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Now it’s the geeks’ turn to play politics - Page 2

© Alan Kotok

To counter these threats, Gerhardt and Hill have issued a call for action to geeks, hackers, nerds, code writers, content authors, and ISP operators, as well as user groups, the open source community, Unix/Linux aficionados, and even those happy their Microsoft software. The call for action seeks to take back the Net, by supporting free speech on the Internet, greater citizen access to broadband technologies, open protocols not subject to proprietary control, the option of open-source software , and support for a positive-sum product innovation, as opposed to zero-sum intellectual property law, junk patents, and rear-guard legislation to protect what they call sunset technologies.

Getting it together

To focus the action, the American Open Technology Consortium (AOTC) will serve as an educational body, to inform the public and elected leaders on these issues. A separate political action committee, known as GeekPAC would raise money for contributions to political candidates that support the program of action. Gerhardt and Hill plan to make the AOTC into a tax-exempt organization, which under the federal tax code cannot conduct overt lobbying or take part in politics. Thus Gerhardt and Hill created GeekPAC as a separate entity.

Gerhardt and Hill's initiatives are still being formed, but Gerhardt said in an e-mail that the AOTC and GeekPAC proposals have received hundreds of responses and pledges of $30,000, all without any serious marketing. Unlike the Suits who make deals over lunch or on the golf course, Geeks live on the Web. And with the kind of intensity Geeks often display in list-serves and newsgroups, Gerhardt and Hill's initiative could generate a whole new political movement to take back the Net.

Living on the Internet: How to Make Money, Live Right, and Fight For the 21st Century The Internet is a great place to make money. The Internet is changing our lives as nothing has before and Internet issues will define the political landscape for decades to come. No book before has combined these perspectives, and none has used the Internet's own hyperlink technology to help you gain your own perspective. But until now no writer like Dana Blankenhorn has tackled the subject.

Links:

The Linux Show, http://www.thelinuxshow.com/index.shtml

AOTC/GeekPAC proposal, http://www.thelinuxshow.com/index.shtml

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