In early 1998 1996, John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, released a manifesto of sorts. He called it the “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”. I happened to have it linked on my first website. I’m going to link it again. With the problems with ICANN and other regulatory bodies, it seems more relevant now than it was in ’96. Of course, the issues of ’96 were just as important, but the idea remains the same.
A couple of my favorite tidbits:
You have not engaged in our great and gathering conversation, nor did you create the wealth of our marketplaces. You do not know our culture, our ethics, or the unwritten codes that already provide our society more order than could be obtained by any of your impositions.
You claim there are problems among us that you need to solve. You use this claim as an excuse to invade our precincts. Many of these problems don’t exist. Where there are real conflicts, where there are wrongs, we will identify them and address them by our means. We are forming our own Social Contract . This governance will arise according to the conditions of our world, not yours. Our world is different.
Any body been to digg lately? Seen the KoolAidMan story? We take care of our own.
We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before.
Read the rest here.
Technorati Tags: Cyberspace, Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace, John Perry Barlow, Barlow, EFF
About Shane Ede
The Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace was published in 1996, not 98. It was released the same day that President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on Feb 8.