6 ms·

I think the primary point of this site is not to blackmail or make money, but make a point; 'art'. I don't see any of the offerings appealing to anyone (while t

by polshaw 14y ago

I think the primary point of this site is not to blackmail or make money, but make a point; 'art'. I don't see any of the offerings appealing to anyone (while they'll take your money, i'm not sure they are intended to), and the charge to search the database serves as a privacy guard (which isn't present on equally-functional google). About artIsOpenSource; AOS, Art is Open Source, is an international informal network exploring the mutation of human beings with the wide and ubiquitous accessibility and availability of digital technologies and networks. We move across arts and sciences, using technology, communication, performance, art and design, to instantiate emotional actions and processes that are able to expose the dynamics of our contemporary world. We do this in academic, artistic, business and activist domains and, actually, we are focused on moving fluidly among each of these spaces.

h2s 14y ago
If this is art, and "Art is Open Source", then I want to see some damn source code. Either that or something to reassure me that this isn't somebody co-opting positive terms like "art" and "open source" to add an air of legitimacy to what looks a lot like a very seedy act of passive mass blackmail.
- piqufoh 14y ago
  From AOS homepage "Art is Open Source, is an international informal network exploring the mutation of human beings with the wide and ubiquitous accessibility and availability of digital technologies and networks." What the chuff has this to do with Open Source? This trashy commercial nonsense weakens the branding.
- milkshakes 14y ago
  I think you're missing the "point". I doubt that they are actually trying to blackmail anyone. Hell I would be surprised if there is even a database. I think they built a polished site around a theoretical concept in order to provoke an emotional response. It would appear that they have succeeded. Of course, this is simply my interpretation. If they really are trying to build a business around distributed extortion, this is not a sustainable MVP.
  - wedtm 14y ago
    I'm going to murder your family. Don't worry, I'm probably just provoking a response from you, but to be sure, you can send me $1,000 and I promise I won't murder you, if I was going to.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - milkshakes 14y ago
      you know, i wrote a slightly sarcastic response to this, but then i deleted it because i can't be sure you're not serious. now i'm seriously considering calling the police, just to make sure you're not actually a crazy person. i'm not sure what point you were trying to make, but i am sure there's a more effective way to make it.
      - glitchdout 14y ago
        i can't be sure you're not serious really? ...
        milkshakes 14y ago
        can you?
lucian303 14y ago
1000 euros to erase one's number from the db and you're trying to claim this isn't blackmail? For all we know they likely violated robots.txt, TOS, and probably at least a few laws already in collecting the data. I agree with the other poster, if this is open source art, release the source. That way, people can confirm and run this on their own. Blackmail isn't art and no amount of bullshit 'art' talk is going to make it so.
jerguismi 14y ago
This has nothing to do with open source...
- fhars 14y ago
  It has. With the older meaning of the term http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence
bjxrn 14y ago
Yeah. They have a litte bit more information on their own blog about it: http://www.artisopensource.net/2013/03/17/incautious-porn-a-voyage-into-privacy/ http://www.artisopensource.net/2013/03/17/incautious-porn-a-...
- cynwoody 14y ago
  From your link, it's quite clear they intend a political statement — about privacy in the age of search engines and social networks and the economic underpinnings of same. Why is Google free? Because you are only the user, not the customer. The customers are the advertisers who pay Google to show you targeted ads. Of course, Google has to please both its users and its customers, or else it won't have enough of the former to satisfy the latter. Same for social networks, media sites, and pretty much everybody else who publishes free content or offers free services that cost money to produce. That's how the internet is paid for. I get the impression AOS is less than pleased with that arrangement. Clearly, it frustrate them that so many users are pleased with how the internet has evolved to work. They're hoping their outrageous offer will wake up, er, raise the consciousnesses of those users. "Users of the world, unite: you have nothing to gain but your privacy!" Or something like that. If it's art, it is performance art, where the performance consists solely of the business proposition.
lutze 14y ago
How the fuck is this ethically any different from those webcam/revenge porn blackmail sites? Hypothetical question, by the way.
hp50g 14y ago
This sounds about as close to art as SugarApe (in Nathan Barley) is to publishing. They're just being assholes, not ironic or artful.

by polshaw 14y ago

h2s 14y ago

If this is art, and "Art is Open Source", then I want to see some damn source code. Either that or something to reassure me that this isn't somebody co-opting positive terms like "art" and "open source" to add an air of legitimacy to what looks a lot like a very seedy act of passive mass blackmail.

piqufoh 14y ago
From AOS homepage "Art is Open Source, is an international informal network exploring the mutation of human beings with the wide and ubiquitous accessibility and availability of digital technologies and networks." What the chuff has this to do with Open Source? This trashy commercial nonsense weakens the branding.
milkshakes 14y ago
I think you're missing the "point". I doubt that they are actually trying to blackmail anyone. Hell I would be surprised if there is even a database. I think they built a polished site around a theoretical concept in order to provoke an emotional response. It would appear that they have succeeded. Of course, this is simply my interpretation. If they really are trying to build a business around distributed extortion, this is not a sustainable MVP.
- wedtm 14y ago
  I'm going to murder your family. Don't worry, I'm probably just provoking a response from you, but to be sure, you can send me $1,000 and I promise I won't murder you, if I was going to.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - milkshakes 14y ago
    you know, i wrote a slightly sarcastic response to this, but then i deleted it because i can't be sure you're not serious. now i'm seriously considering calling the police, just to make sure you're not actually a crazy person. i'm not sure what point you were trying to make, but i am sure there's a more effective way to make it.
    - glitchdout 14y ago
      i can't be sure you're not serious really? ...
      - milkshakes 14y ago
        can you?

lucian303 14y ago

1000 euros to erase one's number from the db and you're trying to claim this isn't blackmail? For all we know they likely violated robots.txt, TOS, and probably at least a few laws already in collecting the data. I agree with the other poster, if this is open source art, release the source. That way, people can confirm and run this on their own. Blackmail isn't art and no amount of bullshit 'art' talk is going to make it so.

jerguismi 14y ago

This has nothing to do with open source...

fhars 14y ago
It has. With the older meaning of the term http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_intelligence

bjxrn 14y ago

Yeah. They have a litte bit more information on their own blog about it: http://www.artisopensource.net/2013/03/17/incautious-porn-a-voyage-into-privacy/ http://www.artisopensource.net/2013/03/17/incautious-porn-a-...

cynwoody 14y ago
From your link, it's quite clear they intend a political statement — about privacy in the age of search engines and social networks and the economic underpinnings of same. Why is Google free? Because you are only the user, not the customer. The customers are the advertisers who pay Google to show you targeted ads. Of course, Google has to please both its users and its customers, or else it won't have enough of the former to satisfy the latter. Same for social networks, media sites, and pretty much everybody else who publishes free content or offers free services that cost money to produce. That's how the internet is paid for. I get the impression AOS is less than pleased with that arrangement. Clearly, it frustrate them that so many users are pleased with how the internet has evolved to work. They're hoping their outrageous offer will wake up, er, raise the consciousnesses of those users. "Users of the world, unite: you have nothing to gain but your privacy!" Or something like that. If it's art, it is performance art, where the performance consists solely of the business proposition.

lutze 14y ago

How the fuck is this ethically any different from those webcam/revenge porn blackmail sites? Hypothetical question, by the way.

hp50g 14y ago

This sounds about as close to art as SugarApe (in Nathan Barley) is to publishing. They're just being assholes, not ironic or artful.