Day 7 – Ashley The Suspected Counterfeiter!

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Day 7
I returned on my own to Alexandria today. We finally got clearance from the Library’s security department who had concerns that the color printing equipment could be used to counterfeit money, if it were to fall into the wrong hands (always wanted to use that phrase).
The library’s extensive security team is a nearly-autonomous entity in the library and works fulltime to keep the library premises safe. Before I left, I spoke with the security chief, General Sharif, who assured me that there wouldn’t be trouble with the equipment.
Today I found out that the security team oversaw a test printing of a scanned Egyptian bill and found out, unsurprisingly, that the quality of the printing was not nearly good enough to be used to actually counterfeit money. (In fact the Chief Science Officer at HP informed me that this consideration is taken into account when designing the print equipment, since it’s not only the Egyptian authorities, but also American ones, who have concerns about counterfeiting through high-end print equipment.)

Photo Below: Of course in Cairo we had to see the pyramids (which are basically in the middle of the city and visible from the highway) and had to do the quintessential pyramid activity–camel riding.

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Photo Below: Filmmaker Mark in one of the Pyramids. The 30 degree incline leads to a chamber that’s empty except for a cracked, empty tomb. The sense of history inside this chamber is immense.

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Photo Below: Here the Mark, Jenny, and Tess setup their equipment in front of the pyramids and Sphynx for a day of shooting.

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ILAW 2003 – Day 2 – July 1, 2003 – PM 1 of 2 – Reed H. Hundt and Leslie Vadasz

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This is a placeholder for the brief panel with former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and Leslie L. Vadasz, Director Emeritus, Intel Corporation that took place during the first part of Tuesday afternoon at ILAW 2003.
I had only recorded a portion of their presentations and the Q and A afterwards, because I hadn’t brought enough tape for the entire day and I didn’t want to miss the governance tag team with Jonathan Zittrain and Terry Fisher that was scheduled afterwards.
As it turns out, Reed Hundt asked that I not publish his presentation (which was quite a surprise considering that it didn’t seem like he had said anything that could be construed as even remotely controversial).
So this entry is just a placeholder for what would have gone here.
Note: Except for Jonathan Zittrain’s introductory presentation (Day 1-AM 1) and this presentation (Day 2 – PM 1), my ILAW 2003 video archive will contain the conference in its entirety.

Capacitor – Modern Dance Meets Performance Art Wrapped In An Acrobatic Techno Circus

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I met a guy from the Capacitor Dance Company in the coffee shop the other day. It sounded kind of cool so I went to check out the website, and it turns out that they have a number of pretty cool videos of their different shows.
They travel around the country, so if you happen to see them performing somewhere in your area, and you’re into such things, you might want to check them out (and bring the kids!).
Shows in Oakland, CA August 7-10, 2003
Alice Fine Arts Theatre
14th and Alice
Take the 12st exit off of 980 and head east on 14th to Alice.
Show starts at 8pm
$15

Lots Of Great “Illegal Art” Film and Video Screenings Coming Up Next Week At The Roxie

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And they’re all being introduced by a collection of all star guests:
This is the:
Illegal Art Film & Video Schedule
at Roxie Cinema (3117 16th St., at the corner of Valencia St.)
Tickets available at the door: general, $8; seniors and children, $4.
More info and movies for online viewing or downloading: http://www.illegal-art.org
PROGRAM A
Wednesday, July 23 * 2 pm, 10 pm
Thursday, July 24 10pm
With Introductions by Rick Prelinger, Members of Paul Harvey Oswald, and Brian Boyce (on wed)
and Rick Prelinger, and possibly Jino Choi or Dan Spalding (who did Fellowship of the Ring of Free Trade) on Thursday
Paul Harvey Oswald, Fair Use
Eric Fensler, GI Joe PSAs
Brian Boyce, State of the Union
Phil Patiris, Iraq Campaign 1991
Brian Springer, Spin
In Spin, documentary filmmaker Brian Springer captures the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters in the early 1990s. Pat Robertson banters about “homos,” Al Gore learns how to avoid abortion questions, George Bush talks to Larry King about halcyon-all presuming they’re off camera. Iraq Campaign 1991 transforms network news footage, clips from Star Trek, and sports coverage (all used without permission) into a devastating critique of the media/industrial complex.
PROGRAM B
Wednesday, July 23 * 4 pm
Thursday, July 24 * 6 pm
With introductions by Craig Baldwin and Don Joyce
Tim Maloney with Negativland, Gimme the Mermaid
Craig Baldwin, Sonic Outlaws
Sonic Outlaws is a gleefully anarchic documentary focused on the band Negativland and its travails with copyright and trademark infringment. The film also probes the world of recontexualizing corporate advertising through culture-jamming. Director Craig Baldwin and Don Joyce (of Negativland) will be on hand to introduce the films and answer your questions.
PROGRAM C
Wednesday, July 23 * 6 pm
With an Introduction and Q and A with Lawrence Lessig
Greg Hittelman and Jed Horovitz, Willful Infringement
A new documentary about copyright law featuring a Rolling Stones cover band, Public Enemy, copyright guru Lawrence Lessig, and a couple of clowns. Lessig will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions afterward.
PROGRAM D
Wednesday, July 23 * 8 pm
Thursday, July 24 * 8 pm
With an introduction by Jean Hester on Thursday
Keith Sanborn, The Artwork in the Age of its Mechanical Reproducibility
D. Jean Hester, Buy Me
Paul Harvey Oswald, Natural Thing
Eileen Maxson, Untitled
Brian Spinks, Bill Wasik, Eugene Mirman, Black Thunder
Michal Levy, Giant Steps
Jem Cohen, excerpt from Chain
Naomi Uman, Removed
Michael Colton, Puppy Love
Todd Haynes, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
(shown without permission)
A series of shorts that appropriate copyrighted works in one way or another: through the use of found footage (Black Thunder, Natural Thing, Removed), unauthorized music (Giant Steps), or corporate imagery (Chain). Plus Todd Haynes’ cult classic Superstar. With Barbie dolls as the principal actors, Superstar portrays the life of Karen Carpenter and her battle with anorexia. Haynes never secured the rights to the Carpenters’ music he used in the movie, and Richard Carpenter filed an injunction that kept Superstar from public release.
PROGRAM E
Thursday, July 24 * 10 pm
Brian Spinks, Bill Wasik, Eugene Mirman, Black Thunder
Brian Boyce, Special Report
Michael Colton, Puppy Love
Joe Gibbons, Barbie’s Audition
Jino Choi and Dan Spalding, Fellowship of the Ring of Free Trade
Greg Hittelman and Jed Horovitz, Willful Infringement
Another set of stellar shorts, headlined by Willful Infringement, a new documentary about copyright law featuring a Rolling Stones cover band, Public Enemy, copyright guru Lawrence Lessig, and a couple of clowns.
Most films and videos can also be downloaded for free at http://www.illegal-art.org.
And don’t miss the Illegal Art Exhibit, through July 25, at SF MOMA Artists Gallery (Fort Mason, Building A). Illegal Art is sponsored by Stay Free! Magazine.

ILAW 2003 – Day 2 – July 1, 2003 AM 2 Of 2 – Lawrence Lessig On The Importance Of The Web’s End To End Architecture

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The most important point:

End to end character of the web.
How this was a design choice.
Intelligence is at the edges. Network is simple.
Dominant monopoly can’t control/discriminate.
Can’t see who people are.
Can’t forbid certain uses.
This was a fundamental architectural choice.


Larry On End-to-End – Part 1 of 4 (Small – 69 MB)

Larry On End-to-End – Part 2 of 4 (Small – 59 MB)

Larry On End-to-End – Part 3 of 4 (Small – 81 MB)

Larry On End-to-End – Part 4 of 4 (Small – 74 MB)























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Day 6 – Ashley And Filmmakers Meet With Rights Activists In Egypt

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Ashley’s back in town, but some of his posts never made it to me, so I’m posting them in order:


Day 6.
Tess, Jenny, Mark (the filmmakers) and I hopped on an afternoon train headed for Cairo from Alexandria in order to meet with an Egyptian-American who runs a human rights internet group called Virtual Activism (see www.virtualactivism.org). The train ride from Alex to Cairo is surprisingly beautiful: along the Nile and Nile tributaries the rough sand of the Egyptian desert becomes lush farmland and greenery.
The meeting with the human rights activist (I’ll leave her name out of this) went great–she was thrilled with the Bookmobile concept and thinks that it’s an important way to solve the crisis of the digital divide in Egypt. It turns out that the Egyptian government has built the infrastructure for country-wide internet access–for FREE– but the hardware is “prohibitively expensive” for Egpytians, in addition to the daunting knowledge gap that exists amongst the literate/semi-literate and illiterate Egyptian population. However, she also commented that showing people how computers and the internet–which is an opaque concept for some people in Egypt– can produce a physical, tangible and familiar thing like a book, would help to drive investment in information technologies.

Photo Below: BibAlex dusk: pic from the Library of the sun setting over the Meditaranean, the night before our train to Cairo.

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ILAW 2003 – Day 2 – July 1, 2003 – AM 1 of 2 – Yochai Benkler – Architecture For Non-Technical People

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This is from the first session on the second day of ILAW at Stanford, July 1, 2003.
My notes are located beneath the photographs.
Yochai Benkler was as amazing as ever (I’ve been a big fan since the Spectrum Conference — note that there’s no link there because I still haven’t uploaded it…argh…)

Yochai On Architecture – Part 1 of 4 (Small – 62 MB)

Yochai On Architecture – Part 2 of 4 (Small – 62 MB)

Yochai On Architecture – Part 3 of 4 (Small – 50 MB)

Yochai On Architecture – Part 4 of 4 (Small – 16 MB)













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Lotsa notes on this one:

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ILAW 2003 – Day 1 – June 30, 2003 – PM 2 of 2 – Charlie Nesson’s Panel On Blogging And Democracy

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My notes for this session are included underneath the links to the video files below.
I’ll be putting up highlight clips for Terry Fisher‘s description of the three different kinds of democracy, Zack Rosen’s presentation on Americans For Dean, and probably a few other exciting moments.
Charlie Nesson put together an ad hoc panel on Blogging and Democracy. Aaron Swartz, Zack Rosen, yours truly, David Hornik, Colin Mutchler, and Frank Field all participated.

Charlie’s Panel – Part 1 of 5 (Small – 44 MB)

Charlie’s Panel – Part 2 of 5 (Small – 43 MB)

Charlie’s Panel – Part 3 of 5 (Small – 38 MB)

Charlie’s Panel – Part 4 of 5 (Small – 44 MB)

Charlie’s Panel – Part 5 of 5 (Small – 30 MB)
Notes: Day 1 – Charlie’s Panel On Blogging As A Tool Of Democracy
Terry Fisher explaining the different types of democracy.
Three primary meanings:
1) Political Democracy – A political system in which we are governed by laws we ourselves make.
Several parts to this:
1) Elected Officials
2) Frequent and Fair Elections
3) Anyone Can Run
4) Freedom Of Expression
5) Information From Alternative Sources
6) Freedom Of Association
2) Economic Democracy
Three parts to this:
1) Workplace Participation
2) Shape Character Of Products
3) Meaningful Work
3) Semiotic Democracy – Widespreade popular participation in the process of making cultural meanings.


From left to right: Colin Mutchler, Zack Rosen, David Hornik,
Aaron Swartz, Lisa Rein, Frank Field and Charlie Nesson.















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When Is A Black Box Actually A Good Thing?

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When the term is referring to a venue where an upcoming Illegal Art gathering is taking place, of course.
What: Digital Mix: A Special BayFF Celebrating Illegal Art
When: July 25th, 8pm – 2am
Where: Black Box, 1928 Telegraph Avenue Near 19th Street BART
Directions: available here
Cost: $5 Suggested Donation (That means they’ll take a dollar if that’s all you have and don’t not come just because you’re broke! Tell them I sent you and I’ll work it out later with them — it’s all good 😉
For more information please contact: katina@eff.org
Performers:
~ Kat5
~ Meanest Man Contest
~ Uprock
~ Mochipet
~ Freshblend
Speakers:
~ Fred von Lohmann (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
~ Glenn Otis Brown (Creative Commons)
~ Ray Beldner (Illegal Art)
Sponsored By:
~ XLR8R Magazine
Details:
On July 25th the Electronic Frontier Foundation will host a night of music, art, and conversation to celebrate digital culture. Hosted at the Black Box in downtown Oakland, this special BayFF will bring up-and-coming artists of electronica, digital film, and illegal art together with leaders from the cyber-rights movement.
Lawsuits and legislation have become the weapons of choice for dealing with file-sharing and cultural recycling (“sampling”); come out and discover what all the hype is about. Between laptop music, hip hop, and industrial performances, you will hear from people who are fighting to protect new forms of expression and cultural distribution from the attacks of the entertainment industry. This is an all-ages event.