The Internet is Serious Business
How Internet infrastructure works, who owns it, and why that matters
In the fall of 2008, Josh Breitbart of the Digital Expansion Initiative at People’s Production House asked the Center for Urban Pedagogy to produce an workshop on the politics of internet Infrastructure. I worked with Josh, and teaching artist Helki Frantzen to design a curriculum that explored the topic. We worked with students from City-As-School and the City Parks Department’s RecYouth program, visiting Telco Hotels, City council chambers, co-location facilities, conduit salesmen, Verizon representatives, and a few of NYC’s last remaining independent Internet Service Providers. The resulting film uses stop-motion animation, a goofy alien costume, and good old reporting to tell the story of infrastructure regulation, consolidation, and upgrade, and make it interesting and acessible to laypeople. I also designed the DVD packaging and educator’s guide.
The film has screened to audiences throughout North America, including national conferences like the Allied Media Conference and the National Conference for Media Reform. To get a copy of the film, contact info@anothercupdevelopment.org.
