11:00 Opening speech with Rop and Emmanuel
From What The Wiki?!
As every opening speech, a bit later then planned, Greg started with some general announcements. - We need your help! What The Hack is completely build by volunteers, and we are always short of those - Be sure to read and write for the wiki (http://news.whatthehack.org) - There is still some time left for people with an interesting story or lecture, stop by the speakers building for information - Keep the terrain clean
At 11.15 Rop Gongrijp and Emmanuel Goldstein started with the official opening of What The Hack?! 2005. The following two hours Rop and Emmanuel talked about the history of these events and our hacker culture. I’ll try to make a summary on the main subjects that Rop and Emmanuel talked about. Be sure to add your own opinions, interpretations or summaries in the discussion part of this wiki.
A short public announcement from Rop: Purple wristbands are What The Hack speakers, Pink wristbands are the police. So be sure to don’t go around and harass the speakers…
The hacker culture is all about trying to figure out that, what we do not know yet. Even though we are being told it is not for our ears or for our eyes. Finding the answers, and letting the world now. The fear of eventually losing control is why governments and large corporations see hackers as there enemy.
Freedom of speech of the printed word is something most people understand, even the people outside of our community. But Freedom of speech in the digital world is under attack all the time, we are losing terrain every day. We can make a difference, people are aware of the freedoms they are losing and the fact that there privacy is disappearing. But people are afraid. Afraid of their boss, of what colleagues might think, afraid of the government or afraid of terrorists. What we do has value and can make a difference. By events like this we can let the world see what we are all about. Spread the word by any means and with any medium you have available. Hackers are not dead!
At the 1993 End of the Universe gathering Rop felt a special vibe. They knew, they knew the internet was going to be big while the outside world had no idea what the fuzz was all about. The history of internet in The Netherlands is closely linked to events like this. At this event, Emmanuel told, he could get to angry about the fact that such an event was not possible in the US that decides to go ahead and do it anyway. In the center of NY, here ‘hope’ was born.
From 1993 until 1997 it was happening. Urls started appearing and email addresses where being used. Finnally people could connect to a place with total freedom. A place that the individual could have total control over. Its because of this free and unregulated medium that there was a cultural media change. It permanently changed the way we look at the media.
We must not rely on the mass media to change all of a sudden, the best way of doing things is doing them yourself. Reach to other people, share the knowledge, share your opinions and talk about the current situation. Maybe in this way we can have some control over the media. Since 9/11 the world has changed bringing fear into the people and blinding them for what is happening. We need to speak up, for the world in these dark times. Only if we keep telling that whats happening is wrong we can make a difference.
For the Netherlands this is also true. In the last couple of years NL has gone mad. Political murders and radical changes in our governments make it that democracy is slipping. Hackers are people that can see though the bullshit. Speak for the masses and lets make a difference. Educate the new generations, because it is not being done by anybody else.
Hacking is not a crime Its fun
Thanks Rop and Emmanuel, see you at the next event!
Jgommers 28 July 2005 20:45 (CEST) click here for a Photo impression
