nettime: WHO NEEDS THE GREAT WWW ECONOMY?

[rtn@gn.apc.org (Reclaim The Networks)]

WHO NEEDS THE GREAT WWW ECONOMY?

The past 3 years have seen a huge struggle against the
imposition of the World Wide Web programme across the
internet. But the spectre of the WWW still haunts us. It
poisons our minds, newsgroups and communities, buries our
thought beneath a tide of images and texts. Increased
prosperity for those behind the web page means more of us dead
under the weight of logos. The cosy private comfort on the
inside offers no relief to those stranded in the image
war-zone on the outside.

In 1994, 50% of 7-8 year olds used the internet at school -
now the figure is 9%. The others go by SafeSurfª. It's too
dangerous to let the kids out on their own - due to the
volume of data trash. The World Wide Web pumps out self
referemtial symbols, threatening the very existence of life
on earth. Is this the world we want? Do we want more wars
over belief, indigenous peoples slaughtered and their ideas
decimated, just to fuel the engine of "e-cash growth"?

MAD WWW DISEASE is not terminal - the antidote is in our
hands!

Networks can be places where kids play, the elderly watch
the world go by, neighbours meet - in short, a place of
community. In the modern World Wide Web people hurtle past
in their own reflective worlds, all on their way elsewhere.
The paranoia of The Cyber Angels replaces welcoming and
open public spaces. Reclaiming the Networks is not just
about rejecting The World Wide Web. It is about
rediscovering the joys of retro networks.

Do you dream of a network where weblocked users abandon
The World Wide Web to join in the network party? Where
telephone users are not isolated diehards, but a force to
be reckoned with? Where football isn't something happening
on Web Radioª, but a game played on in your neighbourhood?
Where no Web Ad stands longer than a day, web marketing
assembly lines stand still and data slicks are returned to
their makers? Where politics is not a grey drip drip of
policy from above but a splash of light from below?

RECLAIM THE NETWORKS!

Reclaim the Networks! is a direct action network committed
to ending the rule of The World Wide Web. We are FOR
posting letters, public telephones and cheap (free!) IRC,
and AGAINST The World Wide Web and the vested interest it
serves. We are not a send-a-donation / get-the-mag /
sit-in-your armchair organisation. We are about getting
involved and changing things through our own actions.

If you are interested in taking part in our activities send
us your name and address for our mailing list
<rtn@gn.apc.org>

20th October 1996


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