<nettime> A glimpse at a generation turned predator to itself, in the newest era of greed.

["james mc parlane" <james@ebom.org>]

I provide technical support to a non profit design/culture/technology
'critique' site called http://72pt.com

6 months ago a bank in Sydney Australia gave some 'cool dudes' $8m to
re-badge the local youth street culture and sell it back to the masses via
broadband internet. They established a company called K*Grind,
http://www.kgrind.com. (The name is derived from a skateboard move)

K*grind proceeded to scoop up a lot of 'connected' people in the Sydney
scene, put them on fat salaries with share options, and set them loose to
market to their own kind.

They spent it all in 6 months.

What emerged was an 'yer face' branding campaign of stickers, banners, full
page adds, promotions and sponsorships.

http://72pt.com critiqued the design started a topic called "Do we need
k*grind?".

In Australia, cable internet costs on average ~$60 per month, data at ~20c a
meg and the site needs at least a $2000.00 computer to be viewable.

So 72pt also asked, "How are the originators of this culture going to get
access to this site as they are predominately economically disadvantaged?"

-- snip --

Sit down girls and boys, enter the world of the entertainment engine of the
future..

"I want to live get high and do some X- Rated shit. be on the wrong side, be
a fucking hero, go further than anyone else. my existence alone requires
spectators...

K*Grind is not a website. Today it's your TV and radio. Tomorrow it's your
CD player, gaming console, and video player too. If you're an artist, a
musician, or someone with something to say, K*Grind will give you an
audience that give a shit."

or is it more like this....

" We are the corporate engine of the future..spending *buckets* of money, on
putting nasty creative people on large salaries in the hope of building up
our 'brand' in the anti-commercial youth underground scene, after that
foundation is set, We will sell them to potential investors, who can afford
the kind of hardware and net connection it takes to view our site."

Is K*Grind really the entertainment engine of the future?

K*Grind - a phresh new take, or a virus from the inside?

De we really need kgrind telling us it's "rad"...sorry "fuck'n rad" to take
drugs, dance all nite...or "chill"?

what do ya think?

tell us .

-- snip --

K*grind got wind of it, and what happened next makes a chilling read.

-- snip --

Someone at kgrind cares about kgrind so much that they are prepared to
subvert this site even to the point of stalking its members by trying to
extract personal information under false pretenses.

Which poses the question... Was this at the request of management or a
unilateral action by one or more staff members?

-- snip --

Its longish, but a jolly good read. A glimpse at a generation turned
predator to itself, in the newest era of greed.

http://72pt.com

l8r!

James Mc Parlane

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