Re: <nettime> Internet for the people

["Mihajlo Acimovic" <skladiste1@angelfire.com>]

In response to

>There is still a question why Serbs got so ostracized by the U.S. media as 
>well as by Internet tools. The answer to that is that Serbia never 
>diligently prosecuted their marketing abroad. 

and also to

>Milosevic concentrated his propaganda efforts only domestically: 
>Serbian government never seriously addressed foreign public, which is a 
>serious mistake in todays globalized world. 

Marketing was prosecuted but by different means and methods. There is
other marketing than the US-style one Around EUrope, at least,
pro-Milosevic, extreme-nationalist Serb emigrant organisations, together
with some trotzkists, maoists, etc. organised everyday demonstrations.
Milosevic`s people tried to use their friendliness with governments of
China and India to do propaganda there through official media. And not
just there. They used nationalism for propaganda. also anti-US sentiment,
regardless of colour.  I understand this was not very visible from New
York or Zagreb, but there was a very strong propaganda against the bombing
and it was a result of the policies of the Yugoslav government. That also
includes propaganda from the people who defined themselves as enemies of
the regime, myself included, who were allowed very cheap or free internet
access with no censorship and no strings attached.  One important thing to
notice is Milosevic`s utilization of his opponents and not for the first
time. During the bombing, almost all of Milosevic`s opponents who stayed
in Belgrade, suspended their political activities against his regime. They
joined the anti-NATO (= anti-US) hysteria instead. They were the most
powerful anti-bombing weapon which Milosevic had on the internet, to my
knowing.  There was a big difference in the reactions of Milosevic`s
government to Internet. In 1992., Internet access was de facto blocked by
Yugoslav government measures, in response to the UN sanctions. It was not
a part of the UN sanctions, although "informations" were a part of the
sanctions. Yugoslavia remained almost completely offline until 1995. (when
the UN sanctions were fully suspended and officially abolished in 1996.) 
In 1999., the government openly declared Internet to be "one of the
strongest means for spreading the truth about our country". Use of
Internet was supported by the government and financed or subsidised by
state-owned companies. The emails I was sending during the bombing, most
of them were from the Library Of The City Of Belgrade. I do not know how,
but they organised a room to be for use of computers and internet. 10
dinars an hour. Just under 1 DM. There were 4 old and small computers on 4
new and big desks, in a room that could take 10 computers and still have
plenty of space. It was hot inside, the room being on the sunniest
location possible. There seems to had been one main guy runing it and he
probably persuaded the director. I saw the director once trying to find
some reason to bitch at this guy. He had to keep to room entry protocols
and the size of the price list, because he was completely ignorant about
everything else. I just love new technologies. They make the old
authoritarians look so dumb. : )))  Most other internet cafes allowed use
for 20 or 25 dinars per hour. Some even 40. The price of one hour of
internet, through say EUnet.yu was just under 12 dinars per hour, before
the bombing. A little more than 1 DM.  The cafe in the city library got
free internet from some provider, because it was like getting people
addicted to the technology (and also spreading the truth about Our
Country). After the bombing started, the government and gov-owned
companies made deals to allow a maximum number of people internet use.
Internet usage prices went to rock bottom and some providers were giving
time away for free to all of their users. They tried to make it accessible
to everybody, without any political discrimination. There were also
special internet-cafes, but only for Serb nationalist hackers and
"hackers" or just for spreading messages over discussion forums... That
was the organised part. I heard vague mentions that some things like that
exist. One guy said that he accidentally walked into one such thing when
he got off at the wrong floor of a downtown building. It seems most of
those "internal" things were physically open. Just as open as projects
funded by the Soros foundation. Everybody who hears about it and generally
supports the ideology can come and participate. But only those who hang
around those circles of people ever do get a chance to hear about it.
There was mention of conservativism. The yugoslav system seems prepared to
adopt every organisational form that functions, to achieve the wanted
results.  Some people were offered unlimited free internet access and
money, in exchage for collecting information or acting as propagandists. 
There also seem to have been a lot of private deals, like when the
provider knows that this person or group is spreading the truth about our
country, so it gives free internet time. But nobody from the Soros-funded
circles got anything and, like it or not, those were the people I knew.  I
think that how Milosevic`s regime used anti-Milosevic individuals to fight
off the bombing was an amazing example of internet warfare tactics. People
were given the full possibility to use Internet. Their biggest problem was
the bombing, so they used it against the bombing. It was the best possible
solution for that part of society - complete liberalisation and
subsidizing of technology use. Internet was used as a weapon to undermine
popular support for the war in NATO countries. If USA/NATO would cut off
the Internet access of Yugoslavia (and they tried, partly successful), the
angry internet-addicted Yugoslavs would blame it all on NATO, which is
again attacking them and not Milosevic (an excellent cure for the
anti-Milosevic people, uncritical of US policy). But the best sollution
was that USA tries to cut off yugoslav access and failes. Cutting just
some of the links and making everyone threatened caused the same
anti-NATO, anti-US effects with yugoslav internet users. But it also kept
them online. They weren`t just bitching about it with their friends. A lot
of them, especially the politically unengaged, were sending lots of angry
and frustrated emails about this. You can imagine how foreign people
reading those emails could had felt. A country that gives popular internet
access (just for during the bombing) is bombed and now the evil US
government are trying to take away the little means of communication left,
from the people. I am not talking about social activists, I am talking
about the common, student or employee internet users, who make the public
oppinion together with their parents and friends.  That is where
Yugoslavia won the internet war. As I wrote somewhere else, Milosevic`s
propaganda doesn`t try to depict him as the best option - it tries to make
everyone else look dirtier than him. His personal politics are similar -
he makes everyone he cooperates with dirty. All are dragged into his
filthy games and must dance. They can retire if they want to, but they
can`t attack him, or he uses what he has against them.  Luck

Mihajlo

P.S. "If you want to dance with pigs, you must first roll yourself in the mud"

P.P.S. "If you want to fight against pigs, drown them in their own mud"

Quotations from Mihajlo Acimovic, all rights all lefts.


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