Private Means of Hosting/ Sharing Multimedia

[Katie Dunne]

Transferred from Google Groups From Evan:

The 2600 hacker conference The Last Hope was, is very informative. You should see it (or listen here: www.thelasthope.org/talks.html ), especially take note of the 50 minute clip titled "Building Hackerspaces Everywhere - Your Excuses are Invalid." Interested members could scavenge for footage, like I did, or we could adopt a private peer-to-peer to avoid redundancies, legalities, and basic security threats. While it is possible to dump certain materials into, say, a private access YouTube channel or to use a throwaway Gmail account as a proxy server for a shared folder on a computer, YT frequently yanks content and, well, computers get sleepy. Another, cruder, idea would be to swap data at meetings by tethering devices, however, such an approach may waste time as it would introduce new liabilities in addition to the inevitable compatibility troubleshoot. P2P!? If you have a better idea, SPEAK UP. If you think less of sharing multimedia, SAY SO. This endeavor has only just begun and feelings, wherever they may periodically lay, will conflict. Heads will butt, and butts will come to a head. Burning with a quiet hatred isn't exactly charming, and it is too often counterproductive. Remember, we're not the first Birmingham lot to have pined for a Hackerspace. In fact, we're years off the mark. But, unless I'm wildly mistaken, everyone before us failed. And, it would seem as if some even invested energy into dismantling their failures, a kind of gimme-the-credit scenario gone sour. How small. Let's flush this sucker already. See y'all next week!

[Katie Dunne]

From Seth:
I like the idea of sharing multimedia. I believe eventually a dedicated server will be the only solution. Let's consider FTP. The cloud-based methods may serve us temporarily. But as I said before we need to be aware of the pitfalls associated with infringement. We are an organization and we are subject to greater legal scrutiny.

I just noticed your point about this being private. It could work but I don't think we should allow downloading of "non-owned"(doublespeak) media except by actual physical access. The web is too much of a risk, even if we figured out how to maximize our security. Original content and fair use can all be accessed via a webpage for the group.


From David:
It doesn't matter how private a server is, if its associated with any person or group then it is subject to subpoena. Even with a private server I personally think we should only deal with copyleft media in general and if it is not copyleft then it should be up to individual members to legally obtain it. There is no reason why a hackerspace group should be doing anything illegal even if some members may personally disagree with copyright laws. I also think it should be explicitly stated that we do not, as a group, condone "hacking" in the news media defined sense of breaking into computer systems which we do not own. Instead it should be made clear that we are interested in hacking in the original sense of the word: understanding and expanding knowledge of technological systems. And the newer sense of hardware hacking: combining and modifying technology in novel and innovative ways.


From Evan:
Am not advocating blackhat operations, however, do want to push information without going dark. Can be done while exercising responsibility. Y'all have spoken.

From Seth:
We need to start thinking about creating statement of purpose and a constitution. Agreed on the need to avoid Illegal actions. I still have hopes for a physical library containing copyrighted material that we can share among members. Wish I had made my desire to avoid pirating more clear.

From David:
100% on board with a physical library and no electronic sharing issues with that, but I also think that we could develop a sharing system to ensure one-at-a-time use of purchased electronic copies.

From Seth:
I have library experience. I will contact my librarian associates and see about constructing a system for doing this.