Forskningsavdelningen
DRAFT – DO NOT LINK (as of time of writing, this does not represent a consensual statement of the Metalab)
please correct, clarify, reduce, compress
It has come to our attention that on Saturday, November 28th, the police of Malmoe conducted a reportedly unwarranted search in the location of the hackerspace Forskningsavdelningen.
Police sources (FIXME: which sources?) claim that they acted on suspicion of preparations for hacking and theft due to the fact that Wi-Fi equipment and key copying machines were expected and found on site. However, these tools are not illegal per se and have perfectly legal uses. Lock-picking, for example, is practised as a sport by members of official clubs in Europe; these regularly engage in education of the public and deliver striking demonstrations about the security flaws of common locks. Participation in this sport is no more a preparation for burglary than sport shooting is a preparation for murder. (FIXME: Would we like to change this to a different example in order to steer clear of people misinterpreting the preceding sentence as an endorsement of gun nuts? Do we want to have the word "murder" in this document?)
The members of the Metalab – a hackerspace in Vienna and as such a sister project of Forskningsavdelningen – would like to bring to your attention that hackerspaces enrich their region's cultural and technological scene. They are places of information, discussion, experimentation and openness. They are the real world manifestations of a new paradigm, originated in the free, borderless and undiscriminating nature of the internet and its communications structures. Hackerspaces are places where freedom of opinion meets creativity. They're the birth-place of start-up firms that employ cutting edge technology, of altruistic community projects and of art in new media.
These sorts of social and technological advances can only grow in certain environments, and hackerspaces strive to provide such an environment. An environment that may seem odd or even ominous to outsiders. An environment which usually harbours technology that's not a common sight in just any home or office. But after all, this is the whole point of a hackerspace.
One would certainly expect that it is in the public interest to foster this kind of organisation, as it is the case in Vienna and many other places around the world. In Malmoe, however, it seems like the public doesn't value hackerspaces so much. Not only were the actions of the Swedish police in violation of the civil rights of the club members, they also suggest that engaging in creative collaboration might put you in danger of being prosecuted for dubious reasons. Hackerspaces, being what they are, create potential for everyone. To put such organisations in random legal peril will eventually prove detrimental to a free society as a whole.
We, the members of the Metalab, hereby strongly object to the raid and expressly state our solidarity with our friends in Malmoe. We request the responsible authorities to cease and desist from any further measures as well as to return all confiscated equipment immediately and to compensate Forskningsavdelningen for damages.
Additionally, we demand a public investigation into the true nature of this sting operation as well as against the agitators responsible to clarify whether or not they maliciously presented false reasoning to perform this operation against a private interest organisation without legal grounds.
We also request a statement of Austrian and Swedish authorities as to what legal uncertainties organisations such as ours have to face in continuing our work.
The Metalab is a hackerspace in Vienna, Austria. The organisation was founded in 2006 and is privately financed as well as publicly subsidised. The hackerspace has been host to widely recognised (FIXME: by whom?) talks, conferences, workshops, and social events. Moreover, it has given birth to various commercial, civic, philanthropic and generally experimental ventures of various forms.
Sources:
A next to complete list of activities, visitors and press coverage in the metalab:
- http://metalab.at/wiki/Veranstaltungsarchiv
- http://metalab.at/wiki/Visitors
- http://metalab.at/wiki/Pressespiegel
Some commercial ventures originating at the metalab:
- http://www.soup.io, a microblogging platform
- http://www.mjam.at, a web 2.0 food delivery service
For more information about hackerspaces, please see:
For more information about the metalab, please visit:
The Metalab is a non profit organisation located in Vienna, Austria and counts more than a hundred paying members.
Potentially "suspicous" organisations with long standing impact on society and technology:
- http://www.ssdev.org
- http://www.ccc.de
- http://openlocks.at/ (Austrian lockpicking sport groups)
This statement will be communicated to the media, the Austrian Ministry of Interior Affairs and the Swedish Department of Justice.
