I am inclined to believe that the only way
that the VRM vision can be fully realized -- that we the
people can have true,
complete agency on the Net -- is to have and control our own
piece of hardware that is the ultimate source
of us on the Internet, and that we have the
ultimate power of unplugging if/when we so
desire. This
of course describes
the Freedom Box. When my Box is plugged in, I
am on the Net.
When my Box is not
plugged in,
only a
ghost of me remains on
the Net as
degrading data on
other people's
servers.
Until
we have that, I don't think we will
ever have any real power as
individuals
on the Net.
This
is why I am
ambivalent about
the "personal cloud."
Jim Bursch
310-869-5340
">
http://mymindshare.com
@jimbursch
On 3/9/2013 6:03 AM, Doc Searls wrote:
"
type="cite">
Thanks.
The VRM perspective is independence.
To do anything substantive on the Net today, it's nearly
impossible not to use personalized services inside corporate
walled gardens such as Google Drive (aka Docs), Apple's iCloud
and "social" systems such as Facebook and Twitter. But we also
need personal capacities that are ours alone. These need to work
in the world of connections that comprises the Net — just as our
bodies and souls are ours alone, yet also work in human society.
Bruce Schneier compares these walled gardens to castles in a
feudal system. <
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/11/feudal-security/>
We are vassals within these systems. Our job with VRM is not to
fight these systems, but to equip individuals with their own
tools of independence and engagement, to make them the points of
integration for their own data, and of origination for what gets
done with it. Our agency — the power we have to act in the world
— should not only be ours alone, but have real power in dealing
with those who would otherwise control us.
I think there are two things we need to get that power,
besides a larger box of VRM tools and services. One is
substitutability of services. The other is true freedom of
contract.
Substitutability means we have a choice, say, of
intentcasting services, or of trust networks and personal cloud
service providers, just as we have a choice of email service
providers — or to self-host our own email. (And we can move our
mail from one to another without loss.)
Freedom of contract means we don't always have to submit to
the dominant parties in calf-cow ceremonies (e.g. clicking
"accept" to one-sided terms). We can have automated processes
within which both parties fully respect each other and come to
agreements as equals.
Doc
On Mar 9, 2013, at 5:38 AM, Anjali Ramachandran <
">
>
wrote:
This is a very interesting article on
how Oxford has had to block Google Docs due to repeated
phishing attempts using GDocs URLs. They are now
pressurising Google to step up response and security. I
quote: "Google may not themselves be being evil, but
their inaction is making it easier for others to
conduct evil activities using Google-provided
services."
Relevant from a VRM perspective
I thought.
Anjali
@anjali28
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