I don’t like reading. I find it unbearably slow. I wouldn’t ever characterize it as torturous, but, for me at least, it’s not that far off. Still, most days, you’ll find me spending my free time reading. I’m not a fiction sort of guy. I’ve been through my science-y phase and have sufficiently stuck my toes into all of the different sciences that I’ve been interested in. Consequently, nine words of the ten that I choose to read are news-related. I’m even picky about that. Local news doesn’t particularly interest me unless I have some connection to the story or it’s unusually lurid. National news—politics in particular—is ultra-predictable and often poorly reported (not to mention incredibly frustrating).
Ultimately, I come back to the same sorts of stories; typically involving something tech-related. I’ve been troubled, lately, by what I’ve been reading, and by “lately” I mean over the course of the last five years or so. My Facebook friends, in particular, have been subjected to an endless barrage of posts and links regarding my perception that the nature of our relationship with technology and information is at a fundamental crossroads and we’re steering, at our own peril, in the wrong direction.
What exactly am I talking about? Mostly, I’m referring to the Internet.
I was around for the beginning of the consumerization of the Internet. I was a teenager when I got my first computer, a shiny
Atari 1200XL, from the Lynnwood Jafco back in 1981 (or was it ’82). Shortly thereafter I acquired my first modem and immediately connected my new virtual self to every bulletin board I could locate and, eventually, a variety of national online services including CompuServe, Genie, and Delphi. I ignored the hourly charges and, much to the disappointment of my parents, racked up a hefty $300 bill playing a Match Game-like “You Guessed It” and spending hours using the “CB.” That’s what we called chat back in the day, btw.
The burgeoning Internet became a great hobby of mine when I could afford it. By then, the tools were better, the experience was broader, and the world-changing potential of
Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web was beginning to come into focus. I’ll never forget my first night playing with Yahoo on Lynx, searching for everything that I could think of at the time, and reading and reading and reading. It was truly invigorating. It was perfectly clear to me that this new technology was going to change a lot of lives. Mine was already starting to change.
Today, in my household, my family’s online presence is completely integrated with our offline lives. We’d be lost without a network cable, or, at the very least, bored.
Since those early days, I’ve watched, with great interest, all of the events that have created the Internet we know today. I understand, I think, its history well enough to know why things are the way they are and to make an educated guess about where they’re going.
So here’s what I see:
- · The US government, China-like, shutting down and censoring websites and news outlets at the behest of media conglomerates, in service of “national security.”
- · A troubling decrease in ownership rights.
- · A despicable suite of copyright laws, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, that is being used to prosecute and bankrupt American families.
- · The legal threat of permanent suspension of Internet access without due process.
- · Sacrifice of privacy in exchange for access to necessary information
- · Patent laws that are responsible for countless deaths and suffering
- · An utter lack of institutional transparency, both in government and the corporate world
I can’t help but think that we’ve not managed to successfully adapt our ways of life to our new connected reality.
What frustrates the hell out of me, though, is that there don’t seem to be a whole lot of people concerned about these sorts of issues. And, really, how can I expect anything different? Until my neighbor discovers that he can’t legally sell his foreign car (as a result of the recent
Costco v. Omega ruling) what difference does any of this make to him? I suppose that when he’s hit with a $2 million dollar fine for downloading that old Badfinger CD—the one that he can no longer buy (as it’s out of print)—he might become a little more troubled.
I, though, already understand what’s going on and what it will mean to all of us. I don’t have an excuse for my fiddling. I see these issues as fundamental to our quality of life, continued technological advancement, and the survival of an orderly civilization. I believe that the solution to every other human dilemma is predicated on the solutions to those enumerated above. So, I feel compelled to act, however impotently.
I’ve been aware of the Pirate Party for a number of years, now. The
Piratpartiet was originally created in Sweden in 2006. Since then, it has grown to be Sweden’s third largest political party. There are two representatives of the party in the European Union Parliament. The Swedish success led to similar movements throughout Europe and, eventually, the US. From
Wikipedia:
The party strives to reform laws regarding copyright and patents. The agenda also includes support for a strengthening of the right to privacy, both on the Internet and in everyday life, and the transparency of state administration.[2] The Party has intentionally chosen to be block independent on the traditional left-right scale[3] to pursue their political agenda with all mainstream parties.
For the last twenty years, I’ve identified myself as a Democrat—a liberal one at that. However, over the course of the last two months, it’s become clear to me that I need to spend my civic energy on a series of causes that is more in line with what’s truly important to me. The Democratic Party doesn’t care about these issues and is, frequently, in opposition to the wiser position. The Republicans are, as usual, completely misinformed and in the back-pocket of
their corporate masters. Most don’t have the slightest clue about these issues and those that do are completely at odds with the poor unfortunate saps they represent.
Today, I am no longer a Democrat. I am a Pirate. I’ve come out. Within the constraints placed upon me by the circumstances of my wonderful life, I will do all I can to bolster the Washington Pirate Party.
As such, I attended my first meeting today. The Washington Pirate Party is in its infancy, so all eleven of us fit nicely into a cozy corner of the Olive Way Starbucks. We discussed a bunch of things but I think the underlying theme was growing the Party into local relevance. We have our work cut out for us. It’s seldom easy to coordinate any group of people—let alone a group of independent thinkers with views more radical than those of their respective peers. The underlying principles of The Party are so strong, however, that I think our success, measured in one way or another, is assured.
So here it is, my official call to anyone reading this: join us. The Washington Pirate Party needs you. We need smart people with an activist nature and the expectation of an informed future. And, even if you’re not ready for that, you can read up on the issues. Learn what
Net Neutrality is. Find out the real reason
why your laptop is being searched at the airport. Understand
why you can rip your CD but not your DVD. There’s a lot of stink right under our noses and we can no longer afford to turn our heads away.
Those who succumb to disease, hunger, or despair find no rest, for the dead rise in the cemetery outside Granite Falls, eager to swell their numbers with the fresh-killed corpses of mourners and passersby. Death Rifts are now nearly as common in the hills as Earth Rifts, and nothing in Stonefield stays buried long.
Oddly accurate too--well, in places. Yes, GF Washington was a mining town. Maybe not so prosperous and the miners CERTAINLY didn't much respect the Earth. And the bit about the unemployed at the tavern can't be right since the Spar Tree shut down, again. 
