Frank McCourt: Founder of Project Liberty (Part I)
RadicalxChange(s)
Tech Infrastructure vs. Physical Infrastructure
The chapter compares the management of physical infrastructure like roads for public interest to digital infrastructure networks, predominantly serving shareholder interests. It explores the transformation of business models driven by data, the challenges of regulating tech companies, and the necessity for innovation within the tech industry.
Today, in Part I of a two-episode conversation, Matt Prewitt is joined by civic entrepreneur and Founder of Project Liberty, Frank McCourt, who is on a mission to reclaim the internet and prioritize human rights in our digital landscape. Drawing parallels between the early public oversight of television and the current state of the internet, Frank highlights the commodification of our data and identities online. He advocates for new protocols and a movement inspired by historical fights against oppression to secure genuine data rights and agency online. As we look to the future, Project Liberty's endeavors may play a crucial role. This interview is a fantastic opportunity to hear more about Frank's thinking.
Links & References:
References:
- Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age by Frank H. McCourt, Jr. with Michael J. Casey
- Tim Berners-Lee - Wikipedia
- FACT SHEET: CHIPS and Science Act Will Lower Costs, Create Jobs, Strengthen Supply Chains, and Counter China | The White House
- Mythbusting: The Facts On Reports About Our Data Collection Practices | TikTok Newsroom
- Sesame Workshop - Wikipedia
- GDPR
- The Digital Markets Act: ensuring fair and open digital markets - European Commission
- The EU’s Digital Services Act
- TCP/IP | Internet protocol suite - Wikipedia
- HTTP - Wikipedia
- Distributed Social Networking Protocol - Wikipedia
- Technology | Project Liberty
- Common Sense - Wikipedia
Bios:
Frank H. McCourt, Jr. is a civic entrepreneur and the executive chairman and former CEO of McCourt Global, a private family company committed to building a better future through its work across the real estate, sports, technology, media, and capital investment industries, as well as its significant philanthropic activities. Frank is proud to extend his family’s 130-year legacy of merging community and social impact with financial results, an approach that started when the original McCourt Company was launched in Boston in 1893.
He is a passionate supporter of multiple academic, civic, and cultural institutions and initiatives. He is the founder and executive chairman of Project Liberty, a far-reaching, $500 million initiative to transform the internet through a new, equitable technology infrastructure and rebuild social media in a way that enables users to own and control their personal data. The project includes the development of a groundbreaking, open-source internet protocol called the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), which will be owned by the public to serve as a new web infrastructure. It also includes the creation of Project Liberty’s Institute (formerly The McCourt Institute,) launched with founding partners Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, and Sciences Po in Paris, to advance research, bring together technologists and social scientists, and develop a governance model for the internet’s next era.
Frank has served on Georgetown University’s Board of Directors for many years and, in 2013, made a $100 million founding investment to create Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. He expanded on this in 2021 with a $100 million investment to catalyze an inclusive pipeline of public policy leaders and put the school on a path to becoming tuition-free.
In 2024, Frank released his first book, OUR BIGGEST FIGHT: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age.
Frank’s Social Links:
- Project Liberty
- Project Liberty (@pro_jectliberty) / X
- Project Liberty (@pro_jectliberty) • Instagram
- McCourt Institute (@McCourtInst) / X
Matt Prewitt (he/him) is a lawyer, technologist, and writer. He is the President of the RadicalxChange Foundation.
Matt’s Social Links:
Production Credits:
- Produced by G. Angela Corpus and Matt Prewitt.
- Co-Produced and Audio Engineered by Aaron Benavides.
- Executive Produced by G. Angela Corpus and Matt Prewitt.
- Intro/Outro music by MagnusMoone, “Wind in the Willows,” is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Additional Credits:
- This episode was recorded by Matt Prewitt.
This is a RadicalxChange Production.
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