What is an open movement? I was asked by Vodes.net to write down a definition of an open movement, and created a specific wiki page for it. For a broader context, see the entry on Openness, and for a different interpretation, see the people who have worked on defining Open Organizations in particular. Readers are… Continue reading
Date archives "September 2007"
Can the experience economy be capitalist?
I’m reproducing here my monthly column for the Amsterdam-based Center for the Experience Economy: To avoid misunderstandings at the outset, let me clearly state that I distinguish markets from the system of infinite accumulation of capital that we call capitalism. Markets have always existed, and are a mechanism to deal with and allocate scarce rival… Continue reading
GiveMeaning – online donation, online fundraising and creative fundraising ideas
GiveMeaning – online donation, online fundraising and creative fundraising ideas An interesting idea, connecting news stories with Donation projects, and giving people ways to collectively rate and filter different dimensions, or propose their own way to solve the problem. “Problem spaces” are sorted through tags, and tag clouds show areas with higher activity.
Process Network building theory – P2P Foundation
Process Network building theory – P2P Foundation Diagram Stage 1: Discussion/Credibility establishment Assuming the two groups decide they want to connect at all: The process starts out with discussion/conversation among the two groups. This is where the two groups both start to create shared understanding through dialogue, and mutually determine the level of credibility and… Continue reading
Dialstation project launches labour IPO
Dmytri Kleiner and the collective that brought us Dialstation is continuing to construct an alternative mode of owning and producing. Here is their most recent announcement: “On May 1st 2007, Telekommunisten launched it’s first consumer product, Dialstation, which allows inexpensive international telephone calls to be made from any normal or mobile telephone and includes a… Continue reading
From the stadiality of capitalism to the stadiality of peer to peer
David Laibman’s Deep History, which has already inspired me to a previous editorial comparing the peer to peer transition to that from slavery to feudalism, offers an innovative interpretation into the stadial (= by stages) evolution of capitalism. It is an abstract theory, but compatible with the historical record. I will first describe his vision,… Continue reading
New book on the expansion of peer production in the physical economy
Christian Siefkes announces the publication of an important book about the “peer economy” which focuses on the sphere of the production of physical goods: Text of announcement: “The big text I was working on for the last nine months is ready. It is about the question of the potential of peer production — the way… Continue reading
How peer production transcends capitalism: entrepreneurs vs. capitalists, for-benefit vs. for-profit
I missed this great post by the Anomalous Presumptions blog, which also focuses on peer production. It argues that: In peer production, the interests of capitalists and entrepreneurs are no longer aligned. Because it is so central to our concerns, I’m taking a very large excerpt, the text below is from the original author: 1…. Continue reading
Peer to peer scenario building
We received word of a very interesting project by John Cassel (reach him via john dot benjamin dot cassel at gmail), which involves participatory scenario building. This project requires all kinds of technical and other kinds of assistance, and we are therefore quoting the project description in full, based on a summary document provided to… Continue reading
Open Content creates more economic value than copyright
Fair use is the American concept that there are exemptions to copyright in certain cases, which in fact create a form of what is now “open content”. A recent report by the Computer and Communications Industry Association, concludes that this in fact creates more economic value added than the protected material. The importance of this… Continue reading
Ephemeral self-destroying non-collectible p2p art still being shared after one year
Swedish artist Anders Weberg created a p2p artwork in the form of a film, which he destroyed after it was shared, and self-destructs itself each time another person takes it up. Yet after one year, the film is still existing and being shared. Here are the details: “P2P Art – The aesthetics of ephemerality.” Art… Continue reading
Steven Vedro’s Digital Dharma is finally out
Digital Dharma. A User’s Guide to Expanding Consciousness in the Infosphere. Steven R. Vedro. Quest Books, 2007 Steven Vedro’s book, which we announced previously, is now out and available on the web and at bookstores. It tackles the inter-related development of personal and social development, with their enabling technologies. Vedro uses the seven-chakra metaphor to… Continue reading
Francois Rey on the danger of unmanaged P2P applications
As P2P applications are proliferating, are there also dangers to this? Francois Rey wrote us the following cautionary words: “Ripple, Peeple, freenet, Skype, file sharing, media broadasting, content distribution, etc. It seems that no computing area that is left untouched by the P2P phenomenon. With so many P2P programs becoming available, will it become possible… Continue reading
Brewster Kahle on what’s wrong with Google’s Book projects
Open Content activist Brewster Kahle summarizes, in this interview with Library Journal, what is dangerous about the digitization programmes undertaken by Google. We recommend reading the whole article. Brewster Kahle: Library Journal: You’ve been critical of Google’s library partnerships. What is Google doing right and/or wrong? Two problems: one is perpetual restrictions on the public… Continue reading
Michael Goldhaber’s proposed TPI metric on the disconnect between the ethical and monetary economy
In the recent article on peer to peer and the feudal transition and in Adam Arvidsson’s essay on The Crisis of Value, it is stressed that we now have two economies, an ethical economy and a monetary economy, and that we have problems in their intersection. Coming at it from another angle, Michael Goldhaber talks… Continue reading
Report on the 3rd Living Knowledge Conference Paris
The 3rd International Living Knowledge conference (3LK) (École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, 30 August – 1 September 2007) was organised by the International Science Shops Network, Fondation Sciences Citoyennes, International Network of Engineers and Scientists for global responsibility, Centre of Sociology of Innovation of the Ecole des Mines, Unit Political and Social Transformations… Continue reading