[wellylug] [Fwd: [NZOSS-OpenChat] Ghandi versus OSS (was: US OSS)]

[Centurion Computer Technology Limited]

-----Forwarded Message-----

From: David McNab <david at rebirthing.co.nz>
To: NZ Open Source Society <openchat at nzoss.org.nz>
Subject: [NZOSS-OpenChat] Ghandi versus OSS (was: US OSS)
Date: 22 Aug 2002 14:49:04 +1200

On Thu, 2002-08-22 at 11:30, Damon Lynch wrote:
> I ask myself sometimes whether there are enough people in the free
> software / OSS movement with the breadth of vision of Gandhi.  If not,
> it is hard to see how we will bring about lasting change.

There's a problem here of inapplicability.

History's most significant leaders - eg Ghandi, Churchill, Jesus, Moses,
Mandela, even (in his evil) Hitler, Lenin etc, have been able to
mobilise mass sentiment in the face of perceived adversity.

Ghandi - the oppression and poverty of the Indian people
Churchill - threat to England from the WWII Axis powers
Jesus and Moses - enslavement and oppression of the Jews
Mandela - enslavement/oppression of South African non-whites
Hitler - humiliation of WWI defeat, adversity of Great Depression and
         economic burden of Versailles Treaty reparation payments.
Lenin - excruciating poverty and exploitation of working classes

The masses invested their emotional energies in, and gave their support
to, these people - because the masses *knew* they were being oppressed.

But in the 21st century, most of the masses are oblivious to their
oppression. The oppression is far more subtle now.

People ignore the fact that (for example), it now takes 70 hours of work
to get the same standard of living that was available 40 years ago with
only 40 hours of work.

People resign themselves to a powerless state. As long as there's a roof
over their head, food in their bellies, and they're getting laid once in
a while (or have enjoyable fantasies of such), they're not going to kick
up too much.

Enter OSS.

As we well know, there's more to the OSS movement than merely having the
text of program statements which can translate into the binary
applications and system software we use.

OSS is a powerful philosophical statement - that every human being has
the right to assume responsibility for, and control over, the technology
which s/he uses in his/her life, and the use of that technology in
communication and expression.

OSS as a philosophy states that all human beings have the right to
transcend the role of passive marketing cash cow, and make truly
informed decisions about how they use their time, awareness, and
economic resources, what they express, how, and to whom.

The problem with getting OSS to 'catch on' is one of the conditions of
modern living - information excess. It's not possible to walk down the
street, open a newspaper, turn on a TV or open the mail without
countless interests vying for our attention.

A natural human response to information excess comes in the form of
craving the 'black box' - the car that needs little/no maintenance, the
investment fund that delivers maximum return for minimum risk and
minimum knowledge, the computer that does what's asked of it without
needing technical skills.

With every 'black box' we buy, we're potentially giving away a piece of
our power, plus some money, in return for that holy grail, CONVENIENCE.

M$ have won so most of their marketing power by making their OS as close
as technically possible to being a true 'black box'. People can use
their windows systems, install/remove software etc in a state of
semi-consciousness - that womb-like state which so many of us crave.

(It's taken me many months to 'un-learn' Windows, and heal the brain
damage that OS causes).

A dark age of Digital Prohibition is looming. But the intellectual
property industry knows better than to bring it on in one hit. Put a
frog into a beaker of boiling water, and it'll jump right out. Put the
same frog into a beaker of lukewarm water, heat slowly to boiling, and
you've got a cooked frog.

The IP industry knows that the way to win is to bring in the
restrictions slowly but surely - never bring down enough in one chunk to
provoke mass reaction.

A real scenario we're looking at within 5-7 years is:

* All allowed internet protocols are patented and pay-per-use.
* Abolition of open standards and protocols (eg http, SMTP etc)
  ISPs allowing open protocols get sued and shut down.
* Abolition of open source operating systems
* Abolition of software and hardware which allows use of non-DRM media
* Huge fees for sending/receiving personal media (eg photos) which
  exceed a given resolution
* Abolition of servers, except where the owners pay large annual license
  fees - all servers being run by Rupert Murdoch et al. (Xtra are guilty
  of trying to start this trend).
* Abolition of community WLAN
* No computers able to run unsigned applications
* Programmers having to pay huge certification fees to get their progrms
  signed (like, hundreds of thousands or millions of $$$).
* Legacy computers (such as what we're using now) effectively useless,
  since the new proprietary internet protocols will require huge CPUs
  for the mathematical calculations involved in the DRM enforcement
  portions of the new protocols.
* No privacy - no computers can be used until their software is
  activated against 'hard' personal ID (passport, credit card etc).
* Likelihood of computers being rented, and their cases securely shut.
  Use of a screwdriver a criminal offence.

But this will be brought in one tiny piece at a time, and the masses
probably won't object.

Because each new generation of boxen, with its new restrictions, will
look sexier then the one before.

Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford University, has all but
burned himself out on the lecture trail trying to get people to wake up
to this disturbing trend.

I've said this in a previous email, but will say it again. NZOSS has a
role to play, and can make a real difference here in NZ by marketing
courses on online privacy, internet rights and freedom.

Cheers
David



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