Josh - I am going to make time to review your links, and wanted to post a quick acknowledgement of your brilliant project and thank you for sharing your story with the group. There are so many elements in here to think about.
Rox On 25 Mar 2007 10:06:10 -0700, Joshua Kinberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > Today, I'm unsure how to react to this news -- having your person, > property and rights violated is an unsettling experience. Would > definitely like to hear your thoughts on this as I'm processing the > information. > > On Friday morning, I was informed by a NYTimes reporter that recent > documents uncovered just how far the NYPD went to suppress Free Speech > -- mine and others -- at the Republican Convention in 2004. Here's > what the NYTimes reported in the Sunday edition: > > "City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention" > <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/nyregion/25infiltrate.html?ex=1332561600&en=3af0cd0ac568e430&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink> > > Bikes Against Bush <http://www.bikesagainstbush.com> was my graduate > thesis project, a combination of mechanical engineering, WiFi, > interactive mobile messaging, and videoblogging. It was featured in > Popular Science magazine for the engineering design of the bicycle > that printed chalk text messages sent through SMS and from my website > onto streets and sidewalks in NYC. > > Apparently, the NYPD considered this project to be a threat and was > determined to shut it down. They had a copy of the Popular Science > article in a file along with 4 pages of notes as to why my project was > a threat. This led to my bizarre arrest, which happened on national > television while I was being interviewed by Ron Reagan on MSNBC's > Hardball. > > I was arrested with no crime being committed. Just simply plucked from > the street, jailed for 24 hours, and my computer, cell phone and > bicycle confiscated and held for over a year (the bicycle was never > returned). The fake charges against me were dropped 6 months later. > > The NYTimes article confirms what I had long suspected -- that the > NYPD was unlawfully conducting surveillance of artists, activists, and > others seeking to exercise free speech at the RNC convention in 2004. > > Here are the videos: > > The Bike Project > <http://www.bikesagainstbush.com/blog/iloveny.mov> > > The Arrest -- Street Footage > <http://www.bikesagainstbush.com/blog/bikesarrest.mov> > > MSNBC Interview > <http://www.bikesagainstbush.com/blog/msnbc_8-29-2004_med1.mov> > > BikesAgainstBush was important because it was one of the earliest > demonstrations of the power of the blogosphere to distribute video -- > the raw street-footage of the arrest circulated around the blogosphere > and was viewed by millions of people both before and after the edited > version aired on MSNBC's Hardball. > > Immediately after this project, I began working on software to > distribute video via RSS. I met Jay Dedman around this time in NYC, > and we began working together. This became ANT (ANT's Not Television) > and later FireAnt <http://FireAnt.tv>. > > I wanted to share my thoughts here, in the videoblogging community, as > I'm reflecting today on the state of media, how far we've come and the > work that remains... > > Best, > Josh > -- Roxanne Darling "o ke kai" means "of the sea" in hawaiian 808-384-5554 http://www.beachwalks.tv http://www.barefeetshop.com http://www.barefeetstudios.com http://www.inthetransition.com
