At Camp Pixelache, an event I attended last month in Helsinki, Finland, I met Luis F. Medina who is a new media professor/researcher and cultural producer and one of the founders of the project Trueque Digital (TD).
Trueque Digital started in 2009 was founded by Medina, Fundacion Casa del Bosque, and Pio in the City of Bogotá, Colombia and it explores how sharing files and networking could work in a more personal way. TD is a traveling project where people gather to share digital content under open licenses and public domain. Each person participating brings a storage device to share information which is hooked up to the computer network for downloading files, and also a wireless network can be used.
While sharing this information (which might include video, music, books, etc.), there are often events and lectures about technology and our culture which might include topics such as open exchange models, p2p networks, net neutrality, culture free issues, hacktivism, and others. The project explores how one individual can give another person files as a digital bartering system.
The project came out of a few friends hanging out and talking, and they wanted to exchange files. The question, “How can we humanize this experience?” came up, and this idea inspired the project Trueque Digital.
At a Trueque Digital event, a “Trueque” is setup as a public access space such as at a museum, university, and cultural centers. Storage items are linked in order to digitally barter legally in the real world. Right now the group is often invited to setup a Truequ in person, but they are currentley re-engineering the project to have how-to directions so that it is easier for others to setup a Trueque without the groups’ participation.
The project has several aspects to it. One aspect is setting up a bartering zone” in which open source software and free culture are promoted. It also explores hardware recycling. Many old computers and a small land network are used to share files. At some events there is a real world of bartering involved, with an exchange of physical objects such as a book exchange occurring in parks.
In his presentation, Medina said that, “With the exchange of digital files there are always copyright issues. Usually we are fighting for the right to upload – what about the right to upload? “
In his presentation, Medina talked about how the project explores hacker ethics. It also challenged him and the rest of the founders of the project to acquire new skills through the process of having to problem solve and learn new things to make the project work.
Recent activities of the project include a Digital Barter event in Bogota, Colombia on May 5th in coordination with the Eighth Festival of Latin American Free Software Installation. The event was organized by the communities of free software and free culture of Bogotá and was supported by organizations, companies, university groups and other public institutions who are engaged in the promotion of free software and culture. Trueque Digital was there setting up a Trueque and generating fie exchange. If you are interested in setting up a Trueque in the future, check out their website, directions to set up a Trueque will be added to the site soon.
Image Source:
www.flickr.com/photos/truequedigital
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