GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web!
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0:02 - 0:04Ellery Roberts Biddle [mid-sentence]: ...Our weekly video hangout series!
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0:04 - 0:07I think - let's see, we started a little bit off time
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0:07 - 0:08so I'll say it again:
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0:08 - 0:13Ellery: Welcome to GV Face, our weekly video hangout series!
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0:13 - 0:18Today, we are celebrating the 25th birthday of the world wide web.
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0:18 - 0:21Pretty exciting. That was on Wednesday.
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0:21 - 0:25Um, we've got a really all-star lineup of guests
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0:25 - 0:28on today's program.
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0:28 - 0:32Um, moving from left to right, we have:
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0:32 - 0:35Alan Emtage, a very special guest who is
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0:35 - 0:42gonna talk to us about his very special creation
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0:42 - 0:45of, uh, the first web browser...
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0:45 - 0:47Um! We have Jeremy Clark, in Montreal -
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0:47 - 0:50Jeremy is a technical director at Global Voices.
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0:50 - 0:53Josh Levy, from Free Press,
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0:53 - 0:55in Massachusetts, in the U.S.
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0:55 - 1:01and Renata Avila, campaign manager
for the Web We Want -
1:01 - 1:03Creative Commons extraordinaire, and
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1:03 - 1:07GV star, who is joining us from Berlin!
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1:07 - 1:09Welcome, everybody!
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1:09 - 1:13Um. So we wanted to start today's show
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1:13 - 1:17by talking a little bit about the World Wide Web
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1:17 - 1:20and the internet.
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1:20 - 1:24'Cuz a lot of people think that they're the same thing
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1:24 - 1:27when actually, that's not quite true.
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1:27 - 1:30I want to first turn to Jeremy
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1:30 - 1:32and just ask, Jer, could you
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1:32 - 1:34break it down for us, like,
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1:34 - 1:37I thought that the internet was invented in the 70's
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1:37 - 1:42but, if it's the 25th birthday of the web,
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1:42 - 1:44what does that mean?
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1:44 - 1:46Jeremy Clark: Okay, well, the
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1:46 - 1:48best place to start, I think, is
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1:48 - 1:51the internet - it has existed in various formats
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1:51 - 1:56since the 1970's, as you said,
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1:56 - 1:58but it was the web that really made it
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1:58 - 1:59enter our homes.
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1:59 - 2:03and, so, understanding the relationship is important.
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2:03 - 2:06So, the internet was invented by
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2:06 - 2:08the U.S. Government in a lot of senses...
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2:08 - 2:11...a mix of military and science funding
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2:11 - 2:14that developed the network of
actual computers -
2:14 - 2:15that can communicate with each other
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2:15 - 2:17over wires.
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2:17 - 2:23Now, another related technology that is also compri--
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2:23 - 2:24[amends] uh, built in to the web
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2:24 - 2:27is called hypertext. And that is the notion
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2:27 - 2:32of documents that can link between each other
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2:32 - 2:35immediately, without having to go and fetch
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2:35 - 2:37a separate document. Um.
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2:37 - 2:40So there were lots of systems since the 1960s
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2:40 - 2:42that were trying to implement hypertext, like,
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2:42 - 2:43Xanadu is an example,
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2:43 - 2:47uh, but all of them were commercial,
expensive, closed, -
2:47 - 2:49and none of them were very popular.
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2:49 - 2:54So, Tim Berners-Lee, who is the
"inventor of the internet," -
2:54 - 2:58[corrects himself] of the web,
obviously, the World Wide Web - -
2:58 - 3:00Um. [Tim Berners-Lee] put those two things together
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3:00 - 3:02by building a service that runs
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3:02 - 3:04on top of the internet, and he
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3:04 - 3:06called it the World Wide Web.
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3:06 - 3:10So what the World Wide Web is, is the
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3:10 - 3:13decentralized hypertext engine
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3:13 - 3:16that we use to communicate between
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3:16 - 3:19computers' web pages.
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3:19 - 3:23So what makes up WEB is three things:
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3:23 - 3:27URLs, or URIs - Universal Resource Locator,
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3:27 - 3:31which are the addresses we use
to find things on the web; -
3:31 - 3:33HTML, which is the
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3:33 - 3:35HyperText Markup Lanuage
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3:35 - 3:38which is the way that the information
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3:38 - 3:39is stored and sent
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3:39 - 3:42so that we can then use browsers
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3:42 - 3:45to view HTML, and then
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3:45 - 3:48all the documents can be understood
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3:48 - 3:50and then also they display the links
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3:50 - 3:52so that the hypertext part of it works
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3:52 - 3:55and we can jump around from page to page.
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3:55 - 3:58Um, the final part is HTTP, which is
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3:58 - 4:00the HyperText Transfer Protocol
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4:00 - 4:02which is the communication method
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4:02 - 4:05by which the different computers can
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4:05 - 4:08talk to each other and send the
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4:08 - 4:10HTML documents back and forth
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4:10 - 4:12depending on the URLs.
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4:12 - 4:15Um. So, when he built it, there were some
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4:15 - 4:18very important things that he
built into this system -
4:18 - 4:19that didn't exist before.
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4:19 - 4:21And the main one is
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4:21 - 4:23universal authorship.
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4:23 - 4:27So he always intended that anyone
would be able -
4:27 - 4:29to access these webpages,
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4:29 - 4:30and anyone would be able to
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4:30 - 4:32add their own webpages,
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4:32 - 4:34without asking for permission.
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4:34 - 4:37With the very explicit special condition
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4:37 - 4:40that anyone can link to any other webpage
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4:40 - 4:41without permission.
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4:41 - 4:44Previous hypertext systems required that
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4:44 - 4:47basically, for you to link to me,
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4:47 - 4:48I have to accept that link,
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4:48 - 4:50and probably create a link back to you,
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4:50 - 4:52and that wasn't required on the Web,
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4:52 - 4:54which gives us a lot of freedom
to link to people -
4:54 - 4:57who wouldn't want us to be able
to link to them, for example, -
4:57 - 5:00so no one can say "I'm putting up free content..."
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5:00 - 5:04"...but you can't send your readers here,
because I hate you," et cetera. -
5:04 - 5:08The other one is that he made it
completely, completely free. -
5:08 - 5:12So in the world of
inter--[fumbles for words]--programming -
5:12 - 5:14the most free thing is generally considered
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5:14 - 5:18to be the GPL [General Public License]:
open-source, free software licenses. -
5:18 - 5:20uh, and Tim Berners-Lee actually almost used
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5:20 - 5:23the GPL, because he wanted the web software
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5:23 - 5:24he was building to be free.
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5:24 - 5:26But at the last minute he actually changed his mind
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5:26 - 5:28and made it full public domain,
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5:28 - 5:33because in certain ways,
the GPL is actually more restrictive, -
5:33 - 5:34because it forces other people -
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5:34 - 5:35like, certain commercial actors
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5:35 - 5:40wouldn't have wanted to use web technology
if it were GPL, -
5:40 - 5:41so he made it full public domain,
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5:41 - 5:45and then from there went on to make all of the standards
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5:45 - 5:49as open and, uh, general and free as possible.
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5:49 - 5:52Uh. So that's my extremely brief
history of the internet. -
5:52 - 5:55If anyone is curious,
he wrote a wonderful book -
5:55 - 5:57called "Weaving the Web" about his experiences
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5:57 - 6:00[enticing tone] As you can see, it's short!
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6:00 - 6:03And he has lots of interesting technical information in it
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6:03 - 6:06without being overwhelming.
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6:06 - 6:07It's very approachable
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6:07 - 6:09and he's a really interesting person
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6:09 - 6:11and it - the book is much better than his tweets,
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6:11 - 6:13which are usually incoherent.
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6:13 - 6:16[one of the participants huffs out a "whew"]
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6:16 - 6:18Ellery: Ouch!
Jeremy [?]: A few minutes? -
6:18 - 6:19Ellery: Thanks, that was - that was great, Jer!
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6:19 - 6:21Ellery: I mean, I think that that helps
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6:21 - 6:24um, in conversations about internet policy,
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6:24 - 6:27and internet governance,
there's a lot of emphasis -
6:27 - 6:32on the ability to, kinda, create and innovate
without permission? -
6:32 - 6:37Like, for everybody to be able to build parts of the web.
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6:37 - 6:40And what you just laid out for us
makes it clear -
6:40 - 6:46how important [expansive gesture] the Web piece of the infrastructure is
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6:46 - 6:49for that, for that capacity to become
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6:49 - 6:52a real tangible thing, and somebody that -
[amends] something that now -
6:52 - 6:55we can do - we don't have to have
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6:55 - 7:01technical expertise to kind of build our own
spaces there. -
7:01 - 7:02Ellery: Um. So, I wanted to -
Jeremy: So um. -
7:02 - 7:05Jeremy: If I could add just one more thing, sorry -
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7:05 - 7:07Jeremy: I just wanted to give a couple examples
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7:07 - 7:08of things that happen over the internet
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7:08 - 7:09that aren't the web,
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7:09 - 7:11because that was the actual initial question.
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7:11 - 7:14So, one example would be torrents,
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7:14 - 7:17where you're the - two computers
connect to each other, -
7:17 - 7:20and stream information directly, without any URLs
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7:20 - 7:22being mixed into the process.
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7:22 - 7:25Um, another one is - email, at its core,
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7:25 - 7:27is its own communication protocol
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7:27 - 7:28that doesn't have to use the web,
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7:28 - 7:33although we often use web sites
to access and manage our email. -
7:33 - 7:36Umm. And then another one was the one
right before the Web came out, -
7:36 - 7:39a very popular protocol was called Gopher,
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7:39 - 7:41which people liked, and sort of worked like the Web
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7:41 - 7:44- you surf around and find things -
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7:44 - 7:49but it actually became commercial
right around the time that the web came out, -
7:49 - 7:51so people would've had to start paying,
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7:51 - 7:52and instead of starting to pay,
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7:52 - 7:55they switched to HTTP, HTML, and
the World Wide Web. -
7:56 - 7:58Ellery: Thank you.
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7:58 - 8:01Ellery: So I want to move to Alan, now... Um,
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8:01 - 8:06Alan built the first search engine.
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8:06 - 8:12And I'm kind of... like, overwhelmed, and feel sort of
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8:12 - 8:14like, giddy and nervous having him here.
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8:14 - 8:16Ellery: This is just -
[Alan laughs] -
8:16 - 8:18Ellery: This is, like, a really big deal!
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8:18 - 8:21Ellery: So, Alan, just - if you could tell us -
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8:21 - 8:25'cuz I think a lot of people don't know about Archie -
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8:25 - 8:28um, it would be really cool just to hear
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8:28 - 8:33about how you sort of - what you were doing
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8:33 - 8:36that made you decide to, to do this
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8:36 - 8:41and kinda what it was like, and then, I mean,
everything you've seen since... -
8:41 - 8:43Unfortunately we're time limited, but...
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8:43 - 8:45Alan: Right.
Ellery: You know. -
8:45 - 8:49Alan [coughs]: Well, um, uh, well, that was back in
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8:49 - 8:571989, and, I was working as a system administrator
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8:57 - 9:00for uh, McGill University - I was a grad student
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9:00 - 9:05for McGill University - and um, I was responsible
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9:05 - 9:08for getting software for - one of my responsibilities
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9:08 - 9:12was getting software for the faculty and the students.
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9:12 - 9:17And at the time, the three major
protocols on the internet -
9:17 - 9:20- this was pre Web, ummm -
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9:20 - 9:24was, uh, Telnet, which would allow you to log in
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9:24 - 9:26to a remote machine.
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9:26 - 9:29Email, ah, which would allow you to communicate
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9:29 - 9:32ah, with another - as we do now, with a, with a
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9:32 - 9:34remote machines, plural,
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9:34 - 9:38and, and FTP, which was the File Transfer Protocol,
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9:38 - 9:42which allowed you to move, ah, data files, or files
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9:42 - 9:44from one machine to another.
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9:44 - 9:47And at the time what we had was - people had made
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9:47 - 9:51- remember it was a non-commercial internet
at the time - -
9:51 - 9:54- actually, commercial traffic was forbidden
on the internet at the time, -
9:54 - 9:57because it was run by the
National Science Foundation -
9:57 - 9:59and it was using educational money
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9:59 - 10:03and therefore other than companies with
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10:03 - 10:07research arms, like IBM and HP
and those kinds of things, -
10:07 - 10:09we didn't have any commercial traffic on the internet,
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10:09 - 10:13which nowadays seems kind of amazing
to even think about - -
10:13 - 10:19and, ah, so what people did, were to provide
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10:19 - 10:21to provide free space on their machines
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10:21 - 10:23- and remember, you know, at the time,
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10:23 - 10:27a big disc would be a megabyte, you know -
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10:27 - 10:33and so people would provide common repositories
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10:33 - 10:37that you could deposit programs that you had written
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10:37 - 10:42datafiles, and documents, and that kinda stuff.
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10:42 - 10:45into these central repositories that were
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10:45 - 10:46spread around the internet.
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10:46 - 10:49Then other people could then retrieve them.
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10:49 - 10:51And so I spent a lot of my time trying to locate
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10:51 - 10:56software, or the information that my, the
students and the faculty were trying to find, -
10:56 - 10:57and I got tired of it.
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10:57 - 11:01and since I'm lazy and a geek, I...
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11:01 - 11:05I automated the process.
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11:05 - 11:09I got - instead of doing it manually, I had a bunch
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11:09 - 11:11of scripts wake up in the middle of the night
every night, -
11:11 - 11:14and go out and index these files.
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11:14 - 11:17Now remember all of this was just file listings.
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11:17 - 11:21It's not like Google, it's not like
a search engine would be today, -
11:21 - 11:26it is just... filenames. All it was, was filenames.
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11:26 - 11:28And so what it would do
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11:28 - 11:30was it would go out every night,
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11:30 - 11:32list all the filenames in all the repositories,
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11:32 - 11:35and allow you to search lists of filenames.
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11:35 - 11:37And I only used it for myself!
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11:37 - 11:42I only used it, um, uh, for my own personal use.
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11:42 - 11:44Um, and at one point my boss,
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11:44 - 11:47who was also a student, a grad student at the University,
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11:47 - 11:52let Peter Deutsch let it be known that, um,
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11:52 - 11:54somebody was asking for, you know,
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11:54 - 11:58could they, could somebody tell them where, um,
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11:58 - 12:01y'know, a particular piece of software was.
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12:01 - 12:07And, uh, uh, we, um, uh... we, you know,
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12:07 - 12:09he came and asked me,
he knew we had this database -
12:09 - 12:13and he came and asked me if I could help out.
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12:13 - 12:14And I gave it to him, and if, y'know,
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12:14 - 12:17half a sec- half a minute later I had the information,
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12:17 - 12:23and so he put this posting online, and, umm.
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12:23 - 12:24People then started asking,
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12:24 - 12:27"Well, can you find this for me?"
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12:27 - 12:28And, you know, all these manual requests!
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12:28 - 12:31Basically - either through email, or UseNet postings -
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12:31 - 12:33- which is what we were using at the time -
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12:33 - 12:35we thought, well, this is silly,
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12:35 - 12:37there's no point doing these things manually
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12:37 - 12:41when we can just allow people access
to the database itself. -
12:41 - 12:44And in a moment of insanity,
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12:44 - 12:45we had to come up with a name for it,
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12:45 - 12:47and I said, "Okay, well, let's just call it ARCHI-E,"
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12:47 - 12:51which is "ARCHIVE" without the V
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12:51 - 12:55And, ah, and within about three or four months
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12:55 - 12:57we were consuming about half
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12:57 - 13:01of all of the traffic to eastern Canada
[where McGill University is] -
13:01 - 13:05as this search engine became - as people, y'know -
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13:05 - 13:06- word of mouth -
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13:06 - 13:08you know, people who know about Archie
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13:08 - 13:11are generally people of a certain age...
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13:11 - 13:13...I won't mention what that age is, but
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13:13 - 13:17it's generally people who were in university
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13:17 - 13:20or working on the internet, so it would have been
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13:20 - 13:21so it would have been research people,
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13:21 - 13:24people in academia in the early nineties.
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13:24 - 13:29So Archie lasted for about, uh,
[hems and haws] -
13:29 - 13:31Five years. Four or five years.
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13:31 - 13:35And, um, it only indexed FTP archives.
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13:35 - 13:37It never indexed the web.
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13:37 - 13:40Now, I went on, as Archie became popular,
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13:40 - 13:43and I got more involved in the standards process
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13:43 - 13:44and that kind of stuff,
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13:44 - 13:47I worked, uh, fairly closely with Tim Berners-Lee
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13:47 - 13:50to, uh, to standardize - for example,
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13:50 - 13:52I did the - I ran the committee
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13:52 - 13:55at the standard-setting body for the internet,
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13:55 - 13:57which is the IETF
[Internet Engineering Task Force] -
13:57 - 13:59to standardize URLs.
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13:59 - 14:00Because Tim had come up with
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14:00 - 14:03a set of rules for URLS,
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14:03 - 14:05and as we looked at expanding that
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14:05 - 14:08to a larger range of resources,
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14:08 - 14:10we realized that those rules did not cover
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14:10 - 14:12all of the cases.
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14:12 - 14:15So, we worked, for, uh - Tim brought the,
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14:15 - 14:17the specification, his original specification,
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14:17 - 14:21to the group, and we worked on it for,
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14:21 - 14:23I don't remember, nine months to a year or so,
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14:23 - 14:25to come up with a standard for URLs.
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14:25 - 14:27So all of those URLs that we use,
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14:27 - 14:28day in and day out,
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14:28 - 14:30were, were standardized as a result
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14:30 - 14:31of that committee.
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14:31 - 14:35So, it was, um, it was a really exciting time,
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14:35 - 14:39it was a time of, y'know - the question I always get
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14:39 - 14:41is why didn't make a billion dollars off of it?
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14:41 - 14:43And I keep reminding people that
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14:43 - 14:45most of the people who were pioneers -
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14:45 - 14:48with the exception of Marc Andreessen
[who co-founded Netscape] -
14:48 - 14:55uhm, didn't make a whole lot of money off of these, these original things.
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14:55 - 14:59We were working in an environment which, uh,
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14:59 - 15:03put a premium on getting the technology out there
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15:03 - 15:06making it as widely available as possible -
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15:06 - 15:08Tim's big coup with CERN,
[European Organization for Nuclear Research] -
15:08 - 15:12which is the organization that he worked for
when he first developed the web , -
15:12 - 15:18was to get CERN to put, um, the web software
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15:18 - 15:21that he had created into the public domain.
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15:21 - 15:22So it wasn't even his to give away,
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15:22 - 15:25it was CERN's property.
-
15:25 - 15:29As an employee [of CERN],
[Tim's work] would actually belong to CERN. -
15:29 - 15:36Uh. He, he actually convinced them
to put it in the public domain -
15:36 - 15:38and that's what really, uh, y'know
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15:38 - 15:41set [amends] lit a fire under the whole thing.
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15:41 - 15:46At the time, the philosophy behind it
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15:46 - 15:48was really, "Let's get this out there,
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15:48 - 15:49"..this is a brave new world,"
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15:49 - 15:52"..we don't know what all of this
technology's gonna be used for!" -
15:52 - 15:54I don't think any of us - including Tim -
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15:54 - 15:56imagined what it would become.
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15:56 - 16:00Y'know, he, he always had a much grander vision of it
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16:00 - 16:02but I don't - I can guarantee you -
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16:02 - 16:05I've spent many, many, many, many an hour
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16:05 - 16:07with drinks, in bars, drinking with Tim,
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16:07 - 16:10and I can guarantee you that he did not
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16:10 - 16:12- Sir Tim, by the way, Sir Tim -
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16:12 - 16:17Um. I should - y'know, he even, he,
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16:17 - 16:20I don't think, had any idea that it would basically
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16:20 - 16:21take over the world.
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16:21 - 16:23and half the world's population would be using
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16:23 - 16:25the system that he created, twenty years later.
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16:25 - 16:27[corrects himself] Twenty-five years later.
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16:29 - 16:31Ellery: Thank you so much.
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16:31 - 16:34Ellery: I mean, so, speaking of which, yeah,
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16:34 - 16:42it has changed, and, I guess, [chuckles], taken over, in a way,
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16:42 - 16:46um, that we, I'm sure, wouldn't have expected.
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16:46 - 16:52I wanted to now move to Josh and Renata,
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16:52 - 16:55who are both [something falls to the floor]
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16:55 - 16:57very [she looks at the fallen object, winces]
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16:57 - 17:03committed, involved leaders in what has now
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17:03 - 17:08become a global effort to - I mean,
-
17:08 - 17:10the way that we're sort of putting it
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17:10 - 17:11is "save the internet"
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17:11 - 17:14or, preserve and protect the openness
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17:14 - 17:21and all of the rights to free expression, access, um,
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17:21 - 17:27and also privacy, that we all feel are embedded
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17:27 - 17:30actually, in the way that it was built.
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17:30 - 17:33So, Josh, I wondered if you could explain to us
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17:33 - 17:38really briefly what your role is in your organization
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17:38 - 17:42and then also, um, tell us about
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17:42 - 17:47the Web We Want campaign, and explain, y'know,
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17:47 - 17:51how you think this rights movement is shaping up
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17:51 - 17:55and if you could kind of link it with everything that
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17:55 - 17:56Alan just laid out for us,
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17:56 - 17:59that would be really wonderful.
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17:59 - 18:00Josh Levy: I'll do my best.
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18:00 - 18:02Josh: So, my name is Josh Levy,
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18:02 - 18:03Josh: I'm from Free Press,
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18:03 - 18:07we're a U.S.-based organization,
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18:07 - 18:11we advocate for better technology and media policy
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18:11 - 18:14that allows for an open internet,
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18:14 - 18:17for better representation of people in the media,
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18:17 - 18:20including in, in media that's online,
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18:20 - 18:23and for open access to information.
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18:23 - 18:26And this issue that we're talking about -
-
18:26 - 18:28the anniversary of the web -
-
18:28 - 18:30is really central to our work,
-
18:30 - 18:33because we've been fighting, for example,
-
18:33 - 18:39to pass strong Net Neutrality policies
here in the U.S. for years. -
18:39 - 18:42Basically ever since the issue first came up,
in the mid-2000s, -
18:42 - 18:44when we saw big internet service providers
-
18:44 - 18:48blocking traffic coming from certain destinations.
-
18:48 - 18:50And that fight is ongoing.
-
18:50 - 18:52The FCC, the Federal Communications Commission here in the U.S.,
-
18:52 - 18:57which is charged with overseeing communications and technology policy,
-
18:57 - 18:59passed rules in 2010
-
18:59 - 19:01that were intended to protect Net Neutrality
-
19:01 - 19:06but were passed in a way that we knew
wasn't gonna hold up in court. -
19:06 - 19:09And we were - unfortunately,
-
19:09 - 19:12we saw that happen earlier this year,
-
19:12 - 19:15when a court in Washington, D.C.,
threw out those rules, -
19:15 - 19:19effectively throwing out any Net Neutrality
protections that people have. -
19:19 - 19:22And so this gets back to what Jeremy was saying
-
19:22 - 19:24the "internet" versus the "Web," right?
-
19:24 - 19:26So when we're talking about Net Neutrality,
-
19:26 - 19:27which I hope a lot of people have heard of,
-
19:27 - 19:32this concept that we should be able to access any information that we want online
-
19:32 - 19:38without anybody getting in the way, whether that's a big company or the government -
-
19:38 - 19:44that is, essentially, that's a policy that applies to the internet:
-
19:44 - 19:47to the ways in which all of our computers
connect to each other. -
19:47 - 19:51And we have this basic understanding
that the internet should be free and open, -
19:51 - 19:53meaning that my computer should be able to connect
-
19:53 - 19:56to yours in this global network of computers
-
19:56 - 19:59without any entity inspecting the traffic,
-
19:59 - 20:01trying to understand what you're trying to access,
-
20:01 - 20:03and, based on that understanding, block it.
-
20:03 - 20:06So if it doesn't like the video you're watching,
[it would be] slowing it down; -
20:06 - 20:09or, if it doesn't like the application you're using, blocking it -
-
20:09 - 20:11- that, that should be totally unacceptable.
-
20:11 - 20:15We should be able to connect to whatever we want in whatever way we want.
-
20:15 - 20:16And that includes using the Web, right?
-
20:16 - 20:21So the Web is basically an application that rides over the internet.
-
20:21 - 20:23The internet's this global network,
-
20:23 - 20:26the Web is just one application that
uses that global network. -
20:26 - 20:29And so it's essential -
Net Neutrality is essential to using the web, -
20:29 - 20:31because as we've seen today,
-
20:31 - 20:33using the web is so essential to all of our lives
-
20:33 - 20:40and big companies, and governments, have so much power over it that they can block all kinds of things:
-
20:40 - 20:44political speech, videos that we wanna watch, pictures of cats, et cetera.
-
20:44 - 20:46So. Um, anyway, so that's what Free Press is doing,
-
20:46 - 20:50in large part, trying to protect
that notion of Net Neutrality. -
20:50 - 20:54And out of that fight came a number of campaigns,
-
20:54 - 20:56including the campaign to stop SOPA
[Stop Online Piracy Act] -
20:56 - 20:59- which was the bad copyright bill a couple years ago here in the U.S. -
-
20:59 - 21:02and out of that came a realization, I think,
-
21:02 - 21:03here in the U.S. but [also] around the world,
-
21:03 - 21:06that we all needed to kind of talk to each other a little bit more,
-
21:06 - 21:10those of us who have been advocating for a free and open internet for a long time.
-
21:10 - 21:11And so we started doing that:
-
21:11 - 21:14Free Press led the development the drafting of
-
21:14 - 21:16something called the
"Declaration of Internet Freedom" -
21:16 - 21:22which was a simple statement of principles
about our right to access information online. -
21:22 - 21:27And out of that came a really fruitful relationship with Tim Berners-Lee's organization,
-
21:27 - 21:29- the World Wide Web Foundation -
-
21:29 - 21:34and we discussed ways in which we could move that effort forward,
-
21:34 - 21:36this Declaration effort,
-
21:36 - 21:40to involve more groups around the world,
more people around the world, -
21:40 - 21:44and to guarantee that we all have
access to information -
21:44 - 21:47and that that access, and the principles behind it,
-
21:47 - 21:52are not the domain of any one country,
or any one group of individuals. -
21:52 - 21:56So, out of that came this great project,
the Web We Want, -
21:56 - 21:58which Renata's gonna tell you more about.
-
21:58 - 22:00which is seeking to do just that:
-
22:00 - 22:05to pass laws, around the world, that will protect people's right to access the internet
-
22:05 - 22:10and to access content on the Web
without anybody getting in the way, -
22:10 - 22:15and, uh, it's building steam very, very quickly:
-
22:15 - 22:18we are working with countries around the world to develop their own set of principles
-
22:18 - 22:20regarding the web and our rights on it,
-
22:20 - 22:26and organizing lots and lots of organizations that are really excited about getting involved in this effort
-
22:26 - 22:32and our dream of uniting groups who are all fighting the same fight but in different parts of the world
-
22:32 - 22:34is kind of coming to life.
-
22:34 - 22:36So, I'll let Renata tell you more about that.
-
22:36 - 22:38[Caveat: Renata is not a native English speaker, so verbatim transcription of her speech doesn't always make perfect sense.]
-
22:38 - 22:40Renata Avila: Eum, hello everyone, everybody,
-
22:40 - 22:42it's really good to be here?
[she tends to uptalk] -
22:42 - 22:45Renata: Ah, so: the Web We Want.
-
22:45 - 22:51The Web We Want is a coalition of
[gestures as she searches for words] -
22:51 - 22:54very important groups of organizations
from civil society -
22:54 - 22:57I will mention of them:
-
22:57 - 23:00Access, that many of us are familiar with;
[AccessNow.org] -
23:00 - 23:02APC;
[Association for Progressive Communications] -
23:02 - 23:05Free Press, from the U.S.;
-
23:05 - 23:107iber, in Jordan;
the Open Source Association, in Jordan as well; -
23:10 - 23:13[ums and ers]
-
23:13 - 23:21Consumers International; Article 19;
Fundação Getulio Vargas, in Brazil; -
23:21 - 23:25IT for Change, in India;
Public Knowledge, in the U.S.; -
23:25 - 23:31and we, we have a - we got the confirmation that Open Knowledge Foundation,
-
23:31 - 23:36which has affiliates all over the world,
will join as well. -
23:36 - 23:38So, basically, the campaign...
-
23:38 - 23:40..what we are trying to achieve here
-
23:40 - 23:43is to move from the reactions,
-
23:43 - 23:46the constant reactions that
the civil society/ we have, -
23:46 - 23:48to a proactive approach.
-
23:48 - 23:53To have a positive agenda, to have the safe first, in different countries.
-
23:53 - 23:55And also globally.
-
23:55 - 24:00And what happens is usually that we come together last minute -
-
24:00 - 24:04we react to bad legislation being proposed,
-
24:04 - 24:14by either specific groups of interest, or a very
creative but not so well informed legislator... -
24:14 - 24:17And so, in the last, let's say, five years,
-
24:17 - 24:22we have seen so many mobilizations against, against, against.
-
24:22 - 24:27So we think that yes, it's good to have a reaction to bad legislation,
-
24:27 - 24:31but it's much more effective to have a proposal coming from civil society.
-
24:31 - 24:35And not only - like, civil society understood as a -
-
24:35 - 24:40a more extended way as we usually use it in internet governance -
-
24:40 - 24:46but civil society involving everyone
in a fight for our rights. -
24:46 - 24:53And so we have different activities and
different actions to achieve that. -
24:53 - 25:00The first would be intense work in
specific countries where we [gestures] -
25:00 - 25:05together, all the advisory committee,
so that there's something going on, -
25:05 - 25:09some movement in civil society,
and there's some action there. -
25:09 - 25:17So, the list of the countries that we have decided will be like the first "grant-ees"
-
25:17 - 25:22of um, more stronger support from the punt, uh, the, the, where we want manages...? will be:
-
25:22 - 25:32Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, the U.K., Tunisia, Nigeria, Kenya...
-
25:32 - 25:34...and South Africa.
-
25:34 - 25:38So, as you see, it's mostly
countries of the global south. -
25:38 - 25:43Also the U.K., because we saw an opportunity there,
-
25:43 - 25:48and we also saw a regression of rights.
-
25:48 - 25:52It is very interesting to see how the
deterioration of rights in a country - -
25:52 - 25:54- even in a democratic country -
-
25:54 - 25:57in the last ten years, has been very extreme.
-
25:57 - 26:01And this is really affecting the region.
-
26:01 - 26:04Apart from this intense work that we are planning to do,
-
26:04 - 26:09having national dialogues in these countries I informed you of,
-
26:09 - 26:16we have also - we are launching,
on the 21st of March, a mini-grant round. -
26:16 - 26:18The mini-grants are for everyone to apply,
-
26:18 - 26:21so you don't need to be an NGO,
[Non-Governmental Organization] -
26:21 - 26:25you don't need to be an expert to apply for these grants.
-
26:25 - 26:27What we want is normal people -
-
26:27 - 26:30- artists, musicians, everyone -
-
26:30 - 26:36to be involved in this and to, eh, [unintelligible] to celebrate, to party for the Web!
-
26:36 - 26:39But at the same time that we celebrate the Web,
-
26:39 - 26:42we start a conversation on what is the web we want?
-
26:42 - 26:44What is - [struggles for words]
-
26:44 - 26:53- which values, which form we want, which way we want to protect the Web in our countries.
-
26:53 - 26:54The free and open Web.
-
26:54 - 27:02And so it can be something as simple as
a screening in a public space? -
27:02 - 27:07It can be more elaborate,
like a talk at your local library? -
27:07 - 27:09It can be anything you want,
-
27:09 - 27:13it can be even a sculpture in the middle of a city.
-
27:13 - 27:17ah, telling people what the Web
represents [means] to you. -
27:17 - 27:23But also, we know that we cannot abandon
those fighting "against." -
27:23 - 27:27So we have rapid response grants.
-
27:27 - 27:31And these rapid response grants are for, eh -
-
27:31 - 27:35we, we have identified that sometimes to make something happen,
-
27:35 - 27:37you need some resources.
-
27:37 - 27:38Especially in some countries in the global south.
-
27:38 - 27:43So. For example, ehh, think about
a very bad surveillance law, -
27:43 - 27:46about to be passed in, oh, Nicaragua.
-
27:46 - 27:48So, this rapid response -
-
27:48 - 27:51- which will be open during the whole year -
-
27:51 - 27:55- will allow activists to say, "Hey, listen.
This very bad thing is happening..." -
27:55 - 27:59"..and we think that if we gather a group of people together..."
-
27:59 - 28:05"..and we print, uh, leaflets, and we make a short video about that..."
-
28:05 - 28:10"..we have a good chance to shift the opinions to our side..."
-
28:10 - 28:12"..the side of right."
-
28:12 - 28:14And so that will be open as well.
-
28:14 - 28:21that will be open on the 21st of March, and remain open the whole year.
-
28:21 - 28:28And what we will achieve at the end of the year is a very interesting collection of experiences.
-
28:28 - 28:31We will see that - [finds her words]
-
28:31 - 28:35what is the Web people want,
in the specific countries, -
28:35 - 28:39with more intense follow-up
mechanism and dialogue. -
28:39 - 28:43We will also see which techniques are
the best for rapid response -
28:43 - 28:46when there's a threat to the open internet.
-
28:46 - 28:51by the collection of experiences from the rapid response grants.
-
28:51 - 28:58And also we will learn from ways to engage the broader public in our topics and in our issues.
-
28:58 - 29:05So I am very hopeful that especially
artists, or very creative activists, -
29:05 - 29:08will find ways to engage the broader public.
-
29:08 - 29:11Because we need - this is ours.
-
29:11 - 29:15The future of [the open internet]
depends on us preserving it. -
29:15 - 29:23And the more people invited to this fight,
the stronger we get. -
29:23 - 29:34At last, I will... I would like to invite everyone to be engaged the way that you can engage.
-
29:34 - 29:37And to apply for these grants!
-
29:37 - 29:42But not only to apply for these grants -
also, to make things your own. -
29:42 - 29:47If you want to write an article,
if you are an expert on specific topics, -
29:47 - 29:51please write articles,
please share your knowledge with people, -
29:51 - 29:54and please engage, and don't be apathetic.
-
29:54 - 29:58Because the Web offers us -
-
29:58 - 30:00- and the internet offers us -
-
30:00 - 30:03- this opportunity to communicate and connect beyond borders,
-
30:03 - 30:08and I think that, slowly, we are building this platform -
-
30:08 - 30:13- which is not a website but is a platform made of [amends her description] collective –
-
30:13 - 30:23- that is ready to jump and to take actions to save the web any moment that it is under threat.
-
30:23 - 30:27So. Yes. That's it.
-
30:27 - 30:29Ellery [laughs]: Thanks.
-
30:29 - 30:32Ellery: It's really - I think it's great to sort of,
to have that out there, -
30:32 - 30:37for people to understand all the ways
that they can get involved. -
30:37 - 30:44One thing I - so, in thinking about how can we make a little show today that would celebrate the web,
-
30:44 - 30:48I couldn't help but think about Global Voices,
-
30:48 - 30:51because that's what brings us all together here,
-
30:51 - 30:55and, I think that our community, in so many ways -
-
30:55 - 30:59I mean, we couldn't exist, wouldn't exist,
without the Web, -
30:59 - 31:05but there are also so many particular attributes of it,
-
31:05 - 31:08when it comes to access and openness,
-
31:08 - 31:10that allow us to do all the things that we do,
-
31:10 - 31:14like, including this hangout, right now.
-
31:14 - 31:16Um. So I wanted to ask -
-
31:16 - 31:18- although we're really short on time,
-
31:18 - 31:21so I'm gonna have to ask you to be super brief, but -
-
31:21 - 31:24Jer, you, I kind of, I said, is there...
-
31:24 - 31:30...could you talk a little bit about what,
if you look at Global Voices, -
31:30 - 31:35and sort of the way that it's grown up,
um, with the internet - -
31:35 - 31:36- you've been here since the beginning,
-
31:36 - 31:40so you can kind of - just, just tell us a bit.
-
31:40 - 31:43Jeremy Clark: Okay, well, uh,
-
31:43 - 31:48Jeremy: I actually haven't been with
Global Voices since the very beginning, -
31:48 - 31:49but I joined near the start.
-
31:49 - 31:51So, maybe you can see on my screen -
-
31:51 - 31:55- Global Voices was started actually in 2005, um,
-
31:55 - 31:57and one of the great things about the story is that
-
31:57 - 32:03it was started quickly and easily by Ethan Zuckerman
-
32:03 - 32:06who set up the original site, uh,
-
32:06 - 32:10along with Rebecca McKinnon,
who worked on the idea and the content, -
32:10 - 32:14and so, they actually used WordPress, which
is the system we still use today, -
32:14 - 32:19and which is very similar to the Web
in a lot of senses -
32:19 - 32:22because it's a distributed project,
-
32:22 - 32:24people all around the world develop it,
-
32:24 - 32:25it's open-source, and it's free,
-
32:25 - 32:32and it is so not by convenience but very explicit philosophy and they're very active in defending that,
-
32:32 - 32:37and also in another way: uh, originally, at the time,
-
32:37 - 32:40there was a very popular free software
called Movable Type -
32:40 - 32:42which became commercial,
-
32:42 - 32:47and instead of starting to pay for it,
people switched to Wordpress. -
32:47 - 32:49So, this was our original website.
-
32:49 - 32:52We later redesigned it several times.
-
32:52 - 32:58And over the years, we have grown with WordPress
-
32:58 - 33:03to add - take advantage of the new features, and, uh...
-
33:03 - 33:05[gestures] - keep running our site.
-
33:05 - 33:12And so running our whole infrastructure on this very decentralized open-source model has been
-
33:12 - 33:16a really rewarding experience for us,
just as using the Web has. -
33:16 - 33:19And obviously, the, uh, one of the most
interesting things is that -
33:19 - 33:22Global Voices is all about the web.
-
33:22 - 33:25Without the Web,
without that decentralized authorship, -
33:25 - 33:26- anyone can write to it -
-
33:26 - 33:27there would be no Global Voices.
-
33:27 - 33:29Uh, the whole point of Global Voices was to
-
33:29 - 33:32recognize that people all over the world
-
33:32 - 33:34were taking advantage of the benefits of the Web,
-
33:34 - 33:36and create one place where you could find it,
-
33:36 - 33:42sort of like Archie was with the pre-Web TelNet days
-
33:42 - 33:45a archive of things happening all around -
-
33:45 - 33:47- that's what Global Voices did.
-
33:47 - 33:51Um. So. Yeah!
-
33:51 - 33:53And, y'know, we've tried a lot of different
-
33:53 - 33:56infrastructure based around the web over the years;
-
33:56 - 33:57uh, we've used Drupal,
-
33:57 - 34:01we've used a lot of different online services...
-
34:01 - 34:02Obviously, like everyone else,
-
34:02 - 34:04the temptation to take advantage of Google's
-
34:04 - 34:08free offerings has always been
part of Global Voices' DNA: -
34:08 - 34:10we use Google mailing lists,
-
34:10 - 34:13we use all the different things that they make for free
-
34:13 - 34:15which is an interesting part of the web,
-
34:15 - 34:17because it's not the Web, that's Google,
-
34:17 - 34:18just happening to give it away,
-
34:18 - 34:21but as a company, they have a tendency
-
34:21 - 34:23to follow the spirit of the Web, uh,
-
34:23 - 34:26even though they're doing so
for commercial reasons. -
34:26 - 34:28But - yeah!
-
34:28 - 34:31That's my very brief summary
-
34:31 - 34:32of the history of Global Voices
-
34:32 - 34:34and how it parallels the Web!
-
34:34 - 34:36Ellery: Thank you!
-
34:36 - 34:38Ellery: I'm afraid we're gonna have to wrap up now
-
34:38 - 34:42but, just, to do that, I wanted to ask for
-
34:42 - 34:45a couple of, kind of, final thoughts...
-
34:45 - 34:51...from Alan, and perhaps also Josh, just -
-
34:51 - 34:54- Alan, I guess I'm especially interested in
-
34:54 - 34:57if there are, kinda, thoughts that you have
-
34:57 - 35:00on all of the activism and advocacy
-
35:00 - 35:04that's taking place around fundamental rights
on the Internet, -
35:04 - 35:09from your own unique historical perspective.
-
35:09 - 35:12And then I wanted to close, um,
-
35:12 - 35:18by asking Renata to just tell us a very little bit about Bassel
-
35:18 - 35:23since there's also an important anniversary this weekend.
-
35:23 - 35:25So, I'm gonna just let you guys go,
-
35:25 - 35:28and then we will close out!
-
35:28 - 35:31Alan Emtage: Okay, well, y'know,
-
35:31 - 35:35Alan: I haven't been involved as an activist
-
35:35 - 35:37for, uh, for quite some time now.
-
35:37 - 35:41I sort of burnt out after a while! [laughs]
-
35:41 - 35:46- flying around the globe, and doing all the stuff that I did in the nineties.
-
35:46 - 35:49But I certainly pay a lot of attention to that stuff
-
35:49 - 35:53y'know, I'm currently involved in Barbados, right now,
-
35:53 - 35:57and it has been really interesting to try and,
-
35:57 - 35:58for one example,
-
35:58 - 36:02try and access content from the United States
-
36:02 - 36:04- entertainment content, that kind of stuff.
-
36:04 - 36:07And, I mean, I knew about this stuff in theory,
-
36:07 - 36:12but in practice, the antiquated models
-
36:12 - 36:17of content distribution
that we're still holding onto -
36:17 - 36:19in this day and age,
-
36:19 - 36:23where, you know, geographical boundaries
and national boundaries and that kinda stuff -
36:23 - 36:27are still very much at the center of these
business models. -
36:27 - 36:31Y'know, things like BitTorrent
and that kinda stuff -
36:31 - 36:33are wiping them away,
and they don't even realize it. -
36:33 - 36:38The music industry has seen this happen,
now, for decades - -
36:38 - 36:39Certainly from the activist point of view,
-
36:39 - 36:44in terms of keeping the Internet
free and available, -
36:44 - 36:46it's gonna be a real challenge.
-
36:46 - 36:49And, I mean, it's such an
important technology now. -
36:49 - 36:53You have things like
the Great Firewall in China... -
36:53 - 36:55You have, you know, Russia, who recently -
-
36:55 - 36:58- as of yesterday, today -
-
36:58 - 37:07- shutting down, using new laws to shut down access to dissent against Putin...
-
37:07 - 37:09They realize the power -
-
37:09 - 37:14- Egypt was a real wakeup call for a lot of people in the use of social networking
-
37:14 - 37:19to organize and activate people and bring them out onto the streets,
-
37:19 - 37:22so governments are scared of this technology
-
37:22 - 37:24and it's important that we work really hard
-
37:24 - 37:26to keep it as free as it is,
-
37:26 - 37:27because they realize that, you know,
-
37:27 - 37:31information - how you control the information, you control the people.
-
37:31 - 37:34So, um, I think it is extraordinarily important
-
37:34 - 37:37that people like Josh [unintelligible]
-
37:37 - 37:41continue to work very hard
to stop the bad laws, -
37:41 - 37:43to inform the legislators -
-
37:43 - 37:45- some of them are just doing it out of ignorance!
-
37:45 - 37:45I mean, you know,
-
37:45 - 37:49"Never ascribe to malice what can be ascribed to incompetence."
-
37:49 - 37:51And, uh, a lot of these people are just
-
37:51 - 37:53incompetent, not malicious.
-
37:53 - 37:57But there are people who are malicious,
as well [laughing a bit] -
37:57 - 37:58so we have to deal with them as well.
-
37:58 - 38:01But, um, you know, it's vitally important
-
38:01 - 38:04because, uh, nowadays, these technologies
-
38:04 - 38:06really sit at the core of our culture
-
38:06 - 38:08and the way that we
communicate with one another. -
38:08 - 38:12[long silence]
-
38:12 - 38:15Josh [wondering if he should speak next]: ...Me?
-
38:15 - 38:16[Josh laughs silently]
-
38:16 - 38:19Josh: I'll just add one thing real quickly -
-
38:19 - 38:21- I think that we're at an interesting moment
-
38:21 - 38:28where so many of us acknowledge the importance of the Internet and the Web,
-
38:28 - 38:34and the impact that it's had on every aspect of our culture,
-
38:34 - 38:35and because of that,
-
38:35 - 38:41I think we as the users of the Web,
and of the Internet, have a duty -
38:41 - 38:50to hold governments around the world and companies around the world accountable
-
38:50 - 38:55and to urge them and pressure them
-
38:55 - 39:02to protect the openness that lies at the core of this entire thing.
-
39:02 - 39:05And to protect, not just openness, but
-
39:05 - 39:07also this notion of a Commons.
-
39:07 - 39:11That's - in our opinion - quickly being lost.
-
39:11 - 39:17This notion that the Internet, and the Web,
are publicly owned, -
39:17 - 39:21and that the activity that takes place on them
-
39:21 - 39:23is activity that we undertake
-
39:23 - 39:25and that is ours.
-
39:25 - 39:30And that is not the domain of the big companies' platforms.
-
39:30 - 39:31We undertake the activity.
-
39:31 - 39:33So, for example,
-
39:33 - 39:36Google has allowed us to do a lot of things.
-
39:36 - 39:39Google allows us to find a lot of information extremely quickly,
-
39:39 - 39:42to connect to each other extremely well,
-
39:42 - 39:44to use Google Hangouts as we're doing right now,
-
39:44 - 39:47but Google's doing all of this at the -
-
39:47 - 39:51- while mining the data that we give it,
selling off that data - -
39:51 - 39:55- that data is also creating this historical record
-
39:55 - 39:58
of everything that we search for
and say online, -
39:58 - 40:00which as we know,
can be exploited by governments, -
40:00 - 40:01- but also by companies -
-
40:01 - 40:04and so I think it's time for us to think about that relationship
-
40:04 - 40:06between us and these big companies,
-
40:06 - 40:10which is becoming the central part of our online experience.
-
40:10 - 40:13And how can we decentralize that?
-
40:13 - 40:17How can we decouple ourselves from these giant companies
-
40:17 - 40:19and take back a portion of the Web
-
40:19 - 40:22so that we own this experience in a deeper way
-
40:22 - 40:26and it's not experienced as purely commercial,
-
40:26 - 40:29a commercial transaction between us an a big company.
-
40:29 - 40:31So that's a big question,
-
40:31 - 40:33and it's going to take years to unravel it, to find solutions,
-
40:33 - 40:36but we're hoping that we can start that conversation now.
-
40:36 - 40:43[long silence]
-
40:43 - 40:49Renata: Well, now I will go back to something that Jeremy said.
-
40:49 - 40:54It was about him being stopped in the border, the Canadian border
-
40:54 - 40:56because of "hacker."
-
40:56 - 41:00And what I want to talk about is that,
-
41:00 - 41:02at the end of the day, there's, ah -
-
41:02 - 41:07we reduce the number of people who can actually,
-
41:07 - 41:10in some countries, not control the internet,
-
41:10 - 41:17but understand the infrastructure, and use it in a way that they can increase public good.
-
41:17 - 41:20and they can help people in extreme situations.
-
41:20 - 41:25And one of these people is my friend
Bassel Khartabil - -
41:25 - 41:29[fondly] Bassel, Bassel is the internet.
Basically. -
41:29 - 41:34Basel is a Palestinian-Syrian activist,
-
41:34 - 41:37he's an activist of Greek culture,
-
41:37 - 41:38and he's a global citizen, you know?
-
41:38 - 41:42He's not super nationalistic, he, he,
-
41:42 - 41:44he has traveled a lot, extensively,
-
41:44 - 41:47he has friends all over the world,
-
41:47 - 41:52and he likes to spend time learning how things work, how things operate,
-
41:52 - 41:56so he's very good with computers -
-
41:56 - 42:02he learned himself how to code,
thanks to his uncle - -
42:02 - 42:06He knows a lot about hardware as well,
-
42:06 - 42:09and he knows a lot about
Greek culture and design. -
42:09 - 42:16And so during his travels he saw all these wonderful things happening
-
42:16 - 42:18and so he decided, with a group of friends,
-
42:18 - 42:21to create a hackerspace in Damascus
-
42:21 - 42:23I don't know how translation works,
-
42:23 - 42:32but apparently "hacker-space" was a very scary word for the Syrian intelligence services,
-
42:32 - 42:34and they saw it as a threat -
-
42:34 - 42:40like, people in power view technology as a threat to their plan to control people.
-
42:40 - 42:46So on the 15th of December, two years ago,
-
42:46 - 42:49the hackerspace was raided...
-
42:49 - 42:51All the computers were taken away,
-
42:51 - 42:53all the things were dismantled -
-
42:53 - 42:59- can you imagine one of these Syrian police looking at the 3D printer, oh my god,
-
42:59 - 43:03[derisively] probably thought they were like nuclear weapons, or something like that -
-
43:03 - 43:07and, sadly, he has been away, he has been in prison.
-
43:07 - 43:15He was in a very, very bad prison, subject to torture treatment.
-
43:15 - 43:19But then he was - thanks to the advocacy of thousands of people,
-
43:19 - 43:24he was re-transferred back to the civilian prison.
-
43:24 - 43:29Which, you can imagine, how, even if it's a civilian prison, how this prison looks like.
-
43:29 - 43:37I mean, it is... the conditions get bad to worse as time goes by,
-
43:37 - 43:41as the Syrian government runs out of resources.
-
43:41 - 43:47The last people they will feed, the last people they will take care of, are the prisoners.
-
43:47 - 43:51On top of that, Bassel, he has a health condition...
-
43:51 - 43:53It is all really sad.
-
43:53 - 43:59But, what we have been trying to do during these two years
-
43:59 - 44:00is to keep him peaceful.
-
44:00 - 44:04And to keep reminding him that we haven't forgotten
-
44:04 - 44:09and to keep reminding him that we embrace the values that he embraces.
-
44:09 - 44:13And we support the causes that he supports.
-
44:13 - 44:20So, instead of, you know, just being sad,
and doing nothing, -
44:20 - 44:22we are a doing a Free Bassel Day.
-
44:22 - 44:23On the 15th of March.
-
44:23 - 44:26Well, some things are already starting today!
-
44:26 - 44:29And what we want is, ah, joint action -
-
44:29 - 44:34- doing things, doing anything you can do to remember Bassel.
-
44:34 - 44:38And not only Bassel. To remember Syria.
-
44:38 - 44:40Because it seems that because of the news,
-
44:40 - 44:44we just, we don't hear about Syria anymore!
-
44:44 - 44:50I mean, it's like, it is on, you know, in the parking lot,
-
44:50 - 44:55and if we have some time, we go, "oh, okay, something is going badly there."
-
44:55 - 44:58But, uh, we seem to have forgotten about all the suffering.
-
44:58 - 45:01And together with Bassel there are
-
45:01 - 45:07lots of system administrators, computer experts, and hackers who are in prison,
-
45:07 - 45:10and sometimes we only care about journalists!
-
45:10 - 45:15But, you know, there's lots of people, valuable people for the future of Syria,
-
45:15 - 45:19who are in prison now,
who need our solidarity. -
45:19 - 45:26I would also like to... if you live in a country which has received Syrian refugees,
-
45:26 - 45:28please show your solidarity.
-
45:28 - 45:32I know that sharing your computer might not sound appealing,
-
45:32 - 45:37but maybe crowdfunding and giving a computer with internet access to this refugee camp
-
45:37 - 45:40so they can stay in touch with their relatives abroad...?
-
45:40 - 45:46Maybe doing a short talk or short gathering near them...?
-
45:46 - 45:49I think that those are good ways to help Bassel.
-
45:49 - 45:53Because that's what Bassel probably would be doing if he was free.
-
45:53 - 45:58So my appeal is that - to not forget Syria, to not forget Bassel.
-
45:58 - 46:03The free internet is a free internet with free Bassel and free Syria!
-
46:03 - 46:07And that's - [laughingly] - the Web I want, actually!
-
46:07 - 46:09Ellery: That is the Web she wants!
-
46:09 - 46:10Ellery: The Web many of us want.
-
46:10 - 46:12So, there's a lot of work to do,
-
46:12 - 46:18and there are lots of ways to get involved,
as we've heard about. -
46:18 - 46:21Thank you, everybody, so much
-
46:21 - 46:23for coming on today,
-
46:23 - 46:31and, umm, we hope to see everybody here and out there, next week on GV Face!
-
46:31 - 46:33Thanks so much!
- Title:
- GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web!
- Description:
-
It's the 25th birthday of the World Wide Web this week! In this edition of GV Face, Global Voices veterans will talk about their early experiences with the web and all it has enabled us to do in our (nearly) ten years as an organization. We'll also speak with GV community leader Renata Avila and Free Press Internet Campaign Director Josh Levy, two founding members of the Web We Want campaign, a new initiative that promotes global conversation about human rights and the Internet.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Captions Requested
- Duration:
- 46:37
Dove the Beta edited English subtitles for GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web! | ||
Dove the Beta edited English subtitles for GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web! | ||
Dove the Beta edited English subtitles for GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web! | ||
Dove the Beta edited English subtitles for GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web! | ||
Claude Almansi commented on English subtitles for GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web! | ||
Dove the Beta edited English subtitles for GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web! | ||
Dove the Beta edited English subtitles for GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web! | ||
Dove the Beta edited English subtitles for GV Face: Happy 25th Birthday, Web! |
Claude Almansi
Thank you, Dove! Your transcribing the whole video in just 7 revisions is really impressive. And you seem to have taken the move to the present editor in your stride.