Networker: political action'

Networker: 'Take political action'

“Take political action” was the call by Lawrence Lessig at a US conference,
organised by the O'Rielly Network, in February on peer-to-peer (P2P) networking.
P2P refers to the exchange of music (such as Napster) and information between
two users connected through the internet.

The conference was also addressed by John Perry Barlow, co-founder of
the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the US-based organisation that campaigns
against internet censorship. In response to court judgements against Napster,
Barlow called on participants “to consider themselves a revolutionary and
go out and develop whatever you damn well please”.

Both Barlow and Lessig have called for strong political action to be
taken against corporate attacks on the internet's openness and existence.
While agreeing on that, they come from very different backgrounds.

Barlow is the author of the “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”
and a former songwriter for the Grateful Dead. His impassioned appeals
focus on a utopian image of cyberspace networks as an alternative to the
real world's class society. He is a supporter of social activism.

Lessig is a Stanford University law professor. Previously, he was a
law professor at Harvard Law School. He has written an exacting description
of the present state and future of the internet.

Lessig's believes that, while the internet challenges certain aspects
of traditional property law, the government does not need to do anything
to defend property rights because business interests will take legal action
to limit the challenge. However, such action by corporations, Lessig states,
represents a fundamental intellectual property power grab by corporations.

Lessig argues that the advent of new technology will create the possibility
that corporations can control access to creative endeavour (music, art,
writing, film, and so on) forever. He agrees with Barlow that only social
activism can save the internet. He writes, “to preserve the values we want,
we must act against what cyberspace otherwise will become”.

The internet is an accidental product of the late 20th century, brought
to life by the hundreds of millions of people attracted by the opportunity
for global communication. Socialists agree that only social activism can
protect the potentially useful aspects of the internet.

BY GREG HARRIS

<gregharris_greenleft@hotmail.com>

From GLW issue 446