This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/27/nantucket-project-digital-future-wikileaks-assange-apple

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Nantucket Project: why we’re sleepwalking into a digital future Nantucket Project: why we’re sleepwalking into a digital future
(2 days later)
A dispatch filed from an unlikely outpost at the edge of an empire. It’s a well-appointed place, an island playground for the rich and famous. I am on the island of Nantucket, for the fourth annual Nantucket Project, a New England twist on the TED talks, where lofty ideas are discussed among a who’s who of the country’s most celebrated industrialists and politicos. It might not seem the ideal place from which to launch an attack against an evil empire. But, as it turns out, it might just prove the perfect place for an inside job against a not-so-evil one.A dispatch filed from an unlikely outpost at the edge of an empire. It’s a well-appointed place, an island playground for the rich and famous. I am on the island of Nantucket, for the fourth annual Nantucket Project, a New England twist on the TED talks, where lofty ideas are discussed among a who’s who of the country’s most celebrated industrialists and politicos. It might not seem the ideal place from which to launch an attack against an evil empire. But, as it turns out, it might just prove the perfect place for an inside job against a not-so-evil one.
Earlier last week, winds off the Atlantic brought a rumour that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange might be appearing at the Nantucket Project this weekend. But how? Had he left his place of asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London? No, he will not be appearing in the flesh, but as the latest celebrity to follow the likes of Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur to be beamed by hologram.Earlier last week, winds off the Atlantic brought a rumour that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange might be appearing at the Nantucket Project this weekend. But how? Had he left his place of asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London? No, he will not be appearing in the flesh, but as the latest celebrity to follow the likes of Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur to be beamed by hologram.
The question of the day is a large one, about the fate of mankind. As the town square of yesterday (with its post office, bank, library and general store) is fast being displaced by its digital equivalent (email, online banking, Wikipedia and Ocado), what are the societal benefits and attendant costs? Finally, what measures does Assange see as necessary to ensure an optimal information future?The question of the day is a large one, about the fate of mankind. As the town square of yesterday (with its post office, bank, library and general store) is fast being displaced by its digital equivalent (email, online banking, Wikipedia and Ocado), what are the societal benefits and attendant costs? Finally, what measures does Assange see as necessary to ensure an optimal information future?
I’ve been asked by the Nantucket Project to serve as interlocutor with him. It crosses my mind I may be abetting a crime or violating international extradition laws. But I reassure myself that, in this regard, the worldwide web remains a kind of wild wild west, and the virtual escape of a person is not (yet?) a crime.I’ve been asked by the Nantucket Project to serve as interlocutor with him. It crosses my mind I may be abetting a crime or violating international extradition laws. But I reassure myself that, in this regard, the worldwide web remains a kind of wild wild west, and the virtual escape of a person is not (yet?) a crime.
In a wink at life imitating art, the Assange interview will be preceded by a short recreation of the opening sequence of Star Wars. It’s the same old story of rebels against an empire, but in this case, Assange and kindred spirits such as Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Aaron Swartz see themselves as a real life band of rebels, loosely arrayed against an unholy global alliance of government and economic interests.In a wink at life imitating art, the Assange interview will be preceded by a short recreation of the opening sequence of Star Wars. It’s the same old story of rebels against an empire, but in this case, Assange and kindred spirits such as Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Aaron Swartz see themselves as a real life band of rebels, loosely arrayed against an unholy global alliance of government and economic interests.
For me, today’s discussion caps a month of what I must confess to be a kind of coming of age in the reality of our rapidly digitising world. As a film-maker, I’ve spent most of my adult life focused on issues of human rights, social justice and economic justice on the ground. But as the parallel digital universe took shape, I honestly just couldn’t be bothered.For me, today’s discussion caps a month of what I must confess to be a kind of coming of age in the reality of our rapidly digitising world. As a film-maker, I’ve spent most of my adult life focused on issues of human rights, social justice and economic justice on the ground. But as the parallel digital universe took shape, I honestly just couldn’t be bothered.
I’d failed to grasp the inevitable, I suppose; that before long, the digital universe would stop being an optional alternative but instead become all that we know, with email replacing regular mail as fully as the mobile phone did the landline, and Amazon and eBay did the “mom and pop” general store. All this, of course, means that certain quotidian miseries we face may now be force-multiplied by legion reserves in cyberspace.I’d failed to grasp the inevitable, I suppose; that before long, the digital universe would stop being an optional alternative but instead become all that we know, with email replacing regular mail as fully as the mobile phone did the landline, and Amazon and eBay did the “mom and pop” general store. All this, of course, means that certain quotidian miseries we face may now be force-multiplied by legion reserves in cyberspace.
But what a difference a month makes. In just four weeks, I’ve grown more intensely concerned that beyond the obvious global threats – environmental, economic, military, etc – we are sleepwalking into a precarious future of unknown digital implications.But what a difference a month makes. In just four weeks, I’ve grown more intensely concerned that beyond the obvious global threats – environmental, economic, military, etc – we are sleepwalking into a precarious future of unknown digital implications.
It began when I watched this year’s Sundance favourite The Internet’s Own Boy, directed by Brian Knappenberger. It’s a powerful documentary on the late cyber-visionary Aaron Swartz, who took his own life last year under duress it would be hard not to trace back to the US government’s decision to charge him with wire fraud and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, charges carrying a maximum penalty of $1m and 35 years in prison. His crime? To challenge the way information, once safeguarded for public use, is now increasingly being charged for by public and private institutions, perilously reducing the public’s rightful access to its cultural, scientific, and information heritage.It began when I watched this year’s Sundance favourite The Internet’s Own Boy, directed by Brian Knappenberger. It’s a powerful documentary on the late cyber-visionary Aaron Swartz, who took his own life last year under duress it would be hard not to trace back to the US government’s decision to charge him with wire fraud and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, charges carrying a maximum penalty of $1m and 35 years in prison. His crime? To challenge the way information, once safeguarded for public use, is now increasingly being charged for by public and private institutions, perilously reducing the public’s rightful access to its cultural, scientific, and information heritage.
My concern deepened when I saw hordes queuing to buy the new iPhone 6, seemingly unaware of a recent development in Apple’s information security policy. In its annual transparency report, released just this month, a provision called the “warrant canary” that Apple has used to assure customers that it has “never received an order” under the Patriot Act to provide information to federal authorities was for the first time omitted, leaving masses of new iPhone buyers to dig themselves deeper into an ever more uncertain personal information coal mine.My concern deepened when I saw hordes queuing to buy the new iPhone 6, seemingly unaware of a recent development in Apple’s information security policy. In its annual transparency report, released just this month, a provision called the “warrant canary” that Apple has used to assure customers that it has “never received an order” under the Patriot Act to provide information to federal authorities was for the first time omitted, leaving masses of new iPhone buyers to dig themselves deeper into an ever more uncertain personal information coal mine.
It went further when I learned that the smartphone communication app WhatsApp is about to be purchased by Facebook for $19bn, and Netflix paid Comcast an undisclosed sum to avoid further obstruction of its streaming signal.It went further when I learned that the smartphone communication app WhatsApp is about to be purchased by Facebook for $19bn, and Netflix paid Comcast an undisclosed sum to avoid further obstruction of its streaming signal.
Now, in the past week, two titans of the digital commons – Assange and Google’s chairman, Eric Schmidt – have each published an account of the digital world. Assange has written When Google Met Wikileaks, a transcript with commentary about a secret meeting between the two institutions that took place on 23 June 2011, when Assange was visited by Schmidt in England. And Schmidt has published How Google Works, a broader, more utopian look at how technology has shifted the balance of power from companies to people.Now, in the past week, two titans of the digital commons – Assange and Google’s chairman, Eric Schmidt – have each published an account of the digital world. Assange has written When Google Met Wikileaks, a transcript with commentary about a secret meeting between the two institutions that took place on 23 June 2011, when Assange was visited by Schmidt in England. And Schmidt has published How Google Works, a broader, more utopian look at how technology has shifted the balance of power from companies to people.
For the public, it’s a sunshiny series of lessons learned and maxims from the experience of those at a company whose inner mantra is “don’t be evil”. In his book, Assange calls Google the “‘don’t be evil’ empire” and sees the inner contentment of its leaders as a Pollyannaish self-deception, a wilful ignorance of the role the company plays in actually shifting the balance of power toward corporations and governments and away from the people.For the public, it’s a sunshiny series of lessons learned and maxims from the experience of those at a company whose inner mantra is “don’t be evil”. In his book, Assange calls Google the “‘don’t be evil’ empire” and sees the inner contentment of its leaders as a Pollyannaish self-deception, a wilful ignorance of the role the company plays in actually shifting the balance of power toward corporations and governments and away from the people.
The implied competition between their world views was underscored last week when Assange accused Google of being the “privatised NSA” and Schmidt responded by simply calling Assange “paranoid”.The implied competition between their world views was underscored last week when Assange accused Google of being the “privatised NSA” and Schmidt responded by simply calling Assange “paranoid”.
As it turns out, Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, are prominent members of the Nantucket community, and I am told he has attended the conference for the past three years. So there is some chance Google might meet Wikileaks again – this time, poetically, in cyberspace. But either way, in a final note of ironic poetry, Mr Assange will be appearing for today’s event in the recently restored Dreamland cinema, of which Mr Schmidt is a partial owner.As it turns out, Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, are prominent members of the Nantucket community, and I am told he has attended the conference for the past three years. So there is some chance Google might meet Wikileaks again – this time, poetically, in cyberspace. But either way, in a final note of ironic poetry, Mr Assange will be appearing for today’s event in the recently restored Dreamland cinema, of which Mr Schmidt is a partial owner.
“Help me, Obi Wan. You’re my only hope…”“Help me, Obi Wan. You’re my only hope…”
Eugene Jarecki’s documentary about the war on drugs, The House I Live In, won the grand jury prize for documentary at Sundance. Eugene Jarecki is a New York-based writer and film-maker. His Grierson,Emmy and Sundance-winning works include Why We Fight, The Trials of Henry Kissinger and The House I Live In.
www.nantucketproject.com/www.nantucketproject.com/