Public Netbase was an Austrian non-profit internet service provider, web host, and advocate for the development of electronic art. Long a support of avant-garde, sometimes controversial, art and digital culture, the company increasingly came into conflict with the Austrian political establishment during the 1990s. Despite awards and recognition by UNESCO, the political controversy led to a lack of funding that ended the project in 2006.

Early development

Although Public Netbase itself was founded in Vienna by Konrad Becker and Francisco de Sousa Webber in 1995, its parent organization, the Institute for New Culture Technologies, was established in 1994 in Vienna's Museumsquartier.^[1] Most of the Institute's activities after 1995 occurred through Public Netbase, leading to the names and establishment dates being loosely applied, even in the organization's official material. The name of its World Wide Web server, t0, was often appended to either name as well.

Art and culture

Three-sided football workshop at the 1st Intergalactic Conference of the Association of Autonomous Astronauts, Public Netbase, Vienna, Austria, Summer Solstice 1997

Involvement in politics

When the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and its leader Jörg Haider began to rise in power in Austria, Public Netbase took an increasingly political activist role while facing increasing government pressure. Haider accused Public Netbase of sponsoring child pornography^[5] and conflated Christina Göstl's hosted erotic art with a commercial porn site in the British Virgin Islands during a speech in parliament.^[6] Meanwhile, Public Netbase sponsored a "virtual alternative to Austria's far right government" that offered Austrian Web Resistance Awards to web sites dedicated to opposing Haider's government.^[7]

Public Netbase's actions earned considerable prestige. The Institute for Applied Autonomy, recipient of an award for distinction in interactive art at the Prix Ars Electronica 2000,^[8] dedicated their award to Public Netbase for its political efforts.^[9] Another Public Netbase project begun during this period, World-information.org, described as "an ongoing effort to critically observe and investigate new technologies in a societal, economic and artistic context"^[10] led to involvement with the UNESCO Digi-Arts program^[11] and a series of conventions across Europe.

However, the organization's successes were insufficient to stave off problems. Its lease at the Museumsquartier was not renewed after the controversial remodelling period in 2000,^[12] and it faced a series of audits and other bureaucratic obstacles. Financial difficulties and an inability to secure a permanent replacement location were never able to be resolved.^[13] Despite significant community support and a reorganization effort in 2005 that shortened its name to Netbase, the City of Vienna stopped all funding effective January 11, 2006, leading to the immediate shut down of the organization.

References

de:Public Netbase ru:Public Netbase

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