Plans for the Site's 19th Year
A single month from now begins our 19th year as a site and next summer will be the start of our 18th year as an IRC community, which continues to expand. Back in 2014 we focused a lot of our efforts, resources etc. on covering EPO scandals. In 2019 we tried hard to respond to efforts to 'cancel' the Free software movement (FSM). Originally, in 2006, we devoted most efforts to combating the Microsoft/Novell deal and then turned our attention to software patents in general. These were strategic choices, conjured over the years, not overnight. It is never spontaneous. It's a process. We adapt to the perceived threats du jour.
Like TechDirt, we expect to devote more efforts/time to covering free speech online. This is only partly related to the lawsuits we filed a month ago [1, 2] and it also nicely correlates with Julian Assange's speech, which he gave just 24 hours ago in France. He said he was enthusiastic about technology and named "cryptography" in particular. He's into real cryptography, he's not some poser.
Julian Assange's story is relevant to us. It always was.
In fact, we published a transcript last night and we're looking for the video of his core talk, which we'll publish in isolation very soon. We think we've covered most things and bases (video, analysis, transcript) and we look forward to his next public talk, which will probably cover similar topics. I told an associate that Assange sort of "became 'martyr' because he brought out the worst of the 'system' [ ...] like, they'd even assassinate journalists [...] so he needs to talk... and talk" (about what they did to him all these years). His talk and the key points can be recalled on Friday-ish... or as soon as it's quieter... when people "forget" what he spoke about. People's attention spans are like that.
Today my wife celebrates an anniversary with some drinks and Andy's next part (of his series) will be published by her in the afternoon. Having just opened a drink and some chocs, we really need to take some time away from keyboard ("afk") and enjoy an important one-year anniversary. We have many years left to publish information in the site. █