What could make more than 400 people stand and wait in suspense for three hours in a gigantic factory hall at a temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius? It can't be merely the charisma exuded by Richard Stallmann, indefatigable defender of the philosophy of »free software,« and it can't just be the desire to feel like part of the scene that is keeping pace these days with alternative developments in the information technology field. There's more to it than that: more than anything it's an all-encompassing relationship with computers and the Internet, one that does not follow the strict logic of the market, but instead looks for its own ways to make use of the inexhaustible opportunities for interaction within the bounds of the given system, and to develop and exploit these further.
Once again this year, thousands arrived in Bologna for the »Hackmeeting 2002« (http://hackmeeting.org) at the TPO (Teatro Polivalente Occupato) (http://www.ecn.org/tpo), filling the rambling but autonomously managed grounds with cables, computers and sleeping bags. The three-day meeting was planned and prepared collectively, and organized through a public mailing list (http://www.ecn.org/lists/hackit99). In this list, everyone is invited to offer their services, whether he or she wants to hold a seminar or simply help with organizing the logistics of the event. Even the annually changing logo and the thin program brochure, sold for the token price of one euro, are discussed and mutually decided on through the mailing list, with the participation of interested users increasing exponentially as the meeting date approaches.
As soon as the volunteer helpers arrive on the scene, which has already been chosen months in advance, they begin setting up the infrastructure necessary for the event. It takes a considerable amount of time to set up the network of hundreds of computers, taking into account the importance of safeguarding users against possible misuse; and then to make available a vast amount of gigabytes via ftp, plus to allow for a high degree of flexibility for those who log onto the Internet on the first day of the meeting and stay online till the end. To coordinate the tasks to be conducted over the Internet, there is an externally leased ADSL connection, which allows all participants to download their email using an SSL protocol.
Not even the assignment of internal IPs poses a problem, since there are always two to three people in charge, working in shifts, who hand out addresses to those requesting them and help novice users to configure their PCs effectively. Mutual helpfulness is a hallmark of the Hackmeeting. And here there's no competition amongst the experts. Whoever needs help, gets it, or is referred to the appropriate source. Despite the high degree of expertise offered by some of the participants, no rivalry of any kind can be sensed. Quite the opposite, it seems that a healthy dose of sarcasm only serves to bring these people closer together. This is the kind of sarcasm that comes from everyday, institutionalized use of the computer. Paired with so-to-speak unlimited availability without a view to making a profit, this has given rise to some American journalists referring to those at the meeting as »good Samaritans.«
The best-attended seminars deal with protection of the private sphere, defensive measures and fundamental telematic rights (https://www.ecn.org/wws/arc/cyber-rights) that are usually violated in the workplace. In addition, the menacing European guidelines, EUCD, which see themselves as being on a par with the American DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), are explained effectively by the »Union of Free Software« (http://www.softwarelibero.it). Here, famous American cases (DeCSS and SDMI) are reconstructed and examined as informative, precedent-making collisions between the right to information that should be freely accessible on the Web and the firmly entrenched economic and political principles that already existed before the new age of the media.
Ninety percent of the computers at the meeting, whether PCs or Macs, use the Linux operating system; the monitors are often hugged by a fake fur cover in the form of a penguin; and a can of beer can sometimes be seen next to the keyboard. The operating system most frequently used by the participants is explained for various comprehension levels, ranging from introductory systems to the distribution of SeLINUX and DeMUDI (http://www.demudi.org), with the latter system especially tailored to multimedia aspects. The overriding goal is always to appropriate the latest media, use them in different ways, get to the bottom of the technology behind them, and to mold them to fit one's own means and ends. This is just what happened in the excellent example of Radio Cybernet (http://www.kyuzz.org/radiocybernet), an online broadcasting station that was founded at a Hackmeeting several years ago. The idea came up by accident, when someone was curious to find out how the RealAudio technology worked. During the meeting the station was able to alternately broadcast jokes and various styles of music to the seminar over a certain channel. This turned the computers into a common radio station, even though they were spread out across the entire grounds. Users could thus use their computer to follow events unfolding on other floors while stationed at the computer picking up their email or exchanging news on the latest electronic developments with the other participants in a chat room.
There was no lack of initiatives for recycling at the meeting either, since this is a problem that is becoming more and more serious from an ecological standpoint. In addition to a special seminar entitled »Breaking down hardware,« there were also initiatives for recycling old PCs; for example, donating them to an information center in Palestine.
It must be added that Richard Stallmann was not the only foreign guest whose remarks could always be counted on to cause a stir. One of the most interesting workshops was no doubt that conducted by Adam Hyde, a New Zealand artist, on FM mini transmitters (http://fm.thing.net) that can be hooked up to a computer. The seminar participants followed on a webcam while the inventor of this ingenious transmitter, Tetsuo Kogawa, explained from his Tokyo studio, at four o'clock in the morning, how this device could best be put to use. These are the kind of details that force one to acknowledge the enormous potential inherent in the Hackmeeting.
This being the fifth installment of the Hackmeeting, it seemed only natural to find out about the first text specifically issued by the »hacktivism« movement. This expression comes from combining the words »hacking« and »activism«, that is, from the use of unconventional technologies in connection with political activism. This in turn gave rise to the book »Hacktivism, Freedom within the Mesh of the Web« by Arturo di Corinto and Tommaso Tozzi, which can also be found on the Internet (http://www.hackerart.org/storia/hacktivism.htm).
Translated by Jennifer Taylor-Gaida