[hackerspaces] DARPA Selects Hackerspace Space Program for contract negotiation

[Matt Joyce]

Maker Faire is not ITAR =P

It's a public forum.

Internationals are welcome.

On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 3:05 PM, Joe Bowser <bowserj at gmail.com> wrote:
> I still have yet to hear the concerns of those of us who aren't in the US
> addressed. I assume this is a US citizens and residents only venture?
>
> On Apr 3, 2012 2:58 PM, "Matt Joyce" <matt at nycresistor.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hell anything of sufficient mass put in orbit can be used as a pretty
>> nasty weapon.
>>
>> Start there.  See how far you get before the military is involved.
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 2:57 PM, Tim Miller <timmillertech at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Those of us that are not strongly against military or those who remember
>> > that the space shuttle was funded largely by the military to carry
>> > weapons
>> > and spy satellites. Maybe we fully support getting support from DARPA
>> > and
>> > all you that curse the name of anything military are passing judgement
>> > that
>> > maybe you are not warranted to give. The formation and success of NASA
>> > was
>> > largely because of military money.  It seems people forget where that
>> > money
>> > really comes from, it comes from our paychecks and if it has to get
>> > funneled
>> > through hell and passed out by the devil to get to where we want to go,
>> > maybe that is our choice as hackers.  Defense doesn't always mean bigger
>> > badder space lasers. Defense can also be making sure that the skills
>> > needed
>> > to maintain a country's infrastructure are intact and keep and expand
>> > the
>> > country's manufacturing and continue to grow the skills methods
>> > and facilities. We have already seen what happens when you put all of a
>> > type
>> > of manufacturing ability in an one region.  The new grand experiment is
>> > if
>> > we can do better in our distributed community shops and if you have a
>> > problem with working with people with the same goal as yours so be it,
>> > go
>> > join that group and sit back while the rest of us succeed in an awesome
>> > manner or fail miserably knowing we tried something. And the next time
>> > your
>> > city is decimated by a natural disaster go up to the National
>> > Guard member
>> > doing everything they can to help and tell them go away you don't want
>> > anything to do with the military.
>> >
>> > On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 4:43 PM, Marc Juul <juul at labitat.dk> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 4:31 PM, Jerry Isdale <isdale at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> > My Fellow Hackers...
>> >> >
>> >> > Today I got an email from DARPA stating that they have selected our
>> >> > "Hackerspace Space Program" for contract negotiation.
>> >>
>> >> Interesting / Congratulations? What does that mean exactly? How
>> >> certain is it that you will get funding?
>> >>
>> >> > Those who want to flame about taking government money can do so.. We
>> >> > just
>> >> > wont pass any $ your way.
>> >>
>> >> While I am very happy to see more interest / funding for space-related
>> >> hacker activities I think there are some important issues here that
>> >> you may be ignoring. One is that by calling yourselves the
>> >> "hackerspace space program" you are associating hackers, the
>> >> hackerspace movement and specifically everyone working on
>> >> space-related projects in hackerspaces with DARPA and the military.
>> >> Knowing that there are many who are strongly anti-military, it would
>> >> make sense to call name this project something else, perhaps something
>> >> less general?
>> >>
>> >> This is not just government, this is military funding. That is an
>> >> important distinction for many.
>> >>
>> >> If is of course your decision who you fund, but starting out by
>> >> calling any criticism of your decision to apply for military funding
>> >> using the hackerspace name "flaming" seems itself fairly inflammatory.
>> >> The term hacker is for many associated with a strong sense of ethics,
>> >> and it is always a good idea to be mindful of the people who disagree
>> >> with your actions on ethical grounds, even if you end up not acting on
>> >> their criticism.
>> >>
>> >> As you are obviously aware there are people who will be unwilling to
>> >> work with you on this project once you accept this funding. I wonder
>> >> if you have done any research to estimate the loss in expertise,
>> >> manpower and ideas, or how much of a rift this will cause in the
>> >> hacker/maker community?
>> >>
>> >> This news comes close to the news that the Maker Faire has accepted
>> >> DARPA funding, so when I mention a rift in the community it may be
>> >> bigger than just this one project.
>> >>
>> >> For those who are suspicious of military involvement but not outright
>> >> unwilling to work with a DARPA funded project, it would be really
>> >> useful to have a summary of the extent and terms of this project and
>> >> funding: What are the strings attached from DARPA? Are there any
>> >> countries you will not be allowed to work with and do any of them have
>> >> DIY space groups or hackerspaces that will be excluded? Will you own
>> >> the copyright to anything copyright'able you produce and will you
>> >> control licensing / patenting? Where is the project description (can
>> >> we read the proposal you sent to DARPA)? Who will control the funding
>> >> and how will it be divided between project participants?  How much
>> >> funding did you apply for and how certain are you that you will get
>> >> it? Who are involved with this project already?
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Marc Juul
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>> >
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