Continuations

NOTE: The following excerpt is the introduction to the third part of my book World After Capital.Part Three: Enhancing FreedomThe second major goal of World After Capital is to propose an approach for a transition to the Knowledge Age. The challenge is to overcome the limits of capitalism, by moving past a society centered on the Job Loop towards one embracing the Knowledge Loop. Part Three will propose changes to regulation and self-regulation that increase human freedom and let us unlock th...

I have blogged in the past about threats to the open web and what to do about them. It is easy to be dismissive of concerns about Apple’s philosophy of control which necessitates a partially closed system. But there is a real danger in being so seduced by the sleekness of a device and its user experiece that one does not reflect on whether the trade-offs in terms of restrictions are actually worth it. That becomes all the more relevant as Apple is beginning to use control of the playing field...

I have been meaning to write this post ever since I read about Tim Cook’s speech on how Apple protects its customers’ privacy. Since then there have been posts arguing that Google’s (and others’) approach has merits because it allows for creating a better customer experience and also because it supports free services that are accessible by more people. But neither convenience nor price is the most important tradeoff here. Instead it is the limitations on general purpose computing that Apple i...

I love Italy - for vacations, that is. But the decision by a judge in Milan to convict several Google employees for the posting of a bullying video on Youtube is a serious threat to the potential of the Internet to be a force for freedom. I have been critical of Google many times on this blog, but agree wholeheartedly with their assessment of how troubling this is:European Union law was drafted specifically to give hosting providers a safe harbor from liability so long as they remove illegal ...

The Internet changes everything. Aaron Swartz knew and embraced that at an age when most of us think that the biggest problem we are facing is this week’s home work assignment. For the first time in human history we can connect to each other independent of where or who we are. We have at our disposal the ability to collaborate on ideas globally and advance knowledge and society. Aaron lived a life committed to furthering and protecting that newfound capability. In the process he sometimes pus...

Some fine folks have been hard at work to draft a Declaration of Internet Freedom. I couldn’t agree more with the preamble:We believe that a free and open Internet can bring about a better world. To keep the Internet free and open, we call on communities, industries and countries to recognize these principles. We believe that they will help to bring about more creativity, more innovation and more open societies.So please go and read the Declaration. If you agree with it, you can sign it by fo...

I have met Senator Patrick Leahy in person several times and owe him a personal debt of gratitude. Over the years I have been impressed by how he has conducted himself in politics. He is, however, dead wrong in his introduction of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) act together with Senator Orin Hatch of Utah and sadly also co-sponsored by New York’s Chuck Schumer. COICA essentially establishes Internet Blacklists and gives ISPs immunity when they enforce the black...

Over the holiday several events happened that illustrate that we are facing a clear and present danger to the freedom of the Internet. It started with the US government seizing a bunch of domains that were accused of participating in copyright infringement. The action and its aftermath illustrate two important points. First, despite seeking more powers under the awful COICA, the government is already asserting the legality of controlling DNS and seizing domain names. Second, several of the af...

Craigslist has self-censored its Adult Services section in the US (instead of its usual location the word “Censored” appears and the section is no longer accessible). There has been a lot of discussion of this move already. Two pieces in particular are worth reading. Jeff Jarvis points out that one of the reasons why Craigslist is under attack (and possibly the main reason) is just how disruptive it is to existing media businesses. Danah Boyd - guest writing at the Huffington Post - provides ...