Re: [projectvrm] Today, we fight back

[Doc Searls < >]

On Feb 11, 2014, at 10:07 AM, Tom Crowl < "> > wrote:

Well I signed the petition... but I've become a bit cynical about their potentials.

I haven't yet, mostly because I've been busy, and I think petitions tend to come from weakness rather than strength, and too often tend to have zero effects. But I'll sign it.

("A cynic is a romantic who's heart has been broken." I don't know where I heard it but it seems the mood of much of the nation and Western World)

The closest source is Rick Bayan, according to Wikiquote: <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cynicism>

(Long quotes tend to get shortened in popular use. For example, "Amara's Law" has become "We tend to overestimate in the short term and underestimate in the long."  But the original was more wordy than that, and not his line alone.)

P.S. This should be of interest:

Facebook Fraud

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVfHeWTKjag 

about the problems with ad revenue fraud based on clicks.

This is what you get with a monoculture. I think it's a better example of that than of anything we can address well with VRM, except to the degree we support a rich and diversified business ecology.

Also a thought:

I'm reading "12 Years a Slave" (haven't seen the movie... but its a great book)... and here we're talking about a guy with a very real VRM problem.

And a significant attempt at VRM for him could... and very nearly did... lead to a noose. It ultimately took GRM (Government Relationship Management) to address. But it was a very bloody process... 

I think the example is extreme, but there are parallels.

While it is true that, on the whole, business values captive customers (and markets) more than free ones, there are exceptions that prove that this is not a rule for all business. (I give a some examples in The Intention Economy, notably Trader Joe's.)

While I'd agree the potential for VRM is to be best developed through tools designed for the Internet landscape... if serious attention to GRM is not similarly addressed...

It may all be for naught.

While slavery was a market horror that required government solution, I'm not sure it follows that GRM is required for VRM to work. Still, I do encourage us to watch and support the vertical VRM efforts, starting with GRM:

— What Britt Blaser et. al. are doing with GRM

— What Adrian Gropper et. al. are doing with HRM (Health RM)

— What Bill Wendell et. al. are doing with RERM (Real Estate RM)

I'll let them fill in the links. In a rush here.

Doc

Tom Crowl

http://CulturalEngineer.blogspot.com

On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 6:33 AM, Doc Searls < " target="_blank"> > wrote:

Just sharing.

Doc

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Rainey Reitman | EFF Activism Team" < " target="_blank"> >

Subject: Today, we fight back

Date: February 11, 2014 at 8:02:42 AM EST

This is a friendly message from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. View it in a web browser.

Dear Doc,

Big news. Today, the Internet is uniting to fight back against NSA surveillance. The political landscape has shifted dramatically since the first Snowden leaks last June. We’re at a key moment in the fight against the illegal and unconstitutional NSA spying. Now it’s up to us.

Will you join us in calling Congress to demand an end to NSA spying? It takes 5 minutes, and it’s the most effective thing you can do right now to influence elected officials:

Dial: 202-552-0505 or click here to enter your phone number and have Twilio connect you.

Privacy Info: This telephone calling service is operated by Twilio and will connect you to your representative. Information about your call, including your phone number and the time and length of your call, will be collected by Twilio and subject to Twilio's privacy policy.

Here are talking points to guide you through the call:

1. Support the USA Freedom Act.
The USA Freedom Act would institute several key pro-privacy reforms, including creating new limits on the NSA’s ability to collect Americans' telephone records in bulk. It’s a great starting point, though more needs to be done.

2. Oppose the FISA Improvements Act.
This dangerous bill is designed to legalize mass surveillance by the NSA.

3. Protect people around the globe.
Everybody deserves basic privacy rights: Innocent foreigners shouldn't have their communications surveilled any more than innocent Americans.

4. Protect encryption standards.
The NSA is weakening encryption standards, which undermine security for everyone. This must stop.

Calling is great, but there are more actions you can take

In addition to calling your member of Congress, you can share on social media using the hashtags #StoptheNSA. You can also help us by installing this code on your website. 

There are also protests, discussions, and cryptoparties being organized around the world. See if there's one in your area.

Why now matters

The Snowden leaks have helped awaken people to the extent of NSA surveillance abuses, creating an unprecedented opportunity to push for legislative reform:

• The public is with us. A recent Pew poll found that a majority of Americans oppose the government's collection of phone and Internet data, and a December poll by the Washington Post found that 66% of Americans were concerned "about the collection and use of [their] personal information by the National Security Agency."
• The President-appointed NSA review group demanded expansive reforms to NSA surveillance programs.
• The Congressionally mandated civil liberties oversight board has condemned NSA surveillance programs as illegal.
• Tech companies, like Google and Facebook, have joined their users in telling Congress they need to act.

We've never had a better chance to push for reform. Call now: 202-552-0505.

We're fighting hard in the courts.

Thanks to the support of people like you, EFF has been fighting NSA surveillance in the courts for years. We're attacking Internet surveillance programs as a violation of our Fourth Amendment rights, and we're representing 22 organizations in challenging the phone records surveillance program on First Amendment grounds.

But we’re not going to wait months or years for the Supreme Court to get involved. Call now (202-552-0505) and tell the world that NSA spying must end.

Stopping the NSA from collecting emails like this,

Rainey Reitman
Activism Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Support our work: donate today!

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