JUNK:MAIL
Build 960621
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The Official INTERZONE : CLUB INDUSTRIAL Electronic Newsletter
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BUILD 960621
Blueprint for a Virtual Republic
Let's face it folks: online countries are just around the corner. Any concept
that's been discussed in the mass media and in popular genres like science
fiction as much as the "Virtual Republic" has is bound to grow legs and walk
within a relatively short space of time. Currently, apart from a few sad
Americans who've set up their own "personal dictatorships", there are no
Virtual Republics on the Net. When I started looking into it, an Osaka-based
private organisation was running "the Virtual Republic of Kansai", but that
seems to have been taken offline recently. I think it would be both amusing
and potentially extremely lucrative to establish the first English Language
VR out of Australia. I guess the hard bit is: just what the Hell does a VR
do, how should it operate etc., and what benefits could it have for members?
I've been interested in the idea since I heard about the Virtual Country
thing Laibach are involved in (this is an offline VR with all the fruit,
including passports, visas, a Constitution etc., from the little I know about
it). Obviously, a lot of time and effort is needed to establish anything that
is going to be more than just a couple of lame pages and a mailing list. To
that end, I'd like to throw open the junk:mail mailing list as a venue for
discussion of the idea.
To get us started, here's a few ideas of mine:
I see VR as the route to utopia, because it offers us a chance to get away
from the age-old dilemma of personal freedom versus the rights of others in
a society. In the perfect world, the "Crowley Dictum" ("Do What Thou Wilt
Shall be the Whole of the Law") would apply, and everyone would still
happily coexist. Out here in skinspace, that utopian ideal is not viable:
Crowley based his idea of utopia on strength and domination, which is
untenable in a civilised society. Online--in the interspace--everyone is
equal though, and, at least in theory, equally able.
So, what could be the primary principle behind the VR utopia? How about:
Every entity has the right to refuse an interaction with another entity.
No other rights need exist.
Thus, in the VR, if you don't like someone or something you can simply
eliminate them from your universe: I guess it's the Three Monkeys principle
made viable. It couldn't affect the interactions of citizens and
non-citizens either online or offline, but it could certainly be applied to
interactions in the interspace between citizens of the VR (although it will
probably require some tricky killfiles, email-address logging etc.)
Of course, rules and guidelines are useful in shaping interactivity and
guiding cooperation, so naturally there will be a desire amongst members of
the VR to add extra strictures beyond this basic principle. This could lead
to deadlock over which principles to embody in "official rules", so I
further propose the concept of "Clans" within the VR. A Clan would be
defined as a subset of the VR population who have agreed to abide by a more
stringent (albeit carefully and explicitly defined) set of rules; to be
voluntarily bound by Clan-specific rules. Thus, the possibility exists for a
fascist dictatorship within the VR, but because Clan membership is an
entirely voluntary thing, a member (citizen) of the VR need only invoke the
basic right of non-association to break ties with the Clan if he or she so
chooses. I envisage a hierachical structure of rules-systems (less rules at
the top, more rules at the bottom), with individuals free to associate
themselves with Clans at any level, or to ignore all Clan-based restrictions
(and any advantages the Clans confer) and simply be a citizen of the VR.
I have been thinking about a second basic principle, but I now think that
it should probably form the basis of a "high-level" Clan (so VR citizens
have a choice not to abide by it):
All Information must be both free and freely available.
This would not compel people to "publish" all the information they hold,
but would prevent "available information" from being held in secret. It
would also negate the concepts of copyright, although research could still
occur in private.
There's a lot more I could discuss (revenue-raising for the VR,
administration of the VR outside of the Clan structure--I would suggest that
a special Clan be set up to coordinate administration, but that the "right
of non-association" still applies to this "Clan Admin"), but I think I'll
leave it at this for the moment, and await the comments of others.
Imagine the press for this thing! I think it's be damned easy to generate
publicity which will generate citizens which will in turn generate more
publicity and resources etc. Basically, "If We Build It They Will Come".
In order to add some controversial spice, I'd propose a few goals (all of
which would be announced publicly on the Web Page, so the press can
rant about them):
- Have more than 100,000 citizens by 1998
- Obtain a country-code suffix by 1999 (".iz")
- Be Admitted to the UN as a member state by 2001
- Have an economy exceeding US$1bn. by 2003
Of course, I have an idea for the name, based on the "place of
free-association" philosophy. As you might have guessed from the
country-code suffix above, I think the Virtual Republic should be
called, simply, "Interzone".
Cya,
JEREMY
(Jeremy G Byrne)
NEWS & VIEWS----------------------------------------------------------------
EMAS:
-----
As a follow-up to their April 27 gig at the UWA Refectory, EMAS have
announced "Further: the Leary Legacy", a tribute to the dear departed
Professor of LSD. Set for Friday June 28, at a "secret location" you'll
have to call a special number on the day to find out about (I worry about
the number of people who're going to get engaged signals...) Sensory
Overload and the new CSU are slated to play, along with a swag of five
DJs.
The venue is being decorated by a Professional Party Designer from the
UK, and live video mixing will complement the impressive light-show and
excellent sound system. This may sound like an advert, but I'm basing this
on my experience at the last gig; I can recommend it to anyone interested
in experimental electronic music (although the cheesy Commercial Jungle
faction within EMAS will have to be placated, so be prepared to set your
critical sensibilities aside for some parts of the evening).
The best way to find out about it is to locate an offline flyer, although
their new homepage will shortly link to an online version.
Dominion Social Club:
---------------------
Dominion are set to re-open this Saturday (June 22), having established
their permanency through a combination of local government lobbying and
good fortune. As of tomorrow night, Dominion will be running weekly, every
Saturday from 8:00PM, at 158 William Street (look for the seedy alleyway:
BYO torch).
Dominion caused some controversy in the Perth scene when they decided that
the "Nurse Nitrous" show planned for the venue by one of their volunteer
staff (an ex-Interzone staffmember BTW) was not compatible with their
image. That may be a little harsh, as there was apparently some increased
police attention paid to the club because of the drug references in the
"Nurse Nitrous" promotional material, but the situation caused some
friction and has led Dominion to state that they are going to avoid
techno-oriented nights for a while. This also set back plans by EMAS for
a gig ("Labyrith") they had hoped to run at the venue. Perhaps later.
("Nurse Nitrous" ran very successfully despite this setback, and was
apparently completely outrageous. More are planned.)
Remember, this is a members & guests-only club, so try to latch onto a
regular or call Mike on 061 (09) 381 9252 for details. Rumours are that a
Web Page is imminent.
Sherrif Lindo and Scratch-e:
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Well, I&S are gone--giving way to "Batfink and Booboo"--and Perth saw
their last three gigs. Paul and Itch-e stand-in Sherrif (Itch-e doesn't
like live gigging) played three excellent shows, well supported at the
first (Infirmary) and last (Pica) by Sensory Overload. The word is that
their change of name marks a change of direction away from the Volition-
inspired commercial shift of the last album. Apparently plans are
underway to form a new record label devoted to establishing a unique
sound exclusive of European trends. Let's hope this means something more
worthwhile than "Bouncing Chamber".
The Perth Scene Archive Project:
--------------------------------
Conceived in a spirit of madness and frivolity many moons ago, this idea
has finally scuttled out from under the cupboard and into the light (ie.
someone else but me has shown interest).
Image a website where you could revisit those sadly-missed haunts of your
misspent youth: the Firm, the Asylum, even the Parrot. You've probably
still got flyers or passes from those days--maybe even newspaper clippings
or photos--tucked away in some forgotten corner, amongst the silverfish
shit and spent nangs. If so, we're interested, especially if you can have
them scanned and sent along as JPG files of no more than 300x300 pixels
(depending on the complexity of the original).
For the moment, send anything you have (including anecdotes and
reminiscences) to interzone@midnight.com.au. All material will be
acknowledges (unless you want it to be anonymous). More about the
project as it develops.
CJ Bolan Cancels:
-----------------
Having freaked-out somewhere over central Europe, forcing his plane to
land in Frankfurt so the other passengers weren't distressed, CJ Bolan has
vanished back in the wilds of London and won't be playing his Perth gig
with CSU. The band are keen to emphasise that the gig is still going ahead,
with a couple of Canadian DJs filling out the bill, and details can be
obtained from the press or flyers (meaning I don't have them to hand...)
LIES------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred's Dungeon of Delights--a warning:
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The very first EMAS gig took place in the seedier-than-Dominion labyrinth
within and below the Raggabone Records store in Barrack Street (as
reported in Build 960506). Since that time, the
organiser has run a number of similar shows under his own auspices. Sadly,
the practice of allowing patrons to openly smoke dope around the venue has
led to a number of police raids and searches. So fiends, if you plan to
attend any of these all-too-literally "Underground Events", make sure you
leave the aerosols, picks and hookah under your bed, beside the Ether and
the Nitrous tank.
IZ STUFF--------------------------------------------------------------------
Into the Interzone:
-------------------
Well, these days Interzone burns brightest in the dataflow. With the club
in hibernation, our electronic presence is about all we can offer. For
those of you with more time than sense, here are Interzone's online
details in one handy reference:
E-MAIL: interzone@midnight.com.au
LISTSERV: netslave@midnight.com.au (for info/subs/help re. the List)
MAILING LIST: junkmail@midnight.com.au (for posting to the whole List)
WWW: http://www.midnight.com.au/interzone/
--------------------------------POSTSCRIPT----------------------------------
junkmail@midnight.com.au: Interzone's Electronic Mailing List
This wonder of modern technology waits--humming and buzzing weirdly to
itself in the perpetual darkness of midnight.com.au--to serve all your
postal needs (well, to distribute your messages to the all the subscribers
to the Mailing List and JUNK:MAIL anyhow).
There are two components to the Mailing List: the List itself (the email
address where you can send stuff for automagical distribution to all
those deserving folx out there) and the List Server (the email address
where you can send administrative commands to get on or off the list, to
find out how many people are on it, get help about it and eventually
retreive files from it). The List is "junkmail@midnight.com.au" and the
List Server is "netslave@midnight.com.au". Don't get these confused, or
you'll look like a complete bunny.
How do you use it? Well, it's no more complex than programming your VCR!
o TO SUBSCRIBE:
Post to netslave@midnight.com.au with "SUBSCRIBE [address] junkmail"
(where [address] is the email address of the person you wish to add
to the Mailing List) as the body of the message (don't put anything
else in there, including your .sig!)
o TO UNSUBSCRIBE:
Post to netslave@midnight.com.au with "UNSUBSCRIBE [address]
junkmail" (where [address] is the email address of the person you
wish to zap from the Mailing List) as the body of the message.
o TO GET HELP:
Post to netslave@midnight.com.au with "HELP" in the body of the
message. This will return a complete list of wonderful things that
the List Server can do for you (which I won't go into here).
Note that junkmail@ is not the only List that netslave@ handles.
o TO SPREAD THE WORD:
Anything and everything you post to junkmail@midnight.com.au will
be duplicated and posted back to everyone on the Mailing List.
Please don't abuse this: there are folx out there paying for
bandwidth!
At some stage in the future there may be a need to establish a separate
list for JUNK:MAIL subscribers who do not wish to receive all the postings
to the junkmail@ list. If you feel you fall into this category, please
post to interzone@midnight.com.au and we'll try to work something out.
Incidentally, "Junk" was the Interzone Magazine, which has yet to see the
light of day. Until it does, JUNK:MAIL will just have to suffice.
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INTERZONE: JUNK:MAIL (Build 960621)