71Internet Activism and Political Movements Political progress Worldwide internet users: 1992 Tim Berners-Lee proposes a way of linking documents over networks, which later becomes the world wide web 1997 The US Supreme Court nds part of the Communications Decency Act unconstitutional 2001 Napster, a le-sharing service, forced to desist 2001 The Pirate Bay, a le-sharing service, created 2006 First Pirate Party founded in Sweden 2010 WikiLeaks releases American diplomatic cables 2011 German Pirate Party wins 8.9 % of the votes in regional elections in Berlin and 15 seats in the city‘s parliament 2001 Jimmy Wales founds Wikipedia 1995 Netscape, a browsermaker, goes public. Beginning of internet boom as % of total population Sources: World Bank; International Telecommunication Union; internetworldstats.com number 1990 95 2000 05 10 13 50 % 40 30 20 10 0 3 m users bn users 10 100 1 2 2.4 anyone can access it under the same conditions and all traffic can, at least theoretically, be treated equally (a state which is known as “network neutrality”, and a great rallying cry). But here the externalities not captured by the market are more positive than negative. Often, the more people share and use such a commons, the more they all benefit. [...] Such thinking explains what drives many net activists: they prize an ideal of net neutrality because they fear turning the internet into a toll road that limits both expression and experimentation; they fear overbroad patents will hamper research; they think making government data freely available i Growth of the Internet community and milestones of net activities. stimulates new uses. This insight helps explain the seeming grab-bag of issues that passes for a political programme in Germany’s Pirate Party – including demands for free public transport, the right to vote for foreigners living in Germany and a state-funded basic income for all. These proposals apply the idea of an information commons to what the Pirates see as “platforms” of all sorts: public transport, elections and society as a whole. Briefing: Everything is Connected, in: The Economist, January 5th to 11th 2013, pp. 17 19 to appropriate sth. sich etw. aneignen to benefit profitieren a bunch (of) ein Haufen, eine ganze Menge to cast hier: behandeln convergence Zusammenlaufen, Annäherung to descend from so./sth. von jmdm./etw. abstammen entrepreneurialism Unternehmertum experimentation das Experimentieren exploitation, exploiting Ausbeutung externalities Auswirkungen to extradite ausliefern grab-bag Wundertüte, Grabbelkiste to hamper behindern, erschweren interconnection gegenseitige Verbindung nascent entstehend, aufkeimend overbroad übermäßig ausgedehnt, umfassend to overexploit übermäßig ausbeuten, ausschlachten poll Meinungsumfrage rallying cry Schlagwort, Kampfruf, Parole scofflaw Gesetzesbrecher SOPA „Stop Online Piracy Act“, US-Gesetzesentwurf zum Urheberschutz im Internet to spawn hervorbringen to threaten so./sth. jmdn./etw. bedrohen toll road gebührenpflichtige Straße, Mautstrecke umbrella group Dachorganisation 1. Conduct a poll among Your schoolmates about their willingness to give up certain achievements for one year in favour of internet usage. Compare Your results with those depicted on p. 70. 2. Explain how the experience in networking and electronic communication influences political aims and attitudes of the internet activists. 3. Evaluate the possible success of “Pirate Parties” and similar movements. Compare Your findings with the advancement of “green” and ecological parties. 70 75 80 85 N u r zu P rü fz w e c k E ig e n tu m d e s C .C . B u c h n e r V e rl a g s