> Media Lab 2/03: Polymedia Lab at WSIS > 8-13 December 2003 - Geneva - WSIS > > Information increasingly represents the ground on which authority is based > and on which struggles are being fought out. Intellectual Property is > becoming a major means of control, and the media-led battles for the > thoughts and the consent of people are playing a central role in global > politics - once again proven by the tales on weapons of mass destruction > before the Iraq war. > As an intervention into the reorganisation of power, communication and > information, we propose a media lab during the World Summit on the > Information Society (WSIS). > The WSIS - Background > In December 2003 the United Nations will hold the first part of a global > conference on information and communication: The World Summit on the > Information Society (WSIS). WSIS will be the first in the recent series of > global summits to deal with information issues. Just as the Rio summit in > 1992 structured the politics of sustainable development, the WSIS may set > the framework for how issues around information and communication will be > perceived and dealt with in the future. Because of the dominant role of > Northern governments and corporations, we can expect further moves towards > neoliberalisation, the privatisation of knowledge, and repressive > cybersecurity regimes, while development concerns will be swept aside by > the spread of western technology. > Polymedia Lab at the WSIS > We are proposing to hold a media and communication laboratory as a > counter-event to the WSIS. Based on the experiences of the Hub in Florence > in November 2002, and organised in close cooperation with the proposed > media lab for the next European Social Forum in Paris, Polymedia Lab will > be a temporary space of experimentation and confrontation for alternative > and grassroots communication projects. It will serve as a platform to > develop and experiment with horizontal communication, to share experiences > and knowledge, to create networks of alternative communication projects, > and present an alternative vision of information society. > Polymedia Lab will focus on horizontality, emancipation, openness, > creativity and freedom, where WSIS will be about hierarchy, exclusion, and > control. It will present practical projects by those who actually develop > information society on a grassroots level. While WSIS will be busy > presenting dry documents by those who use, exploit and repress the work of > others, we will engage in an act of communications insurgency. > What would we envision? What could take place at Polymedia Lab? > - a big open Indymedia Centre with public access terminals > - pirate TV and pirate radio (local) > - video and radio streams (global, multidirectional, and in interaction > with streams being produced elsewhere)- presentations on issues around the > information society: media > concentration, intellectual property rights, infowar, ISP and media laws, > etc.- skill-sharing workshops on technological aspects of communication: > Linux, pgp, WiFi, satellite transmission, hacking, streaming, etc.- permanent > workshops on non-technical aspects of communication: > horizontal, non-hierarchical ways of communicating- network meetings of groups and > individuals involved with free TV, free > radio, Indymedia, video, etc. to develop and facilitate cooperation > Who are we talking to? > In addition to being platforms for exchange, experiment and networking, > media labs aim to reach out to other communities and to publicise > horizontal grassroots approaches. At the WSIS, Polymedia Lab will try to > interact with �Civil Society" (as defined by the UN). Hundreds of NGOs > and civil society groups are involved in the summit preparation process, > around 700 members of civil society participated in the last preparatory > conference alone. We will strengthen links and exchange with some of the > more progressive civil society organisations, while at the same time > questioning and criticising the role of NGOs in the UN process, the > corporate takeover of the UN, and Corporatised Global Governance. We will > demonstrate other ways to raise our voices than lobbying and gratefully > participating in a global summit. > At the same time, Polymedia Lab will spread news and analysis about the > WSIS to other parts of the world through polymedia reporting and > multidirectional video and radio streaming, providing an interface for > remote participation and for interactive workshops with those who cannot > come to Geneva. > >From media lab part 1 to part 2 > The WSIS media lab should become the climax of a month-long concerted > alternative information society campaign, to be started at the ESF media > lab in Paris in November. During that month we will educate ourselves and > others about the WSIS and its possible impacts, counteract the summit > agenda, and show the value of information and communication systems based > on freedom, horizontality and cooperation. > Let's get started... > As a next step we will need to form an organising group. Polymedia Lab > will only happen if many people and groups join the effort. Please tell us > if you would like to participate by sending an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > That address has also been set up as a mailing list for organising the > lab. In addition, we hope that many groups and individuals will prepare > workshops, radio programmes, actions, etc. If you are one of them, please > let us know via the same address. > Polymedia Lab was first proposed at a meeting on counter-events to the > WSIS in April 2003. It will be part of a whole series of counter-events > which also include the World Communication Rights Forum and a Make-World > conference. > > Polymedia Lab Initiative Group > (individuals from European IMCs) > > _______________________________________________ > wsis mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.indymedia.it/mailman/listinfo/wsis
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