[-empyre-] Our missing guest

Michel Bauwens michel at p2pfoundation.net
Fri Jul 29 15:40:12 EST 2011


I'd like to add a side discussion to this,

should we consider the tactis of anonymous/lulz/wikileaks as non-violent
resistance,

this would be the case in the sense that they do not physically harm
anybody, and operate in the virtual domain, doing things that are by analogy
trespassing, 'stealing', etc ...

but clearly, our laws treats cyber-attacks as clear physical harm and
certainly, many developers do not share the legitimacy of 'hacking' actions,

thoughs and opinions would be very welcome,

Michel

On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 5:36 AM, Simon Biggs <s.biggs at eca.ac.uk> wrote:

> I have just heard that one of discussants for this week, Simon Yuill, has
> been ill and will be unable to be involved in our discussion. We send our
> best wishes to Simon and hope he gets well soon.
>
> In the meantime, Magnus, Michel and myself can, and will, further engage
> this months topic, which has, over the past few weeks, brought up many
> important issues.
>
> Tonight BBC2's Newsnight picked up on and reported something that Michel,
> Magnus and myself were discussing last week, which is the explicit
> connection between the hacking at News International and the arrest of
> hackers who are involved with Lulz and Anonymous. Newsnight rightly focused
> on the ethics of each of these activities and, not surprisingly, left the
> answer tantalisingly hanging. They know their audience...
>
> Tonight a 19 year old hacker (Topiary) from Shetland is in police custody
> for allegedly being part of Lulz. As anybody who knows anything about Lulz,
> it isn't something you can be a member of. It is not an organisation. It is
> not even a club or assembly. Neither is it a flock or herd. It is an idea
> and, if you pursue it, then you are Lulz. But it is not something you are
> part of, even if you feel you are. It isn't there. That is a strength.
>
> Tonight James Murdoch has been re-confirmed as Chairman of BSkyB, the
> largest commercial broadcaster in Europe. His role as an executive at News
> International is also confirmed. That his dad owns 39% of BSkyB, a publicly
> listed company, is overlooked (Chairs are meant to be independent of
> specific shareholders and to represent the interests of all, including the
> smallest). That he is being queried both sides of the Atlantic on criminal
> hacking charges (that are not morally driven but only about making money
> and
> destroying people) is overlooked. That BSkyB's shareholders are in uproar
> over what they see as the corruption of the company they own is overlooked.
> James Murdoch is not only free but continues to be one of the most powerful
> and profitable people on the planet.
>
> For me there is little moral confusion here. I know that the wrong person
> is
> being held at Paddington Police station. But I look to our government, our
> police, our media - and I do not see that on the radar (other than on
> Newsnight, in the Guardian and a handful of other outlets than only a few
> hundred thousand people read or watch). The problem exists not only at NI
> but also in our government, in our media organisations, in our banks and
> our
> most fundamental social institutions.
>
> What is to be done? What can a pirate do?
>
> Best
>
> Simon
>
>
> Simon Biggs | simon at littlepig.org.uk | www.littlepig.org.uk
>
> my new work email address from August 1 2011 is s.biggs at ed.ac.uk
>
> s.biggs at eca.ac.uk | Edinburgh College of Art
> www.eca.ac.uk/circle | www.elmcip.net | www.movingtargets.co.uk
>
>
>
> Edinburgh College of Art (eca) is a charity registered in Scotland, number
> SC009201
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>



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