Ray ganz on Sun, 16 Mar 2003 21:01:19 +0100 (CET) |
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<nettime> Virtual Tropicalia - Richard Barbrook and John Perry Barlow inBrazil |
(by way of richard barbrook) This is a translation from portuguese of the interview Richard Barbrook and John Barlow gave to the brazilian newspaper the "Folha de S.Paulo" <<FOLHA DE SAO PAULO>> The Cyber-romantics ------------------------------------------------------ An ex-composer of Gratefull Dead and an university lecturer, both ideological fathers of a "possible communism" on the internet, examine their political differences as guests of the Midia Tatica Brasil, and stand by the free exchange of music and information on the World Wide Web; this unique meeting was mediated by the Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil. ------------------------------------------------------- DIEGO ASSIS DA REPORTAGEM LOCAL Consensus between the two major intelectuals in relation to the internet of today was always an utopia. Since the publication of his "Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace" (96), the rancher and creator of the ONG Electronic Frontier Foundation, John Perry Barlow, 56, exchanges virtual acusations with the englishman Richard Barbrook, 46, lecturer at the University of Westminster and author of the "Cybercommunist Manifesto" (98). Barlow: He said I had a belief in the free market and its infalibility which I never had. Barbrook: You are a social darwinist! Barlow: And you are a punk rocker! This witty discussion ended up in this country thanks to the festival Midia Tatica Brasil, which opens officially today and had a private view last friday, in the presence of the minister of culture, Gilberto Gil, who hosted both guests taking them to the circuit of Carnavais do Nordeste (Northeast Carnivals), to a trip to the (his own) past in the Museum of Dops and to a tribute to the rapper Sabotage at the Sesc Pompeia. On the last sunday, between a fork full of feijoada (stew of beans) and a gulp of caipirinha, the Folha put both "virtual enemies" face to face and talked about culture, technology, digital music and politics. Folha - What do you think that makes technology a subject to be examined in a cultural magazine? John Perry Barlow:We are not talking about technological matters. The raw materials of the internet are the cultures. People become so obsessed with the tools that they forget the reason why they are using them. Richard Barbrook: It's the establishment that wants to talk of technology, to avoid talking about culture, politics or economy. Folha - What changed on the internet since the beginning of the 90s? Did the commercial model win over the academic? Barbrook - No, what's interesting is that the internet is nowadays a lot closer to the academic model than to the commercial means of communication. Some tried to make television out of the internet, a place to buy and sell entertainment sponsored by ads, but most of it is made of people who use it to share information. Its amazing the internet has not been turned into a corporation. Barlow- That is no big deal and you wrote why not. The web is naturally an economy of sharing, and any attempt to transform it in anything else, in a market of ideas, would be defeated. Barbrook - You (referring to the "californian ideology" of the magazine "Wired", i.e, which was criticised in the "Cybercommunist Manifest") preach a free commerce of ideas. Barlow - When people talk about a market of ideas they mean a dialog, not an exchange involving money. Folha - The internet is the future of music? And the record labels? Barbrook - They still make money and they are going to take ages trying to persuade us they can transform the world into a digital fantasy. The question is: why would people buy music on-line if they have the tools to make it and share it? Barlow - At the (independent festival) Midem, in Cannes, the executives were affraid, but their answer was: use a bigger sledgehammer, find the tools for a better repression. Folha - And would it be possible to make that kind of control? Barlow - Unfortunately yes. I think it is necessary for people to forget some of my previous statements and realise that the internet can be controlled and there are already some efforts of various governments towards that goal. Barbrook: You would be surprised if that was not happening. Barlow: Yes, I never thought the industry would just roll and die. Barbrook: Yes, you did. You're just an old hippie. ------------------------------------------ That's it guys. I know sometimes the english might sound a bit strange but I tried to stick to the brazilian portuguese text as much as possible instead of going for a more free translation. I think one still gets the idea. Ray Ganz # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net