FREE BITFLOWS
Cultures of Access and Politics of Dissemination
http://freebitflows.t0.or.at

Conference: 3-4 June 2004
Location: Semperdepot, Prospekthof, Léhargasse 6, 1060 Vienna
Exhibition: 3-17 June 2004
Locations: Kuenstlerhaus, Karlsplatz 5, 1010 Vienna and temporary locations on Karlsplatz (next to Otto-Wagner-Pavilion)

Free Bitflows, will bring together artists, researchers, activists, and hackers from Europe and beyond to investigate current strategies to build sustainable, open and experimental cultures through electronic media. A conference, workshops, performances and an exhibition will examine cultures of access and the politics of dissemination from a broad range of 
perspectives.

The Internet came with a promise that 'everybody can be a publisher'. Although not everybody wants to be a publisher, those who actually do, find it very hard to make it work. As it turns out, this promise is only true in an extremely limited, technical sense. Yes, I can set up a website, or put my song on the net, but what next? The problem becomes not so much technical as social- there is lots of sharing, but little in terms of making a living. Money remains squarely in the hands of the old industry.

The issue of distribution is not just an economic question. It's also a  political one. At stake is the "semiotic democracy", that is the ability of the largest number of people to create and share culture freely. It is about making sure that despite of heavy-hitting marketing machines, new, 
independent content can still find its audience. In short, the question is how do innovative production and distribution come together to support each other. Free Software seems to have found a way to do just that, but what about the rest of cultural production? How do we get from technological visions to actual cultures that are open yet sustainable in a climate were funding runs short? 

// OPENING

Wednesday 2 June, 20.00
16.00 – 20.00 Live Streaming Event TRAMJAM - VIENNA RUSHHOUR by Mumbai Streaming Attack (CH) (Shu Lea Chang, Niki Schawalder a.o.), live broadcast on Radio ORANGE 94.0

Location: Temporary Location on Karlsplatz (next to Otto-Wagner-Pavilion)

// PRESS CONFERENCE

2 June 2004, 10.30, Künstlerhaus, Karlsplatz 5, 1010 Vienna

// CONFERENCE PROGRAM
 
THURSDAY 3 JUNE
 
14.00 - 16.30
Introduction

Session 1: Organizational Intelligence for Independent Producers

The content gap is encroaching on the independent information providers. The ruthless efficiency of the market not only shapes content and the quality and depth of information in the mainstream channels - the pressure of a global neoliberal regime also affects the not-for-profit intelligence nodes. Being able to compete in certain standards and formats of culture and knowledge dissemination requires smart, mobile and flexible solutions which make best use of the tools of information technology. Global informational networking seems too obvious to mention... but how can it be made into an actual practice and real asset for independent content providers?

Pit Schultz (DE) / Reni Hofmueller (AT): Radio Syndication over the Internet
Pauline van Mourik Broekman (UK): The Mothership and the Flock
Marco Deseriis (IT): The art of causing troubles: Italian strategies of resistance to media monopoly
Moderation: Menno Grootveld (NL)

17.00 - 19.30 
Session 2: The Future of File Sharing: Darknet Reloaded?

The famous Microsoft study concludes that the powers that be don't stand a chance against the reality of the so called "Darknet". A somewhat optimistic note from an unexpected side. At the same time, the legal and technical assault on file sharing and anonymity is in full swing. What is the future of free information exchanges? More anonymity? Or will uncontrolled p2p disappear into social networks?

Ian Clarke (IE/US): The Freenet Project
Janko Roettgers (DE) : A darknet full of friends 
Sjoera Nas (NL): Digital anonimity and the law

FRIDAY 4 JUNE

14.00 - 16.30 
Session 3: Archives for the Digital Public Sphere

Archives are a key component of the cultural landscape, now more than ever. In the context of individualized access and on-demand cultures, the live aspect of digital production has grown comparatively less important. The fact that more is being produced than anyone of us can access in real-time puts emphasis on ways to store, archive and retrieve cultural production after the fact. Last, but not least, in an age where sampling and editing have become basic operations of cultural production, archives and open access to their treasures are central to cultural evolution. Commercially, the increased value of archives has been recognized for a long time, and corporations like Corbis and GettyImages have already privatized and commodified large parts of our (digitized) pictorial heritage. But what we need are archives that make their contents available freely and promiscuously, or experimental culture cannot flourish.

Paula Le Dieu (UK): The Creative Archive: fuel for a creative nation
Brewster Kahle (US): Universal Access to All Knowledge 
Istvan Rev (HU): Open Society Archives
Moderation: Thorsten Schilling (DE)

17.00 - 19.30 
Session 4 : Compensation Decentral
 
What are the new models and alternatives for a direct distribution and dissemination beyond the big gatekeepers of the music industry? With only 5% percent of the value going to the creators, there are chances to cut out the media cartels to achieve a fair compensation for artists and a broad distribution of "stuff". What are existing examples and what should we learn from their experience? To reclaim utopias in defense of imagination might provide enough room of manoeuvre to allow the emergence of new practices beyond the all too real dystopias of digital restrictions at the end of the world as we know it.

Volker Grassmuck (DE): In Favor of Collectively Managed Online Rights
Kristin Thomson (US): The Future of Music, for Musicians
Wendy Selzer (US): Voluntary Alternative Compensation Systems
Bjoern Hartmann (DE/FR): Netlabels vs. Brick-and-Mortar Distribution – Notes from the Trenches of the Electronic Music Scene
  
The whole conference will be streamed live http://freebitflows.t0.or.at

// EXHIBITION

Artists from the enlarged Europe examine cultures of access and politics of dissemination from a broad range of perspectives. Amongst others the exhibition will feature: Beat Brogle (CH) / One Word Movie, James Brown (UK) / apology, Ewen Chardronnet  (FR) / Ground Control, Petko Dourmana (BG) / Out of recession, Eastwood - Real Time Strategy Group (CS) / Civilization IV, Maia Gusberti (CH/AT) and Michael Aschauer (AT) / e_etc.tv, Christoph Kummerer (AT) / 0penM1nd, Anja Neitzert (DE) / Release early release often – diary and Max Moswitzer (AT) / HUD_DEMO. 

// EVENTS

Wednesday 2 June, 16.00 - 20.00
Live Streaming Event TRAMJAM - VIENNA RUSHHOUR by Mumbai Streaming Attack (CH) (Shu Lea Chang, Niki Schawalder a.o.), live broadcast on Radio ORANGE 94.0

Location: Temporary Location on Karlsplatz (next to Otto-Wagner-Pavilion)

Thursday 3 June,  21.00 - 23.00 
'XDV.PhreeBitcrop' is an evening of performances employing computers, humans and heterogenous streaming technologies. X-powered-by: xdv.org (gl03, pxp, it's not fair, > epy), Kate Donovan, Chris Kummerer, and others 

Location: Semperdepot, Prospekthof, Léhargasse 6, 1060 Vienna

// WORKSHOPS

Hands on’ Stream Studio Workshop
Wednesday 2 June, 10.00 - 17.00
with Stoyan Kostadinov (BG) 

The workshop enables direct experience with innovative Open Source streaming solutions. It will demonstrate a series of practical streaming scenarios and explained how they can be realized most effectively with free and open source software. 

Location: Public Netbase/t0, Burggasse 21, 1070 Vienna

Workshop 'Radio Syndication Seminar'
Saturday 5 June, 9.00 - 13.00 
organized by Bootlab (DE)

While numerous non-commercial radios exist, the aim is to combine the old analog practice with digital media. During the seminar radio makers will examine existing usages and technologies, and map out best practice models for the future.

Location: Public Netbase/t0, Burggasse 21, 1070 Vienna

Artist Software Presentation Workshop
Thursday 3 June, 10.00 – 13.00

Artists including Georg Lauteren (AT) will present their latest projects in the field of software development. 

Location: Semperdepot, Prospekthof, Léhargasse 6, 1060 Vienna

The People Speak
Friday 4 June, 10.00 – 13.00
with Saul Albert (UK) and Michael Weinkove (UK)

The People Speak is a set of ideas and strategies for stimulating debate, conversation, and self-expression. It develops experimental communication forms where the power structures are obvious and no instruction manual is required - the people speak!

Location: Semperdepot, Prospekthof, Léhargasse 6, 1060 Vienna

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Free Bitflows is realized in the framework of exStream, a two-year collaborative project of Hull Time Based Arts (Hull, UK), V2_ (Rotterdam, NL), Bootlab (Berlin, DE), InterSpace Media Art Center (Sofia, BG), and Institute for New Culture Technologies/t0 - Public Netbase (Vienna, AT).

Concept and Conference Editors: Konrad Becker, Felix Stalder
Conference Co-Editor: Pit Schultz

Institute for New Culture Technologies/t0
Zwischenquartier Burggasse 21
1070 Vienna, Austria
phone: ++43,1,522 18 34
fax: ++43, 1, 522 50 58
e-mail: office@t0.or.at
http://www.t0.or.at

Free Bitflows is realized with the support of the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union.