[okfn-discuss] Free Culture Forum

[Hinde ten Berge]

The first International Free Culture Forum will take place in Barcelona
from October 29 to November 1 2009. This event will bring together the
main organizations and most active voices in the world of Free Culture
and Free Knowledge to set common agendas and strategies.

The Free Knowledge Institute co-organises the Free Culture Forum and
invites you to be part of this unique and historical moment.

http://www.fcforum.net/

***

"The battle for access to information and the Internet is the mother of
all battles, the one that will allow us to keep going autonomously and
creatively in crisis times, regardless of what the powers that be
"organise" for their own interest..."
/Zaphod Beeblebrox, Digital Thoughts/

Because in times of crisis, the European Parliament is discussing how to
take away one of the few remaining ways that allow citizens to get ahead
– open access to the Internet – and to hand it over to the
multinationals (this is not science fiction; it is happening now -
follow the links below [1]);

Because we must be able to benefit from spreading our works without
middlemen;

Because we are fed up with plundering by royalties management organisations;

Because artists are being used as an excuse to restrict legal rights to
expression and development;

Because copying and sharing information is our right to culture, to
knowledge and to communication, and they want to give it away to the
entertainment industry  (this isn’t science fiction either
– the
American Chamber of Commerce is pressuring worldwide for changes to the
Intellectual Property Laws to prevent the right to copy and share
information [2]);

Because their business is not our culture;

Because it is important for artists to be able to make a living from
their work if they wish to;

Because “greed breaks the sack” as we saw in this crisis
that has shown
us that we live in a system that expects us to protect the interests of
banks and multinationals, in the hope that they might one day give us a
job in exchange for the crumbs of their profits.
The philosophy of free culture, inherited from the free software
movement, is the best empirical proof that a new kind of ethics and a
new kind of business are possible. It has already created an alternative
production space that works, based on an artisan or trade model in which
the author-producer doesn't lose control of his or her output and
doesn't need the mediation of big monopolies. A kind of production that
is committed to autonomous initiatives in solidarity with others, to
sharing based on each person's abilities and opportunities, to the
democratisation of knowledge, education and the means of production and
to fair distribution of earnings based on work carried out. *

And because actions speak louder than words, thousands of individuals
and organisations, hundreds of artists, have joined forces...

we welcome back to Barcelona, Spain...

*

*The oXcars*
*29 October 2009*
*the biggest free culture event of all time*
http://oxcars09.exgae.net

And, for the first time, we introduce

*The International Free Culture Forum*
*Organisation and Action*
*30 October to 1 Novembre 2009*
where we will put down in black and white the politics of the digital
age as demanded by citizens, by you and by me (this is not science fiction!)
http://fcforum.net/

This is an invitation extended to everybody, and an invitation extended
to over 1000 institutions that legislate on our rights worldwide, an
invitation to listen and to understand, because the way of life and
development of citizens is at stake.
On October 25th we will reveal how each and every one of them has responded.

The oXcars and The Free Culture Forum are open to everybody. Come along,
find out about absolutely everything and participate.
This is unstoppable, we can only win. The civil society has its word to
say on access to knowledge and culture in the digital age.

Please, spread the info.

http://oxcars09.exgae.net/
http://fcforum.net/
http://freeknowledge.eu/event/freecultureforum_barcelona_2009

"It was the same with the inquisition: digital progress is also
unstoppable, the only issue is how many years of suffering, stagnation
and obscurantism we will have to but up with before they admit that
their interests are not the centre of the universe".
/Cayce Pollard, Vogons Proverbs/

[By the way, this message is illegal in Europe. It is illegal to use
quotations except for research and educational purposes. Quotes for
informational purposes are not permitted... And this is not science
fiction].

The Free Culture Forum is organised by eXgae, Network Politics and the
Free Knowledge Institute in collaboration with many organisations that
work for the protection of digital freedom, privacy, open innovation and
access to knowledge. For regular communication in the context of the
Forum we will be using the autonomous microblogging platform identi.ca:
http://identi.ca/group/fcforum
You are welcome to join the FCF group!

***

*Related material of interest*

[1] During the Free Culture Forum you will be able to collaborate, in
flesh and blood, with the organisations that are lobbying the European
Parliament exactly during these days in which the fearsome EU Telecoms
Package is being debated.
You can see what it's all about here:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/we-must-protect-net-neutrality-in-europe-open-letter-to-the-european-parliament
http://www.euopeninternet.eu

Here is information about who is on the committee, how they have voted
(from red to green, from more favourable to citizens to more favourable
to multinationals), and who we have to lobby in each country (if you
know some of them, talk to them; if you don’t know them, ring
them up.
These links show you how):
http://werebuild.eu/wiki/index.php/Operation_revelation
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Telecoms_Package-Conciliation_Committe-Parliament_Delegation#Political_Memory:_MEPs_ranking_by_score

What do we tell them?: to defend the original article 138, not the
"soft" version. That is: no private entity can monitor your digital
communication"prior ruling by the judicial authorities".

Send to the Europarliamentarians the following sentence (this action is
carried out all over Europe):
""*Prior ruling by the judicial authorities*" is a condition of
democracy. Don't restrict basic freedoms. Using internet access is now
instrumental to basic freedoms. Defend the real Amendment 138". (Don't
insult them if not they will spam you. Here their telephone and emails:
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Telecoms_Package-Conciliation_Committe-Parliament_Delegation#Political_Memory:_MEPs_ranking_by_score)

[2] EEUU Industry "anti-piracy" plans (Spain and Canadá are in the 3rd
and 2nd position):
http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/reports-and-publications/archives/2008/2008-special-301-report