[pp.int.general] R: Pirates and the 5 Star Movement

[carlo von lynX]

On Fri, Mar 01, 2013 at 01:14:11PM +0100, Carlito wrote:
> Da: carlo von lynX
> > *) AFAIK in 1994 Berlusconi launched his FORZA ITALIA movement
> >    in a similar way to Beppe Grillo, with a company running
> >    the party and allowing no democratic interference at all.
> >    The success was very similar. In 1994 it worked by television
> >    that Berlusconi happened to run. This time it was the Internet.
> 
> Similar?
> Berlusconi controlled and owned his televisions. 
> Are you saying that Beppe Grillo controls the Internet? 
> Please try to explain better otherwise this sounds really crazy. 
> Carlito 

Thanks for bouncing the ball back to me. I was afraid you were
going to forget about me.

Well I said he ran the televisions and avoided the term "own."
At the time he was knee-deep in debt and just about to lose
everything he had built up. His descent into politics allowed 
him to ensure the financial well-being of his endavours.

Grillo instead doesn't need to run the Internet, he just owns
the brand and his company runs the websites that host the entire
political movement with all of its intransparently moderated
forums and intransparent voting platforms. His company has
professional experience on controlling public opinion via
"influencing" the Internet and nobody but them knows how far
any grassroots participation actually goes. I had the impression
not only all regulations on how the movement works on a national
come from the staff, even large portions of the national political
programme. But maybe you know better, after all your previous
company was specialized in influencing people on the web, too, right?

Yet I am happy Grillo is keeping Berlusconi out of office and
within the operating range of jurisdiction.
Better the devil we don't know yet.