[WOS] WOS-Workshop, 22.9.: "Information wants to be free"

Volker Grassmuck wos@mikrolisten.de
Sat, 16 Sep 2000 17:33:58 +0200


                                                     The Wizards of OS
                                  "INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE"
     The Digital Knowledge Order between Rights Control Systems and Inform=
ation           
                                                           Commons
Die digitale Wissensordnung zwischen Rechtekontrollsystemen und WissensAl=
lmende
                                    http://mikro.org/Events/OS/interface5/=
 
                                                           22.09.2000
                                                  Kunstverein Hamburg
                                               Klosterwall 23, Hamburg

Eintritt 15 DM / ermaeszigt 10 DM
(teilweise in englischer Sprache)

LiveWebcast (in Quicktime) am 22.9., 12:0019:30 auf
http://www.interface5.de/home/broadcast/broadcast_index.html

organized by Wizards of OS 
(mikro, Humboldt University Informatik & Gesellschaft)
Wolfgang Coy & Volker Grassmuck
Workshop within the Interface 5
 
(Schedule, speakers info & abstracts below)                               =
                                 


English

The 'Commons' is an old term for a communcal form of property. In the fiel=
d of 
intellectual property, the GNU General Public License (GPL) creates a simi=
lar kind of 
Knowledge Commons that allows people in open cooperation to develop and nu=
rture a 
wealth of software. While the "Wizards of OS. Open Sources and Free Softwa=
re" in July 
1999 in the House of Cultures of the World Berlin took Free Software as it=
s focus, this 
Wizards of OS Workshop widens its scope to include other forms of free inf=
ormation  
in science and in the arts, in the libraries and in the sky above. Today, =
the term 
Commons is usually used in the context of environmental policies. In the i=
nterest of our 
informational environment the workshop asks for opportunities and chances =
for equal 
access and informational sustainability. 


Deutsch

'Allmende' ist ein alter Begriff fuer kommunitaeres Eigentum. Im Bereich d=
es geistigen 
Eigentums schafft die GNU General Public License (GPL) eine aehnliche Form=
 von 
Wissens Allmende, die es Menschen erlaubt, in offener Kooperation miteine=
inander 
einen Reichtum an Software zu entwickeln und zu pflegen. Waehrend die "Wiz=
ards of 
OS. Open Sources and Free Software" im Juli 1999 im Haus der Kulturen der =
Welt Berlin 
ihren Schwerpunkt auf die Freie Software legten, umfaszt dieser Wizards of=
 
OSWorkshop einen breiteren Bereich von freiem Wissen  in der Wissenscha=
ft und 
der Kunst, in den Bibliotheken und Himmel ueber uns. Heute wird der Begrif=
f Allmende 
gewoehnlich im Zusammenhang der Umweltpolitik gebraucht. Im Interesse unse=
rer 
informationellen Umwelt fragt der Workshop nach den Moeglichkeiten und Cha=
ncen 
fuer einen gleichen Zugang und eine informationelle Nachhaltigkeit.  
                                                                


SCHEDULE

12:00 Welcome / Introduction, 

Wolfgang Coy, Professor for Computer Science and Society at Humboldt Unive=
rsity, 
Berlin

Volker Grassmuck, mikro & CS Humboldt Uni Berlin & Professor Media Art, 
Hochschule fuer Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig

12:30 "Informationsfreiheit und urheberrechtlicher Interessenkonflikt" [in=
 German]
Gabriele Beger, Copyright Attorney of the Federal Union of German Library 
Associations

13:30 "Wissenskommunismus: Anachronismus oder Futurismus fuer das 
Informationszeitalter" [in German]
Helmut Spinner, Institute of Philosophy, University Karlsruhe 

14:30 break 

14:45 "AntiCopyright in Subcultural Art Currents" [in German]
Florian Cramer, Literature Scientist, Free University Berlin and Neoist Ac=
tivist, Berlin 

15:45 "Makrolab  The Library in the Sky" [in English]
Marko Peljhan, Makrolab, Ljubljana 

16:45 break 

17:00 "Information as a prime and primarily relational value" [in English]
Sally Jane Norman, New Zealander/ French performing arts theorist, Paris 

18:00 "An Informational History of the World" [in English]
Phil Agre, Department of Information Studies, University of California, Lo=
s Angeles 

19:00 panel discussion 

ab ca. 20:00 Screening: Craig Baldwin, "Sonic Outlaws" (USA, 1995, 80 Min.=
)



SPEAKERS

*********************************

GABRIELE BEGER
<beger@zlb.de>
Homepage: <http://www.zlb.de/bibliothek/standorte/beger.htm>

Copyright Attorney of the Federal Union of German Library Associations; Di=
rector of 
the Berlin City Library in the Foundation Central and State Library Berlin=
; Head of the 
Dpt. Media Center of the Central and State Library Berlin; teaches library=
, information 
and documentation law at Humboldt University Berlin and at Fachhochschule =
Potsdam; 
Managing Chairwoman of the Berlin Association within the German Library 
Association; Chairwoman of the Law Commission of EDBI (Ehemaliges Deutsche=
s 
Bibliotheksinstitut); member of the German Culture Council; member of the =
curatorium 
of the Literary Colloquium Berlin.


INFORMATIONSFREIHEIT UND URHEBERRECHTLICHER INTERESSENKONFLIKT

	"Verhindern kann man virtuelle Bibliotheken nicht, also muss man sie lize=
nzieren - 
hier besteht dringender Handlungsbedarf."

Die Informationsfreiheit, das Recht eines jeden Buergers, sich ungehindert=
 und 
unabhaengig von seiner sozialen Stellung aus veroeffentlichten Quellen zu =
informieren, 
stellt ein fundamentales Menschenrecht dar. In mehreren internationalen Ab=
kommen 
haben sich Staaten zu ihrer Einhaltung verpflichtet. Die Bundesrepublik De=
utschland 
hat dieses Grundrecht in Art 5 ihrer Verfassung niedergeschrieben. Urheber=
rechtliches 
Schaffen basiert auf der Ausuebung der Informationsfreiheit. Ohne 
Auseinandersetzung mit vorhandenem geistigen Schaffen waere eine 
Weiterentwicklung in Wissenschaft, Kunst und Literatur nicht moeglich. Fre=
ie 
Information sichert Fortschritt, qualifizierte Arbeitskraefte und damit 
Wirtschaftsstandorte. 


*********************************

HELMUT SPINNER
<rc01@rz.unikarlsruhe.de>
Homepage: <http://www.unikarlsruhe.de/~philosophie/spinner.html>

Head of the Institute of Philosophy, University Karlsruhe, head of Studium=
 Generale. 
Research areas: philosophy and sociology of science and technology, modern=
 and 
contemporary philosophy.


KNOWLEDGE COMMUNISM: ANACHRONISM OR FUTURISM FOR THE 
INFORMATION AGE


*********************************

FLORIAN CRAMER
<paragram@gmx.net> 
Homepage: <http://userpage.fuberlin.de/~cantsin>

Born 1969, studied general and comparative literature science, art history=
 and German 
philology in Berlin, Konstanz and Amherst/Massachusetts (USA), teaches at =
the 
Institute for General and Comparative Literature Science, Free University =
Berlin. 

Participated in the "Festivals of Plagiarism" und "Neoist Apartment Festiv=
als" since 
1989, published in PhotoStatic/Retrofuturism, YAWN, SMILE, works on neoism=
.org 
since 1995, arcticles on Neoism in: Stewart Home and Florian Cramer, The H=
ouse of 
Nine Squares, London: Invisible Books, 1997, and in: Mario Mentrup (ed.), 
Printidentitaeten, Berlin: Maas Verlag, 2000

Since 1996 various talks and essays on literature and computer. PerlProgr=
ammer, 
GNU/Linux user since 1996 and speaker at events by Berliner Linux User Gro=
up 
(BeLUG). His website "Permutationen" was awarded the Special Price by the =
Pegasus 
'98 jury.


ANTICOPYRIGHT IN SUBKULTURELLEN KUNSTSTROEMUNGEN

In den spaeten 1980er und fruehen 1990er Jahren organisierte sich eine kue=
nstlerische 
Subkultur aus dem Umfeld von Mail Art und experimenteller Cassettenmusik u=
m die 
Schlagwoerter von "plagiarism" und "anticopyright". Interessanter vielleic=
ht als die 
Bilder, Toene und Performances, die im Namen dieser vorgeblichen Bewegung 
produziert wurden, ist die theoretische Debatte, die ihre Akteure unter an=
derem in den 
Zeitschriften "PhotoStatic/Retrofuturism", "YAWN" und "VAGUE" fuehrten. Di=
e 
historischen Bezuege gehen zurueck bis Lautr=DAamont, erweisen sich aber b=
ei genauerer 
Betrachtung als Kette von interessanten Fehllektueren. Nicht minder aufsch=
luszreich 
sind die Differenzen und Ueberschneidungen des AnticopyrightAktivismus mi=
t Freier 
Software und ihrem "Copyleft", mit Literaturtheorien des Einflusses und de=
r 
Intertextualitaet, mit poetischem "playgiarism", der "Appropriation Art" d=
er 1980er und 
der Netzkunst der 1990er Jahre. Der Rueckblick auf diese Diskurse erweiter=
t und 
schaerft, so meine These, die Sinne fuer Probleme der Kontrolle und der 
Reproduzierbarkeit von Zeichen im Zeitalter ihrer Digitalisierung.


*********************************

MARKO PELJHAN
<marxx@ljudmila.org>  

Media artist, born in Nova Gorica, Slovenia 1969. Founder of the organizat=
ion Projekt 
Atol and PACT (Projekt Atol Communication Technologies) in the frame of wh=
ich he 
carries on his research in the fields of performance, technology applicati=
ons, radio, 
sound, video, film, lectures and situations. He also works as programs coo=
rdinator of 
Ljudmila  Ljubljana digital media lab  <http://www.ljudmila.org>) and as=
 operations 
coordinator of the Makrolab project <http://makrolab.ljudmila.org/> which =
was shown 
at dokumenta X and in Adelaide, Australia. His latest project is INSULAR T=
echnologies 
(International Networking System for Universal Long distance Advanced Radi=
o) 
<http://www.insular.net/>.


MAKROLAB  THE LIBRARY IN THE SKY

Project Makrolab (1997, ongoing, <http://makrolab.ljudmila.org/>, also at 
<http://www.kudfp.si/~luka/makrolab/> Makrolab is designed as an autonomo=
us, 
modular communications and living environment, which is powered by sustain=
able 
sources of energy (solar and wind power). It is designed for a long existe=
nce in an 
isolated environment and can withstand extreme natural conditions. Researc=
h into 
telecommunications as the main aspect of the project is concentrated on th=
e discovery 
and recording of the events which take place in the densely populated abst=
ract areas of 
the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum is a part of th=
e global 
sociopolitical space, which is invisible and immaterial on one hand but p=
resents a 
productive factor of general living and social conditions on the other. It=
 can be sensed 
only by the means of suitable interfaces and specialized knowledge. The 
telecommunication activities of makrolab are created as the process of tra=
nscribing 
invisible and vague microenvironmental activities into traditional, three=
dimensional 
textures  documents.  

Brain Springer, together with whom Marko Peljhan conducted the Makrolab Pr=
oject an 
Dokumenta X wrote: "We approached the sky above the Lutterberg as a living=
 library 
out of the shelves of which voices, images and data communications streame=
d down to 
us."


*********************************

SALLY JANE NORMAN
<norman@wanadoo.fr> 

New Zealander/ French cultural theorist and practitioner working in perfor=
ming arts, 
new media and technology; holder of a  doctorat de IIIe cycle and doctorat=
 d=92=E9tat in 
theatre studies (Universit=E9 de Paris III); scientific director of the 19=
93 Louvre  
international conference on "New Images and Museology"; instigator of perf=
ormance/ 
technology events (Institut International de  la Marionnette, Charleville=
M=E9zi=E8res; 
Zentrum fuer Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe; Studio for ElectroIn=
strumental 
 Music  STEIM  Amsterdam); collaborator on ESPRIT art and technology pro=
jects at 
the ZKM (199799); artistic advisor to  STEIM; member of the European Cult=
ural 
Backbone; director of the Ecole Sup=E9rieure de l=92Image, Angoul=EAme/Poi=
tiers, France.


INFORMATION AS A PRIME AND PRIMARILY RELATIONAL VALUE

Current attempts to use digital tools to inventory humanity's material and=
 immaterial 
assets, to  merchandise as information products elements of our hitherto i=
nalienable 
cultural heritage, are both threatening and absurd. Threatening, insofar a=
s corporate 
avarice already weighs heavily on certain kinds of previously accessible, =
shareable 
knowledge and experience. Absurd, insofar as the digital visionaries drivi=
ng this 
commodification race are as shortsighted as Midas: information which is p=
rocessed as 
discrete packets of goods, cut off from the res publica from which it emer=
ges and 
whereby it survives and evolves, is doomed. Turning information into nugge=
ts of 
discrete digital gold is tantamount to killing it. Because information is =
only meaningful 
in the context of human relations: it is generated, nurtured, and transfor=
med  in short, 
brought and kept alive  through intercourse via active, interactive human=
 minds.

My presentation attempts to focus on the participatory, social quality of =
information, 
and to stress the vanity  and danger  of information hoarding that fails=
 to recognise 
this vital quality.


*********************************

PHIL AGRE
<pagre@ucla.edu> 
Homepage: <http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/>

Philip E. Agre is an associate professor of information studies at Univers=
ity of 
California, Los Angeles.  He received his PhD in computer science from MIT=
 in 1989, 
having conducted dissertation research in the Artificial Intelligence Labo=
ratory on 
computational models of improvised activities.  Before arriving at UCLA he=
 taught at 
the University of Sussex and UC San Diego, and has been a visiting profess=
or at the 
University of Chicago and the University of Paris.  He is the author of "C=
omputation 
and Human Experience" (Cambridge University Press, 1997), and the coeditor=
 of 
"Technology and Privacy: The New Landscape" (with Marc Rotenberg, MIT Pres=
s, 
1997), "Reinventing Technology, Rediscovering Community: Critical Studies =
in 
Computing as a Social Practice" (with Douglas Schuler, Ablex, 1997), and 
"Computational Theories of Interaction and Agency" (with Stanley J. Rosens=
chein, 
MIT Press, 1996).  His current research concerns the role of emerging info=
rmation 
technologies in institutional change; applications include privacy policy =
and the 
networked university.  He edits an Internet mailing list called the Red Ro=
ck Eater News 
Service that distributes useful information on the social and political as=
pects of 
networking and computing to 4000 people in 60 countries.


AN INFORMATIONAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD

Information technology, we have often heard, is bringing about an idealize=
d market 
economy of global scope.  Underneath this conventional story is a routiniz=
ed argument 
about the role of information in markets: that information technology redu=
ces 
economies of scale and thereby reverses longterm historical tendencies to=
ward the 
centralization of economic power.  This argument, however, does not make s=
ense.  I will 
use economies of scale as the point of departure for a strikingly differen=
t reframing of 
the conventional story about the nature of globalization.

*********************************

                                                                 
Wizards of OS <http://mikro.org/wos/>
mikro e.V. <http://mikro.org/>
Humboldt University Informatik & Gesellschaft <http://waste.informatik.hu=
berlin.de/>
Interface 5 <http://www.interface5.de>


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