The Beginning and End(s) of the Internet:
Surveillance, Censorship, and the Future of Cyber-Utopia

The Departments of Communication and History at the University of Utah
are seeking submissions for the fourth Frontiers of New Media Symposium
to be held on the campus of the University of Utah, September, 20-21,
2013. The Frontiers symposium, which has been held every other year
since 2009, brings together a diverse group of scholars to discuss the
past, present, and future of media and communication technologies.

This year’s theme, “The Beginning and End(s) of the Internet:
Surveillance, Censorship, and the Future of Cyber-Utopia,” asks
scholars, activists, and journalists to consider the past, present, and
possible futures of the Internet as a force for good in the world.

Critical Arts Ensemble Book Launch London October 6th
Marcus Campbell Arts Books

Four Corners Books and Marcus Campbell Art Books are delighted to invite you to a talk by artist Steve Kurtz, who will discuss the work of Critical Art Ensemble, the artists' group he co-founded and the making of their new book: Disturbances. Steve's talk will be followed by a general discussion and Q&A with Steve and other members of the group.

The book will be available for sale at the shop as part of the Four Corners Books residency program at the shop for the next 2 months.

"Enter the Swarm: Anonymous and the Global Protest Movements"
Felix Stalder

In the course of just one year, using the identity “Anonymous,” highly
efficient digital attacks have been carried out against global
corporations and national governments. All in the name of freedom
of speech and social justice. The media coverage has done little
to clarify the events, rather, contradictory characterizations of
Anonymous have been espoused, ranging from an elite hacker conspiracy,
to a loose network of ignorant teenagers, from a major cyber-terrorist
threat to a mere nuisance driven by sophomoric humor. None of these
characterizations is entirely incorrect, because each captures some
fragments of the phenomenon, but they all miss the central element of
Anonymous, namely that it is not one, but many, and that it is not a
group or a network, but a swarm, or to be correct, multiple swarms
that feed off each other.

The Creative Commons is to Free Culture what Shareware is to Free Software
Dmyri Kleiner

Back in the early days of computers proprietary software developers
had a problem. Often working from home or small-offices, far removed
from their potential customers, there was no easy way to sell software
to their customers. One common way was to use classified adds in
computer magazines, but unless a software title was very well known,
it was difficult to convince customers to pay for it before they had
the opportunity to try it and verify that it does what they need it
to.

Yet, the very emerging of computers had the solution embedded into the
very technology, users where already distributing software on their
own, by way of exchanging floppy disks, uploading software to Bulletin
Board Systems or Online Services, or even printing out source code so
that others could rekey it on their own computer.