Mapping 30 areas of activity (Fig. 1)

(This post by Marco Berlinguer & Mayo Fuster originally appeared on the P2Pvalue blog)

It has been for some time now that research is engaging around a fauna of new forms of production that have been progressively appearing in the sectors more intensively impacted by the Internet and the digital revolution and more dependent on knowledge, creativity and innovation. Neologisms and innovative proposals of framing proliferate.

The P2Pvalue project adopted as its own framework that of Commons-based peer production (CBPP).

The concept is due to Yochai Benkler, who – partly relying on the work of Elinor Ostrom – developed it between 2002 and 2006, as a way to grasp the characteristics of a new model of production that loomed behind the surprising success of experiences, like the Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) and Wikipedia.

Benkler’s notion has the merit of highlighting the emergency of the “information commons”.

Indeed a new approach to the regulation of property arguably represents the most crucial organizational and institutional innovation of these new forms of production.

Since Benkler proposed the notion, CBPP understanding continued to progress.

Even so, research about CBPP is still in its first stages of development. Especially insofar the proposed characterization of CBPP is that of a new and distinctive model of production, the theoretical and empirical work to sustain such a claim is still limited.

Fundamental questions still need to be addressed.

The P2Pvalue project aims to contribute to the progress in the state of art in the understanding of CBPP.

This is done through several methodologies of research.

Our group – IGOPnet – is developing a statistical analysis of 300 CBPP cases.

The objective required the development and test of a common framework of analysis applicable to an extremely varied sample of cases. It was unprecedented in research and we met several challenges along this attempt.

In this post we explain how we addressed the first, preliminary step we had to face: the definition of a set of criteria of delimitation and distinctiveness of CBPP.

To us, these criteria were necessary to define our unit of analysis across the research. Or in other words, to provide the distinctive features of CBPP that would have justified the insertion or rather the exclusion of specific project in our 300 cases.

The main issue we had to engage with was the following.

CBPP first characterizations have been developed mainly observing FLOSS at its origins and Wikipedia. These still represent the most known ideal-types and studied cases. However one of the objectives of our investigation was to cover the expansion and the more recent developments in CBPP. We ended up mapping 30 areas of activity (Fig. 1, above).

Thus we had to test the applicability of a common CBPP framework of analysis to such a variety of new areas. Furthermore, looking at the more recent developments, meant defining a strategy to deal with the growing diffusion of “hybrids”, that is of cases in which commercial objectives interweave with CBPP features.

In the end, we framed four features as defining characteristics of CBPP (Fig. 2).

Defining characteristics of CBPP (Fig. 2)

Collaborative production. The process of collaboration results into something valuable not present before.

Peer-to-peer relationships. Community collaborative interactions are neither solely nor mainly coordinated by contractual relationships, mercantile exchange or hierarchical command.

Commons based. The resources co-produced result in a commons. The collaboration is anchored around the production of shared resources.

Reproducibility and derivativeness. “Commonness” and autonomy of the actors are reinforced when the characteristics of the resource and the license allow reproduction and derivative works.

These features can be present in different degrees in each case.

Yet, as a whole, they allow us to delimit the “contours” of a specific and distinct model of production.

The post Delimiting Commons-Based Peer Production appeared first on P2P Foundation.

This post from the P2Pvalue blog by Florian Glatz is based on an article by Primavera de Filippi posted on Internet Policy Review – read the full article here

Today we want to point you to one of the many studies we are conducting at P2PValue, regarding the different applications of peer-to-peer technology in today’s networked information society. In our study “Bitcoin: a regulatory nightmare to a libertarian dream” we analyzed the challenges contemporary legislators face when drafting legislation that encourages the exploration of the positive effects associated with cryptocurrencies such as low transaction fees, while at the same time strengthening consumer protection and discouraging illicit conduct such as drug trafficking and tax evasion that is facilitated by the unique properties of Bitcoin-like currencies.

Cryptocurrencies are a new form of digital money that makes use of an exotic branch of mathematics called cryptography  in order to allow for secure monetary transactions. While cryptography is used, inter alia, to create a form of digital ownership for information-based money, currencies such as Bitcoin additionally leverage peer-to-peer technology to ensure that none of its monetary units can be spent more than once by its respective owner (as would be expected of any functioning monetary system). Solving this long-standing “double spend problem”, which has  plagued all previous attempts at creating forms of digital money that wasn’t  issued by a “centralized” bank-like entity, is considered the most important breakthrough of Bitcoin.

To the (initial) surprise of many experts in the field of cryptography and distributed systems, Bitcoin’s scheme of allowing secure monetary transactions has proven successful not only at a small network size but in face of major global attention by actors ranging from private individuals to institutional investors. Still, the novel combination of cryptography and peer-to-peer  technology piloted by Bitcoin continues to be in its infancy both with regards to the technical problems faced by the monetary network’s ever-growing daily transaction volume as well as with regards to gaining acceptance by a mainstream audience.

A key step for Bitcoin & Co to gain wider usage in everyday commerce is a regulatory framework that recognizes the special properties of this new form of digital cash. Regulatory reform in the realm of financial services provision, taxation and consumer protection appear necessary to appropriately account for the unique properties of Bitcoin-like cryptocurrencies. The required changes to contemporary legislation in those areas is, however, far from obvious when it comes to the details. The field of tax law serves as a good example since different tax rates apply depending on the understanding of cryptocurrencies either as currencies or commodities in a legal sense. To the confusion of many public officials, cryptocurrencies partially fit into both categories. The creation of a new type sui generis, e.g. “virtual commodities”, seems not too far-fetched.

Today, first attempts at regulating parts of the economic ecosystem that rapidly evolved around cryptocurrencies are being drafted worldwide. With it, legislators have to take a stance whether they want to encourage the use and further development of cryptocurrencies in their jurisdictions or rather disincentivize businesses and consumers to explore possible use cases of the technology.

At the European level the situation is far from clear. Whereas some member states such as the UK strive to attract businesses in the cryptocurrency space with favorable legislation, others, such as Germany, stay wary of any kind of commitment that would encourage its citizens to use the digital coins. In 2012 the European Central Bank issued a report on the matter, clarifying the non-applicability of its E-Cash and Payment Services Directives on Bitcoin-like virtual currency schemes. Further clarifications can be expected as the topic does not seem to go away on its own anytime soon.

However, as much as a higher degree of legal certainty would support the nascent ecosystem, the hesitation of many legislators might also be a blessing for cryptocurrencies, at least at this very early stage. Especially with regards to consumer protection, legislation might be the wrong tool for the job anyways. The innovative technology behind Bitcoin-like currencies gives the emerging industry a chance to build secure consumer-grade solutions on their own, resulting in a self-regulated and technically secure payment system.

1. Today, Bitcoin-like cryptocurrencies have an overall market capitalization of around 7 billion USD.

The post Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies: a regulatory nightmare? appeared first on P2P Foundation.

This recording of Marco Berlinguer discussing the research carried out by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (IGOP) in the first phase of the P2Pvalue project was recorded on February 19th 2015  as part of a series of hangouts at the Havens Center at the University of Wisconsin jointly held by Michel Bauwens of the P2P Foundation and Professor Erik Olin Wright of the Real Utopias project on the topic of Capitalism, Post-Capitalism and Transition Strategies towards a Sustainable and Socially Just P2P Society.

The post P2Pvalue Podcast 001: Marco Berlinguer – How to Assess Value in Peer Production appeared first on P2P Foundation.

The last in the series of free posters about Commons-Based Peer Production produced by P2Pvalue  & designed by Laura Recio shows some of the crazy things we can do with collaborative communities. The poster can be  downloaded below (click on image to go to the downloads page on Wikimedia Commons) & used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license. The posters are currently available in English, with other languages to be added soon. Enjoy

Download the other posters:
A history of Commons-Based Peer Production communities
One Day Living Through Collaborative Communities

The post Free Commons-Based Peer Production Posters No. 3 appeared first on P2P Foundation.

The second in the series of free posters about Commons-Based Peer Production produced by P2Pvalue  & designed by Laura Recio tells the story of one day living through collaborative communities. The poster can be  downloaded below (click on image to go to the downloads page on Wikimedia Commons) & used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license. The posters are currently available in English, with other languages to be added soon. Enjoy

The first poster in the series, outlining the History of Commons-Based Peer Production communities, is available here

The post Free Commons-Based Peer Production Posters No. 2 appeared first on P2P Foundation.

P2Pvalue have produced a series of about Commons-Based Peer Production, designed by Laura Recio. The first poster which can be  downloaded below (click on image to go to the downloads page on Wikimedia Commons) & used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license, explains the history of Commons-Based Peer Production communities . The posters are currently available in English, with other languages to be added soon. Enjoy

The post Free Commons-Based Peer Production Posters appeared first on P2P Foundation.

Can we gain an economy, politics and society of the commons?

Emerging model of production, political innovation and the geopolitics of Internet from the Spanish context of change of era

Idea of the Commons and the Future of Capitalism. The political importance of CBPP and its very strong continued relevance.

#Commons #p2pvalue

(Streaming and Spanish translation will be provided though this page http://stream.communia.org/benkler-igop.php)

Talk by Yochai Benkler @CCCB Feb 25 18:30-20:30

Presented by Mayo Fuster Morell

Moderator: Joan Subirats

Row 0: Floren Cabello (Traducciones procomun), Nuria Alabao (La Hidra), Lorena Fuster (Tramod UB: Trajectories of modernity), Liliana Arroyo (Eticas), Anna Monjo (ICARIA Editorial), Josep Lladós Masllorens (Director IN3),  Ismael Peña-López (UOC), Rubén Martínez and Marco Berlinguer (IGOPnet.cc), Samer Hassan (P2Pvalue), Leandro Navarro (CONFINE and Pangea.org),  David Laniado (Dcent), Eduard Aibar (UOC), David Gomez (Amical Wikmedia), Javier Creus (Pentagrowth), Ignasi Alcalde (OKFN Spain), Guillermo Rojo (XES – Solidarian Economy Network), Maria Garcia Perulero (Goteo), Juanlu Sanchez (eldiario.es), Quim Guitart (communia.org), Peter Matjasic (Open Society Foundations), Leda Guidi (Iperbole – civic network and digital agenda of Bologna City Council), Valentina Bazzarin, Alejandro Perez and Jordi Bonet (Podem Cat), Sir Jaron Rowan (BAU), Francisco Jurado (Democracia 4.0), Tomas Diez (BCN Fab Lab), Sol Polo (FAD / Design Beats), Ignasi Labastida (Creative Commons), Arnau Monterde (Tecnopolítica de l’IN3), among others.

Madrid streammed connection: Marcos Garcia (Commons Lab/Laboratorio del Procomun (Media Lab Prado), Victor Sampedro (Máster CCCD).

Conference on occasion of the publication of the work in Spanish  “The Wealth of Networks” (published  in Spanish by Icaria Editorial).

? When? 25 February 2015 From 18:30 to 20:30 talk. The event will continue in a networking meet up.

? Where?

Barcelona:

CCCB – Montalegre, 5 – 08001 Barcelona

Classroom 1 (Limited capacity)

Afterword (20:30 onward) there will be a networking meet up at CCCBar.

Madrid: There will be an streaming of the event organized by Media Lab Prado (Plaza de las Letras. Calle Alameda, 15. 28014 Madrid). Participants in Madrid will be able to send questions for the debate.

Online: Streaming will be provided from this same website: http://stream.communia.org/benkler-igop.php

Expanded debate on Identica/Twitter: #Commons

? Organization: Organized by IGOP.net.cc, P2Pvalue.eu European project, CCCB Lab.

Collaboration: Ed. Icaria, Commons Lab/Laboratorio del Procomun and Máster CCCD (Media Lab Prado), Traducciones procomun, Communia 

Support: Spanish Chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Society Foundation  Initiative for Europe 

? Resources on Benkler work:

Benkler’s website 

Review of Benkler’s work in occasion of the publication of “La Riqueza de las reded” by Mayo Fuster Morell English – Castellano –  Catala 

Index of “La riqueza de las redes” (Spanish version of The wealth of networks), and introduction by Floren Cabello and Andoni Alonso, and foreword by Mayo Fuster Morell (Castellano)

Yochai Benkler is a professor at theFaculty of Law and co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. He is the author of the book – recently published by Icaria in Spanish – “The Wealth of Networks” benchmark studies Internet and society. His work examines the ways in which information technologies allow extensive forms of collaboration can have transformative consequences for the economy and society

The research Benkler is developed in three areas connected. On the one hand, “peer production based on the common good” as collaborative initiatives of free software that Wikipedia is becoming the emerging production model and reference. On the other hand, introduced the concept of public space network, and analyzes to what extent is the process of transforming public policy and political mobilization. Finally, an expert on Internet policy and architecture to new technologies. Through these lines of work explores the hypothesis of the emergence of a third organizational model commons, which would break the pairing state – market, and would favor greater centrality and empowerment of civil society as an agent.

From these key reading Benkler incorporate elements to understand the change of time in Spain.

Mayo Fuster Morell is a researcher at the Institute of Government and Public Policy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. One expert in the governance of communities based on collaborative production between equals. P2Pvalue directs research on conditions that favor the creation of value in the production network. One member of the Open Knowledge Foundation and the Wikimedia Foundation.

Joan Subirats Humet is professor of Political Science at UAB and researcher at the Institute of Government and Public Policy at the University Autonoma of Barcelona. Hir areas of research include public policy analysis, democratic innovation, public participation and local and regional government. He has published numerous books, including the Spanish Urban Policies (2011) and sociedad Otra, otra ¿politics? “Not to represent us” democracy of the policy.

(CATALA)

Podem guanyar una economia, política i societat procomú?

Xerrada: Claus de lectura del moment actual en un context de canvi d’època: Producció procomu, espai public en xarxa i geopolitica d’Internet

per Yochai Benkler @CCCB Feb 25 18:30-20:30

(Xerrada en angles. Streaming i traduccio al castellà disponible a la web: http://stream.communia.org/benkler-igop.php)

#Commons #p2pvalue

Presenta: Mayo Fuster Morell

Modera: Joan Subirats

Fila 0: Floren Cabello (Traducciones procomun), Nuria Alabao (La Hidra), Lorena Fuster (Tramod UB: Trajectories of modernity), Liliana Arroyo (Eticas), Anna Monjo (ICARIA Editorial), Josep Lladós Masllorens (Director IN3),  Ismael Peña-López (UOC), Rubén Martínez and Marco Berlinguer (IGOPnet.cc), Samer Hassan (P2Pvalue), Leandro Navarro (CONFINE and Pangea.org),  David Laniado (Dcent), Eduard Aibar (UOC), David Gomez (Amical Wikmedia), Javier Creus (Pentagrowth), Ignasi Alcalde (OKFN Spain), Guillermo Rojo (XES – Solidarian Economy Network), Maria Garcia Perulero (Goteo), Juanlu Sanchez (eldiario.es), Quim Guitart (communia.org), Peter Matjasic (Open Society Foundations), Leda Guidi (Iperbole – civic network and digital agenda of Bologna City Council), Valentina Bazzarin, Alejandro Perez and Jordi Bonet (Podem Cat), Sir Jaron Rowan (BAU), Francisco Jurado (Democracia 4.0), Tomas Diez (BCN Fab Lab), Sol Polo (FAD / Design Beats), Ignasi Labastida (Creative Commons), Arnau Monterde (Tecnopolítica de l’IN3), among others.

Madrid connexio per streaming: Marcos Garcia (Commons Lab/Laboratorio del Procomun (Media Lab Prado), Victor Sampedro (Máster CCCD).

Conferencia en ocasió de la publicació en castellà de l’obra «La riqueza de las redes» (Titlo de l’obra original en angles: «The Wealth of Networks» – publicat per Icaria Editorial).

? Quan? 25 Febrer 2015 De les 18:30  a 20:30 xerrada. L’esdeveniment continuara amb un networking pica pica al CCCBar.

? On?

Barcelona:

CCCB – Montalegre, 5 – 08001 Barcelona

Aula 1 (Capacitat limitada)

Despres (20:30 endavant) hi haura un networking pica pica at the CCCBar.

Madrid: Hi haurà una transmissió de l’esdeveniment organitzat al Media Lab Prado (Plaça de les Lletres. Carrer Albereda, 15. 28014 Madrid). Els participants a Madrid podran enviar preguntes peldebat.

Online: Des de aquesta web es retransmetrà http://stream.communia.org/benkler-igop.php

Debat expandid: Identica/Twitter: #Commons

? Organizacio: Organizat per IGOP.net.cc, P2Pvalue.eu European project, CCCB Lab.

Colaboracio: Ed. Icaria, Commons Lab/Laboratorio del Procomun and Máster CCCD (Media Lab Prado), Traducciones procomun, Communia 

Support: Spanish Chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Society Foundation  Initiative for Europe 

? Recursos del treball de Benkler:

Benkler’s website 

Revisio del treball de Benkler en ocassio de la publicacio al castella de “La Riqueza de las reded” per Mayo Fuster Morell English – Castellano –  Catala 

Index of “La riqueza de las redes” (Spanish version of The wealth of networks), and introduction by Floren Cabello and Andoni Alonso, and foreword by Mayo Fuster Morell (Castella)

Yochai Benkler és catedràtic a la Facultat de Dret i codirector del Centre Berkman per Internet i la Societat de la Universitat de Harvard. És autor del llibre – recentment publicat en castellà per Icaria – “La riquesa de les xarxes” referència mundial en els estudis d’Internet i societat. La seva obra analitza les maneres en què les tecnologies de la informació possibiliten formes extensives de col·laboració que poden tenir conseqüències transformatives per a l’economia i la societat

El treball de recerca de Benkler es desenvolupa en tres àrees connectades. D’una banda, “producció entre iguals basada en el bé comú” com les iniciatives col·laboratives del programari lliure o Viquipèdia que està convertint-se en el model productiu emergent i de referència. D’altra banda, va introduir el concepte d’espai públic en xarxa, i analitza en quina mesura està transformant els processos de polítiques públiques i la mobilització política. Finalment, és un expert en polítiques d’Internet i en l’arquitectura de poder de les noves tecnologies. A través d’aquestes línies de treball explora la hipòtesi de l’emergència d’un tercer model organitzacional procomu, que vindria a trencar el binomi Estat – mercat, i afavoriria una major centralitat i empoderament de la societat civil com a agent.

A partir d’aquestes claus de lectura, Benkler incorporarà elements per entendre el canvi d’època a l’Estat Espanyol.

Mayo Fuster Morell és investigadora de l’Institut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona i del Centre Berkman per Internet i Societat de la Universitat de Harvard. Es experta en la governança de les comunitats basades en la producció col·laborativa entre iguals. Dirigeix la recerca P2Pvalue sobre condicions que afavoreixen la creació de valor a la producció en xarxa. Es membre de la Fundació pel coneixement obert i la Fundació Wikimedia.

Joan Subirats Humet és professor de Ciència Política a la UAB i investigador de l’Institut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques de la Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Els seus camps de recerca inclouen l’anàlisi de polítiques públiques, la innovació democràtica, la participació pública i el govern local i regional. Ha publicat nombrosos llibres, entre els quals destaquen les Polítiques urbanes espanyoles (2011) i  Otra sociedad, ¿otra política? De “no nos representan” a la democracia de lo común.

(CASTELLANO)

por Yochai Benkler @CCCB Feb 25 18:30-20:30

(Retransmision en directo y traduccion al castellano en esta web http://stream.communia.org/benkler-igop.php)

#Commons #p2pvalue

Presenta: Mayo Fuster Morell

Modera: Joan Subirats

Fila 0: Floren Cabello (Traducciones procomun), Nuria Alabao (La Hidra), Lorena Fuster (Tramod UB: Trajectories of modernity), Liliana Arroyo (Eticas), Anna Monjo (ICARIA Editorial), Josep Lladós Masllorens (Director IN3),  Ismael Peña-López (UOC), Rubén Martínez and Marco Berlinguer (IGOPnet.cc), Samer Hassan (P2Pvalue), Leandro Navarro (CONFINE and Pangea.org),  David Laniado (Dcent), Eduard Aibar (UOC), David Gomez (Amical Wikmedia), Javier Creus (Pentagrowth), Ignasi Alcalde (OKFN Spain), Guillermo Rojo (XES – Solidarian Economy Network), Maria Garcia Perulero (Goteo), Juanlu Sanchez (eldiario.es), Quim Guitart (communia.org), Peter Matjasic (Open Society Foundations), Leda Guidi (Iperbole – civic network and digital agenda of Bologna City Council), Valentina Bazzarin, Alejandro Perez and Jordi Bonet (Podem Cat), Sir Jaron Rowan (BAU), Francisco Jurado (Democracia 4.0), Tomas Diez (BCN Fab Lab), Sol Polo (FAD / Design Beats), Ignasi Labastida (Creative Commons), Arnau Monterde (Tecnopolítica de l’IN3), among others.

Madrid conexion por streaming: Marcos Garcia (Commons Lab/Laboratorio del Procomun (Media Lab Prado), Victor Sampedro (Máster CCCD).

Conferencia en ocasión de la publicación en castellano de la obra «La riqueza de las redes» (Titulo de la obra original en angles: «The Wealth of Networks» – publicado por Icaria Editorial).

? ¿Cuando? 25 Febrero 2015 De les 18:30  a 20:30 Conferencia, El evento continuara con un  networking pica pica en el CCCBar.

? ¿Donde?

Barcelona:

CCCB – Montalegre, 5 – 08001 Barcelona

Aula 1 (Capacidad limitada)

Después (20:30 en adelante) se celebrara networking pica pica en el CCCBar.

Madrid: Habrá una transmisión del evento organizado en el Media Lab Prado (Plaza de las Letras. Calle Alameda, 15. 28014 Madrid). Los participantes en Madrid podrán enviar preguntas para el debate.

Online: Desde esta web se retransmitirá el streaming: http://stream.communia.org/benkler-igop.php

Debate expandido: Identica/Twitter: #Commons

? Organización: Organizado por IGOP.net.cc, P2Pvalue.eu European project, CCCB Lab.

Colaboración: Ed. Icaria, Commons Lab/Laboratorio del Procomun and Máster CCCD (Media Lab Prado), Traducciones procomun, Communia 

Apoyo: Spanish Chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Society Foundation  Initiative for Europe 

? Recursos del trabajo de Benkler:

Benkler’s website 

Revisión del trabajo de Benkler en ocasión de la publicación en castellano de “La Riqueza de las redes” por Mayo Fuster Morell English – Castellano –  Catala 

Índice de “La riqueza de las redes”, y introducción de  Floren Cabello y Andoni Alonso, y prologo de  Mayo Fuster Morell 

Yochai Benkler es catedrático en la Facultad de Derecho y codirector del Centro Berkman por Internet y la Sociedad de la Universidad de Harvard. Es autor del libro, recientemente publicado en castellano por Icaria – “ La riqueza de las redes” referencia mundial en los estudios de Internet y sociedad. Su obra analiza los modos en que las teconologías de la información posibilitan formas extensivas de colaboración que pueden tener consecuencias que transformen la economía y la sociedad.

El trabajo de investigación de Benkler se desarrolla en tres áreas conectadas. Por un lado, “ producción entre iguales basada en el bien común” tales como las iniciativas colaborativas del programario libre o Wikipedia que está convirtiéndose en el modelo productivo emergente i de referencia. Por otro lado, introdujo el concepto espacio público en red, y analiza de que modo está transformando los procesos de políticas públicas y la movilización política.

Finalmente, es un experto en políticas de Internet y en la arquitectura de poder de las nuevas tecnologías. A través de estas líneas de trabajo, explora la hipótesis de la emergencia de un tercer modelo organizacional procomún, que rompería con el binomio Estado-mercado, y favorece una mayor centralidad y empoderamiento de la sociedad civil como agente.

A partir de estas claves de lectura, Benkler introducirá elementos para comprender el cambio de época en el Estado español.

Mayo Fuster Morell és investigadora de l’Institut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques de la UAB y del Centro Berkman por Internet y la Sociedad  de la Universidad de Harvard. Es experta en la governanza de las comunidades basadas en la producción colaborativa entre iguales. Dirige la investigación P2P value sobre condiciones que favorecen la creación de valor a la producción en red.  Es miembro de la Fundación por el conocimiento abierto y la Fundacion Wikimedia.

Joan Subirats Humet es profesor de Ciencia Política en la Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona y investigador del Institut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques de la UAB. Sus areas de investigación incluyen el análisis de las políticas públicas, la innovación democrática, la participación pública y el gobierno local y regional. Ha publicado numerosas obras, entre las cuales destacan la Políticas urbanas españolas (2011) y Otra sociedad ¿otra política? De “no nos representan” a la democracia de lo común.

The post Yochai Benkler in Barcelona: Can we gain an economy, politics and society of the commons? appeared first on P2P Foundation.

A 2-day London workshop in March, gathering FLOSS projects that are building software for peer production and organization, with a focus on distributed platforms. *Scholarships* to attend are offered to grassroots communities.

** Context **

We know that the Internet was originally decentralized, with protocols and services built by hackers. However, with the arrival of the celebrated Web 2.0, centralization and corporations proprietary platforms seem to have taken over. Moreover, this centralized structure is used by governments to increase surveillance (following Snowden’s revelations), to blackout internet whenever it is needed (e.g. Egypt, Syria, or San Francisco’s BART) or to choke annoying activist organizations (such as Wikileaks).

On the other hand, in the last few years we have seen the emergence of Internet-enabled collaborative communities building shared libre/open resources. Commons-based Peer to Peer Production (CBPP) is rapidly growing: not just for software and encyclopedias, but also for information (OpenStreetMap, Wikihow), hardware (FabLabs, Open Source Ecology), accommodation (Couchsurfing) and currency (Bitcoin, Altcoins).

In the last few years, it has become clear to many that it is not enough to develop free/libre/open source (FLOSS) alternatives, but we also need to re-decentralize the Internet. Many initiatives are being undertaken under this premise (e.g. Ethereum, Diaspora, OwnCloud, MediaGoblin, Sandstorm). These new software tools may also be useful to boost CBPP communities further. In this workshop, we will gather those working around the decentralized FLOSS that could help CBPP/P2P communities. Hackers, academics, activists and interested stakeholders are welcome.

**When**

March 16-17th 2015

**Where**

Fab Lab London

http://fablablondon.org  

**Call for Proposals**

We welcome proposals for:

• Lightning talks (2m-5m): summarise your idea & receive feedback

• Show & Tell presentations (20m): explain your project/tech/research

• Tutorials on software tools (1h)

Please email: [email protected] with your idea/proposals.

The workshop will have both presentations and unconference-style participatory dynamics for finding points of collaboration and extraction of conclusions.

** Topics **

• Focus on FLOSS software with some of the following features:

  • Social: communication

    • e.g. social-networking, microblogging, reworked email

  • Social: collaboration

    • e.g. wikis, pads, wave, shared file hosting, multimedia repositories

  • Alternative to proprietary choices

  • Federated / Distributed / Interoperable

  • Open Standards

  • Secure / Encrypted

  • Encouraging Peer Production communities

  • Encouraging the construction/maintenance of Commons

• Potential cases for discussion:

  • Diaspora (federated social network)

  • Wave (federated real-time collaboration)

  • Lorea (federated social network)

  • DarkWallet (distributed wallet & social network)

  • Ethereum (P2P infrastructure)

  • MaidSafe (P2P infrastructure)

  • Sandstorm.io (facilitates federated sw)

  • Mailpile (encripted email)

  • MediaGoblin (federated multimedia repository)

  • OwnCloud (file hosting)

  • … (your case)

**Scholarships**

There are a few scholarships for potential participants who wish to attend the event. The scholarship will cover participant’s travel and subsistence cost, up to €400. If you are interested in applying for the scholarship, please email: [email protected] before 28 February 2015, with a paragraph stating why you think your FLOSS is relevant, plus a short bio. Priority will be given to those with low resources, innovative FLOSS within the topics of the call, and being a grassroot community.

** More **

More info will be posted online in:

http://p2pvalue.eu/2nd-floss4p2p-workshop

Email queries to: [email protected]

The post FLOSS4P2P Workshop: Call for Participation appeared first on P2P Foundation.

The Call for Proposals and registration for the 2nd FLOSS4P2P workshop are now open.

The two day workshop which aims to gather the FLOSS projects that are building software for peer production and organization, with a focus on distributed ones, will take place on March 16th & 17th at Fab Lab London.

It is free to attend but registration is necessary and there are some scholarships available.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

We welcome proposals for:

• Lightning talks (2m-5m): summarise your idea & receive feedback

• Show & Tell presentations (20m): explain your project/tech/research

• Tutorials on software tools (1h)

Please email: [email protected] with your proposals by 28 February 2015

SCHOLARSHIPS

There are a few scholarships for potential participants who wish to attend the event. The scholarship will cover the participant travel and subsistence cost up to €400. If you are interested in applying for the scholarship, please email: [email protected] by 28 February 2015. with a paragraph stating why you think your FLOSS is relevant, plus a short bio. Prioritiy will be given to low resources, innovative FLOSS within the topics of the call, and being a grassroot community.

DETAILS

WHAT:

A two day workshop which aims to gather the FLOSS projects that are building software for peer production and organization, with a focus on distributed ones.

WHEN:

March 16-17th 2015

WHERE:

Fab Lab London

1 Frederick’s Place

Off Old Jewry EC2R 8AE, London, UK

Info on the 1st workshop here

The post 2nd #FLOSS4P2P Workshop Call for Proposals appeared first on P2P Foundation.

P2Pvalue are at the 31st Chaos Computer Congress in Hamburg to announce our 2nd Workshop on FLOSS4P2P.

We will be giving a lightning talk on December 28th at 14:45 inviting people to attend the workshop which will take place in London on March 16-17

Hope to see you at the Hamburg talk and at our London event

The post P2Pvalue @ #31C3 appeared first on P2P Foundation.