I received an email this morning from Internet father Vint Cerf complimenting me for doing something "amazing" this year.
Of course, I wasn't the only one. It was a mass email sent out from Cerf (or at least his account) to anyone who signed Google's petition against SOPA and PIPA in January. And it wasn't merely congratulatory. Cerf was writing to acknowledge that what we did that day, standing up for the Internet we so adore, was great. But we must do more.
Writes Cerf in the email:
It's time to start a new chapter in our Internet conversation -- one in which we come up with positive and proactive plans to drive constructive Internet legislation in countries around the globe.
Sounds great! What's the next step?
To begin with, let's discuss how much the Internet has empowered us. Complete this sentence:
"The Internet is the power to _________."
What? Fill in the blanks? How is this our way of coming up with "proactive plans"?
Cerf's wisdom:
Our combined discussions about the importance of the Internet will remind legislators around the world that the web isn't like all the other things governments regulate... It's an organic collection of diverse communities whose shared conversations are making the world a better place.
Oh. I get it. Perhaps Cerf is just confused. Maybe he thinks legislators and lobbyists actually care about the fact that the Internet is important and, particularly, that it's an important place for communities and conversations. He must think they don't realize these things, and once we remind them, they will weep and crumble like some reformed bunch of Ebenezer Scrooges, and they'll stop trying to ruin the Web for their own selfish reasons.
Anyway. Cerf's email is accompanied by a link to www.google.com/takeaction/start-something, where users are encouraged to "Complete the sentence, 'The Internet is the power to...' and share it using the tag #OurWeb" on Google+, Facebook, and/or Twitter.
From what I can see on Twitter, the #OurWeb thing is getting some attention. That's unsurprising. As we've discussed before, people love engaging in positive efforts that take the least amount of effort. But, OK, fine, it's heartwarming to see people banding together. There's certainly nothing harmful about tweeting #OneWeb. So go hashtag-wild.
Furthermore, Cerf is right about one thing: As we've stated before on this site, stopping SOPA/PIPA was just a baby step in this battle. Resting on laurels isn't an option. The sponsors of SOPA and PIPA haven't seen the errors of their ways. Rather, they've vowed to come up with different legislation with the same goals. Cary Sherman, the RIAA's chairman, declared that he hopes the protests against SOPA were a one-time thing. And the RIAA has said it will work together with ISPs starting this summer to spy on people's Web activity.
In other words, the war isn't won. And Web users and evangelists definitely do need to keep the fight going against those lobbyists and lawmakers looking to turn back the clocks on technological progress.
But let's get real here. Using social networks to spread sentiments like The Internet is the power to create a world of our own, or The Internet is the power to put ideas into action, does nothing to change the minds of "legislators around the world."
Nevertheless, as Cerf says in his email, this is the beginning of the conversation. Let's hope what comes next in this crucial fight for the future of the Internet is more active than it is sentimental.
I feel like any action motivated by Google should cause some sort of skepticism or paranoia. So I'm with you, there's definitely some sort of push from them with some benefit (short or long term).
I guess when you know all the underhand tricks to harvest people's information for $$$, when you see someone else doing a 'better' job at it, it makes sense to cry foul.
that Vint Cerf is now a Google employee -- he's a fellow or somesuch. I wouldn't go so far as to say I know him but I've certainly been in his sphere of influence for decades (he chewed me out back in the 80s for a .signature of mine he didn't think was appropriate), and this doesn't seem like the sort of thing he'd do on his own; I doubt he actually wrote it himself, for example.
Incidentally, Mary, I think, mentioned that Google was criticized for donating to Democrats; did you see that they're now the official app platform for the Republican presidential convention?
Right. I want to see a "don't ask me again" feature on that message. It's something about being able to recover your password, but I have absolutely zero trust that it won't be used to do something like extract my address book from my phone. I have no trust in these companies any more.
Kim, I'll agree with you only as far as your gripe about Google's request for my phone number. And yes it happened to me when I logged on this morning, and what is it all about? I read the reason for their request and and just a few words into it I have a incipient headache and give up and tell them no once again.
Well, I'm highly suspicious too - not of Cerf, but of Google. I am quite sure Google's notion of Internet freedom includes freedom to impose the unified privacy policy which governments are telling it will be illegal. It would love to whip up crowd support for what it's doing -- and planning.
And no, Google, you can't have my phone number, which you keep trying to get when I log into Gmail.
Paul, I couldn't agree more. This is what I was attempting to say in a previous post. Every initiative is put under a microscope and torn to bits resulting in paralysis by analysis and some fault or conspiracy always on the doorstep of either a Google or a Facebook or some other convenient behemoth.
Nicole's blog did not engage in this exaggerated conspiracy spinning but it was intersting how quickly it turned into mind control and Google. As if the only acceptable communication from Cerf would have been a hand written personal letter to all concerned.
Again I beg to differ here. I can't call Cerf's initiative to teach lawmakers what the internet is all about as nonsense. We've discussed on this forum countless times just how ignorant our legislators are when it comes to issues pertaining to the internet and other related technologies. For many of them, the internet is just another destructive medium that is littered with piracy, pornography and rambling tweets. By collective answers to Cerf's fill in the blank question, Cefr is trying to send a very powerful message to oiur legislators what the internet realy mean to people in real time.
I am not saying that Cerf's initiative is all sufficient to get our legislators on sogn with us as far internet matters are concern. However, it is a very welcome step that is intended to teach them just how powerful the internet is to the lives if millions of rodinary folks whose votes these legislators will be seeking from time to time.
Paul, like I said, there's no harm in what Cerf has asked for here. But what he suggests -- that this is going to teach lawmakers how important the Internet is -- is just nonsense. Lawmwakers like the ones who sponsored SOPA and PIPA are looking for control and to turn back the clocks. They, along with the Big Media Lobbyists, pose a threat because they aren't interested in the benefits of the open Internet -- only in controlling it.
It almost always send me into a deep frenzy when people can conjure up endless conspiracy theories just for the sole purpose to discredit a genuine initiative. To say that a man who we rightly called one of the fathers of the internet is acting on behalf of Google is to me a doubt on his integrity. Can we doubt the fact that Cerf has the intelligence to origially come up with such a great idea?
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