Jesse2014 writes:

‘For The Win’ was incredibly exciting and inspiring. It is not the first book of yours that made me feel that way, but it was the difference in motivating me to become a small part of the movement to use gold farming for development and freedom. The kind of stuff you were writing about seems so possible.

So I’ve created a wiki where people might work together to undertake the quest. I wanted to let you know because of your huge role in this already.

My next plan is to help build a free online marketplace where some kind of ‘fair trade’ gold/power-leveling can be exchanged. I’d like to make this website as open and collaborative as possible so that anyone can improve and build on it. Then to help gold farmers get access to computers, games and bandwidth that don’t come with the same requirements of their current bosses – donated for free, that they can use on their own terms.

There will be many challenges on the way but I believe it will be worth it. As you said, we can all lead ourselves.

I gave a talk at Google’s DatenDialog — a privacy conference — in Berlin some months ago, and they’ve posted the video.

Last month, I gave a version of my “War on General Purpose Computing” lecture to the University of Westminster Law School. The Guardian captured the talk on video and edited it for length, then posted it.

My latest Guardian column is “Why did an MPAA executive join the Internet Society?” which digs into the backstory on the appointment of former MPAA CTO Paul Brigner as North American director of the copyright-reforming, pro-net-neutrality Network Society group, which manages the .ORG domain name registry.

I asked Brigner whether his statements about DNS blocking and seizure and net neutrality had been sincere. “There are certainly a number of statements attributed to me that demonstrate my past thoughts on DNS and other issues,” he answered. “I would not have stated them if I didn’t believe them. But the true nature of my work was focused on trying to build bridges with the technology community and the content community and find solutions to our common problems. As I became more ingrained in the debate, I became more educated on the realities of these issues, and the reality is that a mandated technical solution just isn’t a viable option for the future of the internet. When presented with the facts over time, it was clear I had to adjust my thinking.

“My views have evolved over the last year as I engaged with leading technologists on DNSSEC. Through those discussions, I came to believe that legislating technological approaches to fight copyright violations threatens the architecture of the internet. However, I do think that voluntary measures could be developed and implemented to help address the issue.

“I will most definitely advocate on Internet Society’s behalf in favor of all issues listed, and I share the organization’s views on all of those topics. I would not have joined the organisation otherwise, and I look forward to advocating on its behalf.”

Update: Joly sez, “After his appointment we (ISOC-NY) did pull Paul up on the carpet to explain himself – you can find the salient MPAA passage here

Why did an MPAA executive join the Internet Society?

(Image: Stop SOPA!, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from 51295441@N07’s photostream)

I was in Prague last Saturday, giving an address to the General Assembly of Pirate Parties International. The video is on YouTube.