--- title: Demokratisk kommuicationsinfrastruktur som motståndsform subtitle: Technology infrastructure as a common googd author: Gustav Eek date: tor 13 jul 2017 20:18:26 CEST ... Script. # Scattered notes **Introduction and background -- importance of the Internet** The importance of Internet as communication medium can not be questioned. For those who take user freedom seriously it is saddening to see how the Internet has changed from being a common and highly distributed network to the increasingly privatised web we encounter today. The capital constantly require right to increased profit, and it constantly seeks new grounds \section*{Software as a Service} A concept introduced in the spirit of centralisation is \textit{Software as a Service} (SaaS). SaaS means that users perform their computer work on or through a network server on the Internet or a local network. Examples of SaaS are Amazon Cloud and Google Docs. One of the main problems with SaaS is that the users has no control over their data. \section*{Privacy and Surveillance} With large clientele comes a lot of power. Large transnational operators, such as Google, are profiting from efficient use of privacy invading schemes. Together with e.g.\ Google's email service one also gets things that was probably \emph{not} asked for: advertisement, semantic analysis of email contents, and spying. One part of Google's marketing strategy is to sell the collected information to third party. We formed the association in 2010, seven years ago. Our chairman at the time, Stefan Kangas poited out to me, what I did not quite understand at the time, but what is becomming increasingly clear to me. Fripost is part of a general resistance struggle (motståndskamp) of global scale (mot griptången). This was in the early beginning of the Arabic spring in Libya. (*Citer Mattei s. 64) The common good (gemensamt nyttiga) is something that is natural to take as given, and it deserves to be. **More introduction ideas** The importance of Internet as communication medium can not be questioned. For those who take user freedom seriously it is saddening to see how the Internet has changed from being a common and highly distributed network to the increasingly privatised web we encounter today. In this lecture I will present the democratic principles of Fripost and demonstrate how also complicated resources, such as infrastructure for electronic communication can (and must) (*underställas folkligt demokratiska pricesser?*) (I argue that central communication infrastructure should be viewed as a resource). I will start in a (well known) critique of Garret Hardin's classical tragedy of the commons (*referens*) (one that has been presented many times before). One example is Duoglad Hine, *What do you mean, "Full Commonism"?* and *The Friendly Commoner*, FSCONS 2014. (*Read more on Duoglad Hine's talks*) Of course we recognise that this process of privatisation and enclosure (*att hägna in?*) is not isolated to Internet infrastructure. The capital constantly require right to increased profit, and it constantly seeks new grounds. However, the Internet and digital technology an area where this process is very (*närvarande?*). One of the later (*landvinningar*) is the right consumer data through various privacy intrusive software as a service technologies (read Google Drive). And of course state and inter state institutions rather (*eldar på*) than (*stämmer*) the development. **Enclosure vs innovation** (*Continuation on "process of privatisation"*). Digital technology is intricically intricacy and complicatied in its internals, though still "friendly" in its usage. Therfore it can be dificult to distinguish privitasation (*inhängnad*) from innovation. Side note. In my opinion, private innovation and development is natural and of not at all problematic. Of course, however as a note to the note, enclosing technology and restricting its usage (e.g. throung proprietary software development) is highly non moral and should not be accepted. Fripost was founded in order to take back a small, but important, part of our Internet life, namely the email communication infrastructure. We gather around several servers that receive and stores the members' email. The reliability of the service is of cause of great importance. Therefore the network is arranged with reliability in mind, and we hire a hosting service for the main server. We formed Fripost in 2010 in reaction to ... (*Fyll på med Google och Facebook, etc*) ... Proper democracy. Democracy is about influence and power: the power to make decisions and have them implemented. **Citizen Dialogues** Surveys in Sweden say that people show more interest in society and politics than some years ago. Still trust and participation in municipiatal parlamentary proceses and traditional parties decay. As a response, the municipalities and regions in Sweden (SKL (*Vad?*)) suggest so called citizen dialogues (*medborgardialoger*), usually in connection with major infrastructure and city development projects, as a way gather peoples opinion. This (*tilltag*) is Inspired by Sherry Airnstein (*Kolla upp detta*) and planning research from the 1960'es. Her original ideas, however, had an equality idea (*rättvisetanke?*. That idea of equality is totally lost in the way these "dialoges" are committed: "Symbolic participation", Airnstein would call it. Real participation require delegated power. (Thörn 2017) The common good (gemensamt nyttiga) is something that is natural to take as given, and it deserves to be. **Compararison with other commons: Common intellect** I want to put the Internet (and all kinds of tele communication) besides other common resources, such as (a) our soil, (b) sources of water, (c) libraries and published knowledge, (d) and more. Idea (viewpoint) ... owned and managed by one single (*huvudman?*) ... historically speciffic. Common management (not quite managed) of water in rural India is described by Vandana Shiva (*provide reference*). Privatisation and "management" *caused* scarcity. The fault lies in the dikotonomy *public-private* and in the idea that every resource needs an owning (*huvudmann?*). What is not managed can not yield profit. In the case of the (*inhängdad?*) of the commons, management in it self causes the scarcity, it is not the scarcity that requires management. Logic: if it is not scars it can not be managed, and what is not managed can not yield profit. Compare owning with being (*äganda med varande*) (Engels). Another mindset Ugo Mattei describes this mindset as a *common intellect*. (*Beskriv också utarmningarna av jordarna som beskrivs i "Den sista skörden" (eller var det "Slutsködat"?). Exemplifiera också med Fukuoka's senaste*) Vandana Shiva, Fukuoka, med flera är alla ekologister. Ugo Mattei lovordar ekologismen i *ekologism* vs. *ekonomism*. Jag antar att tre-tuppeln, trikotonomin, ska vara *ekonomism* (privat, begränsad, hantering), *kommunim* (gemensam hantering) *ekologism* (ingen hantering eller hantering basserad på gemensamt intellekt). Föreslår att var och ens moral torde vara giltig liknelse för gemensamt intellekt. Ekonomismen förutsätter ekonomisk rationalitet och därmed avsaknad av moral. Kommunismen tillskriver solidaritet och det gemensamma intresset som grund för moral. De två senare hamnar i komplicerade förklaringsmodeller för individuellt moraliskt handlande (*vilke exempel kan vi hitta*) och vill t.ex. förklara hipsters blygsamhet i konsumtion som rationellt med livsstilsargumentet. Att helt enkelt acceptera moral som giltig grund för konsumtionsbeslut torde vara den enklaste modellen. Men bara ekologismen till en sådan. **Final** I humbly recognise that what we do is small in scale and ambition. But I still want to put it in the context of important local struggles that with global implication. In the world, farmers fight for land, urban folks for water, and students for independent universities. We fight for the right and free access to Internet and the means for communication. Internet is designed to be distributed and for equal unlimited access for everyone. That sounds quite much like a common good, and commons require equal influence.