Slashdot in Politics? 422
Michael "Codetalker" Obersnel asks: "I was wondering if anyone out there had any ideas on how to turn all that passionate talk on Slashdot (how I love it) into a political force that people will pay attention to. Like a lobby group or something similar. It seems that people tolerate the DMCA and spam enough to complain about it but not really do anything about. I think we could change that with some organization and a cohesive front. I'm not suggesting that Slashdot itself be responsible, only that the community take part. Like a micro-payment system to hire lawyers for topics we are interested in or some sort of petitioning system. I know I'd pay a buck to overturn the DMCA, free Dimitri, outlaw spam, protest license problems, protect the GPL etc."
One way /. could help... (Score:5, Interesting)
Technocrat.net (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:There already is such an organization (Score:2, Interesting)
Useful links would be helpful (Score:2, Interesting)
Links to congressional websites where you could email your representatives/governors/senators/president when an issue comes up that needs grassroots support. I know I've sent emails and written letters to the government after reading some posts here, but it generally takes a while to find where you need to go. Someone generally posts a link, but why not have it after the description of the issue?
Just a thought.
Bad Idea (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, I know some will complain that it really isn't independent, that the same types of stories are posted, and there's an anti-MS slant, but I think Taco and the boys (girls?) do a much better job than most folks give them credit for. Plus, the real value of
Something would just sit wrong with me knowing that
Just my
Re:One way /. could help... (Score:5, Interesting)
Rudy
Re:Ok, a political movement... (Score:1, Interesting)
you're right in your observation, but there may be one other thing, aside from technophilia, which unites
We believe that information should be free. That the best decisions are well-informed ones. That the best society is one founded on the best decisions. That if we choose to cooperate, we can accomplish more than we would if we didn't engage each other honestly and openly.
It's time we stop lobbying for open source software......
Let's form an open source economy.... with open source media... and an open source polity.
Klync
Re:Lobbying Congresspeople (Score:2, Interesting)
Simple system: (Score:4, Interesting)
Only people with karma over 10 or who have paid money into the fund can vote (once per month) on allocation in order to stop skiddies and others manipulating the distribution too much.
The karma thing is basically saying "Anyone who is probably not a troll". Karma whores could be put off by charging 1 or more karma for voting.
Just a thought, off the top of me 'ead, pull it up the flag pole and see if the budgie bite.
TWW
Organizations (Score:2, Interesting)
CDT [cdt.org]
ALCU [aclu.org]
EFF [eff.org]
These organizations stand for many of the things talked about on Slashdot. Those that feel strongly about any of the issues supported by one of these organizations should join that organization!
Rudy
How about the FAS? (Score:2, Interesting)
The Federation of American Scientists conducts analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy, including national security, nuclear weapons, arms sales, biological hazards, secrecy, education technology, information technology, energy and the environment... FAS combines the scholarly resources of its scientists with a knowledge of practical politics. As a non-profit organization licensed to lobby in the public interest, FAS is uniquely qualified to bring the scientific perspective to the legislative arena through direct lobbying, membership and grassroots work, and expert testimony at Congressional hearings.
Sometimes less is more... (Score:2, Interesting)
Some details, in my opinon a Presskit should be published when a thread is closed. It should consist of the article itself, an overview of the links used in it, and all Informative/Interesting/etc. comments with a threshhold greater than 3.
It could be called the "Voice of the
I'm sure that some newspapers would be interested in publishing comments approved by the mass moderation system...
We don't need lawyers if we have the public.
Just my 0.02 EUR
Maybe that's the point (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, isn't the purpose of a PAC to make it so that people don't have to exert as much effort? ;-) Just throw money at the PAC and the PAC does the activism. I think that's what the submitter wants, he just doesn't think the PAC that he wants, exists yet.
Money to stop (Score:3, Interesting)
I'd actually pay a buck to turn down some of the political meandering that goes on around here. It takes away from the News for Nerds and gives to the News for Activists. I've turned off every topic I think has to do with annoying political activistism (Your Rights Online, Censorship, any article that CmdrTaco posts) and this makes it way into the Slashdot.org topic.
Re:There already is such an organization (Score:1, Interesting)
If we do intend to go forward with a PAC aimed at fighting the DMCA, one thing is clear: the enemy of our enemy is our friend. Republicans clearly receieve less entertainment funding, and therefore we can begin this war on a simple pretext: the Democratic Party is the enemy.
Re:Money to stop (Score:1, Interesting)
The political stuff may not be "News for Nerds" but it sure as hell matters. You gotta learn the political game to be able to fight against the stuff that may adversely affect us "Nerds" and our interests. Stick your head in the sand all you want, it'll make it easier for those who do know the political game to overrun you and your needs/desires.
Re:Start with OpenSourceLobby.org (Score:2, Interesting)
Lobbying is not expensive. (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't know what the readership of slashdot is these days, but surely it can produce 10,000 readers willing to pay $5 for a particular freedom.
The trick is to for someone to become a credible focal point. Someone who will be trusted by the donors to make the best use of the funds.
EFF as a lobying organization - needs funding (Score:3, Interesting)
There are also other organizations which deserve your support (financial or otherwise), such as the Center for Democracy & Technology [cdt.org] and the Federation of American Scientists [fas.org] which has a number of projects that would be of interest to the
--CTH
Re:Because no one here exerts any effort.. (Score:5, Interesting)
If you don't have a manual typwriter, bring out that old impact printer that is gathering dust in your closet. A simple Perl script could change the letters you send enough to make them seem less formulaic.
Then send them to all of your:
Then you just have to sign them by hand OR get a plotter to do it.
I think we are framing the idea of "lazy" wrong. Sure computer people are lazy. They hate expending effort that will just have to be done over and over again. It is better to spend a couple of days hacking together a solution that could be applied when needed instead of taking the few minutes it will take to solve the problem once.
Doesn't Larry Wall say that the three great virtues of a programmer are laziness, impatience and hubris? Well, let's put that crap to work.
If you don't have an impact printer, fake it by choosing a crappy fixed width font like IMPACT or something. Sure, it is not the same, but it does tend to throw people used to recieving nicely formatted text. Also throw in some spelling errors and leave out some words (then go back and correct them with whiteout... though this goes against the virtues
If you start to analyze the problem, you could probably figure out what makes a personal letter sound personal and a form letter sound like a form letter. Capitalize on that! Keep a couple of flat files with appropriate phrases in them for a particular subject. Combine them in interesting ways with a program and only include a couple of new sentences here and there of original content (which should be put into files for later use).
I think this could work. Anybody have any concrete ideas or recipes?
Not necessarily (Score:4, Interesting)
I was raised a Quaker, and there is a Quaker lobbying group called the Friends Committee for National Legislation (FCNL). The FCNL has had an impact, particularly on the state level, because the politicians recognized that the agenda was not driven by economic considerations, but rather for reasons such as social justice, et. al. It does not take as much money to make change happen if you can demonstrate that you are sincere and committed.
What does this have to do with OSS lobbying? Groups like the IEEE have been very receptive towards open source concerns (and I am writing them a letter concerning the SSSCA), and along with the group (something like Foundation for the Public Domain) which Bob Young has been involved with could also be helpful. But if we can demonstrate that some of these laws like the DMCA are simply bad ideas, then maybe people will listen to us. But it takes people who honestly believe in the cause, and for more than economic reasons.
Democracy in action (Score:3, Interesting)
So its okay for you political opposite to be lobbying but not for you? That's pretty self-defeatist. If you want to play in Washington you have to play by their rules. Last time I checked donations to politicians were legal and its the most effective way to be heard.
If you don't like the system, you should just say so and stay out of politics. If you want to make a change start a lobby.
Re:There already is such an organization (Score:2, Interesting)
Why would a party take money from a lobying group to vote against them? Do you really think a Senator or Representative get's one big huge check? No, the MPAA etc gives them money only after they vote thier way. You're just diluting yourself if you think they would be so sneaky as to let the MPAA court them just to take thier money.
Both parties suck ass, and the whole government is run by whoever has the most money. It get's down to the party funds, so we need to figure out who votes for and against the DMCA and make sure there is PUBLIC support for the right canidates.
That's why we need a lobby group.
good luck,
sopwath
Re:There already is such an organization (Score:2, Interesting)
The problem is, geeks have no balls. They also don't know how to get together as a group, and don't seem to like parting with their money for anything. The EFF is not a lobby, and shouldn't be a lobby. That doesn't mean there shouldn't _be_ a geek lobby, it just means there isn't one yet. And everyone with any concern for our political system should be JUMPING at the opportunity to get on board.
Heh, the National Association of Geeks, NAG
smb
Re:There already is such an organization (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, the most powerful lobby out there is the AARP. Anyone in the US over 50 can join the AARP, and they have millions of members. Because they are a non-profit they cannot be too politically active, but when a politician does something that senior citizens don't like, the AARP volunteers can mobilize overnight into a vocal force that give politicians nightmares. This is why you rarely see politicians do things that piss off old people.
As for geeks having no balls, I don't think that is the problem. The real issue is that geeks are lazy bastards. Because we have so much freedom, so much money, and generally pretty easy lives, it is very hard to motivate geeks to be proactive. Until something is lost that really hits home, geeks will continue to be far too relaxed as politicians fuck America over again and again.
Re:Question about PACs (Score:3, Interesting)
And the funny thing is, I still talk to people who think campaign finance reforms would be a bad thing!
It is. It is a violation of first ammendment rights in nearly all forms that i've seen proposed. Now I would agree that all money that doesn't come in anonymously should be reported, but that is all i'm willing to say.
that is If I choose to give 1 million anonymously that is fine, but I'm the only one who knows that I did so, not the politition. If I choose to donate otherwise, so that I can get some law, then that i donated the money should be public knowledge. (And remember polititions are free to ignore my wishes) But don't limit how much I can give, that is a violation of my rights.
Slashdot is not an opinion (Score:2, Interesting)