Re: Update

And here's draft of beginning of description of system itself. Don't
know if you're good to talk in the morning but if so give me a ring,
I'll be up for about six more hours.


The Schematic

The most noticeable aspect of what we refer to as the pursuant
schematic is that it is heavily visual, a consequence of its
dependence on conceptual distance between participants and the
various shapes that arise as they collectively refine their working
relationships. We represent it largely in squares, circles, and lines
connecting them. The totality of the environment, made up of every
user who joins the system and every pursuant (self-contained
affinity/work network) that forms among them, is called the plane. The
launch of this system will entail maintaining one large, public plane
on which great numbers of users will operate, although some parties
could conceivably choose to host a, er, private plane to which access
is granted only under certain conditions.

Every user who joins the public plane we may represent as a circle
upon it, adrift and unattached in a virtual world that consists of
space, other unattached circles, and formations made up of circles
and, more rarely, squares; these formations will vary wildly in
complexity and number of parts, although certain common patterns
will probably be noticeable, and those with fewer parts will have a
tendency to be similar to others, or even duplicates of them. Each
formation is a pursuant - an independent, formally organized grouping
of individuals who work together under well-defined structural
regimens and relationships that may be altered and expanded upon in
accordance with those definitions, and which may collectively engage
in similar relationships with other pursuants.

Just as each circle represents a user, a square represents the
authority by which a pursuance is operated and by which the nature of
its working relationships are provided for. Such relationships become
more complex and increase in number on an ongoing basis as circles are
added to a pursuance (visually, by way of a line connecting it to some
portion of the one in question), or as may be changed by agreement,
respectively. However the authority may be distributed in the future,
it will flow through the network from that square, which may be
thought of as the initial property of the initiator - authority
itself. A square only exists because it has been initiated by a
circle. The circle will have given it not only existence, but purpose
- the intent to accomplish some specific end, or simply to pursue a
broad one. The authority that largely defines the network may itself
be thought of as the implicit agreement of the user, and specifically
of the circle that joins a pursuant, in many cases thereby ceding a
degree of his own: that the authority exists because the goal is
considered important enough to pursue in whatever consensual
interpersonal working arrangements are deemed most likely to achieve
it.

It is also possible that the authority will never flow at all, and
such things as the bringing on of new participants down the line
from the square will be handled entirely by one person, or that just a
few people would make those determinations. For such a structure of
participants to come into existence, each will have had to agree to
join under the circumstances that define the group. Many users would
be unlikely to do so, being more inclined to join a given pursuance in
a role of relative independence or even some authority of their own.
Each of them will have a variety of such roles to consider and apply
for, in proportion to the number of what we view on the plane as lines
sticking out of some circles, or sometimes even from squares. These
are roles that are requested but not yet filled, and all of them are
visible to each circle whether or not the latter makes up part of a
pursuant - so long as they are set to be viewable by all of them, and
not just to those possessing a certain mark.

A mark is an element that a circle can create. It may merely consist
of a word or phrase or idea, or a whole paragraph or more of text, or
it might be a link to a pastebin or a website or forum or IRC channel.
It could be a picture. It may be set so that others may find it via
search, whether others may duplicate it to their own circles, that it
be viewable only to others in a pursuant, or to anyone who views the
pursuance; this observer will get some variable degree of information
about its parts and its work as decided by the pursuant and/or the
parts themselves.

On Tue, Aug 7, 2012 at 8:34 PM, David House <dhouse@mit.edu> wrote:

This looks excellent. I have a few suggestions I'll put to paper.

We need to discuss the events of the past several days; I'm passing out
after writing far too much code. Let's catch up tomorrow, anytime -
256.710.2349.


On Tue, Aug 7, 2012 at 1:39 AM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:


In the meantime, I've finally gotten around to starting in earnest on
the explanatory documentation for the schematic, which I'm calling
"the pursuant system" for now. Am sending to this fellow I mentioned,
Stephen, whom I met after the panel and who afterwards asked me to
think about doing something along coincidentally similar lines; I'm
going to continue talking with him about this and determine whether or
not he may be a good option in terms of getting it off the ground most
easily. My only concern is that he wants to pursue something that
could somehow be monetized, and although I'm not opposed to such
things per se (and desperately need a new source of income anyway), I
would have to know more about how that would be approached before
deciding if it would be the right option in terms of what we're trying
to do with this (obviously any user fee would be entirely out of the
question, as he understands). At this early point, I'm thinking that
any agreement whereby we'd partner with this guy on anything with any
commercial aspect regarding the schematic would also have to include
some provision for allowing the resulting system/software to also be
used freely and independently, with no connection to whatever set up.
I'll want to get your input on this as it develops, too, and down the
line it might be good for you to have a conversation with him as well.

This is just an introduction, but I'll send the other documentation to
you as I complete it. Let me know if you have any input as it comes,
and give me a ring when you have a chance. Also, we'll probably want
to eventually produce somewhat different materials directed more
specifically at people who engage regularly and seriously in any form
of net-facilitated activism; if you have any ideas on specifics that
should be addressed in those, let me know, or feel free to write up
some material yourself if you're inclined to do so. Hope everything's
well.


Introduction to the Pursuant System

Effective, information-oriented online activism of the sort sometimes
engaged in by participants/informal groupings of Anonymous, as well as
by Telecomix and an increasing variety of other entities, has from its
beginning been organized and carried out most consistently within the
medium of internet relay chat (IRC), a format, and thus centralized
within a series of IRC networks that necessarily take on a variety of
individual characters relative to the others. Other mediums - forums,
video conferencing sites, Skype, Twitter, collaborative pads - are
also used, either in conjunction with IRC or to its exclusion, but the
format of separate chat servers in which activists work within the
confines of one or more channels dedicated to varying purposes has
been by far more central to the work and interactions of the most
active participants since online activism came into its own in 2008.
Between its historical status as the venue of choice for the
technically-inclined and its relative usability in terms of
information sharing, collaborative work, and socializing, IRCs
dominance among online activists is unlikely to be seriously
challenged within the next five years - especially since little overt
attention has been given to the fact that IRC is almost certainly not
anything close to the optimal possible medium for the specific
necessities of collaboration that have of late been shown to arise
among online activists.

Any reasonably close observer of the last few years of online activism
should be able to identify severe inefficiencies stemming from the
peculiarities of a medium that, while certainly advantageous in some
respects, was certainly not designed with online activism in mind.
Many observers have indeed done so, and some large portion of
participants will have undoubtedly noticed one or another of these
problems - and would understandably consider any alternative provided
either as a replacement or supplement. The more committed among them
would recognize that net-facilitated activism has proven its own
potential even in its infancy, and is thus too important a civic
remedy to be carried out without a good degree of regard for the
fundamentals by which it is incubated and carried out.

The purpose of the pursuant system is to provide an alternative medium
that, unlike IRC or any other now in use, is designed specifically for
the use of online activists, as determined by the specific dynamics
that provide for operational effectiveness, and with a view to
minimizing several of the factors inherent to IRC that consistently
reduce such effectiveness. It is not intended to entirely replace any
other medium in use by activists, but instead to provide a degree of
organizational functionality that currently does not exist, and which
would prove useful and desirable to the vast majority of online
activists while also encouraging some number of non-activists to
consider getting involved for the first time. Aside from all of that,
one of the two instances in which the pursuant system is to be
released will facilitate collaboration between groups - termed
pursuants within the system - at a level of overall ease and
collective functionality beyond what now exists within net-facilitated
activism and a number of more traditional enterprises as well.

The pursuant system is driven by a conceptually simple but
multifaceted and highly customizable schematic, itself originally
designed in 2010 with input from early participants of Project PM, and
then fundamentally expanded on in collaboration with information
activist David House in late 2012 in light of the developing character
and perceived future potential of online activism as made apparent
over several years and countless operations and incidents. In addition
to the functionality presented here, other tools and aspects are
likely to be added over development, and still others could be
implemented by individual users after release.


On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 5:24 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
wrote:

Heh. You want to just call me on my cell when you're free instead of
setting
up appointment to talk?
Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 6, 2012, at 8:31 AM, David House <dhouse@MIT.EDU> wrote:

GRRRROOOAAANNNNNNNN


On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 3:30 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
wrote:


No problem, I'll be around.

On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 8:27 AM, David House <dhouse@mit.edu> wrote:

work will run over today, gotta scratch 3. ill hit you up next moment
im
free, likely tonight.
sry for the dealy


On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 2:51 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
wrote:


Sounds good. Also, just had a phone meeting with a guy who had
approached
me after the bloomberg panel, works for one of the aol founders,
wants
me to
help him put together something big that would incorporate the
schematic,
will tell you more tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 31, 2012, at 11:20 AM, David House <dhouse@MIT.EDU> wrote:


I'm making up for lost time (girlfriend) from this weekend today;
tomorrow
afternoon should work. 3pm?

On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 6:26 AM, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com>
wrote:


Hey, I guess we both got busy, want to skype later this week
sometime?
I don't have a schedule right now, so any time should be good for
me.

On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 12:32 PM, David House <dhouse@mit.edu>
wrote:

Roger that.


On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 12:19 PM, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com>
wrote:


No problem, I ended up being busy too. Will be available to
Skype
Sunday, just send me an e-mail a bit before you're ready.

On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 9:39 AM, David House <dhouse@mit.edu>
wrote:

Hey Barrett,

Sorry for the delay -- been slammed at work. I'm looking at a
few
spaces
this weekend. Want to skype on Sunday afternoon?

David




--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302




--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302




--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302




--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302




-- 
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302