Re: <nettime> Information cannot be free

[alex <alex {AT} state51.co.uk>]

On Tue, 14 Aug 2001, a wrote:
> its great when you have a tool like google that really works well with
> free information - but if those tools dont exist then free information
> is often really useless.

but google does exist.

> corresponding to this, i believe that censorship (such a harsh word,
> but i use it in its loosest sense)  actually has value. you wouldn't
> expect an adobe user manual to have 600 pages of useless noise, for
> example. both forms are of great value, and both require the right
> methods of access.

hmm, editing and censorship are not the same.

> but what i heard was that HAL was a breeding ground for trouble -
> warez servers, continuous cracking on the local net, etc.

i expect these things happened, but i don't think they caused anyone any
trouble.

> anyway, my worry is that the hacker community cannot actually separate
> itself from its sinister alter-ego.

i don't think the hacker community is so well defined.  it's too anarchic
to settle on a particular politic or stereotype.

> so you end up with this increasing mass of hacker types exploring
> 'freedom of information' with systems such as gnutella (which, let's
> face it, is used to distribute information illegally)

that's an unfair assumption.

> how does an honest hacker reconcile the knowledge that others in her
> community are using her same political stance to justify illegal
> activities?

who knows, but you assume that we know what is illegal; testing the law
goes some way towards forming it.


alex

-- 
"y0, I am in the desert"

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