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Ellery Roberts Biddle [mid-sentence]: ...Our weekly video hangout series!
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I think - let's see, we started a little bit off time
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so I'll say it again:
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Ellery: Welcome to GV Face, our weekly video hangout series!
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Today, we are celebrating the 25th birthday of the world wide web.
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Pretty exciting. That was on Wednesday.
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Um, we've got a really all-star lineup of guests
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on today's program.
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Um, moving from left to right, we have:
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Alan Emtage, a very special guest who is
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gonna talk to us about his very special creation
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of, uh, the first web browser...
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Um! We have Jeremy Clark, in Montreal -
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Jeremy is a technical director at Global Voices.
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Josh Levy, from Free Press,
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in Massachusetts, in the U.S.
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and Renata Avila, campaign manager
for the Web We Want
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Creative Commons extraordinaire, and
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GV star, who is joining us from Berlin!
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Welcome, everybody!
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Um. So we wanted to start today's show
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by talking a little bit about the world wide web
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and the internet.
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'Cuz a lot of people think that they're the same thing
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when actually, that's not quite true.
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I want to first turn to Jeremy
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and just ask, Jer, could you
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break it down for us, like,
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I thought that the internet was invented in the 70's
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but, if it's the 25th birthday of the web,
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what does that mean?
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Jeremy Clark: Okay, well, the
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best place to start, I think, is
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the internet - it has existed in various formats
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since the 1970's, as you said,
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but it was the web that really made it
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enter our homes.
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and, so, understanding the relationship is important.
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So, the internet was invented by
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the U.S. Government in a lot of senses...
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...a mix of military and science funding
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that developed the network of
actual computers
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that can communicate with each other over
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wires.
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Now, another related technology that is also compri--
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[amends] uh, built in to the web
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is called hypertext. And that is the notion
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of documents that can link between each other
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immediately, without having to go and fetch
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a separate document. Um.
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So there were lots of systems since the 1960s
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that were trying to implement hypertext, like,
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Xanadu is an example,
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uh, but all of them were commercial,
expensive, closed,
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and none of them were very popular.
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So, Tim Berners-Lee, who is the
"inventor of the internet,"
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[corrects himself] of the web,
obviously, the World Wide Web -
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Um. [Tim Berners-Lee] put those two things together
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by building a service that runs
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on top of the internet, and he
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called it the World Wide Web.
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So what the World Wide Web is, is the
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decentralized hypertext engine
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that we use to communicate between
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computers' web pages.
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So what makes up WEB is three things:
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URLs (or URIs) - Universal Resource Locator
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which are the addresses we use
to find things on the web,
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[#2] HTML, which is the
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HyperText Markup Lanuage
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which is the way that the information
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is stored and sent
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so that we can then use browsers
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to view HTML, and then
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all the documents can be understood
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and then also they display the links
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so that the hypertext part of it works
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and we can jump around from page to page.
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Um, the final part is HTTP, which is
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the HyperText Transfer Protocol
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which is the communication method
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by which the different computers can
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talk to each other and send the
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HTML documents back and forth
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depending on the URLs.
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Um. So, when he built it, there were some
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very important things that he
built into this system
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that didn't exist before.
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And the main one is
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universal authorship.
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So he always intended that anyone
would be able
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to access these webpages,
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and anyone would be able to
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add their own webpages, without
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asking for permission.
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With the very explicit special condition
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that anyone can link to any other webpage
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without permission.
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Previous hypertext systems required that
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basically, for you to link to me,
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I have to accept that link, and
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probably create a link back to you, and
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that wasn't required on the Web, which
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gives us a lot of freedom to link to people
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who wouldn't want us to be able
to link to them, for example,
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so no one can say "I'm putting up free content..."
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"...but you can't send your readers here,
because I hate you," et cetera.
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The other one is that he made it
completely, completely free.
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So in the world of
inter--[fumbles for words]--programming
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the most free thing is generally considered
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to be the GPL [General Public License]:
open-source, free software licenses.
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uh, and Tim Berners-Lee actually almost used
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the GPL, because he wanted the web software
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he was building to be free.
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But at the last minute he actually changed his mind
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and made it full public domain,
because in certain ways
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the GPL is actually more restrictive, because it
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forces other people - like, certain commercial actors
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wouldn't have wanted to use web technology
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if it were GPL, so he made it full public domain,
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and then from there went on to make all of the standards
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as open and, uh, general and free as possible.
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Uh. So that's my extremely brief
history of the internet.
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If anyone is curious, he wrote a wonderful book
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called "Weaving the Web" about his experiences
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[enticing tone] As you can see, it's short!
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And he has lots of interesting technical information
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in it, without being overwhelming.
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It's very approachable
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and he's a really interesting person
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and it - the book is much better than his tweets,
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which are usually incoherent.
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[one of the participants huffs out a "whew"]
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Ellery: Ouch!
Jeremy [?]: A few minutes?
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Ellery: Thanks, that was - that was great, Jer!
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Ellery: I mean, I think that that helps
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um, in conversations about internet policy,
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and internet governance, there's a lot of emphasis
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on the ability to kind of create and innovate
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without permission? Like, for every
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to be able to build parts of the web, and
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what you just laid out for us makes it clear
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how important the Web piece of the infrastructure is
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for that, for that capacity to become
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a real tangible thing, and somebody that -
[amends] something that now
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we can do - we don't have to have
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technical expertise to kind of build our own
spaces there.
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Ellery: Um. So, I wanted to -
Jeremy: So um.
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Jeremy: If I could add just one more thing, sorry -
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Jeremy: I just wanted to give a couple examples
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of things that happen over the internet
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that aren't the web,
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because that was the actual initial question.
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So, one example would be torrents,
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where you're the - two computers
connect to each other,
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and stream information directly, without any URLs
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being mixed into the process.
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Um, another one is - email, at its core,
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is its own communication protocol
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that doesn't have to use the web,
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although we often use web sites
to access and manage our email.
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Umm. And then another one was the one
right before the Web came out,
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a very popular protocol was called Gopher,
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which people liked, and sort of worked like the Web
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- you surf around and find things -
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but it actually became commercial
right around the time that the web came out,
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so people would've had to start paying,
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and instead of starting to pay,
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they switched to HTTP, HTML, and
the World Wide Web.
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Ellery: Thank you.
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Ellery: So I want to move to Alan, now... Um,
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Alan built the first search engine.
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And I'm kind of... like, overwhelmed, and feel sort of
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like, giddy and nervous having him here.
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Ellery: This is just -
[Alan laughs]
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Ellery: This is, like, a really big deal!
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Ellery: So, Alan, just - if you could tell us -
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'cuz I think a lot of people don't know about Archie -
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um, it would be really cool just to hear
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about how you sort of - what you were doing
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that made you decide to, to do this
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and kinda what it was like, and then, I mean,
everything you've seen since...
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Unfortunately we're time limited, but...
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Alan: Right.
Ellery: You know.
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Alan [coughs]: Well, um, uh, well, that was back in
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1989, and, I was working as a system administrator
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for uh, McGill University - I was a grad student
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for McGill University - and um, I was responsible
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for getting software for - one of my responsibilities
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was getting software for the faculty and the students.
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And at the time, the three major
protocols on the internet
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- this was pre Web, ummm -
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was, uh, Telnet, which would allow you to log in
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to a remote machine.
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Email, ah, which would allow you to communicate
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ah, with another - as we do now, with a, with a
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remote machines, plural,
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and, and FTP, which was the File Transfer Protocol,
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which allowed you to move, ah, data files, or files
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from one machine to another.
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And at the time what we had was - people had made
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- remember it was a non-commercial internet
at the time -
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- actually, commercial traffic was forbidden
on the internet at the time,
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because it was run by the
National Science Foundation
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and it was using educational money
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and therefore other than companies with
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research arms, like IBM and HP
and those kinds of things,
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we didn't have any commercial traffic on the internet,
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which nowadays seems kind of amazing
to even think about -
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and, ah, so what people did, were to provide
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to provide free space on their machines
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- and remember, you know, at the time,
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a big disc would be a megabyte, you know -
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and so people would provide common repositories
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that you could deposit programs that you had written
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datafiles, and documents, and that kinda stuff.
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into these central repositories that were
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spread around the internet.
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Then other people could then retrieve them.
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And so I spent a lot of my time trying to locate
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software, or the information that my, the
students and the faculty were trying to find,
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and I got tired of it.
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and since I'm lazy and a geek, I...
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I automated the process.
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I got - instead of doing it manually, I had a bunch
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of scripts wake up in the middle of the night
every night,
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and go out and index files.
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Now remember all of this was just file listings.
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It's not like Google, it's not like
a search engine would be today,
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it is just... filenames. All it was, was filenames.
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And so what it would do
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was it would go out every night,
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list all the filenames in all the repositories,
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and allow you to search lists of filenames.
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And I only used it for myself!
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I only used it, um, uh, for my own personal use.
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Um, and at one point my boss,
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who was also a student, a grad student
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at the University, let Peter Deutsch let it be known
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that, um, somebody was asking for, you know,
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could they, could somebody tell them where, um,
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y'know, a particular piece of software was.
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And, uh, uh, we, um, uh... we, you know,
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he came and asked me,
he knew we had this database
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and he came and asked me if I could help out.
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And I gave it to him, and if, y'know,
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half a sec- half a minute later I had the information,
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and so he put this posting online, and, umm.
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People then started asking,
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"Well, can you find this for me?"
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And, you know, all these manual requests!
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Basically - either through email, or UseNet postings -
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- which is what we were using at the time -
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we thought, this is silly,
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there's no point doing these things manually
256
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when we can just allow people access
to the database itself.
257
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And in a moment of insanity,
258
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we had to come up with a name for it,
259
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and I said, "Okay, well, let's just call it ARCHI,"
260
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which is "ARCHIVE" without the V
261
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And, ah, and within about three or four months
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we were consuming about half
263
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of all of the traffic to eastern Canada
[where McGill University is]
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as this search engine became - as people, y'know -
265
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- word of mouth -
266
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you know, people who know about Archie
267
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are generally people of a certain age...
268
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...I won't mention what that age is, but
269
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it's generally people who were in university
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or working on the internet, so it would have been
271
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so it would have been research people,
272
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people in academia in the early nineties.
273
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So Archie lasted for about, uh, [hems and haws]
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Five years. Four or five years.
275
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And, um, it only indexed FTP archives.
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It never indexed the web.
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Now, I went on, as Archie became popular,
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and I got more involved in the standards process
279
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and that kind of stuff,
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I worked, uh, fairly closely with Tim Berners-Lee
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to, uh, to standardize - for example,
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I did the - I ran the committee
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at the standard-setting body for the internet,
284
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which is the IETF
[Internet Engineering Task Force]
285
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to standardize URLs.
286
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Because Tim had come up with
287
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a set of rules for URLS,
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and as we looked at expanding that
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to a larger range of resources,
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we realized that those rules did not cover
291
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all of the cases.
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So, we worked, for, uh - Tim brought the,
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the specification, his original specification,
294
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to the group, and we worked on it for,
295
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I don't remember, nine months to a year or so,
296
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to come up with a standard for URLs.
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So all of those URLs that we use,
298
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day in and day out,
299
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were, were standardized as a result
300
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of that committee.
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So, it was, um, it was a really exciting time,
302
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it was a time of, y'know - the question I always get
303
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is why didn't make a billion dollars off of it?
304
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And I keep reminding people
305
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most of the people who were pioneers -
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with the exception of Mark Andreessen
307
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uhm, didn't make a whole lot of money off of these.
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these original things.
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We were working in an environment which, uh,
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put a premium on getting the technology out there
311
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making it as widely available as possible -
312
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Tim's big coup with CERN,
313
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which is the organization that he worked for
314
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when he first developed the web
315
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was to get CERN to put, um, the web software
316
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that he had created into the public domain.
317
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So it wasn't even his to give away,
318
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it was CERN's property.
319
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
As an employee [of CERN],
[Tim's work] would actually belong to CERN.
320
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Uh. He, he actually convinced them
to put it in the public domain
321
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and that's what really, uh, y'know
322
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set [amends] lit a fire under the whole thing.
323
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At the time, the philosophy behind it
324
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was really, "Let's get this out there,
325
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"..this is a brave new world,"
326
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"..we don't know what all of this
technology's gonna be used for!"
327
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I don't think any of us - including Tim -
328
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imagined what it would become.
329
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Y'know, he always had a much grander vision of it
330
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but I don't - I can guarantee you -
331
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I've spent many, many, many, many an hour
332
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with drinks, in bars, drinking with Tim,
333
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and I can guarantee you that he did not
334
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- Sir Tim, by the way, Sir Tim -
335
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Um. I should - y'know, he even, he,
336
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I don't think, had any idea that it would basically
337
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take over the world.
338
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and half the world's population would be using
339
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the system that he created, twenty years later.
[corrects himself] Twenty-five years later.
340
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Ellery: Thank you so much.
341
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ellery: I mean, so, speaking of which, yeah,
342
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it has changed, and, I guess, taken over, in a way,
343
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um, that we, I'm sure, wouldn't have expected.
344
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I wanted to now move to Josh and Renata,
345
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who are both [something falls to the floor]
346
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
very [she looks at the fallen object, winces]
347
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
committed, involved leaders in what has now
348
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become a global effort to - I mean,
349
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the way that we're sort of putting it
350
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is "save the internet"
351
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or, preserve and protect the openness
352
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of all of the rights to free expression, access, um,
353
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and also privacy, that we all feel are embedded
354
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
actually, in the way that it was built.
355
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, Josh, I wondered if you could explain to us
356
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really briefly what your role is in your organization
357
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then also, um, tell us about
358
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the Web We Want campaign, and explain, y'know,
359
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
how you think this rights movement is shaping up
360
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and if you could kind of link it with everything that
361
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Alan just laid out for us,
362
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that would be really wonderful.
363
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Josh Levy: I'll do my best.
364
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Josh: So, my name is Josh Levy,
365
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Josh: I'm from Free Press,
366
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we're a U.S.-based organization,
367
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we advocate for better technology and media policy
368
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that allows for an open internet,
369
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for better representation
370
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of people in the media, including media that's online,
371
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and for open access to information.
372
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And this issue that we're talking about -
373
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the anniversary of the web -
374
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is really central to our work,
375
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because we've been fighting, for example,
376
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to pass strong Net Neutrality policies
here in the U.S. for years.
377
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Basically ever since the issue first came up,
in the mid-2000s,
378
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when we saw big internet service providers
379
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blocking traffic coming from certain destinations.
380
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that fight is ongoing.
381
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The FCC, the Federal Communications Commission
382
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
here in the U.S., is charged with overseeing communications and technology policy,
383
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
passed rules in 2010
384
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that were intended to protect Net Neutrality
385
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but were passed in a way that we knew
wasn't gonna hold up in court.
386
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we were - unfortunately, we saw that happen
387
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when a court in Washington, D.C.,
threw out those rules,
388
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effectively throwing out any Net Neutrality
protections that people have.
389
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And so this gets back to what Jeremy was saying
390
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the "internet" versus the "Web," right?
391
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So when we're talking about Net Neutrality,
392
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which I hope a lot of people have heard of,
393
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this concept that we should be able to access
any information that we want online
394
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without anybody getting in the way, whether that's
a big company or the government -
395
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that is, essentially, that's a policy that applies to
396
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to the ways in which all of our computers
connect to each other.
397
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And we have this basic understanding
that the internet should be free and open,
398
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meaning that my computer should be able to connect
399
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to yours in this global network of computers
400
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without any entity inspecting the traffic,
401
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
trying to understand what you're trying to access,
402
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and, based on that understanding, block it.
403
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So if it doesn't like the video you're watching,
[it would be] slowing it down;
404
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or, if it doesn't like the application you're using,
blocking it -
405
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- that, that should be totally unacceptable.
406
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We should be able to connect to whatever we want
in whatever way we want.
407
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that includes using the Web, right?
408
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So the Web is basically an application
409
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The internet's this global network,
410
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Web is just one application that
uses this global network.
411
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so it's essential -
Net Neutrality is essential to using the web,
412
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because as we've seen today,
413
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
using the web is so essential to all of our lives
414
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and big companies, and governments, have so much power over it that they can block all kinds of things:
415
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
political speech, videos that we wanna watch,
pictures of cats, et cetera.
416
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So. Um, anyway, so that's what Free Press is doing,
417
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in large part, trying to protect
that notion of Net Neutrality.
418
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And out of that fight came a number of campaigns,
419
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
including the campaign to stop SOPA
[Stop Online Piracy Act]
420
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- which was the bad copyright bill a couple years ago
here in the U.S. -
421
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and out of that came a realization, I think,
422
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
here in the U.S. but [also] around the world,
423
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that we all needed to kind of talk to each other
a little bit more.
424
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
those of us who have been advocating for a free
and open internet for a long time.
425
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so we started doing that:
426
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Free Press led the development the drafting of
427
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
something called the
"Declaration of Internet Freedom"
428
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which was a simple statement of principles
about our right to access information online.
429
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And out of that came a really fruitful relationship
with Tim Berners-Lee's organization,
430
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- the World Wide Web Foundation -
431
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we discussed ways in which we could move
that effort forward,
432
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this Declaration effort,
433
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to involve more groups around the world,
more people around the world,
434
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and to guarantee that we all have
access to information
435
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and that that access, and the principles behind it,
436
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are not the domain of any one country,
or any one group of individuals.
437
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, out of that came this great project,
the Web We Want,
438
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which Renata's gonna tell you more about.
439
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which is seeking to do just that:
440
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to pass laws, around the world, that will protect
people's right to access the internet
441
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and to access content on the Web
without anybody getting in the way,
442
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and, uh, it's building steam very, very quickly -
443
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we are working with countries around the world to
develop their own set of principles
444
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
regarding the web and our rights on it,
445
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and organizing lots and lots of organizations that
are really excited about getting involved in this effort
446
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and our dream of uniting groups who are all fighting
the same fight but in different parts of the world
447
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is kind of coming to life.
448
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, I'll let Renata tell you more about that.
449
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Renata Avila: Eum, hello everyone, everybody,
450
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's really good to be here?
451
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Renata: Ah, so: Web We Want.
452
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Web We Want is a coalition of
[gestures as she searches for words]
453
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
very important groups of organizations
from [unintelligible] society
454
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Ah, I will mention [some] of them:
455
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Access, that many of us are familiar with;
[AccessNow.org]
456
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
APC;
[Association for Progressive Communications]
457
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Free Press;
458
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
7iber, in Jordan;
the Open Source Association, in Jordan as well;
459
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[ums and ers]
460
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Consumers International; Article 19;
Fundação Getulio Vargas, in Brazil;
461
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
IT for Change, in India;
Public Knowledge, in the U.S.;
462
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we, we have a - we got the confirmation that
Open Knowledge Foundation,
463
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which has affiliates all over the world,
will join as well.
464
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, basically, the campaign...
465
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
..what we are trying to achieve here
466
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is to move from the reactions,
467
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the constant reactions to the civil society we have,
468
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to a proactive approach.
469
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To have a positive agenda, to have the safe [??] first, in different countries.
470
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And also globally [??]
471
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And what happens is usually that we come together last minute -
472
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we react to bad legislation being proposed,
473
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by either specific [interest groups], or a very
creative but not so well informed legislator...
474
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so, in the last, let's say, five years,
475
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we have seen so many mobilizations against, against, against.
476
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we think that yes, it's good to have a reaction
to bad legislation,
477
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but it's much more effective to have a proposal
coming from civil society.
478
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And not only - like, civil society understood as a -
479
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a more extended way [than] we usually use in [discussions of] internet governance -
480
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but civil society involving everyone
in a fight for our rights.
481
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so we have different activities and
different actions to achieve that.
482
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The first would be intense work in
specific countries where we [gestures]
483
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
together, all the advisory committee,
so that there's something going on,
484
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
some movement in civil society,
and there's some action there.
485
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, the list of the countries that we have decided
will be like the first "grant-ees" [i.e. recipients]
486
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of um, more stronger support from the punt [???] where we want manages [???] will be:
487
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, the U.K., Tunisia, Nigeria, Kenya...
488
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
...and South Africa.
489
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, as you see, it's mostly
countries of the global south.
490
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Also the U.K., because we saw an opportunity there,
491
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we also saw a regression of rights.
492
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is very interesting to see how the
deterioration of rights in a country -
493
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- even in a democratic country -
494
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the last ten years, has been very extreme.
495
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And this is really affecting the region.
496
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Apart from this intense work that we are planning to do, having national dialogues in these countries,
497
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I have informed you of,
498
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we have also - we are launching,
on the 21st of March, a mini-grant round.
499
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The mini-grants are for everyone to apply, so you don't need to be an NGO
500
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so you don't need to be an NGO, you don't need to be an expert to apply for these grants.
501
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What we want is normal people -
502
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- artists, musicians, everyone -
503
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to be involved in this and [unintelligible]
to celebrate, to party for the Web!
504
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But at the same time celebrate the Web, we
start a conversation on what is the web we want?
505
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What is - [struggles for words]
506
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- which values, which form we want, which way we want to protect the Web in our countries.
507
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The free and open Web.
508
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so it can be as simple as
a screening in a public space?
509
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It can be more elaborate,
like a talk at your local library?
510
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It can be anything you want,
it can be even a sculpture in the middle of a city.
511
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
ah, telling people what the Web
represents [means] to you.
512
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But also, we know that we cannot abandon
those fighting "against."
513
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we have rapid response grants.
514
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And these rapid response grants are for, ehh -
515
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we, we have identified that sometimes to make
something happen, you need some resources.
516
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Especially in some countries in the global south.
517
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So. For example, ehh, think about
a very bad surveillance law.
518
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about to be passed in, oh, Nicaragua.
519
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, this rapid response -
520
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- which will be open during the whole year -
521
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- will allow activists to say, "Hey, listen.
This very bad thing is happening..."
522
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"..and we think that if we gather a group of people
together, and we print, uh, leaflets..."
523
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"..and we make a short video about it, we have
a good chance to shift the opinions to our side."
524
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"The side of right."
525
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so that will be open as well, that will be open on the 21st of March, and remain open the whole year.
526
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And what we will achieve at the end of the year is a
very interesting collection of experiences.
527
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We will see that - [finds her words]
528
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what is the Web people want,
in the specific countries,
529
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with more intense follow-up
mechanism and dialogue.
530
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We will also see which techniques are
the best for rapid response
531
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when there's a threat to the open internet.
532
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by the collection of experiences from the rapid response grants.
533
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And also we will learn from ways to engage the broader public in our topics and in our issues.
534
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So I am very hopeful that especially
artists, or very creative activists,
535
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will find ways to engage the broader public.
536
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because we need - this is ours.
537
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The future of [the open internet]
depends on us preserving it.
538
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the more people invited to this fight,
the stronger we get.
539
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
At last, I will... I would like to invite everyone to be engaged the way that you can engage.
540
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And to apply for these grants!
541
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But not only to apply for these grants -
to make things your own.
542
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If you want to write an article,
if you are an expert on specific topics,
543
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
please write articles,
please share your knowledge with people,
544
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and please engage, and don't be apathetic.
545
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because the Web offers us -
546
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- and the internet offers us -
547
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- this opportunity to communicate and connect beyond borders,
548
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I think that, slowly, we are building this platform -
549
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- which is not a website but is a platform made of [amends her description] collective –
550
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- that is ready to jump and to take actions to save
the web any moment that it is under threat.
551
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So. Yes. That's it.
552
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ellery [laughs]: Thanks.
553
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ellery: It's really - I think it's great to sort of,
to have that out there,
554
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for people to understand all the ways
that they can get involved.
555
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
One thing I - so, in thinking about how can we make a little show today that would celebrate the web,
556
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I couldn't help but think about Global Voices,
557
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because that's what brings us all together here,
558
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and, I think that our community, in so many ways -
559
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I mean, we couldn't exist, wouldn't exist,
without the Web,
560
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but there are also so many particular attributes of it,
561
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when it comes to access and openness,
562
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that allow us to do all the things that we do,
563
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like, including this hangout, right now.
564
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Um. So I wanted to ask -
565
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- although we're really short on time -
566
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Jer, you, I kind of, I said, is there...
567
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
...could you talk a little bit about what,
if you look at Global Voices,
568
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and sort of the way that it's grow up,
um, with the internet -
569
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- you've been here since the beginning,
570
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so you can kind of - just, just tell us a bit.
571
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Jeremy Clark: Okay, well, uh,
572
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Jeremy: I actually haven't been with
Global Voices since the very beginning,
573
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but I joined near the start.
574
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, maybe you can see on my screen -
575
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- Global Voices was started in 2005, um,
576
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and one of the great things about the story is that it
was started quickly and easily by Ethan Zuckerman
577
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who set up the original site, uh,
578
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
along with Rebecca McKinnon,
who worked on the idea and the content,
579
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and so, they actually used WordPress, which
is the system we still use today,
580
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and which is very similar to the Web
in a lot of senses
581
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because it's a distributed project,
582
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
people all around the world develop it,
583
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's open-source, free,
584
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(and it is [free] not by convenience but very explicit philosophy and they're very active in defending that)
585
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and also in another way: uh, originally, at the time,
586
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there was a very popular free software
called Movable Type
587
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and instead of starting to pay for it,
people switched to Wordpress.
588
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, this was our original website.
589
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We later redesigned it several times.
590
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And over the years, we have grown with WordPress
591
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to take advantage of the new features... um.
592
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[gestures] - keep running our site.
593
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so running our whole infrastructure on this very decentralized open-source model has been
594
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a really rewarding experience for us,
just as using the Web has.
595
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And obviously, the, uh, one of the most
interesting things is that
596
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Global Voices is all about the web.
597
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Without the Web,
without that decentralized authorship,
598
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- anyone can write to it -
599
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there would be no Global Voices.
600
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Uh, the whole point of global voices was to
601
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
recognize that people all over the world
602
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
were taking advantage of the benefits of the Web,
603
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and create one place where you could find it,
604
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sort of like Archie was with the pre-Web TelNet days
605
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a archive of things happening all around -
606
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- that's what Global Voices did.
607
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Um. So. Yeah!
608
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And, y'know, we've tried a lot of different
609
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
infrastructure based around the web over the years;
610
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
uh, we've used Drupal,
611
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we've used a lot of different online services,
612
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
obviously, like everyone else,
613
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the temptation to take advantage of Google's
614
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
free offerings has always been
part of Global Voices' DNA,
615
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we use Google mailing lists,
616
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we use all the different things that they make for free
617
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which is an interesting part of the web,
618
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because it's not the Web, that's Google,
619
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
just happening to give it away,
620
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but as a company, they have a tendency
621
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to follow the spirit of the Web, uh,
622
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
even though they're doing so
for commercial reasons.
623
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But - yeah!
624
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's my very brief summary
625
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the history of Global Voices
626
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and how it parallels the Web!
627
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ellery: Thank you!
628
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ellery: I'm afraid we're gonna have to wrap up now
629
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but, just, to do that, I wanted to ask for
630
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a couple of, kind of, final thoughts...
631
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
...from Alan, and perhaps also Josh, just -
632
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- Alan, I guess I'm especially interested in
633
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if there are, kinda, thoughts that you have
634
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on all of the activism and advocacy
635
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that's taking place around fundamental rights
on the Internet,
636
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from your own unique historical perspective.
637
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then I wanted to close, um,
638
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by asking Renata to just tell us a very little bit about Bassel
639
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
since there's also an important anniversary this weekend.
640
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, I'm gonna just let you guys go,
641
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then we will close out!
642
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Alan Emtage: Okay, well, y'know,
643
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Alan: I haven't been involved as an activist
644
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for, uh, for quite some time now.
645
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I sort of burnt out after a while! [laughs]
646
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- flying around the globe, and doing all the stuff that I did in the nineties.
647
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But I certainly pay a lot of attention to that stuff
648
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
y'know, I'm currently involved in Barbados, right now,
649
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it has been really interesting to try and,
650
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for one example,
651
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
try and access content from the United States
652
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- entertainment content, that kind of stuff.
653
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And, I mean, I knew about this stuff in theory,
654
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but in practice, the antiquated models
655
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of content distribution
that we're still holding onto
656
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in this day and age,
657
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where, you know, geographical boundaries
and national boundaries and that kinda stuff
658
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are still very much at the center of these
business models.
659
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Y'know, things like BitTorrent
and that kinda stuff
660
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are wiping them away,
and they don't even realize it.
661
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The music industry has seen this happen,
now, for decades -
662
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Certainly from the activist point of view,
663
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in terms of keeping the Internet
free and available,
664
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's gonna be a real challenge.
665
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And, I mean, it's such an
important technology now.
666
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You have things like
the Great Firewall in China...
667
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You have, you know, Russia, who recently -
668
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- as of yesterday, today -
669
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- shutting down, using new laws to shut down access to dissent against Putin...
670
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They realize the power -
671
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- Egypt was a real wakeup call for a lot of people in the use of social networking
672
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to organize and activate people and bring them out onto the streets,
673
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so governments are scared of this technology
674
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it's important that we work really hard
675
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to keep it as free as it is,
676
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because they realize that, you know,
677
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
information - how you control the information, you control the people.
678
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, um, I think it is extraordinarily important
679
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that people like Josh [unintelligible]
680
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
continue to work very hard
to stop the bad laws,
681
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to inform the legislators -
682
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- some of them are just doing it out of ignorance!
683
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I mean, you know,
684
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Never ascribe to malice what can be ascribed to incompetence."
685
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And, uh, a lot of these people are just
686
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
incompetent, not malicious.
687
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But there are people who are malicious,
as well [laughing a bit]
688
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so we have to deal with them as well.
689
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But, um, you know, it's vitally important
690
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because, uh, nowadays, these technologies
691
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
really sit at the core of our culture
692
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the way that we
communicate with one another.
693
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[long silence]
694
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Josh [wondering if he should speak next]: ...Me?
695
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[Josh laughs silently]
696
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Josh: I'll just add one thing real quickly -
697
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- I think that we're at an interesting moment
698
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where so many of us acknowledge the importance of the Internet and the Web,
699
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the impact that it's had on every aspect of our culture,
700
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and because of that,
701
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I think we as the users of the Web,
and of the Internet, have a duty
702
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to hold governments around the world and companies around the world accountable
703
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and to urge them and pressure them
704
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to protect the openness that lies at the core of this entire thing.
705
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And to protect, not just openness, but
706
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
also this notion of a Commons.
707
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's - in our opinion - quickly being lost.
708
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This notion that the Internet, and the Web,
are publicly owned,
709
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and that the activity that takes place on them
710
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is activity that we undertake
711
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and that is ours.
712
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that is not the domain of the big companies' platforms.
713
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We undertake the activity.
714
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, for example,
715
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Google has allowed us to do a lot of things.
716
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Google allows us to find information extremely quickly,
717
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to connect to each other extremely well,
718
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to use Google Hangouts as we're doing right now,
719
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but Google's doing all of this at the -
720
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- while mining the data that we give it,
selling off that data -
721
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- that data is also creating historical record
722
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of everything that we search for
and say online,
723
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which as we know,
can be exploited by governments,
724
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- but also by companies -
725
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I think it's time for us to think about that relationship
726
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
between us and these big companies,
727
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which is becoming the central part of our online experience.
728
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And how can we decentralize that?
729
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
How can we decouple ourselves from these giant companies
730
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and take back a portion of the Web
731
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so that we own this experience in a deeper way
732
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it's not experienced as purely commercial,
733
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a commercial transaction between us an a big company.
734
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So that's a big question,
735
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it's going to take years to unravel it, to find solutions,
736
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but we're hoping that we can start that conversation now.
737
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[long silence]
738
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Renata: Well, now I will go back to something that Jeremy said.
739
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It was about someone stopping him at the border, the Canadian border,
740
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because of "hacker."
741
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And what I want to talk about is that,
742
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at the end of the day,
743
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we reduce the number of people who can actually,
744
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in some countries, not control the internet,
745
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but understand the infrastructure, and use it in a way that they can increase public good.
746
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they can help people in extreme situations.
747
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And one of these people is my friend
Bassel Khartabil -
748
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[fondly] Bassel, Bassel is the internet.
Basically.
749
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Basel is Palestinian-Syrian activist,
750
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he's an activist of Greek culture,
751
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and he's a global citizen.
752
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's not super nationalistic, you know,
753
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he has traveled a lot, extensively,
754
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he has friends all over the world,
755
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and he likes to spend time learning how things work, how things operate,
756
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so he's very good with computers -
757
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he [taught] himself how to code,
thanks to his uncle -
758
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He knows a lot about hardware as well,
759
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and he knows a lot about
Greek culture and design.
760
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so during his travels he saw all these wonderful things happening
761
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and so he decided, with a group of friends,
762
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to create a hackerspace in Damascus
763
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't know how translation works,
764
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but apparently "hacker-space" is a very scary word for the civilian intelligence service,
765
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they saw it as a threat -
766
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
people in power saw technology as a threat
767
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to their plan to control people.
768
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So on the 15th of December, two years ago,
769
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the hacker-space was raided...
770
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
All the computers were taken away,
771
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
all the things were dismantled -
772
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- can you imagine one of these Syrian police looking at the 3D printer, oh my god,
773
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they probably thought they were like nuclear weapons, or something -
774
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and, sadly, he has been away, he has been in prison.
775
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He has been in a very, very bad prison subject to torture treatment.
776
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But then he was - thanks to the advocacy of thousands of people,
777
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he was transferred back to the civilian prison.
778
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Which, you can imagine, if you have seen a civilian prison, how bad it looks like.
779
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I mean, it is... the conditions get from bad to worse as time goes by,
780
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as the Syrian government runs out of resources.
781
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The last people they will feed, the last people they will take care of, are the prisoners.
782
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
On top of that, Bassel, he has a health condition...
783
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is all really sad.
784
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But, what we have been trying to do during these two years
785
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is to keep him peaceful.
786
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And to keep reminding him that we haven't forgotten
787
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and to keep reminding him that we embrace the values that he embrace.
788
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we support the causes that he supports.
789
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, instead of, you know, just being sad,
and doing nothing,
790
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we are a doing a Free Bassel Day.
791
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
On the 15th of March.
792
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Well, some things are already starting today!
793
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And what we want is, ah, joint action -
794
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- doing things, doing anything you can do to remember Bassel.
795
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And not only Bassel. To remember Syria.
796
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because it seems that because of the news,
797
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we just, we don't hear about Syria anymore!
798
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I mean, it's like, we might hear it on the [radio, while we're in] the parking lot,
799
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and if we have some time, we go, "oh, okay, something is going badly there."
800
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But, uh, we seem to have forgotten about all the suffering.
801
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And together with Bassel there are
802
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
lots of system administrators, computer experts, and hackers who are in prison,
803
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and sometimes we only care about journalists!
804
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But, you know, there's lots of people, valuable people for the future of Syria,
805
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who are in prison now,
who need our solidarity.
806
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I will also - if you live in a country which has received Syrian refugees,
807
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
please show solidarity.
808
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I know that sharing your computer might not sound appealing,
809
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but maybe crowdfunding and giving a computer with internet access to this refugee camp
810
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so they can stay in touch with their relatives abroad...?
811
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Maybe doing a short talk or short gathering near them...?
812
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I think that those are good ways to help Bassel.
813
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because that's what Bassel probably would be doing if he was free.
814
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So my appeal is that - to not forget Syria, to not forget Bassel.
815
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The free internet is a free internet with free Bassel and free Syria!
816
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that's - the Web I want, actually!
817
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ellery: That is the Web she wants!
818
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ellery: The Web many of us want.
819
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, there's a lot of work to do,
820
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and there are lots of ways to get involved,
as we've heard about.
821
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Thank you, everybody, so much
822
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for coming on today,
823
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we hope to see everybody here and out there on GV Face!
824
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Thanks so much!
825
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999