BY NELSON PAVLOSKY

In print | Published January 27, 2005

Why is this column named “Peer to Peer”? For most tech-savvy people, the term refers to peer-to-peer filesharing networks, computer programs that allow you to directly connect with other people around the world to exchange information. However, the term stands for a more general concept, a structure which can be applied not only to computer networks, but to many other aspects of society, including journalism, government and personal relationships. Peer to peer can be contrasted with master to slave, lord to serf, noble to peon — not just server-client network architectures. A peer-to-peer society is a relationship of equals, and that is exactly the democratic ideal that our country is founded upon: Our Declaration of Independence reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Our Constitution prohibits both the federal and state governments from granting titles of nobility, and you have a right to be tried by a jury of your peers.

The feasibility of a democracy is dependent upon the feasibility of placing its citizenry on a level playing field. Democracy as we think of it today could not have been possible on a large scale before the printing press, and the literacy and ability to communicate brought by the mass production of books, pamphlets and periodicals. The ability of the citizenry to be “informed and active” was basically brought into existence by information technology, which it continues to rely upon. Digital technology and the Internet have the potential to drastically increase the ability of the populace to both inform themselves and to act in concert with their fellow Americans and citizens of the world. Because the Internet lends itself to two-way communication, to direct connections between people, it represents a departure from traditional broadcast media and suggests a departure from a traditional passive culture. This transformation in society can only be a good thing, and the purpose of this column is to document and advocate for this cultural shift.

One (perhaps unwitting) ally in this peer-to-peer movement is our own Information Technology Services, which is responsible for connecting us to the Internet. I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words in praise of ITS; whatever its faults, it cannot be accused of significantly limiting our freedom to use the campus network as we please. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation (a nonprofit organization working to defend your digital rights) states, “Some schools have capitulated to Hollywood’s demands and are actively monitoring all campus Internet traffic; some are hunting down anything that looks like filesharing and disconnecting the implicated students from the network. Others are blithely turning over students’ names and addresses at the drop of an RIAA subpoena, even when the papers are filed in the wrong jurisdiction.” Note how little the actions of ITS resemble such horror stories, and applaud ITS for standing up to pressure from enormous entertainment companies “to assume the role of cop, judge and jailer,” in the words of the EFF.

ITS recognizes that peer-to-peer networks have legitimate uses as well as illegitimate uses and does not attempt to discriminate between them, nor does it ban the technology “just to be safe.” We are free to run our own servers on the network, and you could host your personal Web site from your own computer, if you so desired — this is not permitted on other campuses. This freedom to tinker with technology is essential to innovation and creativity, to learning and experimentation. Both Google and Yahoo originated as student projects run from the dorm rooms of their respective founders, without approval from their professors or the administration, outside of any class that they were taking. Without the ability to run servers on their campus network, we wouldn’t have either of these revolutionary companies that have made the Internet vastly more accessible and useful for its users. Also, literacy in this “new media” is important for democratic participation, and just as we run our own newspapers and literary magazines, we should be able to run our own Web sites and servers. Appreciate ITS for keeping our network free as they struggle to keep our network running, and for enabling us to participate in the digital revolution.

Nelson Pavlosky is a junior. You can reach him at npavlos1@swarthmore.edu.

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