[alt-media-res] Fw: [transmission-discuss] Transmission ethics

zoe zoe at esemplastic.net
Tue Feb 12 14:56:26 GMT 2008


in context of the importance of defining 'network' as distinct from
'organisation' in this field
some of you may be interested in the following exchanges on the transmission
list
xx

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "politube.org" <admin at politube.org>
To: "transmission network discussion list"
<transmission-discuss at lists.transmission.cc>
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 7:53 AM
Subject: Re: [transmission-discuss] Transmission ethics


> Hi, thanks for getting back... could you please elaborate on your last
> sentence:
>
> "In fact I'd say the bigger problem with TX atm is that what composes
> the network and how the network is composed is a tad muddy"
>
> What do you mean by this?
>
> Kuros
>
> and wrote:
> > Hi Kuros,
> > despite not being at vxmission I can understand your impulse here in
> > terms of being uncomfortable with people whose primary motivation is
> > making money. Online video is certainly a gold mine at the moment.
> >
> > That said I think at the moment the paragraph on the front page makes
> > it fairly clear in terms of the motivations of the network...
> >
> > Transmission is a network of citizen journalists, video makers,
> > artists, researchers, programmers and web producers who are developing
> > online video distribution tools for social justice and media
> > democracy. Our objective is to make independent online video
> > distribution possible (using FLOSS) by building the necessary tools,
> > standards, documentation and social networks.
> >
> > I'm sure it could be improved but I think it pretty much puts the
> > social/political side of the project first and foremost. Part of the
> > reason for requiring a recommendation to the list is to ensure that
> > the basic ideas of the network remain roughly commonly agreed. I'm not
> > sure we need anything much more explicit in terms of 'ethical
> > standards'. Who signs onto those standards and how they would do it is
> > going to be rather difficult. In fact I'd say the bigger problem with
> > TX atm is that what composes the network and how the network is
> > composed is a tad muddy.
> >
> > Hope that was helpful.
> >
> > Cheers.
> > And.
> >
> > On 06/02/2008, at 3:07 AM, politube.org wrote:
> >
> >> Hi everyone, reflecting back on the recent and great Amsterdam meet
> >> (thanks everyone), I feel that it is necessary to raise an issue that I
> >> tried to raise  during the meet, but due to the lack of time and an
> >> advanced agenda, it was not possible to follow through with it.
> >>
> >> Let me say at the outset that one of the pillars of the project that I
> >> maintain, politube.org, is its stance against the commercialization of
> >> the internet. However, during the meet, several times I became
concerned
> >> that I spend to much time listening to a few companies canvassing their
> >> products. In a memorable moment, the CEO of a company (following a
> >> question of mine) uttered: "...c'mon I am New Yorker... I am doing this
> >> to make a lot of money...". On the one hand, it is hilarious to be
> >> facing a CEO of 2.0 in a squat! Imagine this! On the other hand, it is
a
> >> bit unsettling to meet these type of people in the context of
> >> transmission, where to a certain extent, we are all doing our bit to
> >> escape the commercial trappings of our reality. Let's face it, if it
> >> weren't for commercial media monopolies, there wouldn't be any media
> >> actvisits!
> >>
> >> Nothing is free
> >> ===============
> >> At least this New Yorker is shrewed enough to understand that activists
> >> are willing to expend a great deal of time, intelligence and hard work
> >> free of charge and if he can tap into that, it will increase the value
> >> of his enterprise, that's why he came to the meet. He offers the
> >> services of his site for free, but it seems to me that there is a
> >> misconception about this notion of "free"!
> >>
> >> Anytime you visit a website and use it, you are actually doing work and

> >> providing valuable feedback to its creators. This is the case for all
> >> sites, including politube.org. You are essentially testing the site
when
> >> you are using it. Normally companies pay a lot of money to have their
> >> site tested and evaluated. Furthermore the more users  there are, the
> >> more value the site has: typical web 2.0 success factors.
> >>
> >> Know thyself
> >> ============
> >> I am very happy that I came to Amsterdam and met all these really nice
> >> and genuine activists and I very much look forward to working with them
> >> for a long time. There was a lot of positive interaction and exchange
> >> and I think this is the real value of transmission. In this context, I
> >> like to propose that we at transmission tackle the issue of the
> >> commercial reality of our work and how to deal with it best. After all,
> >> the issue of money is not a trivial one and we all like to have some
> >> type of support in order to produce this good work. One of the negative
> >> side effects of neo-liberalism is the fact that monies that are
destined
> >> to social programs or this type of work, are being channeled to
> >> corporate welfare.
> >>
> >> I think there is a need for some type of ethical standards that would
> >> guide us all in our interactions within the group and with external
> >> parties interested in our work, beyond the boiler-plate "we are against
> >> racism, oppression of women, homophobia etc." . I don't think that it
is
> >> necessary to exclude individuals or organizations just because they are
> >> doing commercial work, nonetheless it must be clear that they are doing
> >> this for a particular cause, e.g. promoting a free media system. I am
> >> not quite there with my definition, but this is precisely why I need
> >> your feedback.
> >>
> >> I wonder if other members of the group are interested in giving me
> >> feedback?
> >>
> >> thanks
> >>
> >> Kuros
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Transmission-discuss mailing list
> >> Transmission-discuss at lists.transmission.cc
> >> <mailto:Transmission-discuss at lists.transmission.cc>
> >> http://lists.transmission.cc/listinfo/transmission-discuss
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Transmission-discuss at lists.transmission.cc
> > http://lists.transmission.cc/listinfo/transmission-discuss
> >
>
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