Draft 'about' page for Drumbeat website.

Draft 'about page' text

Do you want to make sure the the internet is still open, participatory, decentralized and public 100 years from now? Mozilla Drumbeat is your chance to help.

(will do shorter version of this video soon)

Why drumbeat?

Mozilla has a clear mission: to guard the open nature of the Internet.

The software created by Mozilla's developer community takes us a long way towards this mission -- promoting openness, innovation and online participation at a massive scale.

We believe everyday internet users also have a role to play in keeping the web open, especially over the long haul. This is what Drumbeat is about.

What is drumbeat?

Mozilla Drumbeat is a global community of Mozillians who *use* web technology in new ways to understand, participate and take control of their online lives.

At a practical level, Drumbeat community members use web technology to *make things* that improve and protect the open internet. They run local events where people propose and work on these practical projects. They encourage others to get involved.

Mozilla helps find contributors, funds and advice for the most promising Drumbeat projects. It also directly leads a number of Drumbeat projects of its own. Learn more.

Who is drumbeat?

Drumbeat is for anyone who wants to lend their skills and creativity to the cause of creating a better internet.

Teachers. Artists. Lawyers. Filmmakers. Students. Plumbers. Web developers. Anyone who uses -- and cares about -- the open internet. These are not the traditional contributors to the Mozilla project. But we believe that everyday internet users have ideas and energy that can help make the web better.

If this sounds like you: join the community, propose a project or attend a local event. Help keep the web open for the next 100 years.

Parking Lot

we used to have a 'better internet' section on the page above. here is the text. do we still need this? or should we just link to the manifesto etc.

Increasingly, the internet is becoming our global commons: a critical public resource over a billion people use every day to learn, innovate, trade, befriend and play.

We believe four key characteristics have helped build and make this global commons great:

• Open. Built on technologies that anyone, without permission, can study, use or improve.
• Participatory. fueled by the ideas and energy of more than a billion people.
• Decentralized in both architecture and control, ensuring continued choice and diversity.
• Generative. Evolving and improving as we each remix existing parts of the internet into something that is our own.

By explaining, protecting and building things around these characteristics, we create a better internet. An internet that is even richer and more resilient. This is what the Mozilla Drumbeat community is doing

See also:

• http://www.mozilla.org/causes/better.html, which we will want to evolve to match whatever we use for Drumbeat
• Jesse Dylan's youtube video highlights a number of the issues we hope the Drumbeat community will tackle and advance

So what? Isn't the internet already great?

Yes, the internet is already great. But the open, participatory nature of the internet regularly faces challenges.

For example: control over our digital identities and data is centralizing; internet providers are threatening 'net neutrality' and the growing mobile internet is far less open than the one on our desktop. And, simply explaining 'better internet' is a challenge: few people take the time to consider how important and fragile the internet commons is. They simply take it for granted, like air.

How do we ensure the internet remains open and participatory 100 years from now? By continuing to invent, innovate and educate using the four 'better internet' characteristics above. That's what Drumbeat is about.