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Would you take part in the proposed IrelandOffline BLACKOUT ?
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26-09-2001 1:46am#1
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well.. I *would* vote yes... but I moved my comp up here to galway with me and I don't have any outside access with it at all... there's a phone in my room but only for incoming calls.
the only net i get is from the comps in the college... but,in keeping with the spirit of the blackout, I will try not to go online for the weekend
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I voted no. You wanted to hear my reasoning - any snotty replies to this will be ignored Sorry for sounding so negative with these I know how hard everyone is trying to come up with ideas.
1. Not using the internet for 1 out of 365 days will not hurt Eircom in any meaningful sense.
2. I haven't seen a huge PR impact from other groups worldwide who tried this. How do we measure it. "A group of users say they're not going to use the internet for a day, bohoohoo".
3. I'm not willing to do this on a weekend, as it's the only time I have flat rate (ntl) and generally the only time I have to update my site (50,000 visitors a month), talk to my online friends, search the job sites etc. If it was held on a weekday when I didn't use the net at home, then it's all a bit fake on my part isn't it.
If we were to do something, I'd like to see something significant that would really *hurt* Eircom.
I've suggested
- boycott advertisers accepting Eircom ads
Others might be
- boycott eircom.net & indigo - I don't see why any supporter of IOFFL cannot use a competing product
- flood their customer support and advice lines with queries requiring answers.
- prevent Eircom users from accessing our websites (as I believe suggested by Tom Murphy). Alternatively redirect for 30 seconds to another page setting out our grievances.
- challenge each and every public statement made by Eircom - be it in seminars, on websites or in the media.
- change your telephone provider to someone, anyone, else.
I think at the root of it I just consider this an innefectual protest which will hurt me more than Eircom.0 -
I voted no. You wanted to hear my reasoning - any snotty replies to this will be ignored Sorry for sounding so negative with these I know how hard everyone is trying to come up with ideas.
Thanks for posting hmmm, it's appreciated. I don't want to attack or flame anyone (and I'm sure Bard will stomp hard on anyone who does, because this pair of threads is focusing nicely), I'm just curious as to why some people refuse (as against not being able) to take part, because I want to make sure there are no misconceptions that can't be cleared up with a bit of simple dialogue. And I think your posting proves that that can happen. (And I'm not being snotty when I say that.)
1. Not using the internet for 1 out of 365 days will not hurt Eircom in any meaningful sense.
It certainly won't hurt them financially in any meaningful sense, I'll grant you that - although it might put them a wee bit out of pocket on the day - but money isn't all Eircom is concerned with, and it's certainly not what I'm concerned with when I make these suggestions, apart from trying to save myself a few quid in the long run. They've spent dozens of millions of pounds building their brand, developing it to make them look like a caring, sharing company that values its customers. We all know that's simply not true, but The Man In The Street isn't as clued-up as us.
Look at their television and magazine advertisments: families hugging and kissing; children playing; happy, smiling faces everywhere. But you're not happy, are you? None of us are, and I would go so far as to say that anyone who has actually had to deal directly with Eircom since their inception - as against just making the phone calls and paying the bills - has had at least one occasion when they've seen the true character of Eircom - an arrogant, greedy, anti-competitive organisation that genuinely doesn't care about anyone only itself.
Our task in this protest isn't to hurt Eircom financially, but to hurt their brand, to make sure people see through the lies and fallacies to the underlying evil core of the organisation. We have to show the people who don't know any better what Eircom are really like. We have to demonstrate that they're not just screwing us: the heavy Internet user, the nerd, the geek, the gamer; but that they're screwing them too: the man in the street, the monthly shopper, the daily email checker, the occasional pleasure surfer.
Let me project a best-case scenario for you. It might not work out like this, but it could, so humour me for a moment. Let's say that on the weekend in question, a fairly large number of people stop using their comms on Friday, and join in on the protest over the weekend, by: cutting back on non-essential calls; using their mobiles as an alternative; removing their websites for the weekend; distributing flyers; pinning posters to notice boards; attending a rally in their city; etc, etc.
All of those will draw attention, but of all of the above, I believe the rallies and the removed websites will have the biggest impact, because the telco's will lie about effects, and play The BLACKOUT down. But rallies and black websites are visual, and I'm pretty certain that if a user *is* surfing the net that day, and they see more than one site removed and replaced with The BLACKOUT page, they'll tell their friends. And the buzz will reach the media, and the media will pick it up. Not just the national media, but also the international tech sites like Slashdot, The Register and Wired.
They love this stuff, and although reaction on sites like The Reg and Wired is limited by the lack of a visible discussion forum, it will be noticed by the national and international communities, it will be picked up on Plastic and in the Delphi forums. And believe me, if you get CmdrTaco to accept an article on the topic on Slashdot, the Open Source and hacker communities will light the board up with cries of support. That's the way the Internet community works, especially when the Honest User is being opressed. And we are being oppressed.
But that's not our ultimate goal, our ultimate goal is bringing this to the attention of the people of Ireland, and so the government of Ireland. And I think that will happen - people will start seeing through the bluff and lies to what Eircom really are, and - and here's the nub - we'll hurt Eircom's brand, and so their lobbying power, because they will have lost respect. The government will realise that the people as an action group are far more powerful than Eircom will ever be, and they'll *have* to stand up for them. And Eircom will have to at least start thinking about complying.
It's democracy hmmmm, it's guaranteed in the Irish Constitution, and better, it's democracy with an approaching election. You have to let the people speak, and if you can, you have to join in, or you have no right to complain.
2. I haven't seen a huge PR impact from other groups worldwide who tried this. How do we measure it. "A group of users say they're not going to use the internet for a day, bohoohoo".
And that's exactly why our protest has to be bigger, better, faster (fnaaar!), more; that's exactly why I've taken all the suggestions - and continuing suggestions - and rolled them into one. The more ways we come up with of protesting on the weekend, the more methods we can provide to comms users, the more they can do, and the bigger effect the protest will have. As long as it's concerted, and not fragmented, it will work.
3. I'm not willing to do this on a weekend, as it's the only time I have flat rate (ntl) and generally the only time I have to update my site (50,000 visitors a month), talk to my online friends, search the job sites etc. If it was held on a weekday when I didn't use the net at home, then it's all a bit fake on my part isn't it.
I have to be snotty here for a second, but I don't mean any personal offense by it, ok? What you said there is endemic of Irish democracy - "I'm not willing". "I'm not willing", "I can't", "I won't", "I don't want to". To be honest with you hmmm, I don't care if that's the only time you have flat-rate Internet access - I don't have it at all. I don't care about your site - I run plenty myself thank you, with a hell of a lot more traffic than you. I don't care about your business - I run my entire business on the Internet.
If you're not willing to make a sacrifice, however small, to better your comms, you don't *deserve* better comms. You have plenty of options open to you, and not using the Internet at the weekend is only one of them, and I've made that *crystal* clear over the last few days. You say you don't want to do it at the weekend, then don't, do it on Friday. You have 50,000 vistors a month? Well then, you're a prime candidate to make an important statement aren't you?
If you can honestly tell me that taking down your site for the weekend, or even a day, is going to put you in an unrecoverable position, then I accept that, that's ok, but protest in another way then. If I haven't come up with something you think viable yet, use one of your own suggestions, and brand it as The Blackout and link to The BLACKOUT site so people know why you're doing it.
But don't say you're not willing, please. Be confident, be optimistic, be upbeat. Get involved, take part, do something. Tell your friends, anything, just *do something*.
I'm not going to go through your suggestions one by one, because they're good, and I respect you for making the effort. But remember, the money we save ourselves and take off Eircom on the day is unimportant, it's a non-entity, I don't care about it. We're trying to hurt Eircom's brand here, we're trying to bring the evil empire down by showing people that they *are* an evil empire. We're telling the government we're not taking it any more, and they have to do something, now.
I hope that wasn't too snotty, genuinely.
adam0 -
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