In my previous 2 posts, I talked about the new Internet and how some artists who are entrenched in poverty can use the rule of law to restructure and shape a better society for all of us. Just how are they doing it?
Artists from conflict zones or who are stateless refugees have been given the first opportunity to access InternetBar Institute (IBO)’s online marketplace on the new Internet which makes trustworthy e-commerce accessible to all. IBO has been building an online justice system for over a decade to reach over one billion people across the globe who have no legal proof of their existence. By first organizing peripheralized artists and their fans into electronically linked networks of trust and interaction, cyberspace communities self-organize and learn new ways to communicate and work together.
And, what have these artists and their fans been telling us? They want a marketplace which is fair and just for all. And, they want to be able to tell their stories to a global audience and escape their entrenched poverty without having to resort to traditional justice systems where they will not have to face costs, delays and burdens that are disproportionate to the value they are trying to create and optimize.
To build such a marketplace on the new Internet is not only possible but is also happening now. So how will an online marketplace on a new Internet function globally? To start with, the communities of artists and fans have to trust each other across national boundaries in a global marketplace. So the first step, is for the artists themselves to undertake an obligation to their fans to tell the truth and only sell what they legally are able to. In exchange, their fans will interact with their artists fairly and respect their artists’ creations.
The trustworthy interactions taking place in these first online communities are a starting point for the development of new norms for cyberspace where we can count on being able to access both justice and opportunity. By starting with youth across the globe, we can build a new society based on a rule of law which is fair and justice.
If you want to find out more about IBO’s work, and, be the first to hear the stories, see the art and photography and hear the music of our artists from our current work in Poland, Jordan, Cameroon, The Gambia, Zambia and South Africa, contact jeffaresty@internetbar.org.