[UK] Information about the think tank Doteveryone

Adonay Felipe Nogueira adfeno at hyperbola.info
Mon Oct 30 11:55:23 UTC 2017


Again, like in all cases where Google Docs is related: I wonder if there
is a way to read and contribute without it, or someone who can make this
out of Google Docs?

Andres Muniz Piniella <a75576 at alumni.tecnun.es> writes:

> So they have had an open page open for comments and they are going over the
> first draft. Hopefully we are not late to the party this time. 
>
> They have an open document where they accept input. I have done my bit, but I
> really don't have a completely full understanding of free software as many of
> you here. 
> So please comment: 
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bAScKd1eIKgPX3T8nXOkwbB2h8GC01SUP_du3O7H7oU/edit#heading=h.exstkxcrxuof
>
>
> Sorry that they are currently using googledocs, but I guess that is something
> we can address later down the line. 
>
> On Wed, 2017-10-04 at 17:41 +0200, Paul Boddie wrote:
>
>  On Wednesday 4. October 2017 15.56.46 Adonay Felipe Nogueira wrote:
>
>  
> I think there also needs to be more work on their part on how to define
> "ethical tech choices", see:
> <https://medium.com/doteveryone/want-to-make-more-ethical-tech-choices-try-
> check-your-tech-3c05bcb28faf>.
>
> Of course, this is not to say that this is a severe problem, it just
> means that it needs to be worked over time --- and hope for them to
> understand the reasons for our view of "ethical tech choices".
>
>
>
> It is nice that they are trying to address the problems associated with choice 
> and technology, but I fear that the "consumer-focused" perspective will result 
> in the same kind of attitude shown by organisations like the Consumers' 
> Association (also known as "Which?"), where every last problem in society can 
> supposedly be remedied by having everyone constantly monitoring every little 
> aspect of their lives so that they might "switch providers" at a moment's 
> notice (where this is even appropriate) and deliver some kind of consumer 
> justice to bad companies.
>
> Unfortunately, people don't always have the time to constantly check 
> everything in their lives, adjust their habits by swiping left or right, or 
> whatever, and tune their lifestyles to be completely optimal. Millions of 
> people remain in bad customer-business relationships not because they are lazy 
> or ignorant (which is the tone often used by the "empowered consumer" 
> organisations), but because switching banks, phone companies, and other 
> providers can be a lot of work for which such people don't have the time or 
> energy, certainly not on a regular basis.
>
> There is also the matter of addressing "popular" concerns while ignoring 
> systemic flaws in products and services. So, to take an example, while 
> Fairphone pursued the worthy goals of using materials from ethical sources and 
> making sure that the employees of the manufacturer were well-treated, the 
> matter of sustainable and durable software technology was marginalised. That 
> has left the first phone unsupported and probably threatens the second one, 
> despite the problems of industry-wide licence violation being known about for 
> years.
>
> Free Software is an essential part of making technology that lasts and is fair 
> to its users, but it can be argued that many people regard it as some kind of 
> peripheral lifestyle choice, like the tedious and superficial "Mac or PC" 
> choice that you can still see mentioned in various places online, or which 
> sports team you happen to support. Such marginalisation results in flawed 
> products and services that could have been viable had people understood the 
> role of software instead of having a simple-minded "it's all ones and zeros" 
> mentality.
>
> Until these organisations properly recognise the value of Free Software and 
> the importance of related matters such as interoperability and transparency, 
> many of their activities and recommendations will be ineffective.
>
> Paul
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