[free-sklyarov] Compromise? Balance?

William Ahern wahern at 25thandClement.com
Sat Jul 28 14:39:21 PDT 2001


It is pretty obivous that businesses (and not just corporations, but all 
those guys and gals with MBA's from Harvard) are looking under every rock and 
in every cranny seeking out rent. It seems obvious that throughout history
people fail to see how an economy really works (maybe the Judeo-Christian
ethic has helped the west from regressing, due to the teaching of 
selflessness, even if persons in the west don't practice it individually). 
But, the internet gives power to the people. The internet is the great 
equalizer, and that's why all of those lusers out in dot.com land are so 
frustrated rent seeking.

But, in order to keep it that way, and to keep the capacity for change
in OUR hands, we need to keep it open. (that means fighting things
like the DMCA and and also more subtle things like data-differentiation on 
the network, like what the big backbone providers are pushing for (think 
about the ATM craze)).

So, on-the-whole things are probably brighter than what one could 
superficially take from your piece (though the piece itself agrees with me 
very much).

Institutions like the WTO and NAFTA/FTAA would be/will be great if they can 
foster an equalizing economy, not a divisive one.

On Saturday 28 July 2001 14:19, Eric C. Grimm wrote:
<snip>
> At least to me, it seems clear enough that very aggressive and
> well-financed moves are afoot and have been for some time to create classes
> of
> "information haves" and "information have-nots" -- by which I do not mean
> the so-called "digital divide" of information access, which separates the
> middle class from the poor, but rather a class division between
> "information haves" who can charge rent, and "information have-nots" who
> must pay rent.
>
> Are we racing toward a world populated with a large proletariat of
> "information serfs," ruled by a small over-class of "information royalty,"
> who are assisted in their hegemony by an intermediate class of
> knowledge-rule enforcers who pledge fealty to the ruling class -- or are we
> already there?
>
> Eric Grimm




More information about the Free-sklyarov mailing list