Techdirt Podcast Episode 224: Trying To Be Optimistic About The Internet
from the and-sometimes-succeeding dept
The future of the internet is... uncertain. We've always been optimistic about what technology and innovation can achieve, and that hasn't changed, but right now it often feels like we're facing more new challenges and more reactions to them (including dangerous ones) than ever, and pessimism about the internet seems to be at an all-time high. This week we're joined by EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn, who recently wrote an essay (pdf link) about internet pioneer John Perry Barlow and how his famous tech optimism was more complex — and more aware of challenges — than it is often portrayed, to discuss a positive future for the internet, and how we get there.
Follow the Techdirt Podcast on Soundcloud, subscribe via iTunes or Google Play, or grab the RSS feed. You can also keep up with all the latest episodes right here on Techdirt.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: cindy cohn, eff, internet, john perry barlow, podcast
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
It's impossible to be optimistic.
Every day you see something new and unethical that someone will be explaining away. Example: on Google News I noticed that The Washington Post, CNN, and The New York Times were back despite me having blocked them. That freaked me out. I checked if Fox and MSNBC were still blocked. They were. So I added wapo, cnn, and nyt back to my "don't show these" list on Google News. And Google ignored my settings. Now Google isn't even trying to hide their bias. You simply can't block CNN, Wapo, or NYT anymore at all.
But some unethical piece of garbage will explain it away I'm sure.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: It's impossible to be optimistic.
Addendum: Try to block any Bloomberg source. Google won't even give you the options. Apparently it's very important to Google that you listen to Michael Bloomberg.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: It's impossible to be optimistic.
You seem to associate was is quite obviously a small bug with malice. Why?
Also, I checked and, yes, you can absolutely block Bloomberg:
https://i.imgur.com/Zh1aw94.png
Anyway, none of this has ANYTHING to do with what we discussed in the podcast.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: It's impossible to be optimistic.
Better question... given your personal disdain for most media outside of a few such as Fox, why are you relying on Google, the search engine you've openly voiced your distrust for, to serve you your news? Wouldn't you just bookmark "Fox News" on your browser?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: It's impossible to be optimistic.
On topic, I do find it impossible to be optimistic. Both sides want CDA 230 shredded, both sides are about to pass the CASE act which will revitalize the copyright trolls and kill my favorite sites (I'm assuming hollywood is dangling election cash in front of dems/repubs which may explain why there's two? bipartisan efforts to kill the internet as we currently know it).
Listening to you and Ms. Cohn didn't help push away the pessimism, all I got was a reminder I should seriously look into decentralized sites.
[ link to this | view in thread ]