[P2P-F] Commodify Us: Our Data Our Terms.

Tue Aug 13 13:48:04 CEST 2013

Hi all,

I think this article may relate to some of the concepts of discussed on 
this list,

wishing you well.

marc

Commodify Us: Our Data Our Terms.

Article by Marc Garrett.
Includes interview with Walter Langelaar
http://www.furtherfield.org/features/reviews/commodify-us-our-data-our-terms

Richard Stallman, the outspoken promoter for the Free Software movement 
proposes that we should all leave Facebook and either find or build our 
own alternatives. Commodify.Us provides a platform for users to regain 
control over the commercial exploitation of their personal data. Marc 
Garret discusses the importance of such alternative hacktivist 
structures for social independence.

Commodify Inc. is an artist-run Internet startup producing projects to 
help individuals capitalize on their online monetary potential. Their 
intention is to correct the imbalance of power in markets where users 
have no control over the transactions made with their personal data. 
They have completed various artistic projects and interventions on 
social media like, Fame Game, Give Me My Data, and Web 2.0 Suicide 
Machine. The co-founders are Birgit Bachler, Walter Langelaar, Owen 
Mundy, Tim Schwartz, with additional contributors Joelle Dietrick and 
Steven Alvarado.

Their new project Commodify.Us, was initiated when Owen Mundy and Tim 
Schwartz were invited by moddr_ to a residency in their lab in the 
summer of 2012 - when they were still a part of the WORM collective in 
Rotterdam. They worked on an initial idea that would succeed previous 
experiences of their already well-known and respected projects.