Algorithmic Social Contract = Social contract between humans and governance algorithms Originally published by Iyad Rahwan at Medium: “What happens when an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system does not serve a narrow, well-defined function, but a broad function with wide societal implications? Consider an AI algorithm that controls billions a self-driving cars; or a set of… Continue reading
“Exvestment (Kleiner) is one element of the identity transvestment (Kleiner & Gottlieb) which elaborates how to channel value out of capitalist circulation into alternative communal organizations and keep the bulk of it circulating there. One legal instrument which has been created to generate more exvestment is the Peer Production License.” Here is Gavin Mendel-Gleason’s 15… Continue reading
DATE: Nov 11-13, 2016 PLACE: New York City Almost unnoticed, in the gaps and hollows of the digital economy, a new economy is emerging that follows a different ethical and financial logic. Platform cooperativism, as it has come to be called, is an emerging movement for democratic governance and collective ownership on the Internet and… Continue reading
SwellRT Software Contest If you like to code, free/libre/open source software, and support a decentralized Internet, the SwellRT project invites you to participate in its Free Software Contest 3,000€, 2,000€ and 1,000€ prizes will be awarded to the best three projects which use or improve SwellRT technology. Find more info at: http://swellrt.org/contest SwellRT is a… Continue reading
These days, it’s a common complaint that we are all chained to a screen during all of our waking hours. For some, however, the screen has meant a completely new freedom. An article by Asser Bøggild Christensen, originally published at Information (in Danish): “There is an expectant buzz in the tiny health café in the… Continue reading
Cross-posted from the Peak Prosperity Podcast: Peabody award-winning author Sebastian Junger joins our podcast this week. Junger is well-known for his NYT-bestselling books The Perfect Storm and War, the latter of which was written after a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. Based on his observations while in… Continue reading
Preceding the Dutch EU presidency Flemish artist Lucas de Man proposed a bold idea: he would be travelling through the EU and find young and somewhat older people to explain him how Europe is changing and could be changed. ECF supported Lucas de Man in his plan with networks and some financial help. Upon return… Continue reading
This post by Patty and Leigh Anne originally appeared on o ecotextiles. The promise of the Green Revolution was that it would end hunger through the magic of chemicals and genetic engineering. The reasoning goes like this: the miracle seeds of the Green Revolution increase grain yields; higher yields mean more income for poor farmers,… Continue reading
An excellent interview with our colleague Nathan Schneider. It was originally published at Imperica.com: High-tech tools of exploitation are being repurposed to build a fairer economy. The digital platforms that have become the connective tissue of our lives – the likes of Airbnb and Google – have proven to tend towards monopolies, monetisation of surveillance… Continue reading
Naples was the first Italian city to establish a “Department of the Commons” and the first to change the municipal statute by inserting the “commons” as one of the interests to be protected and recognised as the functional exercise of fundamental rights of the person. A discussion from Italia che cambia: “All these buildings were… Continue reading
When Getty Images sent photographer Carol Highsmith a $120 settlement demand for using one of ‘their’ images without permission, things were about to get messy. The image in question was actually Highsmith’s own work, displayed on her own website. Highsmith has now responded with a $1bn lawsuit. This post originally appeared on torrentfreak.com Seattle-based Getty… Continue reading
If you live in a fairly populous city, or if you like to travel off the beaten path, you’ve probably heard of Airbnb-style short-term rentals (STRs). Residential housing that is rented for short periods of time, STRs were once a niche way to travel, but are now available for rent all over the world. The… Continue reading
Why is it that American combat veterans experience the highest rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the world, while soldiers from other countries have far lower levels? Amazingly, warriors of the past, such as Native Americans, rarely experienced PTSD-like symptoms. In his new book Tribe, Sebastian Junger argues that much of the difference lies… Continue reading
Only when public conscience is sufficiently awakened to the critical needs of others, only when a huge swathe of the populace is standing up for the basic rights of the poorest among us – only then can we talk of a humanity that shares in any meaningful sense of the word. At the end of… Continue reading
Appendix: concrete things you can do with this manifesto If you’ve found ideas in the preceding paragraphs that agree with your state of being in the world and your understanding of relations with others, there are many things you can do, starting now. You don’t have to immediately leave everything behind and organize an egalitarian… Continue reading
Community groups do dozens of things to keep their spaces open – so much, that they struggle with getting new members involved. How might we help people appreciate what’s going on in common spaces? Can shared pictures do that better than websites and wikis? The P2P Foundation believes it’s worth exploring. Since April, I’ve been… Continue reading