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Free Culture and
Free SpeechRebecca MacKinnon
http://Rconversation.blogs.com
www.GlobalVoicesOnline.org
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
Silicon Valley's “Benevolent dictatorship”
EFF's Danny O'Brien
Concern about over-reliance on “Web 2.0 giants”:
“It’s like if I was to concede that a benevolent dictatorship is a far more effective model for a political system than a liberal democracy.”
http://www.oblomovka.com/wp/2008/07/21/surprise-packages-benevolent-dictatorships/
Natalie Behring http://flickr.com/photos/chinapix/115817611/
World Economic Forumhttp://flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/374716426/
From “Mao model” to “Murdoch model:” Does triumph of capitalism = triumph of
freedom?
Where are we going?
“Autocracies &Dictatorships”
“DemocraticCountries”
?
The World Wide Web just by existing isn't solving the “Caring Problem”:(Ethan Zuckerman's research on global media attention: http://h2odev.law.harvard.edu/ezuckerman/)
127 million people2nd largest world economy12582 CNN.com stories
130 million people54th largest world economy937 CNN stories
(Courtesy Ethan Zuckerman http://ethanzuckerman.com/)
Alternative to commercial, professional media
Vibrant blogospheres fueled by culture of sharing
HOWEVER: we need advocacy & activism
Blogger arrests: Egypt & Saudi Arabia
Company-level censorship:Tianya (Chinese blog host)
Privacy issues and surveillance via e-mail servicesThe case of Shi Tao
Journalist jailed for 10 years for “revealing state secrets overseas.” Evidence leading to hisconviciton included evidencefrom Yahoo!
What do companies do… What do companies do… when users’ rights & interests… when users’ rights & interests…
and host government demands conflict?and host government demands conflict?
Government
Company
User
It’s an issue EVERYWHERE.(U.S. govt. “secret surveillance,” etc.)
User
Jimbo Wales: “I won’t censor”Tradeoff: some countries censor Wikipedia,
and will censor Wikia, etc...
Grassroots P2P networks
Non-profit alternatives
WITNESS video hub:
Alternative to YouTube for human
rights activists.
Will it work?
More alternative grassroots More alternative grassroots spaces neededspaces needed
Government
Company
CivilSociety
FreeCulture
Citizen
From Mao to Murdoch to…
Natalie Behring http://flickr.com/photos/chinapix/115817611/
World Economic Forumhttp://flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/374716426/
Neha Viswanathanhttp://flickr.com/photos/nehavish/2621954475/in/set-72157605845209515/
Thanks!
Rebecca MacKinnon
http://Rconversation.blogs.comwww.GlobalVoicesOnline.org
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
