Moreover net activists, many of whom are libertarian, are unlikely to call for the creation of net ministries. Many want to hack politics-to find a way to get the system to an outcome they desire through cleverness and force majeure applied from outside--much more than they want to play politics. It is possible that the lasting influence of the net movement will be in providing new tools and tactics for people with other political aims. All political protest and novelty now has social-media face, whether it be that of the tea party, the Occupy movement or the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, all seek the fast-multiplying effect that the internet can add to activism and uprisings. Experiments in"delegative democracy like Liquid Feedback may rewire the way politics works from the inside, as well as speed things up. In Germany other parties are experimenting with such systems; something similar powers Italy's populist Five Star Movement. When asked about why her organisation does not have a fully fledged political platform, Marina Weisband, one of the leaders of Germany's Pirate Party, once replied: "We don't offer a ready-made programme, but an entire operating system. The true potential of internet politics, in other words, is to reshape what people can do, rather than to campaign for particular benefits. t is not obvious that the sort of people who think of the world in terms of operating systems will prove to be the best at using that new potential, or find in it the power to protect the freedom and openness of all the infrastructure that they care about. But many of them are increasingly serious about trying. From the print edition: Briefing Featured comments Share 170 G 393 Luke K2.8 billrosenblatt Jan 5th 2013, 22.40 View thread