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BoingBoing: "FCC hands Hollywood the keys to your PC, home theater and future"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/07/fcc-hands-hollywood.html FCC hands Hollywood the keys to your PC, home theater and future Cory Doctorow <http://dynamic.boingboing.net/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1&id…> at 11:26 PM May 7, 2010 The FCC has given Hollywood permission to activate the "Selective Output Control" technologies in your set-top box. These are hidden flags that allow the MPAA to deactivate parts of your home theater depending on what you're watching. And it sucks. As Dan Gillmor notes <http://mediactive.com/2010/05/07/entertainment-cartel-moving-toward-outer-l…>, "Fans of old TV science fiction will remember the Outer Limits. Given Hollywood's victory today at the FCC -- they'll be able to reach over the lines and disable functions on your TV -- the intro to the show takes on modern relevance." The FCC says that they're doing this because they believe that if they do so, the MPAA will start releasing first-run movies (the ones that are still in theaters) for TV. They say that Hollywood /won't/ make these movies available unless they get Selectable Output Control because SOC will stop piracy. This is ridiculous. First, it's ridiculous because this can't ever stop piracy or get first-run movies into your living room. Even with SOC, the studios are /not/ going to release high-value movies that are still in theatrical distribution for viewing in your house, where you could set up a tripod and high-quality camera (along with ideal lighting) in order to make your own camcordered copy and put it online. Now, the FCC could have solved this by saying that /only/ movies that are in their first theatrical release run can have SOC turned on, but they didn't, because they knew that the MPAA was lying through its teeth about using SOC to enable the "new business model" of showing you first run movies in your home. Second, it's ridiculous because it's possible in the first place. The FCC (and the candy-ass consumer electronics companies) allowed for Selectable Output Control to be inserted into your devices even though they claimed all along that they would never allow it to be used. Read your Chekhov, people: the gun on the mantelpiece in act one will go off in act three. Allowing the MPAA to get SOC in your set-top box but "never planning on using it" is like buying a freezer full of chocolate ice-cream and never planning on eating it. If the CE companies and FCC wanted to prevent SOC from being used, the best way of doing that would be to /not include it in devices in the first place/. Finally, this is ridiculous because of what it's really for: ensuring that Hollywood gets control of /all the features/ in your home's devices and computers. Here's how that works: ////**** * SOC only works with DRM-crippled outputs, like those locked with HDCP, DTLA, etc. * Now that some content will have SOC on it, every manufacturer will race to add SOC (and hence HDCP and DTLA and so on) to their devices * The committees that run DTLA and HDCP and other DRM cartels are absolutely in thrall to the MPAA. When I've attended DRM committee meetings, I've watched the MPAA reps tie the consumer electronics guys in knots, playing them off against each other, bullying them, dirty tricking them * Putting DTLA or HDCP in your devices isn't simple: in order to do so, you have to comply with an enormous about of restrictions that the MPAA dreams up and crams into the license agreements (much of these agreements are secret, and not available for regulators or consumer to inspect) * Ergo: now that the FCC has allowed SOC in devices, all devices will have SOC, and since SOC comes with DRM, and since the studios control DRM licensing, and since they shove all kinds of restrictive crap into DRM licenses, the FCC has essentially just guaranteed that the future of all media will be controlled by Hollywood, to our eternal torment and detriment Now here's the /really/ scary part: I'm not just talking about TVs and set-top boxes here. This stuff is targetted squarely at operating system vendors. Both Apple and Microsoft have enthusiastically signed onto adding DRM to their OSes in order to comply with HDCP, DTLA and other "device-based" DRMs. In the PC world, compliance with DTLA and HDCP rules isn't just about what features the OS can have, but what features the video cards, hard-drives, network interfaces, motherboards and drivers can have. So the FCC has just handed the keys to specify drivers and components for general purpose PCs to the thrashing dinosaurs of Hollywood. Because even your cheapo netbook or homebuilt Linux box relies on components that are manufactured for the gigantic mainstream PC and laptop markets. Now that the mainstream component market has a new de-facto regulator at the MPAA, watch for /all/ of those components to come with restrictions built in. The Obama White House has done some good, but its administrative branch is /stuffed/ with Hollywood lawyers who are Democratic Party stalwarts. The FCC has some great tech people on this, but the commissioners' staffers who wrote this memo are either the most credulous yokels that ever met an MPAA lobbyist, or they're in the pockets of Big Content. U.S. Lets Hollywood Disable Home TV Outputs to Prevent Piracy <http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-07/film-studios-said-to-be-allowe…> MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER PDF <http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-795A1.pdf> (/Thanks, Adam and Dan <http://dangillmor.com/>!/)

May 9, 2010

Fwd: [fcf_discussion] FCC hands Hollywood the keys to your PC, home theater and future

by Paolo Brini

http://bit.ly/cEjnly -------- Messaggio originale -------- Oggetto: [fcf_discussion] FCC hands Hollywood the keys to your PC, home theater and future Data: Sun, 9 May 2010 14:32:28 +0200 Mittente: Alberto Barrionuevo <abarrio(a)ffii.org> Rispondi-a: fcforum_discussion(a)list.fcforum.net Organizzazione: FFII A: fcforum_discussion <fcforum_discussion(a)list.fcforum.net> http://bit.ly/cEjnly Saludos, -- Alberto Barrionuevo, FFII Iberoamerican and Open Standards WGs www.ffii.org / ffii.org.es "In July 2005, after several failed attempts to legalise software patents in Europe, the patent establishment changed its strategy. Instead of explicitely seeking to sanction the patentabilitty of software, they are now seeking to create a central European patent court, which would establish and enforce patentability rules in their favor, without any possibility of correction by competing courts or democratically elected legislators." -- http://eupat.ffii.org/

May 9, 2010

"Like" button - alcune riflessioni

by Carmelo Fontana

Mi fa piacere condividere alcune riflessioni sull'evoluzione dei sistemi di rating/feedback. Di seguito il link al mio post. http://carmelofontana.blogspot.com/2010/05/brief-history-of-online-feedback… A presto, C.

May 9, 2010

Parola, Verbo, Rete , un indice di documenti

by giorgio.giunchi＠cctld.it

Una recente monografia dello Istituto di Informatica e Telematica del CNR mi ha fatto aggiornare i link sullo approccio alla informazione interconnessa della piu' seria Istituzione sociopolitica domiciliata nella penisola. http://cctld.it/next/html/holy-see.html Giorgio :::::::

May 8, 2010

Il web si espande: URL in arabo

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Provate a copiare e incollare quanto segue ?????-?????????.??? nello spazio indirizzi del vostro browser :-) juan carlos

May 7, 2010

Internet nelle nuvole

by lorenzo benussi

Segnalo un articolo che credo vi possa interessare: Internet nelle nuvole Comunicazione aperta tra sistemi di cloud computing: il modello dell'InterCloud Exchange http://www.lastampa.it/_web/cmstp/tmplrubriche/tecnologia/grubrica.asp?ID_b… ---- Lorenzo Benussi - Fellow ----------------------------------- Department of Economics, University of Turin www.de.unito.it ---- "Knowledge is like a candle. Even as it lights a new candle, the strength of the original flame is not diminished." Thomas Jefferson Il giorno 07/mag/2010, alle ore 11.36, Valerio Lubello ha scritto: > FYI, > Valerio > > From: Seth Young > Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 8:58 PM > To: press-report-list(a)eon.law.harvard.edu > Subject: New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds Free Speech Rights for Online News Sites > > NEW HAMPSHIRE SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS FREE SPEECH RIGHTS FOR ONLINE NEWS SITES > > Ruling Mirrors Arguments Made in Brief by the Citizen Media Law Project, Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic, and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press > > May 6, 2010 – The New Hampshire Supreme Court today issued an important decision upholding the First Amendment rights of online publishers. Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic submitted an amicus curiae brief last June on behalf of the Citizen Media Law Project and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in the case, The Mortgage Specialists, Inc. v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, Inc. The reasoning of today’s ruling mirrored arguments in the amicus brief, as the Court concluded that a lower court’s injunction preventing a website from posting a leaked document was an unlawful prior restraint on speech. > > In 2008, the mortgage industry website, The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter, published an article detailing administrative actions taken by the New Hampshire Banking Department against mortgage lender The Mortgage Specialists, Inc. The article included a link to a financial document that The Mortgage Specialists allegedly submitted to the state banking authorities, which the Implode-O-Meter website had obtained from an anonymous source. Mortgage Specialists sued the website, demanding that the document be removed from the internet and that the anonymous source be identified. A Rockingham County Superior Court judge granted these requests. > > The Supreme Court reversed the injunction preventing publication of the leaked document. The Court drew heavily from a long line of cases hostile to prior restraints, and noted that “[t]he danger of a prior restraint is that it ‘has an immediate and irreversible sanction’ which ‘freezes’ speech ‘at least for the time’“ and that “[w]hen . . . the prior restraint impinges upon the right of the press to communicate news and involves expression in the form of pure speech . . . the presumption of unconstitutionality is virtually insurmountable.” The Court rejected the argument that publishing the loan document violated laws governing confidentiality and privacy. > > In another important part of its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that New Hampshire’s qualified reporter’s privilege applied to the Implode-O-Meter website and could protect the identity of the source who provided the loan document. The court flatly rejected the lender’s argument that the shield law did not apply to the website “because Implode is neither an established media entity nor engaged in investigative reporting.” Instead, the Court ruled that “Implode is a reporter for purposes of the newsgathering privilege,” noting that “Implode’s website serves an informative function and contributes to the flow of information to the public.” > > “This case stands as a vindication of important First Amendment principles and the rights of online publishers,” said Sam Bayard, Assistant Director of the Citizen Media Law Project. “It demonstrates that the First Amendment extends no less protection to a small website keeping tabs on the mortgage industry than it does to the New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers. It also confirms the common sense insight that legal protection should be linked to the function of journalism, not to any particular medium.” > > In yet another portion of its ruling, the NH Supreme Court ordered the lower court to revisit part of its previous order that required the Implode-O-Meter website to reveal the identity of anonymous posters to the site. The Supreme Court adopted a standard that provides robust protections for anonymous and pseudonymous speech online and requires a high showing before such speakers can be identified. This ruling puts New Hampshire in agreement with a long line of cases from other states providing these important protections. > > About the Citizen Media Law Project > The Citizen Media Law Project, which is jointly affiliated with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Center for Citizen Media, provides legal assistance, training, research, and other resources for individuals and organizations involved in online and citizen media. The CMLP endeavors to serve as a catalyst for creative thinking about the intersection of law and journalism on the Internet. Through the project’s website, www.citmedialaw.org, the active engagement of lawyers and scholars, and occasional sponsored conferences, project staff are working to build a community of lawyers, academics, and others who are interested in facilitating citizen participation in online media and protecting the legal rights of those engaged in speech on the Internet. For more information, visit http://www.citmedialaw.org. > > About the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic > The Cyberlaw Clinic, based at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, engages Harvard Law School students in a wide range of real-world litigation, licensing, client counseling, advocacy, and legislative projects and cases, covering a broad spectrum of Internet, new technology, and intellectual property legal issues. The Clinic was the first of its kind, and it continues its tradition of innovation in its areas of practice. Among many other areas, the scope of the Clinic’s work includes litigation, amicus filings, and other advocacy to protect online speech and anonymity; legal resources and advice for citizen journalists and alternative media organizations; counseling and legal guidance regarding open access, digital copyright, and fair use licensing and contract advice, especially regarding Creative Commons and other “open” licenses; and guidance and amicus advocacy for effective but balanced protection of children in the areas of social networking, child pornography, and online exploitation. More information can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/clinical. > > Contact: > Seth Young > Berkman Center for Internet & Society > Harvard University > +1.617.384.9135 > syoung(a)cyber.law.harvard.edu > > ### > -- > The Berkman Center for Internet & Society -- > http://cyber.law.harvard.edu -- exploring cyberspace, sharing in its study, and helping pioneer its development > > > > **** > To change your Berkman Center subscriptions, visit the following url: > > http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/signup > <message-footer.txt>_______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa

May 7, 2010

Fw: New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds Free Speech Rights for Online News Sites

by Valerio Lubello

FYI, Valerio From: Seth Young Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 8:58 PM To: press-report-list(a)eon.law.harvard.edu Subject: New Hampshire Supreme Court Upholds Free Speech Rights for Online News Sites NEW HAMPSHIRE SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS FREE SPEECH RIGHTS FOR ONLINE NEWS SITES Ruling Mirrors Arguments Made in Brief by the Citizen Media Law Project, Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic, and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press May 6, 2010 - The New Hampshire Supreme Court today issued an important decision upholding the First Amendment rights of online publishers. Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic submitted an amicus curiae brief last June on behalf of the Citizen Media Law Project and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in the case, The Mortgage Specialists, Inc. v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, Inc. The reasoning of today's ruling mirrored arguments in the amicus brief, as the Court concluded that a lower court's injunction preventing a website from posting a leaked document was an unlawful prior restraint on speech. In 2008, the mortgage industry website, The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter, published an article detailing administrative actions taken by the New Hampshire Banking Department against mortgage lender The Mortgage Specialists, Inc. The article included a link to a financial document that The Mortgage Specialists allegedly submitted to the state banking authorities, which the Implode-O-Meter website had obtained from an anonymous source. Mortgage Specialists sued the website, demanding that the document be removed from the internet and that the anonymous source be identified. A Rockingham County Superior Court judge granted these requests. The Supreme Court reversed the injunction preventing publication of the leaked document. The Court drew heavily from a long line of cases hostile to prior restraints, and noted that "[t]he danger of a prior restraint is that it 'has an immediate and irreversible sanction' which 'freezes' speech 'at least for the time'" and that "[w]hen . . . the prior restraint impinges upon the right of the press to communicate news and involves expression in the form of pure speech . . . the presumption of unconstitutionality is virtually insurmountable." The Court rejected the argument that publishing the loan document violated laws governing confidentiality and privacy. In another important part of its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that New Hampshire's qualified reporter's privilege applied to the Implode-O-Meter website and could protect the identity of the source who provided the loan document. The court flatly rejected the lender's argument that the shield law did not apply to the website "because Implode is neither an established media entity nor engaged in investigative reporting." Instead, the Court ruled that "Implode is a reporter for purposes of the newsgathering privilege," noting that "Implode's website serves an informative function and contributes to the flow of information to the public." "This case stands as a vindication of important First Amendment principles and the rights of online publishers," said Sam Bayard, Assistant Director of the Citizen Media Law Project. "It demonstrates that the First Amendment extends no less protection to a small website keeping tabs on the mortgage industry than it does to the New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers. It also confirms the common sense insight that legal protection should be linked to the function of journalism, not to any particular medium." In yet another portion of its ruling, the NH Supreme Court ordered the lower court to revisit part of its previous order that required the Implode-O-Meter website to reveal the identity of anonymous posters to the site. The Supreme Court adopted a standard that provides robust protections for anonymous and pseudonymous speech online and requires a high showing before such speakers can be identified. This ruling puts New Hampshire in agreement with a long line of cases from other states providing these important protections. About the Citizen Media Law Project The Citizen Media Law Project, which is jointly affiliated with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Center for Citizen Media, provides legal assistance, training, research, and other resources for individuals and organizations involved in online and citizen media. The CMLP endeavors to serve as a catalyst for creative thinking about the intersection of law and journalism on the Internet. Through the project's website, www.citmedialaw.org, the active engagement of lawyers and scholars, and occasional sponsored conferences, project staff are working to build a community of lawyers, academics, and others who are interested in facilitating citizen participation in online media and protecting the legal rights of those engaged in speech on the Internet. For more information, visit http://www.citmedialaw.org. About the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic The Cyberlaw Clinic, based at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, engages Harvard Law School students in a wide range of real-world litigation, licensing, client counseling, advocacy, and legislative projects and cases, covering a broad spectrum of Internet, new technology, and intellectual property legal issues. The Clinic was the first of its kind, and it continues its tradition of innovation in its areas of practice. Among many other areas, the scope of the Clinic's work includes litigation, amicus filings, and other advocacy to protect online speech and anonymity; legal resources and advice for citizen journalists and alternative media organizations; counseling and legal guidance regarding open access, digital copyright, and fair use licensing and contract advice, especially regarding Creative Commons and other "open" licenses; and guidance and amicus advocacy for effective but balanced protection of children in the areas of social networking, child pornography, and online exploitation. More information can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/clinical. Contact: Seth Young Berkman Center for Internet & Society Harvard University +1.617.384.9135 syoung(a)cyber.law.harvard.edu ### -- The Berkman Center for Internet & Society -- http://cyber.law.harvard.edu -- exploring cyberspace, sharing in its study, and helping pioneer its development -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **** To change your Berkman Center subscriptions, visit the following url: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/signup

May 7, 2010

9 maggio: seminario su CC a Torino

by Simone Aliprandi

Domani pomeriggio (sabato 9 maggio dalle 15,30 alle 17,30) all'interno dello Student Performing Festival di Torino si terrà un incontro di approfondimento sui nuovi modelli di gestione del diritto d'autore. Ingresso libero previa registrazione. Informazioni: http://www.comune.torino.it/infogio/studentperforming/schedelaboratori.htm#… Iscrizioni all'incontro: http://www.tedaca.it/torinoperformingfestival/iscrizione.html Un caro saluto. -- Simone Aliprandi - http://www.aliprandi.org

May 7, 2010

20° Mercoledì di NEXA: Stefano Trumpy e la Governance dell'ecosistema Internet (12 maggio, ore 18)

by J.C. DE MARTIN

*20° Mercoledì di NEXA* ** *Stefano Trumpy (IIT-CNR): /"La governance dell'ecosistema Internet" /* *Mercoledì 12 maggio 2010, ore 18-20* Corso Trento 21, Torino (primo piano) * *Ingresso libero **Streaming video <http://nexa.polito.it/events> dell'evento.** ** Internet era stata concepita come tecnologia per connettere tra loro reti diverse attraverso protocolli che le facessero interagire in modo da comportarsi di fatto come rete unica; da qui la definizione di Internet come "rete di reti" o "la madre di tutte le reti". Oggi Internet viene vista principalmente come un insieme di servizi di uso universale e di contenuti informativi, tanto che la parte di infrastruttura di telecomunicazioni ha perso importanza relativa; non a caso nei media spesso si usa il termine WEB al posto del termine rete per definire il complesso mondo di Internet. La definizione di Internet come ecosistema viene da Vint Cerf, uno dei progettisti del protocollo TCP-IP che e' elemento di base del "cuore" della rete. L'ecosistema Internet ha un impatto costantemente crescente sulla nostra società e, non a caso, il periodo storico in cui viviamo viene chiamato "Società dell'Informazione", da una delle caratteristiche più rilevanti della nostra presente realtà post-industriale. Oggi la gestione e l'analisi degli sviluppi dell'ecosistema Internet vede coinvolti economisti, sociologi, giuristi, governi di stati e locali, oltre ai tecnologi. Una decina di anni fa si comincia ad usare il termine "governance"; meglio non tradurre il termine in italiano poiché questo farebbe sembrare che la gestione di Internet sia faccenda dei governi. Questo può essere vero per alcuni governi che sono preoccupati della troppo libera circolazione delle idee. Alcune regolamentazioni debbono essere comunque messe in opera per garantire lo sviluppo ordinato della rete, possibilmente con la partecipazione dei principali attori interessati, oltre che dei governi. La governance, nella accezione definite in ambito degli Internet Governance Forum organizzati dalle Nazioni Unite, comprende gli aspetti relativi all'accesso degli utenti alla rete, alla libertà di espressione, al digital divide, ai temi della sicurezza, della privacy, della protezione della proprietà intellettuale e della gestione delle risorse critiche (in particolare del sistema di indirizzi della rete). Di queste cose si discuterà anche nell'ambito dello IGF Italia che questo anno si terrà a Roma il 6 e 7 settembre prossimi. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Letture consigliate: * Stefano Trumpy, Internet in 13 pillole <http://cctld.it/next/html/trumpy_13.html> * L. Abba, Carlo Cosmatos, Global Internet Governance: un nuovo campo di ricerca interdisciplinare riguardo all'Internet del Futuro <http://www.iit.cnr.it/node/2072>, Rivista Informatica e diritto, 2009 * Internet Governance Forum Italia, Pensa globalmente, agisci localmente, Quaderni dell'Internet Italiano <http://www.quadernionline.it/igf_2008/indice.html> 2008 * L. Abba, Stefano Trumpy, Analisi delle posizioni espresse durante l'IGF 2009, in merito all'evoluzione della "enhanced cooperation" e alla proposta di estendere il mandato del Forum <http://www.iit.cnr.it/node/2671>- Technical Report IIT TR - 01/2010 * A. Pizzaleo, Quarto Interner Governance Forum <http://www.iit.cnr.it/node/2673> - Sharm el Sheik - Egitto Novembre 2009 - Technical Report IIT TR - 02/2010 * Global Internet Governance Academic Network <http://giganet.igloogroups.org/>(GigaNet) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anna Piccitto Ufficio Stampa NEXA Center for Internet & Society Politecnico di Torino Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica Tel. +39 011 564 7245

May 7, 2010

Dopo il talk di Eben Moglen, in fatti: progetto Diaspora

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Dopo l'eccezionale discorso di Eben Moglen sul "cloud computing" [1], arrivano i fatti, ovvero il progetto Diaspora - ovvero (tra le altre cose) l'anti-Facebook, http://www.joindiaspora.com/. I quattro volenterosi ragazzi cercano sostegno finanziario, anche modesto (contributo minimo di 5 dollari). juan carlos [1] http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2010/feb/01/freedom-cloud-software-free… *Diaspora <http://www.joindiaspora.com> - the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all distributed open source <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source> social network* http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-personally-contr… We are four talented young programmers from NYU's Courant Institute <http://cims.nyu.edu> trying to raise money so we can spend the summer building Diaspora; an open source personal web server that will put individuals in control of their data. *What is it?* Enter your Diaspora "seed," a personal web server that stores all of your information and shares it with your friends. Diaspora knows how to securely share (using GPG <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Privacy_Guard>) your pictures, videos, and more. When you have a Diaspora seed of your own, you own your social graph, you have access to your information however you want, whenever you want, and you have full control of your online identity. Once we have built a solid foundation, we will make Diaspora easy to extend to facilitate any type of communication, and the possibilities will be endless. For a little more detailed explanation, checkout this blog post <http://www.joindiaspora.com/2010/04/21/a-little-more-about-the-project.html>. *What is the project about?* We believe that privacy and connectedness do not have to be mutually exclusive. With Diaspora, we are reclaiming our data, securing our social connections, and making it easy to share on your own terms. We think we can replace today's centralized social web with a more secure and convenient decentralized network. Diaspora will be easy to use, and it will be centered on you instead of a faceless hub. *Why are we building it?* This February, Eben Moglen <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eben_Moglen>, Columbia law professor and author of the latest GPL, gave a talk on Internet privacy. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOEMv0S8AcA> As more and more of our lives and identities become digitized, Moglen explains, the convenience of putting all of our information in the hands of companies on "the cloud" is training us to casually sacrifice our privacy and fragment our online identities. But why is centralization so much more convenient, even in an age where relatively powerful computers are ubiquitous? Why is there no good alternative to centralized services that, as Moglen pointed out, comes with "spying for free?" Why do we keep our personal data in a thousand places? We have the technology, someone just needs to take the time to figure out how we can communicate smoothly and intuitively, without the hidden costs of "the cloud". As good programmers, when we noticed that the application we need doesn't exist, we set out to fill the hole in our digital lives. *Why do we need money?* We have a plan, a bunch of ideas <http://joindiaspora.com/project.html> and the programming chops to build Diaspora. What we need is the time it takes to iron out a powerful, secure, and elegant piece of software. Daniel, Ilya, Raphael, and Maxwell are all ready to trade our internships and summer jobs for three months totally focused on building Diaspora. We want to write code all the time, everyday. Once we have made our first solid iteration, we are going to release our code as free software <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software> so everyone can make Diaspora even better. $10,000 buys the software for everyone who wants to use it, forever. We think it can change the way people communicate and empower individuals to permanently take control of their online identities. After we open source our source code, we hope to also provide a paid turnkey hosted service in the vein of Wordpress.com <http://www.wordpress.com> to make it easy for people who want to use Diaspora, but don't want to deal with the fuss of setting it up.* We will make it easy to export your data and configuration, so if you decide you want to graduate and host your seed yourself, you are free to do so at anytime. Our goal is for everyone to have full control over their data and to empower people in to become responsible, secure, and social Internet dwellers. We believe offering this service will be helpful to non-technical users who are also worried about their data and privacy online. *Our Promise.* We promise to you that Diaspora will be aGPL <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affero_General_Public_License> software which will released at the end of the summer. *Want more info?* Check out our website for project updates, blog posts, pictures, and plans. More information is being added every day! www.joindiaspora.com <http://www.joindiaspora.com> Check out more videos here. <http://www.youtube.com/user/mbs348> Follow us at @joindiaspora Twitter <http://twitter.com/joindiaspora> or identi.ca <http://Identi.ca/joindiaspora> Want get Diaspora updates via email? Sign up here! <http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=0AoQmncVLKXRBdFo1N3o4R3lrWkszX0…> * This service will be available a few months after the end of the summer. Project location: New York, NY

May 6, 2010