Safe European Home? do we need a closed European Internet? Bill Thompson | School of Information Management Information and Society Seminars Priestley Hall, Beckett Park Campus Wednesday 19 th March, 12pm – 1pm, Room PRG10

© 2003 Bill Thompson Who am I? Programmer and developer Teacher Writer/Journalist/Commentator Advisor and policy-maker Technocultural critic

© 2003 Bill Thompson Thesis The Internet is free The Internet is ungovernable Cyberspace is outside the real world Only markets and individuals can determine online limits This is the ‘Californian ideology’ Richard Barbrook/Andy Cameron West Coast libertarianism+free market economic

© 2003 Bill Thompson Antithesis The Internet was built one way It can be built other ways too Code is law - Lessig Protocols and programs determine what happens Programs are a means of control The network has no essential nature Control and regulation are possible

© 2003 Bill Thompson Synthesis Today’s network is promiscuous Any code can run; any data can move Tomorrow’s network will be regulated Architectures of control Trusted computer platforms and networks Signed code, authorised data, verifiable identity Who signs, rules Corporations? Governments? Individuals?

© 2003 Bill Thompson Why this matters “After the correct political line has been laid down, organizational work decides everything, including the fate of the political line itself, its success or failure.” from the report of Joseph Stalin to the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, “After the correct laws and regulations have been laid down, programming work decides everything.” Bill Thompson, LMU

© 2003 Bill Thompson Network History The Internet Created 1983 (ARPANet 1969) End-to-end architecture TCP/IP (v4) controls data transmission Academic/military/government network Until 1990’s Commercial involvement propelled Net forward Web invented 1990, grew from 1994

© 2003 Bill Thompson Network Hegemony The Net embodies liberal values All nodes visible Peering and routing No authentication or approval required These left it open to colonisation Dominant culture online is US This amounts to hegemony – Gramsci Today’s Internet is not culturally neutral

© 2003 Bill Thompson Network Fidelity Existing systems are promiscuous A processor will run any code given An application will accept any data Creates vulnerabilities Technical: bugs Programming: viruses Cultural: spam Economic: Napster

© 2003 Bill Thompson Network Control Architectures of control are emerging Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Includes authentication, identification Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA) Processors will only run signed/validated code Applications will only read signed/validated content Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) A certificate rich Internet Map online persona to offline person

© 2003 Bill Thompson Network Borders Trusted networks enable Identification of individuals and processors Effective management of data flows Mapping of online structures onto real world systems The result: We can build borders in cyberspace We can assert the primacy of the real world We can extend state sovereignty to online

© 2003 Bill Thompson So… Resist US cultural imperialism Counter US hegemony Build borders around the European network Assert EU law on data protection Establish EU approach to copyright Enforce EU regulations on commercial Establish a safe European home

© 2003 Bill Thompson Why do this? It’s going to happen anyway Media corporations want control Digital Rights Management Laws are being passed to give them that control Digital Millennium Copyright Act; European Union Copyright Directive Hardware and software has control features built in Windows XP Product Activation If we don’t engage then corporations will do it alone We will lose all chance of democratic control The market will decide. And markets do not serve the public interest

© 2003 Bill Thompson Network democracy Online democracy Not e-democracy but democratising ‘e’ Build structures and bodies to govern the net Local, regional, national and global Not one law but many laws Not one network but many Not one online culture but many Internet regulation that reflects the new borders

© 2003 Bill Thompson Network sovereignty Give each state power Regulate network data flows Control network use Monitor online activity In open societies this will be permissive Greater freedom online Freedom from spam, viruses, unsolicited porn

© 2003 Bill Thompson Working for the Clampdown Closed societies will use the power too Limit access to news and information Control use of the network Monitor activity and punish dissent This is a necessary price But on a regulated network pressure can be exerted Offer trade concessions in return for net liberalisation On a regulated network it is not all or none

© 2003 Bill Thompson The Next 5.5 Billion There are approx 600m Internet users Today’s network serves 180m US citizens The rest of us put up with what they want Tomorrow’s network must serve all of us Six billion users Asserting local control can start in Europe Birthplace of the Web Larger online population than US

© 2003 Bill Thompson Tomorrow’s Internet Serving the many, not the few Local variation, cultural differences Controlled by the people, not the companies Democratic accountability Legal framework for regulation Part of the real world, not a virtual space Overcome the myth of cyberspace

© 2003 Bill Thompson Issues How can we be sure trusted systems will succeed? What’s wrong with US hegemony and the Californian ideology anyway? Aren’t governments as bad as corporations? Who can have faith in the EU to govern anything, never mind the network? Aren’t you just a whining socialist weenie?

© 2003 Bill Thompson Thank you