Greetings USED KARMA readers - and those of you who access this column through John Derrickson's PsyPlan(tm) site (http://www.psyplan.com)! I don't know whether it is the outer planet retrogrades or the fact that I have had a very busy schedule this cycle, but I just couldn't get my head together to write this month's column. However, I have done some other writing this month, so I have decided to reprint those works here. Enjoy!
This month I was asked to appear on a panel with Paul Garrin of pgMedia, and Professors Milton Mueller of Syracuse University (information science) and Hans Klein of Georgia Tech (public policy) at a forum to discuss the domain name system, Internet privatization and other such subjects. Originally Larry Lessig from Harvard University was scheduled to appear, but due to last minute sabotage from one of the organizers (we are still trying to figure out if this person is a kook, a spook or both!) his boss, Charles Nesson, wouldn't let him come. The forum was supposed to be webcast live, but due to the aforementioned sabotage we lost our webcast facilities.
However, the event did take place, even though it was more sparsely attended than it would have been had it not been interfered with. I had been asked to appear on behalf of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) and speak in the public interest. Given the traffic I had seen on various list servers related to these topics, I knew that these issues are highly charged emotionally, and that people are given to flaming and personal attacks. Not wanting emotion to obscure content, I decided to bring my guitar and do my presentation in the form of a talking blues. Hans Klein ( CPSR board member) told me he thought my presentation was going to be "weird," but that it was "the high point of the evening" and "good policy analysis." Milton Mueller told me when he saw the guitar he thought my presentation was going to be "hokey love and peace nonsense," but that I said in one verse what it took him 10,000 words to say in a paper!
So here's the text. Hopefully it will be up in RealAudio at the New York Free Media website (http://nyfree.media.xs2.net) soon so you can hear the music.
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THE INTERNET PRIVATIZATION, DNS PARTICIPATION, PUBLIC INTEREST TALKING BLUES
by Marcy J. Gordon |
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Well I showed up today with my guitar To represent the CPSR That's Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. Now the Internet is global and decentralized So everyone must realize That certain issues have to be addressed Like openness and universal access, Privacy, tolerance, security Not to mention free speech and community outreach. |
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'Cause information wants to be free
We all know that intuitively The question is what are we going to do about it? |
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Now privatization of the Internet Doesn't mean the public shouldn't get A say in how the whole thing is governed. The hubs and routers may be privately owned Along with the lines that go to the phones But let's consider an analogy. Production and broadcast facilities The cables connected to TVs And satellite transponders are privately owned. Yet the airwaves belong to you and me (Or so we're told by the FCC) So it really doesn't matter who owns the technology. CHO. Now the basic Internet technology Was funded by folks like you and me, U.S. taxpayers near and far. It was made by the Department of Defense (They finally did something that made real sense!) The rest, my friends, is history. First the academics began to use it Before the pornographers did abuse it Then computer engineers got into the act. Along came the saintly Tim Berners-Lee Who developed web technology And put it in the public domain. CHO. The web brought commerce into the game It exploded in a manner that was truly insane And now we have a new information frontier. But numeric IP addresses were hard to use So to avoid communication blues The domain name system came to be. It seemed like a very good thing to do But it created some problems, too So now we're here trying to figure out what to do. CHO. So the Internet's a public resource you see Which brings us to domain name policy, Trademark disputes and cyberpiracy. Now I don't want to start a fight But the NSI dispute resolution policy just ain't right Everybody here already knows that. Soon the NSI contract will expire And the U.S. Government wants to hire A new corporation to administer domain name registry. But one thing the White Paper didn't make clear Is how we'll select the Board to steer This new corporation that's supposed to represent us all. CHO. The Board must be chosen in an open way Non-profit groups must have a say CPSR would like to see four directors from that crowd. And furthermore it must be clear That no director shall have the ear Of any domain name registrar. No employees, no agents, no undue influence. The registration process must be clear and consistent, Cheap, fair and totally resistant To bidding wars and cyberthievery. CHO. Domain names get compared to real estate But the folks with the money to litigate Shouldn't get to steal from the little guys. Now there has been a lot of fuss About the top-level domain ".us" The US Postal Service wants control. The CPSR would like you to know That free speech protection is the way to go. We need a coherent policy Guaranteeing the Internet remains free Of content restrictions and other threats to liberty. CHO. The Post Office is making a wild guess About the ultimate usefulness Of tying ".us" To a meat space address. This makes no sense To those of us who value non-location And total portability of information But I guess it's one more battle for us to fight CHO. That's about all I have to say Until the debate here gets underway Or should I say the dialectical melee? We've got keep the Internet unfettered and free So it's always available to you and me And everyone else who wants to express themselves Including elves and extraterrestrials. [Play twilight zone theme] It looks like I'm nearly out of time But I'm seldom out of rhyme So let's sing the chorus one more time. CHO. |
Recently I read a fascinating book on the Sasquatch. I was so excited about it that I wrote a book review for the newsletter of a UFO abductee group I belong to. I also wrote a letter to the author. Here are those documents.
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Mr. Jack "Kewaunee" Lapseritis c/o Wild Flower Press P.O. Box 190 Mill Spring, NC 28756 Re: The Psychic Sasquatch and Their UFO Connection Dear Mr. Lapseritis: Thank you for having the courage and intellectual integrity to publish your research in the captioned book. As a psychic, shaman and UFO abductee/amateur ufologist I was familiar with many of the concepts in your book, and was thoroughly fascinated by those I was not familiar with. I applaud your ability to tie these concepts together in a meaningful way and articulate them in plain language. As a healer, I have been in communication with nonphysical intelligences all my life. Before reading your book, I had always attributed my abilities to a combination of genetics (I am a direct descendant of Judaism's most famous kabbalistic rabbi, rationalist scholar, mystic and spiritual medium, Joseph Caro), a near death experience in infancy1 and a lifetime of alien contacts. After reading your wonderful book and understanding more about the Sasquatch role as planetary guardians, I now wonder if perhaps I have some connection with these dear beings as well. Here are some questions. Have you done any research on Sasquatch sightings in China and the former Soviet Union? Since these places have large tracts of wilderness, they should be prime areas for Sasquatch habitation. In addition, are you familiar with the Selkie legends from the Orkney Islands in Scotland? In your book you mention the possibility of underwater vortices to explain sea creature sightings (of which the Loch Ness creature in Scotland is one.) Years ago I read an article in Sing Out magazine about the Selkie legend. Selkies are creatures that appear as men on land but are seals in the sea. They are noted for their powers of prophecy. According to the Sing Out piece, many modern residents of the Orkneys consider themselves to be descended from these human-seal beings. Perhaps the Selkie legend comes from shape-shifting inter-dimensional creatures that come through an underwater vortex near the Orkneys. In closing, let me say that I would be most happy to volunteer to participate in your research, should you find a use for me. If you are ever lecturing in the New York City area, please keep me informed! Sincerely, Marcy J. Gordon |
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Copyright 1998 Marcy J. Gordon. All rights reserved. The author wants you to know you are free to copy and distribute this article for noncommercial purposes, provided you reproduce it in its entirety and credit the author. For quotation permission, please contact the author at mgordon@pipeline.com.
This article represents the author's personal views and in no way shape or form reflects upon the author's employer, although the author's employer is very cool. See http://www.ericmarder.com.
1. At the age of three months I was so sick with rubella that my pediatrician-father prepared himself one night to find a dead infant in the nursery the next morning. Much to his surprise I was not only alive, but perfectly healthy. He wrote this up in my chart as a "medical mystery" and remains an atheist to this day. So much for scientific integrity!
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