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"A Call to Defense and Celebration of the Online Commonwealth"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

http://petition.cdt.org/ The Center for Democracy & Technology invites you to join us in celebrating One Web Day by reading and signing the document: A Call to Defense and Celebration of the Online Commonwealth. This document, developed in collaboration with our new CDT Fellows, articulates core values that have enabled the Internet to prosper and highlights our shared duty to keep it open, innovative and free. We invite you to read the document and attach your name in a show of support. We encourage everyone who shares the views outlined here to share this site with your friends. On September 22 — One Web Day — we will report how many supporting signatures have been collected. --------------------- A Call to Defense and Celebration of the Online Commonwealth Common Values and Shared Duties on the Internet http://petition.cdt.org/?page_id=5 Over the past two decades, the Internet has transformed economic, political and cultural landscapes across the entire globe. Out of the simple exchange of data packets, we have collectively built a vast and complex information ecosystem, linked together into many thousands of overlapping social networks, which have enriched and ennobled our lives. Though we speak different languages and have different values, together we have built a place – myriad places — where we can all meet and communicate with one another. We do not often enough stand back and marvel at the new global online society that we are building, nor do we frequently enough reflect upon our place, as individuals, in this new social order. It is time to do so. The Internet has become so pervasive in all of our lives that we have begun to take it for granted, like the air we breathe or the water we drink. But we cannot afford to do that anymore. The Online Commonwealth – open, innovative, and free – is under attack from many quarters: Destructive and often virulent code threatens our shared infrastructure, while some cyber-security measures proposed in response may invade our privacy and accord unprecedented control to regulators; online predators and adult content raise concerns for parents seeking to protect their children, but restrictions proposed in reaction to these problems may chill lawful adult speech; rigid local regulations deter innovation, creating conflicting and confusing jurisdictional claims regarding applicable rules while failing to promote online order; increasingly sophisticated tools for filtering and monitoring online activities are implemented by public authorities and private actors; overly restrictive intellectual property laws may dampen our collective creativity; closed, gated systems increasingly place innovation behind locked barriers. There are plenty of anecdotes about harmful online activities, usually accompanied by calls for new restrictions and new legislation. Press reports about online activities are replete with descriptions of the unlawful, the unreasonable, and the unpleasant. Fewer stories catalogue, and less attention is paid to, the manner in which the Net acts as catalyst for economic growth, education, and human rights, how it educates the young, connects the elderly to friends and family, fosters new economic ventures and global trade, knits together the world’s scientific community, and entertains and enlightens us all. It is time for those of us who care about the continued development of the Online Commonwealth to articulate the shared values that have enabled it to flourish, to celebrate its continued vitality, and to come, where necessary, to its defense, while also working to ameliorate harms arising from it. We believe in the free and open flow of ideas and information embodied in the bits we send across the Internet. The Internet is a society of mind. Individuals – not intermediaries, whether governmental or private, acting without their authorization – have the right to decide with whom they wish to communicate. We oppose mechanisms – whether embodied in law, technology, or both – that unreasonably or without authorization interfere with the voluntary allocation of our own attention. We support mechanisms that enable individuals to decide what online groups to join and with whom they want to interact. We believe that the Online Commonwealth grows more valuable every day because it is open to all. No one should need permission to use the global language, to add ideas and information to our shared stores of knowledge, or to try out a new protocol or application, and we oppose mechanisms which place unreasonable constraints or controls on our freedom to continue to do so. We believe in the promise of the Internet: that ideas and information can be shared by all and with all. We worry that overly aggressive assertions of intellectual property rights or other forms of content control can create an “anti-commons,” preventing us from exercising our rights to learn from and to speak freely to one another. We believe that the software code through which we communicate online can radically extend our powers, free us from routine matters, and help us direct our attention to the most useful information and our most valuable relationships. But we recognize that code can also invade our privacy and destroy the very devices and networks through which we interact. Those who propagate destructive or invasive software code are the enemies of the Online Commonwealth, and we should use all appropriate tools at our disposal, including law, to deter and punish them. We share a duty to learn how to defend our own systems from attack, and to take available steps to avoid becoming victims or propagators of harm. We believe that the people of the Internet are, collectively, the killer app. We confront our screens as individuals – but we can act through those screens with others, and it is by engaging our minds with those of others that we create new, diverse, interdependent roles, thereby expanding, continuously, the potential exchanges between related or complimentary roles that create wealth and wisdom. Our new Online Commonwealth is not founded on physical resources, geographic territory, financial capital, or even human labor. It emerges from attention and effort expended in increasingly diverse roles that channel our efforts into pursuit of goals defined by the many different groups with which we collaborate every day. These groups make the world wealthier and wiser every day precisely because they have many different, diverse, and decentralized goals. But all groups should share one core value – respect for and deference to other groups that refrain from imposing harm on others. The Internet enables people with very different values to coexist peacefully, online, precisely insofar as all groups respect this principle, and we oppose any claim by any group – public or private – that seeks to impose its own will on those whose welfare it doesn’t seek to serve and who have not consented to its claim to govern. The Online Commonwealth is continuously under threat – both from those who would stifle its creativity and those who abuse its liberties. Who will defend it? We all must do so. By collaborating to cut off havens for harm. By participating in online reputation and rating systems by means of which we guide each other’s use of the Internet. By resisting regulation that uses the potential for such harm to justify equally harmful constraints. By creating new online institutions that help us take collective action to pursue our shared visions of the good. And by celebrating the many ways in which the Internet has unleased the creative powers of millions of people. We are releasing this call on One Web Day, September 22, to reaffirm our shared commitment to the values that have enabled the Internet to prosper. We are all citizens of countries and states, members of families, employees of companies, participants in churches and clubs. But we are also, importantly, members of the shared, global Online Commonwealth, and we re-affirm our shared commitment to defend and celebrate this marvelous collective creation. [NOTE: In order to add your name to the list, an email address must be provided. An automated email will be sent to you for verification purposes only. Email addresses are not made public, neither will be they be shared with any other third party. However, if you wish to sign the document without revealing your email address, simply use anon(a)blank.com and your name will go into a queue until approved by a moderator.]

Sept. 12, 2009

Corso per Giovani Artisti su Industrie Creativi

by Enrico Bertacchini

Cari tutti, siccome ieri non ho avuto il tempo di presentarlo al Mercoledì di Nexa, volevo segnalarvi l'iniziativa "La sQuola, un corso per giovani artisti sulle industrie creative a cui sto lavorando e di cui ho anche chiesto il coinvolgimento di Lorenzo Benussi e Federico Morando. Il corso verrà organizzato a Biella dal Centro Studi Silvia Santagata e da Cittadellarte, grazie ai finanziamenti del progetto Italia Creativa. Abbiamo cercato di organizzare un corso che cerchi di stimolare non tanto la capacità artistica dei partecipanti quanto gli aspetti più imprenditoriali e sociali della loro attività. Il corso prevede infatti temi come la gestione della proprietà intellettuale, il legame tra cultura, creatività e territorio e, last but not least, i nuovi modelli di business o social production su Internet. Secondo me, la cosa più bella del corso è che è gratuito e cerca di essere un giusto mezzo tra una residenza artistica (grazie a Cittadellarte) e un corso di formazione. Vi giro il bando, nel caso siate interessati o conosciate qualcuno che può essere interessato. La deadline per la presentazione delle domande è il 3 ottobre. Grazie A presto Enrico

Sept. 10, 2009

Stage presso Nexa, mi presento

by diego acampora

Buongiorno a tutti, mi presento: sono Diego Acampora, nuovo stagista presso il centro Nexa di Torino. Sono qui per uno stage della durata di circca due mesi proveniente dal Master in FreeSoftwareUpgrade tenutosi a Bolzano quest'anno. In questi mesi ho notato la scarsezza di informazioni riguardo al fenomeno delle migrazioni a software libero, quei processi che vedono un certo numero di macchine "migrare" appunto a strutture basate sul software libero, abbandonando software e formati proprietari precedentemente utilizzati. Queste migrazioni possono essere totali o parziali, in quanto ci si può trovare nella situazione in cui un particolare software non sia migrabile per vari motivi. Ad oggi, probabilmente, molti enti (pubblici e privati) compiono difficilmente migrazioni perchè non esistono dati aggregati e riconoscibili su come si conducono questi processi. Durante questo periodo mi occuperò di creare una piattaforma web che raccolga in modo schematico dati inerenti a migrazioni a software libero che sono già state ultimate. L'idea è di offrire uno strumento di consultazione e documentazione sulle problematiche e le soluzioni adottabili per ogni ente pubblico o impresa che desideri migrare un certo numero di macchine. I dati immessi saranno di tipo tecnico ( tipo di macchine su cui è stata compiuta la migrazione, vincoli hw/sw, soluzioni adottate per raggiungere le stesse prestazioni del software proprietario, eventuali problemi irrisolti), inoltre ci saranno delle informazioni sul tipo di formati utilizzati e sul livello di compatibilità raggiunto con quelli proprietari. Non per ultima, un'indagine di tipo economico sul tipo di business model che sta dietro ad ogni migrazioni in termini di costi/benefici e quindi di risparmio (naturalmente diversi a seconda che l'ente sia di pubblica utilità o impresa privata). In questa prima parte di stage, mi occuperò di iniziare il popolamento del database dopo aver intervistato responsabili informatici che hanno seguito queste migrazioni, sia nella città di Torino che fuori. Successivamente, partirà la fase di "sponsorizzazione" di questo sito, in cui proveremo a renderlo uno strumento utile di consultazione ed immissione dati, nonchè una scintilla che inneschi un confronto e una mutua "assistenza" tra chi ha già compiuto migrazioni e chi è interessato al processo. Il progetto di stage incontra in molti punti gli obbiettivi e le direttrici di ricerca che Nexa percorre in questo momento : non per ultima la diffusione della dichiarazione di Wheeler e il progetto di "Università aperta" che ne consegue. Attraverso le domande che porrò ai responsabili informatici sarà possibile (o almeno speriamo) delineare il livello di policy adottate nei confronti di formati, software, contenuti di pubblico dominio, prodotti della ricerca etc, in modo da avere anche un quadro della situazione esistente e del generale livello di attenzione e diffusione del software libero in diversi settori. I principali target saranno gli enti pubblici universitari e scolastici, e la PA piemontese. Ovviamente, dato l'iniziale lavoro di popolamento del database, quante più migrazioni riusciamo a "raccontare", tanto più la piattaforma sarà un mezzo efficace per il mondo esterno. Chiunque di voi che contatti con responsabili informatici (o semplicemente amministratori di sistema e addetti ai lavori) di enti pubblici ( tipo università-scuole) o di ricerca o uffici della PA che abbiano compiuto migrazioni parziali o totali e voglia passarmeli, questi saranno ben accetti. Chiunque voglia mettermi in contatto diretto con alcune di queste figure professionali, o abbia semplicemente delle idee e dei consigli rispetto a questo progetto di stage, può scrivermi a questo indirizzo o cercarmi presso il centro Nexa di Corso Trento a Torino, dove per circa due mesi sarò presente tutti i giorni. Un saluto a tutti, Diego Acampora

Sept. 10, 2009

Re: [nexa] [Fwd: [Oa-italia] Google settlement a IFLA]

by Mariella Berra

ciao grazie m ----- Original Message ----- From: J.C. DE MARTIN To: nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 10:37 AM Subject: [nexa] [Fwd: [Oa-italia] Google settlement a IFLA] -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Oa-italia] Google settlement a IFLA Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:29:15 +0200 From: Maria Cassella <maria.cassella(a)unito.it> Reply-To: Lista di discussione su temi relativi all'accesso aperto <oa-italia(a)openarchives.it> To: Lista di discussione su temi relativi all'accesso aperto <oa-italia(a)openarchives.it>, infer_comunicati(a)cilea.it Per chi non c'era questo e' un breve report della sessione dedicata a IFLA al Google settlement. Un avvocato, un bibliotecario, Jon Orwant di Google, e un editore (ma manca il commento al suo intervento) discutono dell'accordo. buona lettura http://wo.ala.org/gbs/2009/09/08/460/ mc -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ OA-Italia mailing list OA-Italia(a)openarchives.it http://openarchives.it/mailman/listinfo/oa-italia PLEIADI: http://www.openarchives.it/pleiadi/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ nexa mailing list nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa

Sept. 10, 2009

[Fwd: [Oa-italia] Google settlement a IFLA]

by J.C. DE MARTIN

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Oa-italia] Google settlement a IFLA Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:29:15 +0200 From: Maria Cassella <maria.cassella(a)unito.it> Reply-To: Lista di discussione su temi relativi all'accesso aperto <oa-italia(a)openarchives.it> To: Lista di discussione su temi relativi all'accesso aperto <oa-italia(a)openarchives.it>, infer_comunicati(a)cilea.it Per chi non c'era questo e' un breve report della sessione dedicata a IFLA al Google settlement. Un avvocato, un bibliotecario, Jon Orwant di Google, e un editore (ma manca il commento al suo intervento) discutono dell'accordo. buona lettura http://wo.ala.org/gbs/2009/09/08/460/ mc -- _______________________________________________ OA-Italia mailing list OA-Italia(a)openarchives.it http://openarchives.it/mailman/listinfo/oa-italia PLEIADI: http://www.openarchives.it/pleiadi/

Sept. 10, 2009

[Fwd: [A2k] Jamie Boyle: We Must Stop Google Books Because It Will Work!!!]

by J.C. DE MARTIN

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [A2k] Jamie Boyle: We Must Stop Google Books Because It Will Work!!! Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 18:17:36 -0400 From: Manon Ress <manon.ress(a)keionline.org> To: a2k discuss list <a2k(a)lists.essential.org> http://www.thepublicdomain.org/2009/09/08/we-must-stop-google-books-because… We Must Stop Google Books Because It Will Work!!! There are good reasons to worry about the Google Book Search Settlement, as I explained at length here. But of all of the reasons to oppose it, this utterly surreal statement is my favourite. European officials fear that if the Google project goes ahead in the US, a yawning transatlantic gap will open up in education and research. “Oh my God! The Americans are about to create a private workaround of the enormous mess that we regulators have made of national copyright policy! They will fix the unholy legal screwups that leave most of 20th century culture books unavailable, yet still under copyright! They will gain access to their cultural heritage — giving them a huge competitive advantage in education. This MUST BE STOPPED!! No one can be allowed to fix this for any other country because then we would be left alone stewing in our own intellectual property stupidity! We must forbid their progress in order to protect our ignorance. But wait, there’s more. If anyone does do it, it must be the state! (Which so far has failed completely to provide legal access to orphan works or commercially unavailable works, works that are unavailable because of… wait for it, wait for it, the state locking up our cultural heritage unnecessarily) Google maintains it is engaged in the huge project for the public good. Others say such public good should be left to the public sphere. [Actually, Google says it is doing it to make money, but that it will produce an enormous public good, something that makes the company very happy.] But look at the phrase in bold. Only the state may fix the problems the state has created. And if Europe can’t fix those problems for itself, everyone else should be forbidden from doing so as well. QED. Now, to the credit of the EU, the article suggests that the EU will pursue this not only by trying to ban what Google wants to do, something France and Germany have already attempted, but by “copyright reform and “public-private partnerships as a means to boost digitisation of books.” Great. But how about treating the Google Books project as a demonstration of an entirely unnecessary problem created by states — particularly including European and American copyright policy makers. If it weren’t for the ridiculous copyright extensions, abolition of formalities and ending of renewable terms, we wouldn’t have the problem of the 20th century black hole. Now a company manages to craft a settlement that will work around this, restoring, at least for some citizens of the world, access to a heritage that they never should have lost — and to do so in a way that pays authors and publishers where they can be found. Europe’s answer? This must be forbidden! Stop the settlement! Make sure no European books get freed! Make European participation only on an “opt in” basis, so NO orphan works — by definition — can be included, since they have no one to opt in for them. Complain that a private company is involved!! Prevent this settlement now to stop the US getting a lead, and maybe one day we’ll fix the problems that we the regulators created in the first place! (Yeah, right.) Brilliant. You couldn’t make this stuff up. http://twitter.com/thepublicdomain *************************************************************************** Manon Ress manon.ress(a)keionline.org Knowledge Ecology International 1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel.: +1.202.332.2670, Fax: +1.202.332.2673 _______________________________________________ A2k mailing list A2k(a)lists.essential.org http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/a2k

Sept. 8, 2009

in arrivo la versione italiana di "Remix"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Buongiorno a tutti, segnalo che e' in arrivo in libreria la versione italiana dell'ultimo libro di Larry Lessig, "Remix": http://www.ibs.it/code/9788845315596/lessig-lawrence/remix-il-futuro-del.ht… A proposito: la versione inglese e' scaricabile con licenza CC qui http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/remix.htm Su YouTube c'e' anche una bella lezione di LL che presenta i principali temi del libro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yC81QhR_xk ciao, juan carlos

Sept. 8, 2009

Anonimato & Internet: novita' in Cina

by J.C. DE MARTIN

THE NEW YORK TIMES *China Web Sites Seeking Users' Names * By JONATHAN ANSFIELD September 6, 2009 BEIJING --- News Web sites in China, complying with secret government orders, are requiring that new users log on under their true identities to post comments, a shift in policy that the country's Internet users and media have fiercely opposed in the past. Until recently, users could weigh in on news items on many of the affected sites more anonymously, often without registering at all, though the sites were obligated to screen all posts, and the posts could still be traced via Internet protocol addresses. But in early August, without notification of a change, news portals like Sina, Netease, Sohu and scores of other sites began asking unregistered users to sign in under their real names and identification numbers, said top editors at two of the major portals affected. A Sina staff member also confirmed the change. [...] Segue qui: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/world/asia/06chinanet.html

Sept. 6, 2009

12° mercoledi del Centro NEXA su Internet & Società

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Mercoledi' 9 settembre 2009 alle ore 18:00 si terra' nei locali del Centro NEXA su Internet & Società (corso Trento 21, Torino, primo piano) il 12° mercoledì di NEXA. L'incontro, che terminera' entro le ore 20, sara' dedicato a fare il punto della situazione sulle principali novità relative a Internet, con particolare attenzione al "settlement Google", ai bandi aperti del Centro [1], e alla public sector information. Come al solito, tutti gli interessati sono caldamente invitati a participare, l'incontro è informale. cordialmente, juan carlos de martin [1] http://nexa.polito.it/job-openings prof. juan carlos de martin co-director / nexa center for internet & society politecnico di torino http://nexa.polito.it tel: +39 011 564 7215 fax: +39 011 564 7216

Sept. 2, 2009

NY Review of Books: "The News About the Internet"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Volume 56, Number 13 · August 13, 2009 <http://www.nybooks.com/contents/20090813> The News About the Internet By Michael Massing <http://www.nybooks.com/authors/71> Of all the dismal and discouraging numbers to have emerged from the world of newspapers---the sharp plunges in circulation, the dizzying fall-off in revenues, the burgeoning debt, the mounting losses---none seems as sobering as the relentless march of layoffs and buyouts. According to the blog Paper Cuts, newspapers lost 15,974 jobs in 2008 and another 10,000 in the first half of 2009. That's 26,000 fewer reporters, editors, photographers, and columnists to cover the world, analyze political and economic affairs, root out corruption and abuse, and write about culture, entertainment, and sports. [....] Segue: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22960

Sept. 2, 2009