Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed

by Alexis Ohanian

  “Can I get a show of hands—how many of you are working at companies that are hiring?”

  As a founder, investor, and adviser, I knew this was the right question to ask the Internet audience. Nearly every hand went up.

  “Can the journalists get a look here? Look at all the companies, America, that are looking to hire Americans right now.”

  And on it went. After that talk I dashed off to the closest café that had wireless Internet access and Skyped into another interview. There was a last-minute CNBC interview I had to phone in on a mobile phone—I still regret not having a landline for that one. By the time I caught my breath I was wrapping up an interview on Fox Business and figuring out a dinner reservation for me and my girlfriend so I could start to make up for the vacation snafu. The day had gone rather well, I thought.29 It wasn’t until the next day, though, that I realized the magnitude of what we’d all done.

  It was unprecedented. Within a day, thirteen senators had switched sides—five of whom had been co-sponsors of the bill: Blunt, Boozman, Cardin, Hatch, and Rubio. And after a day of protest, phone calls, and petitions, the American people triumphed over tens of millions of lobbying dollars.

  Turns out the Supreme Court, in its 1997 “town crier” decision (where the Internet enables anyone to be a “town crier,” only with far more impact), wasn’t far off, as Yochai Benkler says: “Not everyone is a pamphleteer, but… what you see is a complex relationship between NGOs and commercial organizations; between VCs and activists; between traditional media and online media; between political media left and right; and tech media; all weaving together a model of actually looking, learning, mobilizing for action, and blocking. This, ideally, is the shape of the networked public sphere.”30

  This was a leaderful movement, full of people who found ways to help, whether it was as simple as changing their profile photos, calling their senators, and brainstorming ideas for boycotts and protests or writing the code that would parse the fund-raising data and show just how much Hollywood had paid each senator and representative.

  We had made a connection with our fellow Americans, who got involved at every level. We had formed a decentralized but powerful lobbying group—the American people.

  But would it make a difference?

  Internet FTW

  Thanks to the online and off-line protests, by January 19, some of SOPA’s and PIPA’s most prominent backers were publicly running from the bills, leaving only fifty-five supporters and co-sponsors (with 205 opposed) once everyone caught their breath.31 Not only was my House panel canceled because of the momentum swing, SOPA’s chief sponsor, Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas), announced that the bill was being recalled in the House.

  On the same day that SOPA was recalled in the House, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) announced that the Senate was postponing the vote on PIPA. I’d like to translate his statement (my translations in italics):32

  “I admire the work that Chairman Leahy has put into this bill.”

  Pat got a cameo in The Dark Knight! I thought for sure this was my ticket for at least a speaking role in the next Transformers, but now I’ll be lucky to be an extra in an Adam Sandler film.

  “I encourage him to continue engaging with all stakeholders to forge a balance between protecting Americans’ intellectual property and maintaining openness and innovation on the Internet.”

  Apparently millions of Americans use the Internet and love freedom. Perhaps we should consult people outside of the entertainment industry the next time we write a law about the Internet. Maybe invite some people who understand how it works, too.

  “We made good progress through the discussions we’ve held in recent days, and I am optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks.”

  We’ve never seen anything like this before. Seriously. Dollars always won in Washington until millions of citizens making phone calls, writing e-mails, drawing up petitions, and organizing protests ruined everything. I’m going to pretend like I’m optimistic about compromise to try to save face, but really, the American people have spoken loud and clear.

  Fatality; Internet freedom wins.33

  Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) put it best: “This bill went from being inevitable to unthinkable thanks to the American people.”34

  January 18, 2012, was a watershed moment for the Internet. We had done something Congress had never seen before35—we triumphed over millions of lobbying dollars and decades of “relationship building” between the entertainment industry and Congress. And no one person or group organized it. You’ve heard my story, but it was by no means the only one, let alone the most important—hardly. There were millions of stories in the fight to defeat these awful bills. Disparate people from all over came together, contributed in whatever ways they could, and we accomplished something far greater than any one of us could have accomplished individually. It’s fitting that the preservation of the Internet would be accomplished in a manner so similar to the way the network itself proliferated. There was no top-down plan for the World Wide Web; it just started growing organically as people contributed ideas and built websites. The Internet is simultaneously the world’s biggest library and a stage. It was a tragedy of civilization when the Library of Alexandria burned, but in truth, it would infinitely be worse if that should happen to the World Wide Web.

  Not only do we never want the Internet destroyed, we must outline just how we want to expand access to it. There was so much momentum generated by the debate about SOPA and PIPA—and eventually ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), which shortly thereafter was thwarted in Europe—that we’re now looking to draft legislation that secures online rights just as other legislation protects rights off-line. To that end, a number of us (including some awesome open Internet champions, such as Josh Levy, Elizabeth Stark, Seth Bannon, Tiffiniy Cheng, Holmes Wilson, and Ben Huh) created the Declaration of Internet Freedom, which we published on July 4, 2012, and which has since been translated into more than sixty-five languages and signed by hundreds of corporations and individuals (including US senators and representatives). Deliberately basic, the declaration is meant to be a fundamental statement of Internet philosophy that any elected official would agree to because they know their constituents wouldn’t have it any other way. Here it is:

  We support transparent and participatory processes for making Internet policy and the establishment of five basic principles:

  Expression: Don’t censor the Internet.

  Access: Promote universal access to fast and affordable networks.

  Openness: Keep the Internet an open network where everyone is free to connect, communicate, write, read, watch, speak, listen, learn, create, and innovate.

  Innovation: Protect the freedom to innovate and create without permission. Don’t block new technologies and don’t punish innovators for their users’ actions.

  Privacy: Protect privacy and defend everyone’s ability to control how their data and devices are used.

  http://www.internetdeclaration.org/freedom

  As signatures continue to climb, we’ve also formed the Internet Defense League, a project begun by the nonprofit organization Fight for the Future, which allows anyone with a web presence (not just a website with millions of visitors but even a Twitter account with a few followers) to sign up and be notified the next time we need to take collective action to save the Internet. We hope it won’t happen again soon, or ever, but just in case, the nonprofit has readied a “Cat-Signal” that will call everyone to action. Not unlike a Bat-Signal (but we certainly don’t want any copyright lawyers calling us!) for the open Internet, it’s a way to sign up to be a Batman or Batwoman for your own digital Gotham. And you needn’t be a billionaire with anger management issues—you just need Internet access. Whether you have an online community of a dozen Twitter followers or a website that’s read by millions, you have a parcel of the Internet you want to protect. The SOPA and PIPA protests showed millions of people just how much powe
r they had when using this great platform to connect and do something formerly unthinkable; should we need to use it again, we’ll be ready.

  It’s Up to Us to Keep the Internet Free (and Keep This Book Relevant)

  Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of momentum on our side. Ever since January 18, 2012, Congress has been terrified of getting “SOPA’d”36 again; and as we press forward the positive agenda to proactively support and promote Internet freedom, it’s important to never lose sight of the fact that opponents will continue to find ways to curtail our online rights. That’s why organizations like Fight for the Future are so important. But they can only do so much and are ultimately only as effective as their communities. The Internet public will continue to be the most valuable component of innovation, but only if we continue to enjoy the same online freedoms that we enjoy off-line. It’s not only because of sheer numbers—though it does matter—it’s also because of creativity. In aggregate, millions of disparate, independent people can perform phenomenal works of collaboration never possible before the connected web. The vast network of open-source projects that made nearly all the aforementioned stories possible is the result of countless hours of work from all over the world, all for a purpose not explicitly defined.

  The movement for Internet freedom is similarly structured. Furthermore, all political movements will begin to show a similar DNA, if they’re not already. To wit, the Tea Party and the Occupy movement have little in common when it comes to political agendas, but their networks are incredibly widely distributed and their hierarchies virtually nonexistent. Both groups are distributed across the country and both believe their government doesn’t represent them—the people. They disagree on what to do about that, but it’s rather striking that their common bond is rooted in making the government more accountable to its citizens, something we really saw for the first time at the national level during the SOPA and PIPA discussions. It also shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Internet freedom movement found support in both camps.37 The future of US politics in a connected world is still being written.

  These days, presidential debates are being discussed in real time online, memes are created within seconds (think “horses and bayonets” from the third 2012 presidential debate), and we’re learning about Newark mayor Cory Booker’s post-Sandy cleanup effort from his personal Twitter account.38 Politicians work for us, and we have the technology to see their work as it’s happening, just as we can see that delicious stroopwafel someone photographed with their smartphone. Demand for access to government data is waxing, but we don’t have nearly enough people capable of analyzing it and using it to help us help ourselves do everything better—whether it’s getting status updates on the BxM10 bus or organizing a Crowdtilt project to finally get that pothole fixed.

  More and more people are turning to one another on the Internet to solve real problems—not as a replacement for government but as a supplement that responds in real time and builds community as it helps others. Shortly after Hurricane Sandy devastated the greater New York and New Jersey area, the Occupy Sandy relief effort was launched to organize hundreds if not thousands of volunteers to rebuild communities and get assistance to those who needed it most. There was no memo. No one stopped to ask for approval to help. They just did it.

  We’ll do everything we can to protect the open Internet, so we can live to see the day when all of us are on the playing field with the same access to online resources and the ability to live life to its fullest. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. But the more chances we take on people with small ideas, the better off our world will be. In the meantime, call your politicians to find out how much they’re doing for Internet freedom. They work for us, after all. And like any good boss, you should check up on your employees. There’s no excuse for us not to know how things are going, because if this technology lets us see photos of what Kim Kardashian had for brunch, it absolutely should let us have real-time access to what our government is doing with our tax dollars and trust.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Dear Graduating Class of 2025

  Good news, everyone!

  Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

  The problem with the future is that none of it’s guaranteed.

  I debated how best to illustrate my vision for 2025, but everything felt a bit forced until my brilliant editor suggested framing it as a commencement speech for someone just finishing college in 2025. Now, it feels rather presumptuous to expect to be speaking at a college graduation, but I went along with it—after giving you nine chapters of optimism, I thought it might be important to give you a grim look at what could happen if we do nothing over the next decade or so.

  Although it is only mid-May, the summer heat is suffocating. Alexis Ohanian lumbers over to the lectern, wearing the drab gray smock considered fashionable in this era of stifled creativity. He wipes the sweat from his brow, clears his throat, and speaks.

  Dear Graduating Class of 2025: I owe you an apology. We screwed up the Internet, one of the world’s greatest innovations, and I’m truly sorry. Also, I’m really sorry about the climate change. Perspective is everything, though. I mean, look at how much more we appreciate the parts of the Eastern Seaboard that aren’t underwater now. Besides, who really liked polar bears, anyway?

  As for the Internet, we had a chance, with all the momentum we gained from pummeling SOPA and PIPA back in 2012, to educate our politicians about how important Internet freedom is to every single one of their constituents. Every member of the House and Senate represented a digital district—it wasn’t a red or blue issue, but something that even the most divisive districts could agree on. Despite what you may’ve heard or read, it wasn’t just Silicon Valley that cared about this; it was all of America.

  I hope you’ve read in your history books about Silicon Valley and all the burgeoning startup communities around the country at that time. We were one of the few sectors hiring back then; in fact, we couldn’t hire enough. Some of your parents might have even been part of that scene. Geez… hmm… this probably isn’t what you need to hear right now, given the bleak state of the economy you’re graduating into. Back in the day, software was eating the world, creating jobs and innovation, until we put protecting Mickey Mouse on a higher pedestal than protecting the free market. At least we’ve got that new 3-D version of Fast & Furious: Part XII. Seriously, they’re still trying to make 3-D a thing?

  Anyhow, we were on the verge of major innovations across multiple industries. For one thing, your educational experience might have been very different if you had had access to a free Internet, no matter where or even whether you went to college. Imagine being able to take free classes from the world’s best instructors any time you wanted. That was happening. Nonprofits and for-profits alike were all engineering better ways for anyone with an Internet connection to get an education. It looked like universal Internet access for all Americans was becoming a priority for our politicians. I used to be able to look a person in the eye and say if she wanted to learn to become a programmer and build the next reddit, she or he could go online right now and get started. It was the same way Steve Huffman had learned much of what he used to build reddit and hipmunk. There were no gatekeepers.

  But I can’t say that today. To make matters worse, your tuition payments rose to levels that have left most of you deeply in debt. Keep that in mind as you toss those mortarboards in the air. Or don’t—actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think you’re allowed to do that.

  But even if meaningful employment isn’t on the horizon for many or even most of you, don’t worry! One of the perks of unemployment is all the free time you’ll have to surf the GoogleVerizonComcastNet©™ from your parents’ basement. There was a time when we had competition and a flat Internet, where all links were created equal. We all thought of it as a sort of public utility back then—so quaint. Today, of course, the only search engine most of us can afford to use always gives us erection pill ads as the first page of results.


  In case you find yourselves wondering what life was like back then, you can always fire up Gmail. Google hasn’t had to update it in nearly a decade because there’s no reason to—no startup can compete with them because they just block that competitor’s website or bury them in litigation.

  Now, I’m seeing some funny looks out there in the audience. Yes, it’s true that bright young people like you used to build things all the time, and some of those projects turned into entrepreneurial endeavors—remarkable things that made the world suck less.

  But I guess I’m really showing my age.

  Just this morning I found a polite note in my Dropbox from the federal agent who investigated a “suspicious” photo I’d privately stored there from a family vacation. I’d done nothing wrong, of course, but he was just letting me know they had run a quick search. At least he left a note, right? Believe it or not, there was a time when we truly believed our digital storage was as private as our physical storage. Want to enter my home? Sure, get a warrant—same goes for my Dropbox. Those were the days….

  These days, of course, the government doesn’t need any due process to read our e-mail or search any of those formerly private messaging services, because they decided that the Fourth Amendment applies only to physical mail. Hey, remember when we used to have post offices and mailboxes and letters? No? Ask your parents.

  Seriously, people used to think that digital privacy was just as important as physical privacy. That concept might seem antiquated to you all now, but when I was your age, if someone was illegally opening your mail, it was customary to punch them in the throat.