| <section id="preface-overview"> |
| |
| <title>Overview</title> |
| |
| <para> |
| Since 1999, I've been working for cuban State as Webmaster and |
| lately as system administrator. On April 2009, I decided to |
| stop working for cuban State due the increasing feeling of |
| repression I experimented with the restrictions impossed by |
| cuban State in the information area when I tried to find an |
| alternative way to express myself different from what such |
| restrictions impossed. This environment made me find that the |
| cuban political system lacks of such independent alternatives |
| for cubans to use. I don't pretend to use this book to detail |
| the political system I live on, but I do want to say that the |
| more I got involved with the cuban political system the more |
| distance I felt between the most pure of myself and the |
| actions the system expected from me to do as system |
| administrator, and what could be an alternative way for cubans |
| inside the island that, like me, feel the same need of |
| independent expression. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| Everything in the human life is directly related to |
| information. Our actions are based on the information we have. |
| The information is the base of education and evolution. It is |
| the only way we can know how to do the right thing for us and |
| others. I beleive that, in order to provide a good education, |
| the universal information must be accessable to everyone in a |
| transparent way, based on facts and without any manipulation |
| (i.e., in way others can reproduce or verify what the |
| information refers to). That kind of information is good |
| information to based our lives on. However, there are also bad |
| information that we need to differentiate from good |
| information using our own conscience, not that one from |
| others. I like the idea of structuring my life over pragmatic |
| fatcs that I can verify together with a deep faith on what I |
| am that help me to persist along the duty. The pragmatic fatcs |
| provides the steps of the stair of my life and the faith, the |
| force my body needs to climb up the stair. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| The years I worked for cuban State coincided with those years |
| I began to realized myself about the steps of my stair and the |
| faith on my movements. Lot of contradictions have been |
| appearing in front of me since then, but a magical thing |
| inside me (conscience) always tell me not to abandon the must |
| pure of my self and keep going with this travel I'm still |
| walking on; even when moving up one step in the stair feels |
| like rasping the skin of my body against a rough wall. I know |
| it will heal, but it hurts when happens. The only way to |
| support the pain is to have faith on the rightness of your |
| actions. That's the price of don't loosing oneself when |
| walking over pragmatic facts in a confussed and unarmed |
| society. That's the price of showing out that truth is inside |
| us, not outside us. It is the way of showing the truth is in |
| the one's faith, no matter what it be, but in feeling it |
| somehow, specially when it comes from understanding what we |
| are and the immense gift it is to have conscience of our |
| univeral existence as part of that unknown nature we, as |
| living humans, cannot ever have conscience of. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| I've experimented faith in free software and the philosophy |
| behind it by mean of &TCP;, but no possible way to manifest it |
| independently from cuban State. The cuban State controls all |
| the communication media and very few possibilities are |
| available for cubans to build up independent collaborative |
| networks using computers inside the island for sharing |
| information apart from cuban State restrictions and |
| conditions. One of these possibilities is the telepohne |
| network the cuban State provides, which has national scope. |
| Generally, cubans use the telephone network to talk among |
| themselves, but it is also possible to use this network to |
| transmit information that cannot be communicated using the |
| regular method of human talking. It is possible to attach |
| computers to the telephone network the cuban State provides to |
| transmit whatever information a computer can produce (e.g., |
| images, documents, programs, etc.) from one location in the |
| island to another and encrypting the information traveling |
| along the wire to garantee its privacy (e.g., the source |
| computer protects the information in a way that only the |
| target computer is able to unprotect. If the information is |
| intercepted by a computer located in the transmission middle, |
| it would be useless for that computer since only the target |
| can use it once it has been unprotected). We'll see more about |
| this later. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| In these last years (2009-2011), the cuban State has shown |
| signs to start using free software with the idea of |
| <quote>reaching a technological independency</quote> which is |
| quiet contradictory to me. What independency we are talking |
| about here? Independency for whom, and from whom? Based on |
| the meaning of the word, independency is the lack of any |
| dependency, so the only way I see the cuban State will be able |
| to reach such technological independency would be creating and |
| maintaining an entire technological infrastructure (e.g., |
| computers, communication devices, operating systems written |
| from scratch, etc.) inside its political boundaries without |
| any intervention from the outside world. Otherwise, the cuban |
| State would be inevitably dependent from someone else that can |
| differ at some point of the production string and that would |
| be something unacceptable, because it would compromise the |
| idea the cuban State had about independency in first place |
| (i.e., no dependency). |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| If the vision described above about what the cuban State tries |
| to mean by <quote>reaching a technological |
| independency</quote> sounds appropriate to you, the cuban |
| State is misunderstanding or trying to distort the real |
| meaning of free software and the philosophy behind it. The |
| free software is built from people and dedicated to people who |
| might be in need of it, with the hope of being useful and |
| garantee the freedom of computer users paying or not a |
| monetary price for it. The cuban State, on the other hand, |
| introduces free software at convenience because there are |
| entire operating systems free of charge which the cuban State |
| can study and change as needed, not in the sense of |
| guaranteeing the freedom it provides to people, but as a way |
| to control what software does cubans use and the way they do |
| that. It is another impositions cubans should comply with, no |
| matter what they think about it.<footnote> |
| <para> |
| When I was working in the health sector of cuban State |
| (2003-2007), my superior told me once that I couldn't keep |
| using &TCD; on servers any longer, because system |
| administrators at central level stopped using Red Hat |
| related distribution and started to use Debian. I don't |
| want to enter in a debate why one or another distribution, |
| that's not the point. But I do want to mention that this |
| decision shouldn't be taken from one day to another |
| without any consideration about all the time people spent |
| studying (and working for) one specific GNU/Linux |
| distribution. My opinion was rejected and they kept |
| themselves showing me that it was a matter of politics one |
| should follow, no matter what one thought about it. I |
| couldn't accept that and fired up myself from that |
| institution. I cannot change from one operating system to |
| another just because someone else wants to. |
| </para> |
| </footnote> Some people might think that there is no problem |
| in that because it is free software anyway. Yes, that's true, |
| but think that again: Shouldn't you have the freedom to decide |
| what free software to use, and also what community you join |
| to? No one must impose you anything about which social |
| community you participate in, that is a decision you need to |
| take by yourself, not from someone else. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| The free software isn't free because of its name, but the |
| legal, social, economical and political environment it is used |
| in. If licenses used by software producers to release their |
| works (either freely or privatively) aren't protected somehow |
| in that environment, software producers wont be motivated to |
| create any software at all (either free or privative). |
| Consider what is happening in Cuba with Windows, the operating |
| system produced by Microsoft corporation: when someone install |
| the Windows operating system, one of the first screens in the |
| installation process is the License Agreement under which |
| Microsoft corporation releases its product. This agreement |
| relys on the copyright concept, a legal instrument that was |
| initially created to motivate authors to create more. |
| Likewise, the Free Software Foundation relys on the copyright |
| concept to distribute free software. The fact the License |
| Agreement of Windows operating system isn't complied in Cuba |
| (e.g., no cuban pays Microsoft corporation for using its |
| operating system) as Microsoft imposses in its License |
| Agreement, is a clear sign of international copyright |
| violation, no matter if Cuba can or cannot establish |
| commercial treatments with Microsoft corporation because of |
| the Embargo impossed by United States of America against Cuba. |
| It is an ethical matter cubans need to comply with in order to |
| help reducing the tension against both nations by showing |
| respect for their creators and the way they expect their |
| products to be distributed world-wide. Personally, I don't |
| use Windows operating system since 2003 when I discovered the |
| free software philosophy,<footnote> |
| <para> |
| I want to thank my teacher Jesús Aneiros Sosa for |
| intructing me in the free software philosophy and for |
| leading the Linux User Group (LUG) of Cienfuegos during so |
| many years and transmiting the feeling of freedom. |
| </para> |
| </footnote> but I am worried about the legal issues cubans |
| might face when developing free software. For example, will |
| the cuban State treat the free software license in the same |
| way it treats privative software licenses? If the cuban State |
| has no legal regulation to protect the international copyright |
| concept (i.e., letting authors to publish their works the way |
| they want to and provide the legal protections needed to |
| deprive people from using those creations in a way different |
| from that one conceived by their authors), it would be very |
| difficult to truly motivate people to create free software (or |
| anything else) in Cuba. The main problem here is that you can |
| write free software, but what instrument you have to protect |
| it from others to make your code privative and forbbid you, |
| this way, from using further improvements over the code you |
| wrote yourself. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| It is important to remember that the free software movement |
| was initiated by Richard Stallman in the United States of |
| America, based on the legal system of that country, |
| specifically in the copyright concept being in force. In order |
| to use free software, in the sense of freedom thought by |
| Richard Stallman, it is required that a similar underlaying |
| legal system in matters of copyright concepts be present in |
| Cuba, or an agreement be complied among all countries (e.g., |
| The Berna Treatment) for this matters. I've heard that Cuba |
| signed The Berna Treatment, however what is happening with |
| Windows operating system gives the impression that cuban State |
| is not complying with the agreement it signed on there. For |
| cuban society to understand what free software and the |
| philosophy behind it really are, it is required to force a |
| strong concept of copyright in the cuban legislation, even |
| when some authors might want to deny the cuban State from |
| using the work they produce or use it under conditions the |
| cuban State doesn't agree with. It is required to give that |
| legal power to cuban authors, the people who create. I wonder |
| if the cuban State is ready for that; and if not, why? I |
| really would like to know in order to find a solution. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| Free software communities are the place where free software is |
| produced. There are international, national and local |
| communities grouped under the free software philosophy. In |
| Cuba, because all the communication media are controlled by |
| the cuban State and conceived to its own benefit, it is |
| difficult for anyone differing from cuban State to have access |
| to communication media where the free software communities |
| live in. I strongly beleive that for the free software |
| philosophy to touch the heart of cubans, all free software |
| communities must be accessable to cubans. However, while the |
| cuban State keeps itself being inbetween, controlling how the |
| cubans can or cannot integrate any specific way of living, |
| there will not be free software in Cuba, nor any freedom for |
| cubans to make use of. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| Another frequent topic mentioned by the cuban State |
| information media is the migration from privative software to |
| free software. The migration from privative software to free |
| software must be initiated from people's deepest comprehension |
| of what they are doing, not from impositions of another |
| inquestionable order everybody needs to comply with. So, |
| cubans need to feel what freedom is and express it in order to |
| perceive a deep impact of free software in cuban society. We |
| cannot pretend that cubans will use free software based on a |
| lie or a distorted idea about the freedom it provides, an idea |
| like that wont last much before it falls itself into pieces. |
| People need a way of identifying themselves apart from any |
| social or political system in order for them to be able of |
| decide whether or not to be part of one. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| It is impossible to truly defend freedom if one doesn't have |
| felt what it is. The cuban State never talks (at least |
| officially) about introducing free software for freeing the |
| cuban society from privative software. In fact, if you compare |
| the privative software and the way cuban State restricts the |
| information management,<footnote> |
| <para> |
| See resolution 129 emitted by cuban Ministerium of |
| Informatics and Telecommunications (MIT). |
| </para> |
| </footnote> you may find them very similar. The resolutions |
| emitted by cuban State are specific to statal instituions that |
| use computers to share information. I don't know of any legal |
| estipulation about using information and communication |
| technologies by nautural people outside the statal sector and, |
| spite of it, I've heard of cubans that has been called by the |
| cuban State security departament to explain why they built a |
| computer network in the neighbourhood to share information |
| (isn't that obvious) and finally they were intimidated to stop |
| doing so. There isn't a legal instrument in either direction |
| that one can use as pattern to act legally. The cuban State |
| has all the legal power to condemn you as cuban, but you are |
| completly unarmed against it. If the cuban State really wants |
| to be democratic, it needs to give to cubans the arms they |
| need to fight against it without fear of being defeated. |
| Indeed, there would be no defeating at all, but evolution into |
| new political states based on cubans needs. It is the majority |
| of cubans who should define how The Cuban Tree evolves, not a |
| few minority that opresses the unarmed masses. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| Internet access is another obscured issue inside Cuba. Around |
| 2008, Cuba and Venezuela signed up an agreement to connect |
| both nation with a trasatlantic fiber optic cable for high |
| speed Internet access. In 2011 the cuban State announced the |
| arrival of such cable to cuban national territory, but nothing |
| more has been mentioned since then. There is a terrible |
| silence about it that make people woundering what happend with |
| that millionary invertion. Some people ask themselves why to |
| spend so much money on that if cubans cannot make use of it |
| and others prefer to think that the entire project failed. It |
| is difficult to know what happend exactly because, again, |
| there isn't any alternative way of communication but those |
| provided and controlled by the cuban State. The fact is that, |
| at present time (2011), there isn't a legal way for cubans to |
| contract an Internet service at home, nor even a viable way to |
| acquire a fixed telephone line at home either.<footnote> |
| <para> |
| I know of people that have requested a fixed telephone |
| line for their home and more than three years have passed |
| and they haven't the line yet. It is also known by |
| everyone that others don't even have to make any request |
| to have a fixed telephone line at home. |
| </para></footnote> However, the same isn't true for extrangers |
| coming from other countries who are visiting Cuba or staying |
| inhere as residents. The cuban State permits these persons to |
| access Internet paying a service in offices called Telepuntos |
| or from home using different fees. Some cubans cannot |
| understand this, nor the logic behind it either. Have cubans |
| to change their nationality in order to have Internt access |
| from their homes in Cuba? |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| In Cuba there is only one telecommunication corporation named |
| ETECSA. This organization gives the impresion of being very |
| tied to cuban State and controlling everything related to |
| telephone networks and dedicated links for data transmistion |
| in the island.<footnote> |
| <para> |
| I heard of a case where someone tried to establish an |
| independent connection from Cuba to another country using |
| the air as phisical medium for data trasmission and that |
| person is pressently suffering years in a cuban prison |
| because the cuban State considered such action as illegal |
| actions. At this moment I haven't more information about |
| this case. It is very difficult to be accurate about such |
| things without an alternative information medium, apart |
| from those under cuban State control. |
| </para> |
| </footnote> Based on the fact that cuban telephone network is |
| the only communication medium most cubans have direct access |
| to, my attention is centered on it as phisical medium for |
| exchanging information using computers. It is important to |
| remark that, when using the telephone network as medium for |
| data transmission, there are limitations in the number of |
| simultaneous connections it is possible to phisically |
| establish between computers, it could be difficult to obtain |
| the Modem devices inside the island, and it could be too much |
| expencive to make international calls in order to exchange |
| information with public services available on different |
| networks outside Cuba's political boundaries. Besides all |
| these restrictions, the cuban telephone network has a national |
| scope that can be efficiently used by cubans inside the island |
| to share information using computers at a monetary cost of |
| national telephone calls and the electrical power consumed by |
| computers and communication devices (e.g., modems and |
| switches). |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| I beleive that most of problems the cubans presently have are |
| caused by a lack of information we need to face in order to |
| understand what we are and where we are going to, in the sense |
| of an interdependent human being's society. To face the |
| information problem, it is needed to make available |
| independent ways for cubans to express themselves in freedom |
| and provide, this way, the base arguments needed to edificate |
| the solutions of those problems we face today. That's my goal |
| with this work: educating myself in the compromise of |
| providing an independent space for cubans to discuss and |
| coordinate how to create collaborative networks using the |
| cuban telephone network<footnote> |
| <para> |
| Considering that I and most cubans haven't access to |
| dedicated links or real IP addresses for data transmission |
| at present time. |
| </para> |
| </footnote> as phisical medium to transmit information using |
| computers in freedom. |
| </para> |
| |
| <para> |
| The motivation for this work was taken from the free software |
| philosophy exposed by Richard Stallman in his book |
| <citetitle>Free Sofware Free Society</citetitle> and my |
| personal experience from 2003 to 2009 as active member inside |
| &TCP; international community. |
| </para> |
| |
| </section> |