1. WHO OWNS THE FUTURE? Jaron Lanier Nicholas Simo CS408 01 Final Project 12/9/2014

2. JARON LANIER  American writer, renowned computer scientist, and economist  Pioneer in the field of virtual reality (credited for popularizing the term)  Author of Who Owns the Future (2013)  Focuses on the internet and its damaging effects on the economy

3. THESIS & OVERVIEW  Lanier suggests that the world is misusing global networks, and in turn damaging the economy and society through Siren Servers  Severe reduction in the middle class  Large wealth disparity – small handful of high net worth individuals  Digital Photography: Kodak Instagram  140,000 employees and a net worth of $28 billion replaced by 13 employees and a net worth of $1 Billion  Proposes Solution of micropayments to compensate anyone who contributes to sites  Dating Websites  Advertising

4. WHAT ARE SIREN SERVERS?  Elite Computers or Networks of Computers that collect personal information off of networks in order to gain competitive advantage in their industry  Also referred to as super computer.  “Even if people are created Equal, Computers are not.”  Utilized in almost every industry in order to maintain monopoly  NSA  Google, Wal-Mart, YouTube  Financial Firms  High frequency trading through super computers  Medical Industry  Wealthy Insurance companies

5. REASONS TO RECOMMEND  Unique read  Different perspective on the digital world  Brings up important macroeconomic trends  Ideas parallel to those learned in class  NSA  Personal information gathering  Virtual reality  Q&A?