The Matrix:About

From The Matrix

History

This project, an anti-capitalist database of information on corporations and capitalism, was first conceived of by Chuck Munson and some friends in August 1996. Wiki software didn't exist then--which makes this project workable.

Original proposal from August 1996

                     The Octopus Project 
       Anti-Capitalist Networking Using the World Wide Web

 This is a draft proposal concerning a project whose goal would be to build an anti-capitalist 
 database on the Internet. 

 The mega-corporations that control our planet have many ways of maintaining 
 their power. Anti-capitalist activists who desire a better planet free of capitalist
 domination have very few resources at their disposal to conduct campaigns against the 
 planetary mega-machine. While we may lack the finances, we still can have a lot of 
 power at our fingertips. One of the things that would help our efforts would be a 
  way to build up a public database of information on the corporations and capitalists 
 which control us. The Octopus Project would hopefully create such a database using
 a network of volunteers and new computer technologies such as the World Wide Web.

 Activists have been using the Internet in the last few years for organizing
 and information dissemination. To some extent they have also been collecting information
 and putting it on the web. There is also now a large number of activists who are 
 computer literate and most importantly, a number who are very proficient at things 
 like running web sites and programming. This project would tap into those individuals 
 as well as folks who could gather information that would be placed on the Net.

 The Octopus Database would be filled with information gleaned by the volunteers. 
 It would be need to be housed on multiple servers around the world, in order to 
 maintain security and to provide protection in the event of State actions. The database 
 would be accessible on the World Wide Web via forms. The back-end would be a SQL-type database. 

 The Database would be filled with information on corporations and big businesses. 
 The information would include list of products or services; subsidiaries; CEOs and their 
 home addresses; locations of offices, factories, and stores; interlocking directorships; 
 relationships with other companies; histories detailing environmental destruction and 
 labor abuses; types of corporate welfare received; actions around the world; and so on. 
 This would become an organizing tool for activists around the world. 

 Resources Needed
 * A network of volunteers, coordinated by email, snail mail, and personal contacts.
 * Space on web sites and eventually our own series of web sites for the project (mirrors).
 * Computer equipment: storage devices, modems, CPUs.
 * Decent database software for the back end. (Something like Oracle, MS Access, or similar SQL database)
 * Volunteers experienced with the technical needs of this project
 * Money to pay for equipment, software, and possibly staff.

 For more information:
 Contact Chuck at cm150@umail.umd.edu (these addresses are no longer valid) 
 or 
 PO Box 179, College Park, MD 20740