Panel: Perceptions of Reality on the 'Net: Who is Charting the Information Highway? (Keith Kelly, Valerie Collicott, Leslie Regan Shade, Mark Surman) After a brief review of the day's agenda, facilitator Dennis Lewycky introduced the panel members. Keith Kelly Keith Kelly, National Director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA), discussed culture and the Internet. He started off by noting that his definition of culture comprised the arts and cultural industries. "For our community - artists and content creators - the prospect of reaching a wider audience has always been an irresistible dream," said Kelly. Although disseminating their art and messages via the Internet is an artist's dream, the environment is hostile to artists on a number of fronts. First of all, artists had no real input in the design of the information highway. Moreover, artists lose ownership of their art through this medium, and they end up not being paid. It is obvious to Canadian artists that the technology is dominated by foreigners, particularly those from the United States, and that there are many obstacles to reaching the community via the Internet. Obstacles to reaching the community are primarily financial in nature. Kelly referred to "a modest proposal" made to the federal government in the 1970s for $150,000 to link 23 artist-run centres. This initiative was not funded, as the federal government could not see the potential in this type of linkage. In the 1980s, the music industry attempted to create a network that would link managers, salespeople, and consumers. The initial conception never materialized, although a less ambitious version did. Recently, CultureNet has been established through a collaborative effort between CCA and the University of Calgary. Representatives from diverse communities were part of the creation of this net, although there is a concern about issues of elitism. A workshop was held by CultureNet in March, and organizers were shocked at the fact that five or six of the artists didn't have access to a computer. "It's all very well to talk about access, but when we are talking about organizations that don't have resources to buy a computer, then there's a problem," stated Kelly. Artists are undergoing a disenfranchisement process as the federal government keeps cutting and putting off financial backing for initiatives. "Artists regard these new technologies as a new uncharted frontier," said Kelly. Although the information highway can create "a stronger bond among Canadians", the public-policy vacuum in this area is an issue of concern. "When the Canadian National Advisory Council was formed, only one artists was represented - John Gray," said Kelly. "The content providers are seriously under-represented." Kelly also called attention to the archaic intellectual property regime in Canada, established in 1924. "I see promise, but I also see lots of issues" involving "moral and other aspects of the information highway," Kelly concluded. Valerie Collicott Valerie Collicott, Communications and Accessibility Consultant, introduced her guide dog to participants, and proceeded to introduce herself as "a novice Net user". Collicott uses Vision Information System (VIS), a local bulletin board. She is a six-month member of the National Capital FreeNet, and has yet to experience logging on to the Internet. She accesses VIS mainly to keep abreast of community events, and to share information on technology. "The System is a testing ground for getting around in bulletin boards," she said. There are 4.2 million people living with disabilities (PLWDs) in Canada, Collicott explained; 600,000 of these people are blind or visually impaired. This segment of the community has had limited access to print information. Because of this limitation, and particularly since Braille is becoming outdated, new technologies carry the potential for exciting new methods of communication for PLWDs. However, because PLWDs represent only a small market-share, these technologies are often not readily adaptable to the needs of people living with a visual impairment. Technologies such as voice synthesizers do exist, but are very costly, adding $2,000 to the cost of a computer. Other barriers for PLWDs participating on the Internet include: * The cost of having to use a minimum of two different types of technology simultaneously; * The cost of online services, particularly since it takes a long time for voice synthesizers to read text, commands, and graphics; * The amount of time it takes to get online and read the Internet; * The difficulty for voice-synthesizers in reading graphics and CD-ROMs, making "user-friendly" icons far from user-friendly for PLWDs; * The lack of training and trainers with hands-on experience with PLWDs; * The lack of good resource tools; * The necessity of sticking with text-based information. Factors prohibiting access for PLWDs include their limited access to technology and resources þ which is compounded by the fact that 80% of PLWDs are unemployed. "We tend to lag behind the advancement of technology. We are always playing catch-up, but we never do catch up," said Collicott. "It can be very frustrating and disorienting to go on the Net," Collicott remarked. "It's difficult to move around." If Net users didn't include as many commands and graphics in their messages, the Internet environment would be far more friendly for PLWDs. Vertical menus and number menus are user-friendly tools for people with visual impairments. Collicott noted that commercial networks are attractive for PLWDs because they are well- organized, if expensive. Collicott concluded her presentation by saying that there needs to be more consultation with PLWDs, more programs to enable PLWDs to move around hostile environments and more community resource lists online. "Although we have been restricted in getting access to information, we have been getting more access," said Collicott. "We don't have equal access, but we have more. We are one of the segments of the population that requires access to information in a desperate way." Leslie Regan Shade Leslie Regan Shade used a series of overhead projections to illustrate mainstream media's coverage of gender issues and the Internet. The media has presented the Internet as a hostile place for women who want to go online, instead of promoting community-building for women. The demographics of women who are online are hard to ascertain, Shade pointed out. However, it is certain that there are more men online than women. Shade quoted J.C. Herz, who describes the male-dominated environment of the Internet as follows: The net is more saloon than salon. Not too many women in these here parts, scant discussion of philosophy and impressionist paintings, and no tea sandwiches. Rather, much of the 'Net exudes a ballistic ambience seldom found outside post-apocalyptic splatterpunk video games. Someone should nail up a sign: `Now entering the 'Net. Welcome to Boyland.' According to one survey, the typical user of the World-Wide Web (WWW) is a 30-year old educated male from North America who works with computers. Another survey revealed that 91% of users own a computer and 74% a modem, while 56% gain access to the Internet from home. A further study concluded that "males like to explore the potential of computers while women prefer to use systems in a task-oriented context". Males also make up the highest percentage of users of commercial online services. The reason that there is little female participation is that there is little content for women. Exceptions to this are Women's Wire in San Francisco, whose goal is to provide a multifarious array of content for the diverse information needs of women, where female participation is 90%. Female participation in ECHO (East Coast Hang Out), the Well, and APC Networks is also high. In terms of female participation on community nets, Shade said: "My sense is that more women are participating in the development of community nets as users, volunteers, and staff." Shade gave a list of resources for women on WWW, pointing out that the content for women has been explosive, and that there is a sense that information is power and that it can also be playful. Information on gender, sexuality, breast cancer, midwifery and sexual assault can be accessed online. "These resources differ in attitude and scope from those concocted by commercial entities," she noted. She referred to a WWW site for fashion shopping, and remarked: "Women don't need clothesware - they need hardware!" In a passing comment, she noted that Barbie will soon be coming out with a server. In short, the content of commercial servers is largely commodity- oriented. Current advertising campaigns harken back to the television campaigns of the 1950s: in many ads, particularly those produced by Microsoft, the Internet is portrayed as the family hearth around which a white, middle-class nuclear family sits smiling as it prepares to go online. These ads are "a Forrest-Gumpization of user interface". Shade drew parallels to the environment in which the telephone was advertised. Citing Marshall McLuhan's Mechanical Brides, she noted that the telephone was appropriated by women in a way that was not anticipated by the telephone's creators, who saw it largely as a business tool. In the same way, women can reclaim the Internet and reverse the original intention of its creators by going online and creating networks among women. "True access and ubiquity won't be obtained until the technology can be brought into the home," stated Shade. She quoted Dr. Ursula Franklin, who wrote that women's greatest contribution to the current technological landscape lies in their potential to change the present structure by "understanding, critiquing, and changing the very parameters that have kept women away from technology". Questions need to be asked, such as: "How does this technology affect social relations?"; "How are the technologies generated?"; "How will they affect the home?"; and "Who are the consumers?" To date, the only place where gender issues have been addressed is in the Coalition for Public Information. Gender issues can be brought to the forefront of policy and design decisions if women become more involved in this technology and critique it. The only way this will be possible is if there is national coordination and access to the technology. The ultimate goal is ubiquitous residential access at an affordable rate, Shade concluded. Mark Surman Before addressing the topic of computer networking and the popular mind, Mark Surman had one piece of advice for participants: "Beware of self-styled slick revolutionaries who are bearing gifts." They will try to make people believe that technology will cure all the social evils. "There is a sense that a revolution is happening and that Utopia will come," said Surman. "I want to talk about where this sense of revolution is coming from, what it means and why we should be wary of it." Surman pointed to WIRED magazine as an example of the sense that there is a revolution under way. "WIRED claims that we are going to return to the great days of American democracy, Tom Paine, and Thomas Jefferson," Surman stated. "If we believe WIRED, we are entering a type of revolution that hasn't occurred since the Gutenberg press." Surman noted that this sense of euphoria and utopia is not just present in WIRED magazine, but can also be seen in the words of politicians and the business press. "Where you really see excitement and a sense of Utopia is in the business press, because they can sell us more computers." Referring to a current editorial in Canadian Business Magazine, Surman illustrated the sense of freedom that is being proclaimed on account of the new technology. The editorial proclaims that modern society is free because it has computers and dishwashers; however, Surman noted, it failed to point out the number of people who don't have either. "The correlation between social transformation and a box isn't that simple," he said. "The technology does have a lot of potential, but that's not all it takes!" There is nothing inherently wrong with the idea of a wired revolution, because there is potential for social change and a sense that activists can communicate amongst themselves. On the other hand the idea of revolution that has been proclaimed is too simplistic. "What we have to do is to think, not about the simplistic box, but about the complexity of the way things are organized." If the revolution were slow-paced and well thought-out, then it would be more successful. Like Shade, Surman drew parallels with the emergence of the Internet and that of past technologies, in this case radio. Radio was marketed as the new revolutionary tool when it first came out, but it was soon commodified and never retained its radical potential. A similar case occurred in the 1970s with cable television. And the same thing will happen with the Internet þ space is already being sold on Web pages. The problem is that people associate action with the technology instead of with the model on which the technology is based. It's not good enough to proclaim that "we have arrived" just because we have the technology. Social change is far more complex, Surman stated. It is not too late to "reverse" the technology, as long as we don't get "sucked into" the vision of Utopia. "The first thing to do is to make sure that the values of the models that we have today are replicated," Surman said. "We have to be vigilant and aware and think about the positive aspects." Surman closed his presentation with a list of suggestions to ensure that the information highway embodies community values which included: * Ensuring that the media hears diverse voices from community groups; * Ensuring that community voices are heard in policy decisions; * Thinking creatively about public spaces, also known as the electronic commons, and how these are funded; * Working together to think about issues deeply. "We shouldn't give up the idea that we can create a democracy. But it is what we do that counts, and this conference is one place in which we can do it," Surman concluded. Marita Moll: Response Marita Moll responded to specific issues in each speaker's presentation. She started by quoting Alfred Whitehead in Marshall McLuhan's book The Medium is the Message: "Major advances in civilizations were processes that all but wrecked the societies in which they occurred." Moll pointed out that these lines have cropped up time and again in different contexts over the last six months, one being the Oklahoma City bombing. "Most of our advances have been technological," she pointed out. She referred to a passing comment by Surman that "we are not living a day-to-day revolution". Moll disagreed with this statement, arguing that technology is changing rapidly from day to day. In response to parallels drawn by Surman between radio and the Internet, Moll noted that the change is being managed in the same way as it was during radio days. In those days, a few activists were involved, but they didn't manage to effect much change. Instead the medium became commercialized: "The radio didn't end up being a peoples' tool," she said. "We can't be ensured that two-way interaction will be a people's tool," she commented. "The Internet is a threat to the way we work," Moll continued. "We need to create a space in which the community can work. Our communities aren't working very well any more, and maybe that's because of technology ... We have gone too far." She referred to a John Perry Barlow article in Utne Reader which described the elements that make up a community, including diversity, ownership, and the sharing of experiences to promote common causes. She wondered out loud whether such things could exist in an electronic medium, and then answered: "These are things that can only be built by the community itself." Women and people living with disabilities also have to make connections. "The main issue is not information," said Moll. "I'm swamped with information. What I don't always have are the right connections. We have to get to the other part of the community that isn't well represented. We need the government to understand that the people must design the tools. We need to grow these tools from the grassroots." Turning to the issue of artists, Moll agreed with Kelly that they do not have control over the medium. "Artists have to get in there, and we have to support them and help them maintain ownership of their products." Moll concluded her response with the following statement: "The Internet has enormous potential only if we maintain control over how the medium is implemented. It is a red herring. We need to talk about communities. This is where connections are made. We must be very proactive. You have to focus on how you can work to change things." Discussion A participant noted the international component of the Internet, and the Net's transcendence of geographical boundaries. New communities, such as environmental groups, are being formed on the Internet and these are in need of funding. The speaker asked the panel to address how these communities would be funded, and if they envisioned a United Nations Advisory Committee on the Internet. Moll answered that geography is not a limiting factor, but that people can have the most impact by focussing on their local communities. A UN body might detract from such activism. She noted that talk about an international body is under way among members of the G-7. Another delegate called attention to the fact that the beneficiaries of the Internet will be multinational corporations. He took issue with Surman's argument that the "box" does not determine the model: "The box itself determines the models and how people communicate," he proclaimed. He disagreed with the emphasis on networks bringing about change. Citing a quote from McLuhan about the nature of the word "interactive", and the tendency for the user to become merged with the system as one, the participant noted that the system does not benefit the user in any way, particularly since it is controlled by a very small group of people. This group of people is getting smaller and will eventually dissolve, giving a false appearance of anarchy. Moll agreed with the participant's statements, but highlighted the fact that it is no good to simply point out these things without fighting for change. "We have to do something, that's our hope," she said. A Vision TV representative noted that getting communities to accept media other than print is a very difficult task. Regarding Moll's comment about growing tools from the grassroots, the participant asked whether there would be low-tech Web pages for community groups, which would look terrible because of a lack of resources for developing snazzy pages. Surman responded that the model behind community TV is not a good one, as it is controlled by a small group of people: "Community TV isn't there to help people think - it's there to churn them out." Another delegate warned against the polarization that was happening among the groups in the conference so far, and called for collaboration between federal, industry, and community groups. It is important for community groups to influence discussions at the federal and international level instead of avoiding them, he said. The issue of gender-switching on the Internet was brought up by a group member. Shade addressed this issue, saying that it is a "titillating" subject, but that, more than anything, all it does is provide a topic for academics to write about. One speaker asked whether any thought had been given to how WWW could benefit community groups in terms of collecting funds. There is an opportunity here, he pointed out. He also drew attention to the fact that privacy can exist on the Internet through anonymous posting and cryptography: "There are ways to make this public space private," he concluded. The session was adjourned.