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No sólo ventajas económicas.
Diagonal N. 172-173, 26 de Abril de 2012
Madrid, Spain
El autor explica que el control de la información y el conocimiento
que se produce con el software privativo es clave para la estabilidad
del actual poder político.
La solución reside en el P2P.
Diagonal N. 165, 10 de Enero de 2012
Madrid, Spain
El autor analiza la sentencia que absuelve a Pablo Soto y que extiende a la red ciertas garantías fundamentales de la legislación corriente.
Ya sabemos por qué ACTA era secreto.
Diagonal N. 131, 23 de Julio 2010
Madrid, Spain
On the military-style secrecy with which ACTA (the Anti Counterfiting Trade Agreement)
was negotiated, and why.
Mágicamente la censura se volvió intolerable.
Diagonal N. 120, 2 de Marzo 2010
Madrid, Spain
On the relations between internet companies like google and totalitarian governments.
¿Revolución tecnológica o cambio social?
Diagonal N. 119, 10 de Febrero 2010
Madrid, Spain
This article is a short version of a
longer
one in english.
This is a slightly unusual article for the periodical: in it I analyze the changes that the
"multimedia revolution" is bringing about as a return to a pre-modern mode of consciousness.
The invention of the press and the dominance of the written word created the modern subject,
in a process that the dominance of multimedia might very well undo.
Controlados por los grandes servidores.
Diagonal N. 113, 16 de Noviembre 2009
Madrid, Spain
An nalysis of the evolution of the internet vis-à-vis hierarchization and centralization
of the data. Today we are sold the idea that the current situation ofthe internet, with a high concentration
of content and the consequent fight to control it, is the "natural" situation of the medium. The
article argues that, in reality, until the end of the 1999's the internet had a very horizontal
structure, and that only the growing industrial interests on the medium transformed it into the
current centralized repository of data. Peer-to-peer, which the industry is trying to sell
as a fundamental change in the internet model, looks in reality more like a return to its early
organization.
Los debates mediáticos, una guerra perdida.
Diagonal N. 107, 28 de Julio 2009
Madrid, Spain
The article argues that the "free market right" has taken the lead in public debate
thanks to its control of the symbolic forms through which the media allow the debate
to unfold. The solution in the long term goes through the creation of a new semiotic space,
a new semiosphere in which a new form of debate can exist, the short term solution is
a "semiotic guerrilla", that will use the symbolic systems of capitalism to expose its
contradictions.
Identidad y reconocimiento de las minorías.
Diagonal N. 107, 29 de Julio 2009
Madrid, Spain
An analysis of the difference between rivendication movements of twenty years ago and those
of today. While today's movements identify many of the important issue of the future of
society, they keep them separate in a plethora of partial struggles, and seem incapable of
unifying them in a coherent political proposal.
Copyright y p2p, experimentos de control.
Diagonal, 5 Junio 2009
Madrid, Spain.
An article that takes the occasion of the approval of the French law
against unauthorized downloading of copyrighted material to argue that
these measures are in reality a first test to control the contents of
the internet. It argues in favor of a law enforcing copyright as a
natural right (in the Lockean tradition) to really protect the artists
rather than the interests of the recording industry.
School of engineering must ensure that students get broad education.
The UCSD Guardian, 10 Oct. 2002,
San Diego, CA.
An open letter to the newly appointed dean of the school of engineering at UCSD in which
I present him with my view of the problems of the American educational system and with the
direction in which I would like to see education (especially scientific and technical education)
going.
A strategy for security
The UCSD Guardian, 30 Sept. 2002,
San Diego, CA.
A commentary on a document from the Bush administration outlining
the "new national security strategy", basically the blueprint for what was
to happen in the following years, including the doctrine of preventive was, the
permanent state of emergency in the US, and the erosion of civil liberties.
Moral should not come from religion alone.
The UCSD Guardian, 28 May. 2002,
San Diego, CA.
The title is misleading. The point of the article, in fact, is more than morals are
quite independent of religion.
The article tries to analyze how a secular morality is possible, a morality
based on humanistic values, without any theological scaffolding.
Porn: perversion or protected?
The UCSD Guardian, 29 Apr. 2002,
San Diego, CA.
In 1996 the US Congress passed the Child Pornography Prevention Act, a law
that made it illegal to own and sell erotic images of people that looked minors, even if the
people depicted were in fact adults, or even if the images were computer generated. The wide
reach of the law and its uncertain boundary made many legal scholars believe that it would
impact constitutionally protected free speech. In 2002 the Supreme Court of the United States
ruled that the law was inconstitutional, and invalidated it. This article is a defense of the
decision of the court.
introducing the euro
The UCSD Guardian, 22 Jan. 2002,
San Diego, CA.
Some more or less random observations commenting the (then) recent introduction of the
Euro as Europe's unified currency.
flag symbolism is complex
The UCSD Guardian, 5 Nov. 2001,
San Diego, CA.
Following the September 11 terrorist attack there was in America an almost
paroxystic race to patriotism and, in a typically American way, a lot of it
was centered around symbols such as the flag. Congress even contemplated a
constitutional ban on flag burning. This article attempts to analyze why
national symbols have such a predominant position in America.
Globalization brings lower quality of life
The UCSD Guardian, 16 Jul. 2001,
San Diego, CA.
Well, the title really says it all, doesn't it? One thing: the article ends
with a quote from Jeremy Rifkin praising Italians for their "cooler" attitude
towards commerce, which has traditionally yelded to culture. I think Rifkin and
myself have been too optimistic. We had great hopes for the Seattle movement, but
we all know what happened in Genoa a few days after this article was published.
Handcuffs and pornography: 'Cops'
The UCSD Guardian, 21 Mar. 2001,
San Diego, CA.
A provocation, admittedly. I was comparing cop reality shows of a type that seems very common in the USA
to "pornography for conservatives".
School Shooting Indicates A Need for Reform in Our Competitive Society
The UCSD Guardian, 8 Mar. 2001,
San Diego, CA.
Some comments on the possible causes of school shootings in the USA. This was written after
two students were killed in a high school in the San Diego area.
El "exito industrial" puede provocar una crisis informática
Servicio de información y noticias científicas,
Madrid, 14 Feb. 2008.
Hacer más con menos
Servicio de información y noticias científicas,
Madrid, 29 Feb. 2008.
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La ley en contra de las descargas "ilegales" no va sólo en contra de la mayoría de los
internautas, sino también en contra de la historia. La explotación de los derechos de
autor en la música es una práctica industrial conectada con la distribución de música
en un soporte físico (el disco primero, el CD después). Internet supone un cambio en la
manera de hacer música, y en el nuevo modelo ya no se venderá música grabada. Los
músicos se ganarán la vida como lo hacían antes de la existencia de los discos
y, como en el 95% de los casos lo hacen hoy: tocando en vivo y en directo. La música no desaparecerá por esto. Se hacía música antes de la existencia del copyright, y se seguirá haciendo música después de su desaparición. Sólo hay que pensar en el riquísimo patrimonio de m&uacite;sica popular que se ha creado sin el amparo de ningún copyright. Los músicos seguirán ganándose la vida como siempre lo han hecho, y las descargas gratis serán una buena manera de hacerse publicidad. Lo que sí desaparecerá es el star system y la industria discográfica. Pero esto no tiene nada que ver con las descargas. El producto de la industria discográfica ya es anacrónico, y por las leyes del mercado no tiene otra posibilidad que desaparecer, así como lo hicieron los constructores de coches de caballos al principio del siglo XX. Simone Santini Madrid |
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Editor: After the deadly accident in Madrid, which caused 153 casualties, Spanish authorities asked the Olympic committee in Bejing to grant a minute of silence before all the competitions in which Spanish athletes were involved, to fly the Spanish flag at half staff, and to have the Spanish athletes wear a black band on their arms. The three requests were denied. We know that the Olympics are no longer about sports, that they are a gigantic celebrity show in which companies invest heavily for publicity and television rights. Nothing, apparently, must interfere with the party, no shadow of sadness must distract from those precious advertising seconds. Between the market and 153 dead, the market wins. Simone Santini Madrid |
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Editor: Three years after a devastating terrorist attack from al-Qaeda, the Spanish government has identified the authors of the attack and their supporters, and is putting 29 people on trial. To accomplish this, Spain did not need special laws, nor to keep people in special prisons without trial or charge, nor illegal arrests, nor torture. Spain did not use "rendition," and the government did not ask for any special power to spy on ordinary citizens. Under similar circumstances the government of the United States has trampled many of the basic freedoms of its citizens, has resorted to torture and arbitrary incarceration, and has managed to bring only one person to trial in the five years since Sept. 11, 2001. Maybe we should have concentrated more on police and intelligence than on war. Maybe we should have considered that there is a way to defeat terrorists from within the legality. Maybe we should start relearning the way democracy functions before we try to export it. Simone Santini San Diego, CA |
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Como extranjero que ha adoptado España como su país, veo el problema
de las nacionalidades de una forma quizá más desapasionada y
desencantada, pero unas reflexiones me parecen de interés general.
Creo que cabría separar tres cuestiones que a menudo se confunden: el
respeto a la diversidad lingüística y cultural, la autonomía
impositiva y el fervor independentista que a veces se ampara detrás de
declaraciones de realidad nacional.
La primera es una demanda natural y comprensible, y el Estado debería
darle satisfacción plena.
La autonomía impositiva es un problema económico importante para todas
las naciones: no tiene una solución final, sino un proceso continuo de
negociación y ajuste.
El independentismo parece, estos días, cuando menos anacrónico. En
esta era de globalización, en que las grandes empresas y las
organizaciones que no son expresión de una voluntad popular a través
del voto--como el OMC--van asumiendo poderes gubernamentales, el
Estado es una de la pocas estructuras democráticas lo bastante fuertes
como para permitirnos -de una forma imperfecta, por supuesto- ejercer
nuestra libertad política. Debilitar el Estado nacional y reemplazarlo
por entidades más fragmentadas y con menor fuerza facilitará una mayor
homogeneización cultural y económica a nivel mundial, provocando
exactamente el efecto contrario de la diversidad cultural de la que
los independentistas se proclaman fervientes defensores.
Simone Santini Universidad Autónoma de Madrid |
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Editor: As an Italian living in the United States, I see that Americans have more or less embraced the idea that food is an industrial product, while Europeans, especially the Italians and the French, see it as part of their culture (news article, Feb. 11). The idea that food should have a shelf life of 30 days to be economically viable is anathema to the Italians and the French. Modifying foods to satisfy the needs of industrial distribution is preposterous. It is unfair for the United States to try to force the Europeans to accept genetically modified food, casting in economic terms what is a matter of culture. Simone Santini San Diego, CA |
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Editor: It is time that the United States confronts its sexual demons. Films like Louis Malle's "Damage" or Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" are released in American theaters only in censored versions; films like Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream" are available at some major video rental chains only in edited versions. The studios refuse to release NC-17 movies because theater chains will not carry them and television stations will not advertise them. Most of us can't afford to fly to Europe to see the director's version of American movies. Films like "Baise-Moi" may shock, but maybe a good shock is what we need to wake us from our puritanical sleep. Simone Santini La Jolla, CA |