[wsfii-coord] Potential speakers - capra (on Lawrence Lessig)

[Vic Cris]

--- "Bjarke at DjurslandS.net" <bjarke at djurslands.net>
wrote:

> Dear all here !  :-)
>    
> I don't know the positions of the below mentioned
> individuals, but I just want to make a point about
> the concept of a keynote speaker.
>    
> In my opinion it is very-very important that the key
> note speeches - as such - expresses the very core of
> those messages with which WSFII and the Air Jaldi
> crew want to impress the World opinion.
>    
> To be able to attract the Worlds attention, we might
> tend to seek affiliation with people with renown
> great appeal. - BUT please be very-very aware, - if
> we do not manage to make renown keynote speakers
> understand, that we wish them to speak the core
> messages (keynotes) of WSFII and of the Air Jaldi
> crew, it can be very-very damaging to have them as
> key note speakers doing their own thing in our
> frame, because (if they fail to speek our common
> message) the World will take their heavy weight
> words as an immovable expression of what WSFII and
> Air Jaldi is all about, - even though we ourselves
> easily see it as completely skewed. (If a wrong but
> stron impression is made in World Television, we
> might never get over it).
> So if we can not be sure that a known keynoter
> speaks at our subjects core, we will be better off
> to have someone unknow as keynoter, who can do it at
> the core, and then let the know individual comment,
> as part of a panel, yet doing the attraction. - But
> in this way of dividing the roles, we might better
> ensure that the word will get out to the World
> public, about the immence possibilities of utilising
> very cheap Widearea Wireless Network technology as
> Free Information Infrastructures, especially to
> those who will else be victims of market failure and
> technological and social devide . . .
> We should not let keynoters shape the summit in
> their own image and favourite topics. Exactly
> because we are talking keynotes, these should be
> weldefined tasks, seeking to assemble the highest
> level of experience and knowledge of this special
> World Summits core subjects . . . Commentators
> should on the opposite be completely free to speek
> their own minds of course . . .

My own comments on the choices suggested (which btw
also is not at all intended to discourage the search
for a perfect keynoter):

Fritjof Capra is best known (and has been to India and
spoken about) the integration of modern fundamental
physics theory and ancient philosophy. As a popular
writer, he has considerable success in explaining two
very disparate philosophies to the Western mind. The
relevance of this to open wireless communications and
networking is not that obvious, and unless he is
brought in by someone with sufficient access to him to
ensure his address is relevant, there is the danger
that his keynote will be at a tangent, and yes, picked
up by global media to ultimately trivialise the summit
and its objectives. 

Lawrence Lessig hardly needs endorsement. I didn't
understand the point made earlier about the debate on
DRM being something that only developing countries
need to wrangle about. Lessig and the Creative Commons
license are highly relevant to the potential use of
such networks by millions - billions - of people in
years to come. The presence of current directions in
DRM supported by corporate majors is by and large
antithetical to the interests of the billions of
people who will have a voice (because of these
networks) that is inaudible or stifled today, and will
be stifled further if we do not support the building
of an equally powerful counterforce. Lessig is also
more likely, I think (of the two), to shape his talk
to the needs of our local audience, as well as the
larger media fed global audience. 

---
Vickram



	
	
		
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