<nettime> megamerger & the net

[lop1912@iperbole.bologna.it]

FIGHT THE MEGAMERGER 


During the '90, the global process of Infoproduction has run along the
line of an alternative between 
a)  the self-organization of the Collective Intelligence 
b)  the creation of a techno-structure permeating the Global Mind. 

The first is the social and cultural process of deterritorialized
community that has grown inside the Internet.  The second is the
subjugation of community to the techno-power, the hypercodification of the
Internet through the Infobahn. 

The Global Riot of Seattle N30 has been the demonstration of the autonomy
and of the social effectiveness of the Net.  The megamerger AOL/TW is
aimed to destroy the autonomy of the net.  Fight has began. 

This is not the first capitalist assault on the Internet. This assault
started at the very moment of the spreading of the World Wide Web. The
creation of the interfaces for easy access and navigation opened the way
to the democratisation of the net communication, but it also gave way to
its commodification. 

During the '90 the economic and media power groups have been pursuing an
action aimed to the colonization of the Net.  The launch of Windows 95,
particularly MSN, marked an attempt to get into the Net in a dominant
position by Microsoft. The attempt did not attain big success, and the
troubles for Microsoft began in that moment. 

The anti WTO campaign and its success has shown that so far the attempt of
colonization has not broken fonction of social selforganization of the
Internet.  So far, most of the flow of information of the Internet is
produced by the users, and is aimed to fulfill the cultural, social,
political needs of the woman and men who meet in the Net. 

Now we are facing a new attempt of colonization, a new aggression on the
autopoietic shape of the Internet. The new aggression is not coming from
the side of the production of interfaces, but it is coming from the side
of the content production.  In its renewed aggression, the SemioKapitalism
is using the tools of TV. 

During the last three years we have seen the rise of huge conglomerates of
TV production. TIME WARNER is the result of this process of
conglomeration. Now the system of the Infotainment is attacking the Net. 

One month after the N30 Global Riot (the first insurrection of the
cognitarians of the world) the TV uses America On Line (the biggest
service provider of the Internet) as a Trojan horse for the occupation of
the Net.  The convergence of the biggest service provider and the biggest
content provider outlines the possibility of a mutation in the network
communication. 

If this project succeeds (and it is not said) the effect of the merger
will not be the convergence of the television and the Web. The effect will
rather be the colonization of the Web by the television. 

In that case HyperTV will swallow up HypoNet. The content creation will no
more depend on the collaboration of individuals and groups who get in
contact on a conscious voluntary basis. Contents will be the replication
of the TV model. Images and sounds produced in a standardized shape for a
standardized audience. People will be led to consume the Internet in the
way it is accustomed to consume the TV. 

It is not sure that things will go this way.  First because the
convergence of pachyderms can lead to their paralysis. And (what is more
important) because the net community may seize this opportunity and
multiply webTV experiences. 

In the next future we will probably see a rapid improvement in the
compression technologies, and an acceleration in the technicalities for
image transmission, since the pachyderms are going to invest lot of money
in it. 

Let's be ready to exploit this opportunity, in order to lead the process
in the opposite direction that the pachyderms wish: the process of
proliferation of video-productions connected in the Net. 














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