3 Jun
2016
3 Jun
'16
11:51 a.m.
Diego I send in another email exactly about what u and bob said, but is an
email from another list and I wrote in Portuguese, if u understand that has
something useful in there for the debate u can share it here too.
-----Mensagem original-----
De: dc3-bounces(a)listas.altermundi.net
[mailto:dc3-bounces@listas.altermundi.net] Em nome de Diego Vicentin
Enviada em: quinta-feira, 2 de junho de 2016 17:50
Para: Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity
Assunto: Re: [DC3] Thoughts on Community Infrastructure
Dear Bob and dear Nico, thanks for sharing your thoughts. This is just a
quick reaction to it and Bob's text.
Although I completly agree with Bob's distinction between Internet and
Telecommunication, I'd like to point out that the telecommunications
industry is stronger than never. Telecom operators are basically enforcing
their old "business model" over the internet that is increasingly understood
as a service towards a consumer or "end-user"
(not as internetworking). Telco's attempt to impose "data caps" model in
cable services is only a recent example of scarcity creation between many
others.
CNs are indeed an important alternative to avoid the scarcity regime by
relying on local engagement and technology. But, CNs have to coexist with
Telecom industry since the latter will not simply disappear. For this reason
I suggest that an important task for this group (DC3) in regard to IGF and
other "governance bodies" (like ITU) is defining principles to establish
fair coexistence, specially in terms of interconnection (traffic exchange)
and radio spectrum access that seem to be two key factors to CNs' operation
and expansion.
best wishes,
Diego
Em 01/06/16 11:16, Bob Frankston escreveu:
(This is a bit rambling ... more reason for a
conversation because
it's hard to capture all the nuance in a monolog).
It's helpful for me to learn how people interpret my examples. There
is also a lot to respond to that requires more of a book than an
essay. I'm striving for an amoral understanding of motivations and the
paradigms/memes through which we view the world. There is an
interesting interplay between the acceptance of authority be it
corporations or saviors that leads us to look to authority for
answers. It is the notion that things can't work unless someone is in
charge. My sense is that in Latin America there is a more lawless
version whereas in the US there is more of a popular embrace (aided and
abetted by
money).
I've switched from roads to sidewalks as my standard example because
roads to have a lot of implicit semantics. I use trolleys as an
example of infrastructure built for "access" rather than local use.
You may be interested in http://rmf.vc/Turnpikes describing how the US
went from toll roads as the norm to roads as a public facility. At
this point I explain that tolls are only placed at constriction points
where people can be forced to pay and we tell them just-so stories
about why the tolls pay for the roads when, in reality, they are just more
sources
of income to the ...
either community or road owners or whatever. This is
also related to
the "access" meme - it's another story.
One reason I use sidewalks is that they facilitate walking but are not
necessary because one can take paths.
While people can be forced to drive on highways in the US, at least,
they are generally public infrastructure so that they aren't
considered captured by corporations. In
http://rmf.vc/IPEngineersDilemma I write about public roads permitted
competition with railroads whereas the FCC has prevented a similar
alternative for
our ability to communicate.
As to food, you might be interested in
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/01/arts/does-democracy-avert-famine.htm
l?page
wanted=all.
In general I don't worry so much about "corporate benefit" as much as
acceptance of the notion that things are "provided" rather than
created by cooperation. This is why your examples are so important. It
is also why I try to explain how we stumbled upon a DYI/DYO (Do It
Ourselves) Internet because it's difficult for people to understand
and thus the provider story is so much easier.
I'll need to learn more about the World Forums and we should think
about how to present a DYO approach for IGF. I'm glad you and Luca are
on top of this because Im not very good at such procedures. They are
far beyond my planning horizon.
-----Original Message-----
From: dc3-bounces(a)listas.altermundi.net
[mailto:dc3-bounces@listas.altermundi.net] On Behalf Of Nicolás
Echániz
Sent: Wednesday, June 1, 2016 00:16
To: dc3(a)listas.altermundi.net
Subject: Re: [DC3] Thoughts on Community Infrastructure
I've finally taken the time to read your text Bob.
I believe your ideas are perfectly compatible or maybe even more of a
background to what I've been pushing for lately[1]: that we stop
talking about access to the Internet and instead start to talk more
about making infrastructure available to people (communities), so they
(and their
devices) can network in whichever way they want/can.
The "internet access" terminology puts the people in a position of
receiving a service and it also puts companies as middlemen between these
"consumers"
and the "goods" they are consuming
(Facebook, Youtube, etc.).
You know I usually use the example of the roads system in a different
way than you do, but it's compatible:
The Internet as it's being mostly modeled by big companies is
equivalent to a roads system where every house has to be directly
connected to a toll road or highway. There are no local roads, no
sidewalks, no spontaneous paths through the land. Just highways.
In this model, people cannot "walk" to the park or to the local shop
(local service); those cannot exist. People have to use the highway
and they have to buy at the Mall (concentrated data centers) and have
fun in the Mall's theater (Facebook, Youtube, etc.). And of course
they always have to pay for this "access" through toll booths.
In my view, fighting for "access for everyone" leaves out the
discussion about how the infrastructure is built, controlled and used.
From community networks perspective we need to stress these ideas. We
need local infrastructure that's open for everyone to use (just like
local roads are), where people can host and offer locally and to the
rest of the world their contents, services, etc. This point of view
also breaks the idea of scarcity that is artificially imposed only to
create
profit.
And this also connects our struggle with many others that are also the
result of artificial scarcity for corporate benefit. The food problem
is one example. And in fact, the approach of that fight is also sometimes
wrong.
Communities don't just need access to food. We
need a system where the
land can be used locally so the people can produce and share what they
need. The artificial scarcity problem is again created through
concentration, of the land, of the production means and of the food
distribution
system.
There are many other examples of this and it's a reason why I have
focused for years on trying to get people from one camp to identify
they are fighting the same struggle as others, just in a different domain.
So... in relation to this, I want to propose that we somehow have the
DC3 represented in the World Social Forum and the World Forum of Free
Media[3] this year in Montreal.
Sorry for the long e-mail.
Cheers!
Nico
[1]
http://www.apc.org/en/news/altermundi-apcs-new-member-argentina-lets-t
alk-ab
o
[2] https://fsm2016.org
[3] http://www.fmml.net
On 05/21/2016 08:22 PM, dc3(a)bob.ma wrote:
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Ive tried to put together my thoughts about
community connectivity
as infrastructure. For now its a draft at
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=10A2CCB2B2A54109!91737&authkey=key=!
ANN_0C
KDlD196Ds&ithint=file%2cdocx.
I plan to post it when the video of my Rio talk on infrastructure
becomes available.
Id appreciate feedback.
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