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DEF CON 32 Theme Announcement
The internet is our Global Commons and we rely on it in ways we couldn’t have predicted a few decades ago. UnfortunatelY the internet has been slipping out of our hands and it is becoming more noticeable.
There are a lot of reasons for this. Tech monopolies doing tech monopoly stuff is a big one. In the name of efficiency and control the internet has become more centralised and less resilient. The move away from open protocols and publicly maintained standards is another.
At some point the speculators demand to be paid, and the platforms we’ve built little universes around start removing services and raising prices. The apps begin to intrude on us more, leveraging our data for cash. Terms of Service and dark pattern updates. Everything gets worse fast.
Cory Doctorow calls this process ‘enshittification’. He has a lot of good ideas about how to reverse it and you really should watch his DC31 presentation if you haven’t.
Media Server:
https://media.defcon.org/
You Tube:
https://youtu.be/rimtaSgGz_4?si=X-JMfaGXwks7jUWZ
Cory’s talk resonated with a lot of us. The germ of this year’s theme started to form.
How do we respond to this trend as a community? What is the opposite of enshittification?
We Engage.
There are open alternatives to many of the services the App Lords are serving up. We can join them, use them and invite others. If they’re not as robust or full-featured as we want, we can help improve them. If no open alternative exists, we can pool our talents and create one like our friends in the Cult of the Dead Cow did with Veilid.
https://veilid.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb1lKscAMDQ
If the rules need changing, there’s a whole world of policy that is always looking for feedback. We encourage you to check out the Policy Community at DEF CON.. We encourage you to get involved locally wherever you fit in. Engagement is the antidote to apathy.
Policy@DEFCON https://forum.defcon.org/node/244260
Join a DEF CON Group and share what you know. Show someone you care about how to escape the walled gardens and echo chambers.
https://defcongroups.org/
Share your engagement ideas with us on DEFCON.social https://defcon@defcon.social or the Forums https://forum.defcon.org/node/248361 and we’ll amplify. We’ll highlight the coolest ideas and projects you share with us, both online and at DC 32.
The important thing is to get involved. Nothing blooms where nothing is planted.
We can give the future a fighting chance. We can help open solutions flourish. We can build public alternatives to privatized space. We can both consume culture AND create it. The future we want is open, secure and accessible. The walled gardens have had their day.
The Dark Tangent
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