Full title of an article just published in Russian: Russia and the next long wave, and why its agricultural villages are important By Michel Bauwens, http://p2pfoundation.net, May 25, 2009 Introduction Here is a text I just wrote with the assistance of Franz Nahrada and Gleb Tyurin, a later version of which has been translated into… Continue reading
The pope and the ethical economy
Here are excerpts from the Pope’s latest encyclic, Caritas in Veritate, from: – CHAPTER THREE FRATERNITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY Pope BENEDICT XVI: 34.“Charity in truth places man before the astonishing experience of gift. Gratuitousness is present in our lives in many different forms, which often go unrecognized because of a purely consumerist and… Continue reading
Wikipedia and Google
We all know the famous saying attributed to Jimmy Wales: “If it isn’t on Google, it doesn’t exist”. It originates in a New Yorker article on Wikipedia. What is less known is that the Wikipedia founder was apparently was not in fact advocating that online sources are the only ones that matter, but, rather, something… Continue reading
Pope Benedict’s encyclical denounces excessive assertions of IP rights in knowledge
Via KEI online: “Pope Benedict XVI today issued a statement saying that “On the part of rich countries, there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care.” The criticism came in a section of his most recent encyclical letter… Continue reading
Microgrids more efficient than large national electric superhighway?
An interesting Fast Company article starts with a description of a typical renewable energy project in California, that uses a centralized mindset (the Green Path North). It writes that: “There’s nothing especially efficient or high tech about heavy-duty aluminum-steel cables; “line loss” — the power lost during transmission — runs as high as 10% on… Continue reading
Toward a Public Alternative in Digital Archiving and Search
Is there an alternative to the Google search monopoly? Frank Pasquale: With inimitable clarity, Cory Doctorow made the case for an open alternative to Google in The Guardian earlier this month. He focused on the secrecy of search: Search engines routinely disappear websites for violating unpublished, invisible rules. Many of these sites are spammers, link-farmers,… Continue reading
Participation Camp Report
Democracy is a game in which we all make the rules. How do we make this serious game more inclusive, more fair, and more fun? This was the core question of Participation Camp <http://participationcamp.org>, an unconference organized in New York City on June 27th and 28th. The scene for conferences and unconferences around Open Government… Continue reading
Freeters and their political impact
A contribution by Andy Robinson: “A Freeter (“a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding homemakers and students” – Wikipedia). Although the Japanese have coined a term for the group, they exist all over the world, and are a social force of… Continue reading
Search Engine Secrecy and the Public Sphere
The following was published before the U.S. election, but the arguments are still up to date. Frank Pasquale: Should we worry about search engine bias? Consider some Republicans’ fears that Google, a culturally liberal company, is skewing search results to favor Barack Obama and marginalize the right. Fox News yesterday reported conservative discontent at Google’s… Continue reading
Peter Sunde on the Pirate Bay sale
TorrentFreak interviews one of the PB founders on the controversial sale to a private company. Interview excerpts: “It’s been nearly a week since the sale to GGF was announced so TorrentFreak took the opportunity to catch up with departing Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde to look back at the last few turbulent days and to… Continue reading
Beyond Competition: Preparing for a Google Book Search Monopoly
We are republishing an interesting contribution by Frank Pasquale. This first item is a critique of Google, while in the follow-up, Frank will tackle a ‘public’ alternative. Frank Pasquale: “Like Robert Darnton, I look to the upcoming Google Book Search Settlement hearing with a mixture of wonder and trepidation. The prospect of constructing a digital… Continue reading
Guernsey’s Monetary Experiment
This article by Louis Even was published in the January-February, 2004 issue of “Michael”. It is illustrative of how a local community could create “sufficient” and non-inflationary money streams to revive the economy. Louis Even: “Guernsey is a small island located in the English Channel. An Anglo-Norman population. This island is located closer to the… Continue reading
Wikipedia and Conflict
Wikipedia has become a prime example of really existing mass cooperation with low barriers to entry; perhaps the most important example. This is why it is important for researchers to map its operations. I want to focus on situations where governance is most apparent: in situations of conflict, when direct negotiation fails, insults fly and… Continue reading
Technologies of Flocking in Iran (and elsewhere): lessons to learn
A contribution by by Jaap van Till: “Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” (from Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Persian Poet) Jaap van Till: (references are below) “No, they could not twitter Ahmadinejad out of his presidential palace, but the Iranian netizens did surely demonstrate that the internet is mightier than the pen, to… Continue reading
Before the “downfall”: A secret meeting of the RIAA uncovered
Brad Templeton had a peek into a secret meeting of recording industry execs planning their campaigns against filesharing. Here are details by the author (an EFF Board member), as well as commentary on the ‘bunker meme’ and fair use on the EFF blog.
Classical capitalism, peer production, and the consequences of limited demand
What we can at best hope to do is shift the emphasis away from the fourth path (post-scarcity technology used to create artificial scarcity) and towards the first three (a basic income, a gift economy, and/or peer production — all using post-scarcity technology to create abundance). A meditation by Paul Fernhout, who distinguishes four reactions… Continue reading