>* Director of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies *P.S. Please kindly note that...* - All of our conferences and workshops are by invitation only; however, we invite everyone to our Public Events. - We like to get to know participants prior to all of our conferences and workshops, and prior to issuing an invitation. Please kindly send us your introductory information by clicking here<conferences(a)humiliationstudies.org> . - The closed parts of our programs have limited enrollment. - During our conferences, we always ask all participants for their permission to have their pictures or videos posted on our website. However, if you change your mind later, either in total or for specific pictures/videos, please let us know! Thank you! - Participants are encouraged to find their own sources of funding or economic support to participate in our conferences. Thank you for doing your own research inquiring about funding sources in your own country and through your own university. See, among others, for the U.S., www.supportcenter.org and www.foundationscenter.org. - Participants are kindly asked to handle all of their housing and travel arrangements as well as required documentation, including requests for visas. HumanDHS does not have the staff or resources to assist with visa requests. Thank you! Human Dignity & Humiliation Studies www.humiliationstudies.org<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001lz6B3F2SwG4H1WtkvcRTRdgGW1gQ-k24LR3Fj9H_wovm…> A world without humiliation dignifies us all! <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001FdZJChsSQonYe_KrkjYuwQ%3D%3…> This email was sent to houtart(a)hotmail.com by e.g.lindner(a)psykologi.uio.no | Update Profile/Email Address<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&m=001FdZJChsSQonYe_KrkjYuwQ%3D%3…> | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001FdZJChsSQonYe_KrkjYuwQ%3D%3…>(tm) | Privacy Policy <http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp>. Human Dignity & Humiliation Studies | Dialogue Home-PDX | Portland | OR | 97035 -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: Neo-Bohemia: Art and Commerce in the Postindustrial City ( Richard Lloyd )
by Michel Bauwens 12 Feb '14

12 Feb '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 10:48 AM Subject: Re: Neo-Bohemia: Art and Commerce in the Postindustrial City ( Richard Lloyd ) To: "op-n-m(a)googlegroups.com" <op-n-m(a)googlegroups.com>, " econowmix(a)googlegroups.com" <econowmix(a)googlegroups.com>, ovni-os(a)googlegroups.com *https://monthlyreview.org/2006/09/01/why-hipsters-arent-all-that-hip <https://monthlyreview.org/2006/09/01/why-hipsters-arent-all-that-hip>* " Far from mounting resistance to capitalism in its neoliberal incarnation, Wicker Park's neo-bohemians, precisely because they are bohemian, contribute to its reproduction. What counts as the artist lifestyle nowadays, Lloyd argues, has been deeply influenced by the legacy of bohemia, and bohemia has always been associated with urban spaces. With most artists being bohemian and all bohemians living in densely populated urban areas, spaces like Wicker Park become home to a reserve army of labor that the service and design industries benefit from having flexible access to. However, Chicago's neo-bohemia does more than just concentrate an ample source of so-called creative labor in one area. As Lloyd points out time and again, it also fosters dispositions and attitudes particularly useful to capitalist accumulation in its post-Fordist form. For example, like bohemians in the past, Wicker Park's artists take pride in tolerating material scarcity, thus constituting a pool of labor particularly well adapted to the needs of the neighborhood's design firms, whose hiring (and firing) fluctuates in accordance with the volume of piece work they happen to have contracted out to them by corporate clients. " On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 4:41 PM, Dante-Gabryell Monson < dante.monson(a)gmail.com> wrote: > ( did not watch it yet ) > > http://vimeo.com/2764835#at=0 > > > http://www.civicdesigncenter.org/media/cv_episode_guide/episode-06-richard-… > > > On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 4:31 PM, Dante-Gabryell Monson < > dante.monson(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Neo-Bohemia: Art and Commerce in the Postindustrial City >> [image: Front Cover] >> Richard Lloyd<http://www.google.be/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Richard+Lloyd%22> >> Taylor & Francis, 17 May 2010 - Social Science<http://www.google.be/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=subject:%22Social+Science%22&so…> >> - 314 pages >> >> Neo-Bohemia brings the study of bohemian culture down to the street >> level, while maintaining a commitment to understanding broader historical >> and economic urban contexts. Simultaneously readable and academic, this >> book anticipates key urban trends at the dawn of the twenty-first century, >> shedding light on both the nature of contemporary bohemias and the cities >> that house them. The relevance of understanding the trends it depicts has >> only increased, especially in light of the current urban crisis puncturing >> a long period of gentrification and new economy development, putting us on >> the precipice, perhaps, of the next new bohemia. >> > > -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Debating political perspectives from a p2p point of view
by Michel Bauwens 12 Feb '14

12 Feb '14

Dear Jose, The FLOK project is rather overwhelming so I have less time for curation, and thus it's a good time to start publishing our debate, i.e. http://p2pfoundation.net/From_the_Crisis_of_Capitalism_to_the_Emergence_of_… I started with http://p2pfoundation.net/Reform_Liberalism, on the blog on the 17th, and I will publish one debate every 2-3 days, Can you verify which ones are not ready, and ask me for a response for those, so that we can publish the whole series ? Michel -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Re: [P2P-F] Feral Honey & Bee
by Michel Bauwens 12 Feb '14

12 Feb '14

thanks Bryan! On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 9:49 PM, Bryan Hugill <bryan.hugill(a)gmail.com>wrote: > http://feralhoney.com/ > > Bartering honey for whatever they need from people in their area...pretty > neat idea that takes cold hard cash out of the immediate equation and > transforms the exchange into more of a social venture. Sounds like damn fine > honey too, which obviously helps :) > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

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Fwd: [Networkedlabour] Fwd: [iDC] DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES
by Michel Bauwens 11 Feb '14

11 Feb '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Orsan <orsan1234(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 4:48 PM Subject: [Networkedlabour] Fwd: [iDC] DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES To: networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org, commoning(a)listen.jpberlin.de All the digits of the net unite! Today we fight back! Begin forwarded message: *Resent-From:* Geert Lovink <geert(a)xs4all.nl> *From:* Trebor Scholz <scholzt(a)newschool.edu> *Date:* 11 februari 2014 22:21:22 CET *Resent-To:* Orsan Senalp <orsan1234(a)gmail.com> *To:* "idc(a)mailman.thing.net" <idc(a)mailman.thing.net> *Subject:* *[iDC] DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES* Call for Proposals DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES To be held at The New School, a university in New York City NOVEMBER 14-16, 2014 #dl14 The third in The New School's Politics of Digital Culture Conference Series Sponsored by The New School and The Institute for Distributed Creativity Digital Labor: The Internet as Invisible Sweatshop, Picket Line, and Barricade brings together designers, labor organizers, theorists, social entrepreneurs, historians, legal scholars, independent researchers, cultural producers -- and perspectives from workers themselves -- to discuss emerging forms of mutual aid and solidarity. Over the past decade, advancements in software development, digitization, an increase in computer processing power, faster and cheaper bandwidth and storage, and the introduction of a wide range of inexpensive, wireless-enabled computing devices and mobile phones, set the global stage for emerging forms of labor that help corporations to drive down labor costs and ward off the falling rate of profits. Companies like CrowdFlower, oDesk, or Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk serve as much more than payment processors or interface providers; they shape the nature of the tasks that are performed. Work is organized against the worker. Recent books included The Internet as Playground and Factory (Scholz, 2013), Living Labor (Hoegsberg and Fisher) based on the exhibition Arbeitstid that took place in Oslo in 2013 and Cognitive Capitalism, Education, and Digital Labour (Peters, Bulut, et al, eds., Peter Lang, 2011). In 2012, the exhibition The Workers was curated by MASS MOCA in the United States. Christian Fuchs' book Digital Labor and Karl Marx is forthcoming with Routledge. Several events have been organized in the last few years to focus on these developments: Digital Labor: the Internet as Playground and Factory conference (The New School, New York City, 2009 http://digitallabor.org) Digital Labor: Workers, Authors, Citizens (Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, 2009), Invisible Labor Colloquium (Washington University Law School, 2013), Towards Critical Theories of Social Media (Uppsala University, Sweden, 2012), Re:publica (Berlin, 2013), and the Chronicles of Work lecture series at Schloß Solitude (Stuttgart, Germany, 2012/2013). We would like to continue and elaborate on these discussions by raising the following questions: BROAD ISSUES: Who and where are the workers and how do they understand their situation? How and where do they act in political terms? How can we analyze digital labor as a global phenomenon, pertaining to issues like underdevelopment and supply chains? Which theories and concepts can help us to frame our thinking about the gridlock of digital work? How do waste, repair, and disposal play into the debate about labor? Are there artistic works that respond to contemporary labor? GENDER, RACE, CLASS, ABILITY: How do gender, race, ability, and class play out in the diverse fields of digital labor? How are laboring capacities, also in the digital realm, sustained and maintained by maternal labor, or the labor of care workers, domestic workers? Alternatively, how do we conceptualize digital work that is underwaged and often coded as feminized? What are the postcolonial tensions arising between digital workers in different locales? ORGANIZING: How relevant are unions to the millions of crowdsourced workers? How can we resist the all-too-common "the labor movement is dead" narrative? Which concrete projects might offer us a critical foundation upon which to build broader strategies for "digital solidarity"? What can be learned from the history of organized labor when it comes to crowdsourcing and lawsuits like Otey vs. CrowdFlower? What are possibilities and tensions that arise with projects aiming for solidarity among people in global labor systems? POLICY: What are the reasons for withholding legislation that would allow for an enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the crowdsourcing industry? Are there new forms of contracts or widened definitions of employment that would better address today's work realities? What policy proposals might be developed and put on the table now? FORMATS: In addition to traditional conference structures, Digital Labor: Sweatshops, Picket Lines, and Barricades also aims to experiment with creative presentation formats and novel venues. We welcome applications for the following formats: - experimental lectures (e.g., "theory tapas," pecha kuchas, collaborative presentations, or formats not using spoken language) - lectures or panels - keynote dialogues - design fiction workshops for those interested in design storytelling and envisioning alternative futures (3 hours) - performance lectures in the places where some of this work is taking place: the living rooms of participants (20 minutes each) SUBMIT a 300-word abstract or a link to short video, and a one-page curriculum vitae to digitallabor2014(a)gmail.com by March 21, 2014. Please state clearly which format you are applying for and do emphasize how your proposal speaks to the questions above. Confirmation of participation: March 31, 2014. If you have any logistical questions, please contact Alexis Rider digitallabor2014(a)gmail.com We are planning an open access digital work notebook that documents and expands the discussion leading up to, during, and after this event. Contributions will emerge from the iDC mailing list. https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc Conference editor: Trebor Scholz with (Advisory Board): Lilly Irani, Frank Pasquale, Sarah T. Roberts, Karen Gregory, Mckenzie Wark, and Winifred Poster. Producer: Alexis Rider. Join the discussion: https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc @idctweets @trebors _______________________________________________ iDC -- mailing list of the Institute for Distributed Creativity ( distributedcreativity.org) iDC(a)mailman.thing.net https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc List Archive: http://mailman.thing.net/pipermail/idc/ iDC Photo Stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/idcnetwork/ RSS feed: http://rss.gmane.org/gmane.culture.media.idc iDC Chat on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2457237647 Share relevant URLs on Del.icio.us by adding the tag iDCref _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Re: [P2P-F] Introducing: Imperative
by Michel Bauwens 11 Feb '14

11 Feb '14

hi aaron, i am overwhelmed for the moment, so I'm sharing with our mailing list in case someone wants to investigate it further, Michel On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 2:20 PM, Aaron Hurst <aaron(a)imperative.com> wrote: > Hi Michel, > > For the last year I have been working with our team at Imperative<http://action.imperative.com/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fimperative.com%2F&utm_campaig…> to > figure out the science of what generates purpose for someone in their work. > This week we launched the first features of a tool that enables anyone to > define their Purpose Pattern and create a Purpose Statement to guide their > career. You can *get your Purpose Pattern here.*<http://action.imperative.com/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imperative.com&utm_campai…> > > > For me, the need for Imperative grew from the twelve years I spent working > with thousands of professionals to boost purpose in their careers through > pro bono service at Taproot. I thought, like most people, that purpose was > about finding your cause. But as I began researching the patterns that were > emerging in my work, I came to discover that purpose is not about a cause, > it's about how you *approach* your work. The research showed that we each > have different psychological drivers that give us purpose from different > things. Imperative grew out of this research. > > Here's what our beta testers have said so far: > > > *"I had no idea you guys were building something like this-- this is a > game changer... totally awesome." "I think the results are spot-on." "I've > done my own Purpose statement, and it is in line with Imperative came up > with, with a few new twists which was cool." " the tool was super > engaging."* > *If you haven't already visited Imperative give it a try here > <http://action.imperative.com/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imperative.com&utm_campai…>.* > > > Once you've tried the tool, feel free to share it with people you care > about and stay on the look-out for new developments. We're excited to build > this movement with you. > > With purpose, > Aaron > > Aaron Hurst > CEO | Imperative<http://action.imperative.com/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fimperative.com%2F&utm_campaig…> > > t | @Aaron_Hurst<http://action.imperative.com/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Faaron_hurst&utm…> > -=-=- > > Purpose Economy · United States > This email was sent to michel(a)p2pfoundation.net. To stop receiving > emails, click here<http://action.imperative.com/unsubscribe?e=5a494a90492217b88eb75041c21328e1…>. > > -=-=- > > Created with NationBuilder<http://action.imperative.com/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnationbuilder.com&utm_campaig…>, > the essential toolkit for leaders. > -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [opennetcoalition] The Day We Fight Against Surveillance and in Support of Privacy
by Michel Bauwens 11 Feb '14

11 Feb '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: La Quadrature du Net <jz(a)laquadrature.net> Date: Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 11:02 AM Subject: [opennetcoalition] The Day We Fight Against Surveillance and in Support of Privacy To: opennetcoalition(a)laquadrature.net Themes: THE DAY WE FIGHT BACK, SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY, VIDEO, NSA, PERSONNAL DATA La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release Permanent link: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/the-day-we-fight-against-surveillance-and-i… The Day We Fight Against Surveillance and in Support of Privacy *** Paris, 11 February 2014 -- Over the last year the public across the globe was made aware of massive global surveillance conducted by the NSA and its partners or counterparts, but also by private tech companies. In response, and in celebration of the victory against SOPA, PIPA and ACTA two years ago and in memory of one of its key architects, Aaron Swartz [1], La Quadrature du Net joins this day of mobilisation The Day We Fight Back [2] against mass surveillance, which will mark actions by civil rights groups from all over the world. This day is a perfect occasion for all citizens to get informed, and to act to defend our privacy against private and public surveillance. Below are actions carried out by La Quadrature and its supporters today. *** "Together we will push back against powers that seek to observe, collect, and analyze our every digital action. Together, we will make it clear that such behavior is not compatible with democratic governance. Together, if we persist, we will win this fight." This Tuesday 11 February is a global call to arms against surveillance. Many organisations around the world defending human rights in all its forms, such as freedom of speech, privacy, or press freedom, have joined forces for a day of mobilisation against mass surveillance. The global problem is that surveillance, public and private, has gone way beyond embarrassement between countries. It is undermining the basis on which our democratic systems and thus our rights as citizens rely, such as the protection of journalistic sources or confidential communication with a lawyer. As the Necessary and Proportionate petition [3], signed by La Quadrature du Net and more than 300 other NGOs stated, any legitimate surveillance has to be, amongst other things, established by legal statutes, transparent, have a legitimate aim, be necessary and proportional to the threat, involve user notification and have adequate public oversight. Several actions, online and offline, are planned by organisations across the globe. Events are listed here [4]. Since the first Snowden revelations, La Quadrature du Net has consistently advocated new asylum rules for whistle-blowers reporting serious violations of fundamental rights, but also the suspension of the Safe Harbour [5] agreement between the EU and the US for all companies listed as participating to PRISM and other NSA programs, reinforcement of the data protection regulation against similar circumvention of fundamental rights and support to decentralized free software applications based on strong cryptography. Today, La Quadrature has coordinated the launch of several projects: ** Reclaim Our Privacy ** Thanks to the generosity of supporters who helped crowd-fund it [6], and of Benoît Musereau [7] who volunteered to direct it, La Quadrature du Net publishes "Reclaim Our Privacy", a three-minute movie that explains the threat to, the importance of protecting, and the tools to reclaim our privacy online. If you want to contribute to the funding of this movie, it is still possible to do so here [8]. Any funds received above the target amount will be shared between Benoît Musereau and La Quadrature du Net. The movie is released under CC BY-SA, so feel free to share or remix it! <3 ** NSA Observer Website ** Volunteers supported by La Quadrature du Net put together a website about "Things the NSA doesn't want you to know (and why you should know about it)": https://nsa-observer.laquadrature.net/ The numerous revelations on NSA surveillance represents a lot of information that no one had presented in a format that was easy to access and understand. The authors gathered the information into a public-domain licensed website and freely-downloadable database. Moreover, in order to comprehend the system, the website provides visuals of the connections between NSA programs, attack vectors and compartments. The website is a work in progress and the authors welcome involvement by others in order to keep the data up to date and make it more accessible to the general public. ** "Nothing To Hide" by La Parisienne Libérée and Jérémie Zimmermann ** La Parisienne Libérée [9] is a French journalist who sings the news once a week. She invited [10] Jérémie Zimmermann, cofounder of La Quadrature du Net, for a song on personal data and privacy. On this global day of action, La Quadrature encourages all citizens to get informed and share information about surveillance and the need for better legal and technical protection for privacy in the digital age. For more information, visit: - La Quadrature's dossier on Privacy: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/Privacy - Prism Break: A list of alternatives to software and systems that are vulnerable to eavesdropping: https://prism-break.org/en/ - Privacy International, an NGO fighting for the right to privacy across the world: https://www.privacyinternational.org/ * References * 1. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/12/aaron-swartz-heroism-s… 2. https://thedaywefightback.org/ 3. https://en.necessaryandproportionate.org/ 4. https://thedaywefightback.org/events/ 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Safe_Harbor_Privacy_Principles 6. https://www.laquadrature.net/en/video-reclaim-our-privacy 7. http://www.benoitmusereau.com/ 8. http://www.ulule.com/reclaim-privacy/ 9. http://www.mediapart.fr/biographie/199899 10. http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/060214/la-parisienne-liberee-et-jere… ** About La Quadrature du Net ** La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that defends the rights and freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge. In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the digital age. La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international NGOs including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society Institute and Privacy International. List of supporting organisations: https://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-la-quadrature-du-net ** Press contact and press room ** contact(a)laquadrature.net, +33 (0)972294426 https://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room _______________________________________________ Opennetcoalition mailing list Opennetcoalition(a)laquadrature.net https://laquadrature.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/opennetcoalition -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Fwd: [Networkedlabour] Fwd: Since 2005, Amazon has helped create one of the most exploited workforces no one has ever seen.
by Michel Bauwens 11 Feb '14

11 Feb '14

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: peter waterman <peterwaterman1936(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 10:00 PM Subject: [Networkedlabour] Fwd: Since 2005, Amazon has helped create one of the most exploited workforces no one has ever seen. To: Networked Labour <wordpress(a)networkedlabour.net>, networkedlabour(a)lists.contrast.org ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Sid Shniad <shniad(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 6:41 PM Subject: Since 2005, Amazon has helped create one of the most exploited workforces no one has ever seen. To: *http://www.thenation.com/article/178241/how-crowdworkers-became-ghosts-digital-machine# <http://www.thenation.com/article/178241/how-crowdworkers-became-ghosts-digi…> * *The Nation February 4, 2014*How Crowdworkers Became the Ghosts in the Digital Machine *Since 2005, Amazon has helped create one of the most exploited workforces no one has ever seen.Moshe Z. Marvit* In 2007, Stephanie Costello had a boring office job with a lot of downtime that she spent online. She recalls the day she read one of those articles on MSN.com that have become a staple of the Internet: how to make extra money online. These types of articles often appear in the soft-news sections of MSN, Yahoo and other sites, usually with the message that there is money being left on the table. Costello was intrigued at the prospect of cutting through the boredom of her day with the opportunity to pick up a little extra cash. She went to the website, Mechanical Turk, where companies can post tiny tasks and workers can find and perform them online. It was free to register--no call for an "investment" up front, which indicated that it was not on its face a scam. And she began making money immediately. Very small amounts of money. Costello is a trailblazer of sorts. She was one of the early workers to join Mechanical Turk, the first online, crowd-based, micro-labor platform. In her telling, she sounds like an alcoholic describing her first drink. It was fun at first--and when it became less than fun, it was still useful, if only to get through the week. But six years later, it has become a serious problem, and not just for Costello. Mechanical Turk is the innovation behind "crowdworking," the low-wage virtual labor phenomenon that has reinvented piecework for the digital age. Created by Amazon in 2005, it remains one of the central platforms--markets, really--where crowd-based labor is bought and sold. As many as 500,000 "crowdworkers" power the Mechanical Turk machine, while millions more (no one knows how many exactly) fuel competitor sites like CrowdFlower, Clickworker, CloudCrowd and dozens of smaller ones. On any given day, at any given minute, these workers perform millions of tiny tasks for companies both vast (think Twitter) and humble. Though few of these people have any sense of their finished work product, what they're doing is helping to power the parts of the Internet that most of us take for granted. Currently, computers are very good at certain sorts of tasks, such as identifying spelling errors, processing raw data and calculating financial figures. However, they are less able to perform others, such as detecting a positive or negative bias in an article, recognizing irony, accurately reading the text off a photograph of a building, determining if something is NSFW (not safe for work) or discerning among ambiguous search results. This is where the "crowd" comes in. In the current iteration of crowdworking, individuals are tasked with those parts of a job that a computer cannot perform. This work is used both to fill in the blanks and to train the computer algorithm to do a better job in the future. Crowdworking is often hailed by its boosters as ushering in a new age of work. With the zeal of high-tech preachers, they cast it as a space in which individualism, choice and self-determination flourish. "CrowdFlower, and others in the crowdsourcing industry, are bringing opportunities to people who never would have had them before, and we operate in a truly egalitarian fashion, where anyone who wants to can do microtasks, no matter their gender, nationality, or socio-economic status, and can do so in a way that is entirely of their choosing and unique to them," asserts Lukas Biewald, the CEO of CrowdFlower, in an e-mail exchange. (CrowdFlower claims to have "among the largest, if not the largest, crowd" available, with roughly 100,000 workers completing tasks on any given day.) But if you happen to be a low-end worker doing the Internet's grunt work, a different vision arises. According to critics, Amazon's Mechanical Turk may have created the most unregulated labor marketplace that has ever existed. Inside the machine, there is an overabundance of labor, extreme competition among workers, monotonous and repetitive work, exceedingly low pay and a great deal of scamming. In this virtual world, the disparities of power in employment relationships are magnified many times over, and the New Deal may as well have never happened. As Miriam Cherry, one of the few legal scholars focusing on labor and employment law in the virtual world, has explained: "These technologies are not enabling people to meet their potential; they're instead exploiting people." Or, as CrowdFlower's Biewald told an audience of young tech types in 2010, in a moment of unchecked bluntness: "Before the Internet, it would be really difficult to find someone, sit them down for ten minutes and get them to work for you, and then fire them after those ten minutes. But with technology, you can actually find them, pay them the tiny amount of money, and then get rid of them when you don't need them anymore." * * * Amazon created Mechanical Turk in 2005, a decade into its rise from online bookstore to massive virtual mall. Even in its early stages, Mechanical Turk was a "Jeff project," meaning that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took a special interest in it and worked closely with the project managers. By that time, Bezos and his team had already perfected the model that has made Amazon a tech-age giant: catering to customers, undercutting competitors and treating workers poorly. With Mechanical Turk, they further refined this approach, but with a twist: instead of exploiting labor to sell goods to an avid public, they created a system to sell labor itself, cheaply, to perform many millions of microtasks. The name Mechanical Turk was not simply a whimsical choice by Bezos. The original Mechanical Turk (also known simply as "the Turk") was a seemingly groundbreaking invention: a chess-playing machine commissioned by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in the early days of the Industrial Revolution. In appearance, it was similar to the other automatons of the era--a cabinet with a mannequin inside, performing some function usually reserved for humans--but this one was dressed in "Oriental" garb, not unlike the fortune-telling machine in the 1980s movie *Big*. Its mystical, mysterious air was meant to appeal to Western Europe's conception of the East; hence the name by which it came to be known. The Mechanical Turk seemed to promise an age when automated devices could attain the heights of human intellectual achievement--and it did so exceptionally well, convincing observers and challengers for nearly a century that a machine could play chess. In reality, however, the Turk was nothing more than an elaborate ruse involving a man or woman sitting inside the cabinet with an internal chessboard. The machine could approximate the movements of a man playing chess, but it was necessary to have a person inside to do what the machine could not. If it was merely a hoax, then the Mechanical Turk would have been forgotten as yet another eighteenth-century oddity. However, the device fit perfectly into the creeping belief--replete with excitement and anxiety--that mechanical labor (and maybe mechanical minds) could replace human labor and agency. The United States has been going through a similar period of excitement and anxiety since at least the 1970s. Whereas some companies, like IBM, have sought to create a supercomputer that can think as well as (or better than) a human, Amazon invested instead in its own Mechanical Turk--something that feels like a machine but really has people behind it. Instead of developing the perfect computer, Amazon thought, it could just develop a way for imperfect computers to "integrate a network of humans directly into their processes," as the company wrote in its 2005 SEC filing. In doing so, it opened the door to the weird world of crowdworking. * * * In 1911, the American engineer Frederick Taylor delivered a paper in which he announced that workers' natural laziness and propensity for underworking was "the greatest evil which the working-people of both England and America are now afflicted." His solution was a system of "scientific management," wherein work would be divided into the smallest repeatable tasks and assigned a time limit. The aggregate of these tasks would then become the baseline for the workday, and "those who fail to rise to a certain standard are discharged and a fresh supply of carefully selected men are given work in their place." Almost a century later, Amazon hit upon a similar approach to worker productivity. Yet, whereas Taylor's genius was in super-charging the assembly line by reducing all skilled work to tiny micro-tasks, the genius of Mechanical Turk is in creating virtual assembly lines. Here's how it works: the employers (called "Requesters") can be actual humans or a computer program running a script that automatically outsources any task it cannot perform to the crowd. The Requesters place microtasks (called "Human Intelligence Tasks," or HITs) on Amazon's Mechanical Turk website and offer non-negotiable contracts with a take-it-or-leave-it rate for each HIT. The Turkers (officially called "Providers") perform only small microtasks over and over, rarely getting a glimpse of the whole. Using keyword searches for HITs, New York University professor Panagiotis Ipeirotis found that among the most numerous HITs were data collection, transcription, searches, tagging, content review, categorization and other similar tasks. However, HITs can be any task that can be outsourced online. Many of the features of the Internet that we take for granted come from paid crowdworking. These include more efficient search results, transcriptions of audio and video, reliable local business information, marketing spam and other aspects of the Internet that just seem to be there. Crowdworkers also engage in tasks that can make certain individuals' lives immeasurably better, such as providing near-instantaneous information on their surroundings for blind people with a smartphone and the right app. A HIT typically includes a set of instructions, some quite involved, that one must read and understand before performing the task. The Requesters can set eligibility requirements. For example, they may restrict access to those with "Master Qualifications"--a designation Amazon awards at its discretion--that some have received after performing at least 50,000 HITs at an exceptionally high approval rate. Or the Requester may exclude certain workers, such as those from India, because in the world of online crowdworking, they are thought of as inferior workers. Requesters can engage in such broad exclusions because the Civil Rights Act does not touch upon these workers. In fact, most of the hard-won worker protections of the twentieth century do not apply to Turkers. Some critics worry that even prohibitions on child labor are being flouted. This is because it is not clear how well some sites enforce requirements that users must be over 18 to perform HITs. Moreover, many crowdworkers are paid in gaming credits, which may be used to intentionally lure children into performing cheap labor. The payment offered for HITs ranges from nothing to a few dollars to payment in virtual currencies, with most HITs falling on the low end of the scale. As a result, it is estimated that the average wage of Turkers is approximately $2 an hour. For access to this unregulated labor pool, Amazon charges a 10 percent commission from the Requesters. Crowdwork often takes place in the home, performed by people who are not otherwise employed. A few have argued that the low pay may be the result of longstanding gender inequities in society. The great majority of American Turkers are women, and there is some indication that many of them are careworkers, or caring for an elderly relative or young child. Rachael Jones of Minnesota is an example of a careworker who Turks. She was trained to assist neurosurgeons, but after a neck injury and surgery, she could no longer work in that physically demanding field. In addition, Jones wanted to stay home and take care of her children while her partner worked outside the home. She is now a "very full-time" Turker and, after several years during which she earned three Masters Qualifications and performed 110,000 HITs, she has been able to make approximately $8 per hour. When asked for her thoughts on Turking, she responded, "I really love it." She admits that "there are some times when it's really hard, and you're scrounging and looking and the HITs that pay just aren't there." She'd like the pay to be increased, but she also fears that any significant increase could destroy the world of crowdworking. If that were to happen, she is unsure what type of work she could do that would allow her to stay home with her children. Turkers are categorized as independent contractors, meaning that they are not legally entitled to minimum wage, overtime pay, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance or the various other statutory protections that cover employees. The multi-page participation agreement that all Turkers must consent to before entering the site specifies that the Turker is neither an employee of the Requester nor of Mechanical Turk. Amazon defines its role as being limited to "the capacity of a payment processor in facilitating the transactions between Requesters and Providers" and claims that it is "not responsible for the actions of any Requester or Provider." Its agreement warns: "As a Requester or Provider, you use the Site at your own risk." After being reminded by Amazon of its lack of legal liability, one aggrieved Turker was baffled at how the company could profit from conduct that it hosts while saying it has no liability: "That's like saying someone is running a slave market on my property, and they're paying me, but I have no responsibility." * * * Aside from the handful of companies that run crowdworking platforms, no one really knows who makes up the crowd. The most recent study of Turker demographics, in 2010, found that the vast majority of Turkers-- 57 percent--were American, with Indians coming in second with 32 percent of the workforce. American Turkers tended to be highly educated, with 63 percent having college degrees, compared with the national average of 25 percent. They were young, with a median age of 30, and 69 percent were female. The crowd labor pool has grown considerably since Amazon created the platform, and the extreme low-wage market seems to rely on competition among the overabundance of workers. The reasons people engage in Turking are varied. Several years ago, Ipeirotis posted the question as a HIT on the Mechanical Turk site and received responses as varied as "It kills time when I'm bored and restless" to the need for income to get by. One person I spoke with explained that he Turked just enough each day at his office job to pay for a sandwich from Subway. However, there is a sizable group of workers who have come to rely on Mechanical Turk as their primary source of income. According to the limited Turker demographics available, Stephanie Costello's story is all too common. Costello lives in a trailer at the edge of a desert town in the Southwest. She is 50 and has an associate's degree in nursing, but she has been unable to find suitable work as a nurse. In 2007, Costello was working at a boring office job and, in slow periods, earning extra money by doing online surveys on Mechanical Turk. When she lost her job at the start of the 2008 recession, she took to Turking full time, often more. What started as a source of extra cash suddenly turned into her main source of income. According to the 2010 study, Costello's situation may be representative of approximately one in eight Turkers in America, or one in five worldwide. Costello describes full-time Turking as "feast or famine," but years of Turking have diminished her view of the feast. In February 2013, she worked approximately sixty hours a week searching for and performing HITs and made approximately $150 per week--and that was the feast. The next month, she was unable to find as many "good-paying" HITs and earned only about $50 per week. She describes how she often stays up all night with the Mechanical Turk screen open, because when people post a good batch of HITs, they go quickly. "Good-paying" has become a relative term. Costello refuses to work for 60 cents or even $1.20 an hour because those low amounts are "more undignified than begging." However, at $2 per hour she starts to equivocate, and she admits that she often works for that wage. Even those who describe making decent money usually talk about earning $6 per hour, which is still below the federal minimum wage. Costello's story of being a full-time Turker who is barely holding on is all too familiar in the world of crowdworkers. However, Costello believes that Turking may one day change for the better, especially with worker organization. Others, like Laura Henderson (a pseudonym to protect her privacy), see no way out. Until 2004, Henderson had a career as a technical trainer in the Pacific Northwest. When that work dried up, she got her bachelor's degree and joined Teach for America, which assigned her to teach math at a school in New York's South Bronx. Henderson was assigned to the school midway through the year to replace a beloved teacher and had problems right away. She lost her job and found herself alone in a new city, in debt from the TFA experience and in search of yet another career. She received unemployment compensation for a period, but for an over-50 worker in a recession, consistent work was hard to find. So Henderson started Turking. "It sounded very interesting when I heard about it--wow, crowdwork. I've always been into collaboration and working together and the parts being greater than the whole," she says. But her enthusiasm quickly waned. "When I started doing it, I realized that the pay is crap. I'm lucky to get $2 per hour." When I first interviewed her, Henderson was renting a small room in the Bronx and described herself as "poor and despondent." In addition to her earnings as a crowdworker, she received $200 a month in food stamps and $180 a month in welfare. She was too poor to maintain a bank account, so she had to spend her Mechanical Turk earnings on Amazon, which she called "the company store." She was not unaware of the cruel irony that her supplies were likely handled by an exploited worker in an Amazon warehouse somewhere. On the day I spoke with Henderson, she told me she was "irate" and unhappy because she had just been rejected for a $5 HIT (unfairly, she felt), and warned that she might not be coherent as a result. Henderson recognized that $5 may not seem like a lot of money, but she added that living hand to mouth in the anonymity of Mechanical Turk had made her "feral." Henderson described being scammed as a relatively common occurrence. Requesters get to keep the work product whether they officially "accept" or "reject" the work. As a result, many Turkers have complained of being denied payment through no fault of their own. Henderson went further than most. She said that at first, she tried to get other Turkers worked up about being scammed but found that her indignation did not appear to be shared. "In our day and age, it's bread and circuses," she said. "People don't get angry anymore. I'm angry, but I can't get other people to get angry." Henderson then filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the Office of the New York Attorney General and anyone else she thought might have jurisdiction over the matter. However, because it is often impossible to know the identity of a given Requester, Henderson also went after Amazon. In a long response from Amazon's attorneys, the company explained that it has no legal responsibility for Henderson not being paid the minimum wage, or even not being paid at all for a completed task. The letter describes Amazon's role as merely creating a marketplace and allowing Requesters and Turkers to contract freely. The letter states that Amazon does not resolve disputes between the parties and provides no warranties; it also maintains that the company is released from all liabilities when each party checks the box assenting to the participation agreement. The New York Attorney General's Office forwarded the letter to Henderson and said there was nothing it could do at the present time. * * * Lilly Irani takes issue with Amazon's description of its role in the marketplace. She is one of the developers, along with Six Silberman, of Turkopticon, an Internet browser plug-in and forum that allows Turkers to rate Requesters and exchange important information about them in order to "REPORT and AVOID shady employers." Irani argues that one of the fundamental problems with Mechanical Turk and other crowdworking sites is that they are not neutral market-places, as the sites claim, but are built on an inherently exploitative model that privileges employers. One example is the way the Turker has no leverage in the employment relationship--an imbalance that is particularly pronounced in the set-up that allows a Requester either to "accept" or "reject" a Turker's work. These terms belong in quotation marks because, as mentioned earlier, the Requester sees and retains the work product no matter which choice it makes. If the Requester "accepts" the work, then it gets to keep the work product and pays the Turker. If the Requester "rejects" the work, then it gets to keep the work product without paying the Turker. The Requester does not have to provide a reason for the rejection, and there is nothing a Turker can do to challenge the decision other than to inquire and hope for a response. By "rejecting" work, the Requester not only deprives the Turker of payment, but also affects the Turker's online reputation. Turkers are ostensibly anonymous, identified only by a long string of numbers and letters, so all they have is their Mechanical Turk reputation. Costello describes how, in the beginning, she did thousands of HITs of any type simply to build her approval rate, only to realize how easily it could be knocked back down. "If you have a 99.8 percent approval rating and then you work for some jack-wagon who rejects 500 of your HITs, you're toast," she says. "Because for every rejection, you have to get 100 HITs that are approved to get your rating back up. Do you know how long that takes? It can take months; it can take years." Out of this grind, online forums and worker sites such as Turkopticon, TurkerNation, mturkforum, CloudMeBaby and Reddit have become the primary locations for the crowdworkforce to talk about their working conditions. However, the anonymity of Turking combined with the sharp edge of the Internet have often made these forums as counterproductive to organizing as they are productive in navigating the world of crowdwork. TurkerNation is one of the oldest forums, and many Turkers have complained about being arbitrarily banned from the site at the whim of the moderator, Spamgirl. (Full disclosure: in researching this article, I was banned from the site shortly after joining.) Spamgirl has described herself as "the Hoffa of the Turkers! Trying to help the people." She allowed a thread about Turkopticon, then in its early stages, to be hosted on the site before taking it down for unknown reasons. Rachael Jones describes being banned for getting into a Twitter tangle with a TurkerNation moderator. Other sites like mturkforum and Turkopticon are more friendly, but some have complained that there is little support from forum communities in trying to better conditions or organize. It's not clear that any online forum can serve as the basis for workers to find common cause and demand better working conditions, especially when the workforce is anonymous and in flux--or, in the parlance of crowdwork boosters, "flexible." Some well-intentioned reformers envision magnanimous employers as the sole source of changes that will make crowdworkers' lives better. This view was on full display at a conference last year when eight prominent researchers delivered an important paper titled "The Future of Crowd Work," framed around the question, "Can we foresee a future crowd workplace in which we would want our children to participate?" Of the many ideas that came out of this paper, none included any type of worker self-help or organization. That view is currently being challenged in what may turn out to be a seminal class-action lawsuit filed in federal court in California. Christopher Otey and Mary Greth, on behalf of themselves and "the World's Largest Workforce," are arguing that crowdworkers are not simply contractors, but employees of the crowdworking company. Otey and Greth performed "simple repetitive online tasks for the benefit of CrowdFlower." For their efforts, they were paid less than the $2 to $3 per hour that the CEO of CrowdFlower has stated his workers make. Otey and Greth allege that workers earn between $1 and $2 per hour, and that some are compensated in online game credits, virtual money and enhanced video game capabilities. The class may have as many as 4 million members, making it potentially one of the largest employment class actions in history. If the plaintiffs prevail, they will be categorized as employees of the crowdworking company rather than as contractors, and will therefore be entitled to the host of benefits and protections that employees receive. These include a minimum wage and overtime, protections from discrimination, a legally protected right to organize a union, workers compensation for injuries, unemployment compensation for layoffs, certain whistleblower protections and others. The case has advanced past several of the many preliminary hurdles facing such an ambitious lawsuit; however, as this article goes to press, a settlement motion has been submitted for the judge's approval. If the judge finds that the terms of the settlement are fair to all members of the class, then it is likely that another case will have to address whether the millions of crowdworkers are entitled to the protections and pay of employees. Miriam Cherry, who was organizing an amicus brief by a group of labor law professors before the settlement motion, fears that a judge may not understand crowdwork and simply declare that the workers are contractors. However, she also fears that a judge or legislature will simply regulate crowdwork out of existence. "There's a lot of ways that things can go right or things can go wrong, and it depends on cases like CrowdFlower to really tell us if they're going to go right or if they're going to go wrong," Cherry says. For her part, Jones fears the possibility that a judge could rule against CrowdFlower and hold that she and others like her are employees. "It scares me," she says. "I depend on this system. If things go the wrong way for Crowdflower, this could really crush the crowdworking market." Henderson could not wait for the resolution of this lawsuit. She has recently stopped Turking because the wages are too low to sustain even her life in a cheap room in the South Bronx. After four months chasing HITs, she described herself as being "too tired to Turk for $2 per hour." In mid-November, Henderson turned 53, and two weeks later, on December 1, she moved into a homeless shelter. Presumably it does not have Wi-Fi, so she wouldn't be able to Turk even if she wanted. Read Next: *Gabriel Thompson details his life as a temp in California's Inland Empire, the belly of the online shopping beast, in "The Workers Who Bring You Black Friday <http://www.thenation.com/article/177377/holiday-crush> [2].*" ------------------------------ *Source URL:* http://www.thenation.com/article/178241/how-crowdworkers-became-ghosts-digi… *Links:* [1] https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&…<https://subscribe.thenation.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NAN&cds_…> [2] http://www.thenation.com/article/177377/holiday-crush -- 1. *EBook, November 2012: Recovering Internationalism <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/recovering_internationalism/>. [A compilation of papers from the new millenium. Now free in two download formats] <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/> <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/>* 2. *EBook (co-editor), February 2013: World Social Forum: Critical Explorations http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/ <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/> * 3. *Interface Journal Special (co-editor), November 2012: For the Global Emancipation of Labour <http://www.interfacejournal.net/current/>* 4. *Blog: http://www.unionbook.org/profile/peterwaterman. <http://www.unionbook.org/profile/peterwaterman.> * 5. *Interface Journal Special (Co-Editor) Social Movement Internationalisms. See Call for Papers <http://www.interfacejournal.net/>, (Deadline: May 1, 2014). * 6. *Needed: a Global Labour Charter Movement (2005-Now!) <http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interf…>* 7. *Under, Against, Beyond: Labour and Social Movements Confront a Globalised, Informatised Capitalism <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/under-against-beyond/>(2011) Almost 1,000 pages of Working Papers, free, from the 1980 <1980>'s-90's.* 8. *Google Scholar Citation Index:* *http://scholar.google.com.pe/citations?user=e0e6Qa4AAAAJ <http://scholar.google.com.pe/citations?user=e0e6Qa4AAAAJ> * - _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list NetworkedLabour(a)lists.contrast.org http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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Re: [P2P-F] Help from Marco Mancuso / Digicult: Google Mail account
by Michel Bauwens 11 Feb '14

11 Feb '14

would be great if anyone has recommendation to recuperate a gmail account that has been blocked by google, Michel On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 8:02 AM, Redazione Digicult <redazione(a)digicult.it>wrote: > > Hello Michel, hello Jorge > > as Michel suggested me, I'm writing you asking from some help: as happened > to Michel, also my Google Mail account was hacked on sunday afternoon and > untile yesterday morning some fishing emails were sent out from my account > to all my contacts provoking chaos > > I stopped the bleeding as soon as I could, changing password and using > also the mobile feedback code (and the second email adress they use to > comunicate with you) they sent you to double check the password > > The fact is that from yesterday afternoon I do not have access to my > incoming emails (to all my adresses settled in Google Mail, the adress > mk.digicult(a)gmail.com and the other I have settled here like the Digicult > ones) while I can send emails from Digicult accounts but not from > mk.digicult(a)gmail.com > > No help from their support pages is working: I followed all their pages, > all their councils but it seems my case/example is not provided. They say > to change the password, I did it many times, but the mail is still blocked > > So, the strange thing is that I have access to my account (with the new > password): I can chat, I can send emails from the other adresses (like I'm > doing now, I'm writing inside my Google account but from Digicult adress I > have settled here), I can have access to Google Docs, to Google+, to > Facebook but not to incoming all incoming emails depending from the > attacked adress mk.digicult(a)gmail.com > > DO you maybe know what I can do? Do you have any possible solutions? I > thank you in advance for all the help > > My best > Marco Mancuso > > > > _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ > > Marco Mancuso | Digicult Director > Project Manager, Curator and Critic > Digital Media Content Editor and Journalist, Teacher > ----- > Largo Murani 4, 20133, Milan (Italy) > Mob. +39.340.8371816 | Skype. Sostakovich > http://www.digicult.it > http://www.linkedin.com/in/marcomancuso > <http://www.digicult.it/digimag> <http://www.marcomancuso.net/> > -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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