Opinion: The Genie Is Out of the Bottle

21st May 2013 19:37 by Ed Geraghty


Ed Geraghty - Pirate Party Member
Ed Geraghty
There are some people who will tell you that technology is "morally neutral"; they will tell you that it's only what we do with the technology which has a moral impact.

This is not necessarily true.

It is not only naive but verging on irresponsible to assume that all technology is a purely positive force - technology does not exist in a vacuum, it is not the result of spontaneous generation.  All technology is designed, and it is designed with the biases of those who design it.

Opinion: Rethinking the Internet

3rd April 2013 01:24 by Loz Kaye


Loz Kaye - Party Leader
Loz KayeThere is a joke from where I come from: A man is out lost wandering on Dartmoor desperately trying to get home. Eventually he comes across a farm. He asks the farmer “how do you get to Plymouth from here?” The farmer replies “I wouldn't start from here if I were you.”

I didn't say it was a good joke. But it is good advice for rethinking the Internet. 

All too often the future of the Internet has been framed as how to serve outmoded business models, clamping down on sharing of information for a whole host of reasons, and who will be key industry players. If you will forgive me for conflating the net and the web, as is in fact the reality now, we shouldn't start from here. Because the web didn't start from here.

 


Opinion: Developments in Future Politics

3rd April 2013 00:58 by Chris Monteiro

 

Chris Monteiro - A Pirate Party Member in London
 
Chris Monteiro
I like to think that while  the Pirate Party may be the 'digital rights' party of today, the mainstream politics of tomorrow is still very much up for grabs.

I'm not the only person that thinks this way. Zero State is a futurist organisation running a number of projects from a bitcoin economy and the emergent area of biohacking, through to supporting full blown life extension projects.  There's even an emergent philosophy/ideology in development called 'Doctrine Zero' featuring sensible tenets of ranging from rationality to compassion.

 


Censored by Copyright

16th July 2012 13:58 by Andy Halsall

A guest post from Dan Bull:

This week, I made a parody music video criticising Lord Finesse for being a copyright draconian. Guess what. He had my video pulled down, claiming it infringed his copyright. Which proves my point more than anything I could have said myself. Techdirt has written an article on the issue here.

 


A Politics for Open Networks

30th June 2012 18:01 by Loz Kaye

Networks – Connections

The essence of a network is its connections and, indeed, the multiplicity of those connections. While there are many ways of networking (putting up a card in the newsagent’s window still works fine!) we can not avoid at this point of the 21st century that the network of networks is the Internet.

The joy of the world wide web is its very… webbyness.

Instead of straight lines many co-joining and splitting filaments, this is inherent in not only its architecture but also in the way we use it.

To me, this is inherently political because this idea of openness and the re-routing round the gatekeepers flattens hierarchies, promotes the exchange of ideas and culture without a specific elite to tell us whether it is good for us or not, or how much to pay for it.

These connections can dissolve space, can turn conventional relationships on their head. The potential is there for a 10 year old girl in Paraguay with a 10 dollar laptop to be the next thought leader, political inciter or business innovator.

But these connections are under threat.


X
We use cookies to provide you the best possible experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on this website. If you would like to, you can change how your browser controls cookies at any time.
You can also view our Privacy Policy
I understand. Don't show me this message again.