John Perry Barlow

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John Perry Barlow (2010)

John Perry Barlow (born October 3, 1947 in Sublette County , Wyoming - † February 7, 2018 in San Francisco , California ) was an American civil rights activist and songwriter for the rock band Grateful Dead . On February 8, 1996, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, he wrote the declaration of independence for cyberspace . The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which he co-founded, fought, among other things, to ensure that emails in the USA enjoy the same protection of privacy as telephone calls or that software source code falls under the right of freedom of expression.

Life

Barlow was born to Norma Barlow and Miriam Barlow (née Jenkins). Barlow's father was a Republican MP in Parliament from Wyoming . Barlow was raised in the Mormon Faith . He spent his primary school days in a village school where all students were taught in one room at the same time. Barlow grew up on his family's ranch in Wyoming. The almost 90 km 2 property was founded in 1907 by a great uncle Barlow's, the family raised cattle there. The nearest neighbor lived there about six kilometers away.

His parents later sent him to Fountain Valley High School in Colorado, where he met the future Grateful Dead musician Bob Weir . He then studied at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He graduated in 1969 with a degree in comparative religion. During his student days, Barlow also took part in LSD trips with Timothy Leary . Barlow got the chance to study at Harvard Law School , but instead opted to travel to India and other places to write a novel - which he never published.

From 1971 until the band split up in 1995 after Jerry Garcia's death, Barlow wrote songs, including about 30 for the Grateful Dead , including pieces such as “Estimated Prophet”, “Cassidy”, “The Music Never Stopped”, “Mexicali Blues” and “ Hell in a Bucket ”. He mostly worked with Bob Weir .

After his father's death in 1972, Barlow returned to the ranch to continue running the indebted property. He lived there until the early 1990s. In Wyoming he was active for the Republican Party and coordinated, among other things, the congressional election campaign of Dick Cheney, from whose political views Barlow later distanced himself.

In 1990 he founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation with Mitchell Kapor and John Gilmore and was a board member until his death.

Barlow campaigned for a free Internet, civil rights and free speech, and represented these positions at lectures, lectures and discussions at TWiT Live, TEDx Hamburg, Internet Society (NY Chapter, New York), the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, among others .

He was a founder and served on the board of directors of the Freedom of the Press Foundation .

Barlow died in San Francisco in 2018. The reason for his death is not known; he suffered from heart problems since 2015.

Barlow was married and divorced in 1977. His second fiancée died unexpectedly in 1994. Barlow had three daughters and one granddaughter at the time of his death.

plant

Barlow often compared the Internet to the vast areas of his childhood. He praised the freedom and space that gives you the opportunity to define yourself. His view that the Internet is a free space in which everyone can and should be creative was shaped, among other things, by his time with the Grateful Dead , which has always asked fans to record their concerts and circulate them.

His first intensive study of the computer came in 1985 when he used a computer to manage his ranch. In 1986 he became director of WELL ( Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link ), an early online forum where members from music, publishing and technology came together.

Kapor described Barlow in 1995 as the "uncrowned Poet Laureate " of cyberspace. The executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in her obituary that it was thanks to Barlow that the Internet “has become a world where anyone can express their beliefs, no matter how unique, without being afraid of them, in silence or Conformity to be forced. "

He has often been described as a supporter of a naive techno- libertarianism who was convinced that the Internet alone would make the world a better place. According to close companions like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, however, he also saw the possible dark sides of the network, but believed that he could best steer the development in the right direction by describing it as an almost inevitable utopia.

Fonts

  • Notable Speeches of the Information Age , O'Reilly Media 1994 ISBN 978-1565929920 .
  • Wine without bottles. Global computer networks, ideas economy and copyright law. In: Lettre International . Number 26, Fall 1994, pp. 57-63.

Principles of adult behavior

On August 15, 2013, Barlow took part in an AMA ("Ask Me Anything") on Reddit , referring to his Principles of Adult Behavior , which he wrote down in 1977 on the eve of his thirtieth birthday. They have since circulated on the Internet:

  1. Be patient. Always.
  2. Don't make anyone bad. Assign responsibility, not blame. Don't say anything about someone else that you wouldn't tell them to their face.
  3. Never assume that other people's motivations seem less noble to them than yours to you.
  4. Expand your sense of the possible.
  5. Don't burden yourself with matters that you actually cannot change.
  6. Don't expect more from others than you can afford yourself.
  7. Endure ambiguity.
  8. Laugh at yourself often.
  9. Care about what's right, not who is right.
  10. Never forget that you could be wrong - even if you are sure.
  11. Get used to cockfighting.
  12. Remember that your life belongs to others too. Don't risk it recklessly.
  13. Don't lie to anyone - for whatever reason. (Omission lies are sometimes allowed)
  14. Recognize and respect the needs of those around you.
  15. Avoid the search for happiness. Try to define your goal and pursue it.
  16. Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.
  17. Praise at least as often as you blame.
  18. Admit your mistakes openly and early.
  19. Become less suspicious of joy.
  20. Understand humility.
  21. Remember that love forgives everything.
  22. Support dignity.
  23. Live memorable.
  24. Love yourself.
  25. Hold on.

Web links

Commons : John Perry Barlow  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Perry Barlow: Is Cyberspace Still Anti-Sovereign? February 12, 2018, accessed February 9, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sam Roberts: John Perry Barlow, 70, Dies; Championed on Unfettered Internet . In: The New York Times . February 8, 2018, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed February 9, 2018]).
  3. ^ John Perry Barlow Library. In: John Perry Barlow Library. Electronic Frontier Foundation, February 9, 2018, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  4. ^ John Perry Barlow, Leo Laporte, Tom Merritt: The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the state of freedom on the internet. (Video on YouTube; 51:08 minutes) TWiT Netcast Network, October 20, 2010, accessed on February 8, 2018 (English).
  5. ↑ John Perry Barlow: Enantiodromia. 18-minute video. In: YouTube. TEDxHamburg , June 30, 2010, accessed on February 8, 2018 .
  6. ^ John Perry Barlow: The First Internet Election. (Video on YouTube; 62:22 minutes) Internet Society (New York Chapter), October 27, 2008, accessed February 8, 2018 .
  7. ↑ John Perry Barlow, John Gilmore : Fulbright Chair Speaker Series. (MP3; 57.1 MB; 1:59 hours) USC Center on Public Diplomacy, November 14, 2006, archived from the original on December 4, 2006 ; accessed on February 8, 2018 .
  8. ^ I am John Perry Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, lyricist for the Grateful Dead. My most recent work is with the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Ask me anything. : IAmA. Reddit.com, accessed February 8, 2018 . Adult Principles. (jpg) Archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on March 16, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Barlow, John Perry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American civil rights activist and copywriter for the Grateful Dead
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Sublette County , Wyoming
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 2018
Place of death San Francisco , California