[Solar-general] Eben Moglen "Capitalism produces inherently defective technology",

[Marcos Guglielmetti]

Voy a traducir este texto fundamental castellano en estos d=C3=ADas:

http://ictlogy.net/20080602-4th-internet-law-and-politics-congress-i-eben-m=
oglen-living-apart-together-social-networking-in-the-free-world/

Ac=C3=A1 hay ya algo traducido x otra persona

http://www.dreig.eu/caparazon/2008/06/05/eben-moglen-el-capitalismo-fuerza-=
tecnologias-deficientes/

El texto original:

Keynote speech

Eben Moglen

Living Apart Together: Social Networking in the Free World

"Capitalism produces inherently defective technology", mainly because of th=
e=20
short sightedness of the whole process. Global heating and the combustion=20
engine being one of the most present short sightedness examples of capitali=
sm=20
today.

Social networking software might be at stake and be another good example of=
=20
such defective technology, which will potentially cause social harm in the=
=20
future as these technologies will deviate from appropriate, optimum, goals.

The Net was created with a socialist ideology: Absence of advertising, abse=
nce=20
of surveillance, absence of tracking what one was doing (reading, writing) =
on=20
the Net, a collaborative philosophy. The Wikipedia is the best example of=20
those principles put in practice.

Social Networking Software (SNS) are tools, owned by private capital, to=20
subvert the essence of the Net for the benefit of capitalism and its=20
capitalists: to include advertising, to add surveillance devices, to know w=
ho=20
read what and when, and to focus on the individual and not the community.
Eben Moglen
Eben Moglen

SNS are, technically, but content management systems (CMS), and are hence n=
ot=20
so revolutionary neither in their concept nor in their design. Actually, al=
l=20
the technologies and devices used are freely available to anyone so that ma=
ny=20
other SNSs can be built at will=E2=80=A6 without the need to give away your=
 data to=20
the people that are now managing them.

But the fact is that web server managers are using web server logs to watch=
=20
all the traces a user leaves on a web server =E2=80=94 actually, yet anothe=
r=20
subversion of the socialist design behind the web: web server logs where=20
intended to optimize software and bandwidth use, not for user surveillance =
=E2=80=94.=20
And datamining is born.

So a "model of you =E2=80=94 and not a model of people, but a model of you =
=E2=80=94" is drawn=20
each and every day. So the whole interest of capitalism in technology is to=
=20
stimulate purchases and so increase sales.

So, instead of helping people get their own SNSs on their own web servers, =
a=20
faustian bargain is made where =E2=80=9Cfree=E2=80=9D access to =E2=80=9Cfr=
ee=E2=80=9D software is given in=20
exchange of personal data=E2=80=A6 and promise of future purchases. And how=
 do you=20
keep anything secret from anyone?

We should be aware that there is no technical need to keep on with on with=
=20
this way of behaving, but just convenience, where convenience means you don=
=E2=80=99t=20
have to think, and others are about to think about you without any=20
restriction.

It=E2=80=99s just possible that in a near future, the possibility of wiping=
 out=20
advertising from web pages =E2=80=94 as some web browsers are increasingly =
trying to=20
=E2=80=94 will take off. And then, the Web 2.0 hype will be over, as there=
=E2=80=99ll be no=20
business to be done by providing =E2=80=9Cfree=E2=80=9D web spaces to every=
one.

On the other hand, the actual business model of SNSs is not only challengin=
g=20
citizenry privacy, but also the business model of telecoms, whose business =
of=20
moving along chunks of data, bits and bytes, is no more profitable, and the=
ir=20
shift towards premium content is blocked by big media companies that do own=
=20
content and are investing in alternative ways of distributing it by=20
circumventing telecoms: SNSs.
Q&A

Me: how do we face sustainability of these desirable services if we take ou=
t=20
ads and/or paying with our data? EM: The free software model, or the=20
Wikipedia model can help in this. Me: but where=E2=80=99s the limit of volu=
nteer=20
responsibility and commitment? EM: It=E2=80=99s just that we don=E2=80=99t =
need any business=20
model. In a socialist world, and with existing technology, we can bring goo=
d=20
services in other ways and keeping out of the equation the gatekeepers, tha=
t=20
insist in wanting to have =E2=80=9Ctheir=E2=80=9D money.

M=C3=B3nica Ari=C3=B1o: next step?

EM: Making people aware of the faustian bargain, of what=E2=80=99s been don=
e with=20
their lives without their consent and in constant secrecy. So, "what=E2=80=
=99s the=20
programme of the revolution?" The first step is won: free software is a rea=
l=20
possibility. Next step is the deterioration of media control, ISPs (=E2=80=
=9Dthe=20
switches=E2=80=9D) control, etc. We have to end the ownership of culture. W=
e have to=20
end network operators. We have to reach an advanced step of development wit=
h=20
the ability of every citizen to send and receive information in equal=20
conditions.

Carlos Alonso: how do we spread this ideology all over the rest of=20
socioeconomic sectors=E2=80=A6 and in a brief period of time (not in 200 ye=
ars, like=20
the industrial revolution)? EM: There=E2=80=99s a good amount of products a=
nd=20
services that are produced at a non zero cost but copied, distributed and=20
consumed at zero cost. So the model does already work. And where products a=
re=20
produced at zero cost, the answer is even more valid. And if we include the=
=20
long run in the equation, it does fit even better. Because, are we talking=
=20
about social benefit, profit or greed?
4th Internet, Law and Politics Congress (2008)

If you need to cite this article in a formal way (i.e. for bibliographical=
=20
purposes) I dare suggest:
Pe=C3=B1a-L=C3=B3pez, I. (2008) =E2=80=9C4th Internet, Law and Politics Con=
gress (I). Eben=20
Moglen: Living Apart Together: Social Networking in the Free World=E2=80=9D=
 In=20
ICTlogy, #57, June 2008. Barcelona: ICTlogy.
Retrieved month dd, yyyy from http://ictlogy.net/review/?p=3D737
[comments: 1]

=20

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Pull Strategies
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audiovisual content in the age of digital convergence



=2D-=20
Marcos Libre
(pod=E9s emplearme con cualquier fin, estudiarme, copiarme y mejorarme, sie=
mpre=20
y cuando siga siendo libre)


"A veces me preguntan: =C2=BFPor qu=C3=A9 inviertes todo ese tiempo y diner=
o hablando de=20
la amabilidad=20
para con los animales cuando existe tanta crueldad hacia el hombre? A lo qu=
e=20
yo respondo:=20
estoy trabajando en las ra=C3=ADces." George T. Angell

http://pensamiento--critico.blogspot.com/

=2E....................................................................
Gleducar: Software Libre y Educaci=F3n en Argentina www.gleducar.org.ar