Freedom vs Control
I went to hear Eben Moglen speak at Columbia last week. He has the magic tongue of a truly gifted lawyer. I'm just glad he's on the right side. I jotted down some memorable moments as best I could:
"The Net is the condition of society of everyone being connected to everyone else without human intermediaries."
"The politics of the 21st century is about who makes the rules in the switches." (Addressing an audience of computer scientists:) "It is no longer a non-political subject to know the stuff you know."
"Mr. Eisner needs the military occupation of the Internet"
"Guys running for president are all members of the same lobotomized tribe, who can only think about one thing: getting to be president".
Instead of figuring out which is the best candidate, to find out which one gets it, he suggests, "Instead, talk to them, make them get it". Better to influence them all, than spend your time figuring out which one is best. I like that a lot.