Tristan Louis
Encyclopedia
Tristan Louis is a French-born American author, entrepreneur
and blogger.
online media
companies, Louis first became involved in online politics on Usenet
, particularly the newsgroup
alt.internet.media-coverage, during debate over the Communications Decency Act
and activism against it. In a joint effort with the EFF
and the Voters Telecommunications Watch, iWorld and Mecklermedia publicly endorsed a national day of protest , turning the background of web page
s around the world to black. The protest received national news coverage and was a catalyst in the planning for a lawsuit (Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union
) which went to the United States Supreme Court and reaffirmed First Amendment
protection for Internet publishers.
After leaving iWorld, Louis contributed to many publications as a freelance writer, including a popular line of introductions to the internet, and was also involved in several start-ups
, including Earthweb and Net Quotient, a consulting group. At Earthweb, Louis reprised his role of editor, hoping to reproduce the early success of iWorld.
From 1999 to early 2000, Louis joined the short-lived dot-com
Boo.com
; when the company failed, he wrote a detailed analysis of the challenges the company had faced, offering some context in terms of running large scale website
s, which was widely circulated.
, including the development of an early draft standard for merging television with the web. The initiative was launched too early in the development of the web and the effort quickly died off with few people adopting the proposed standard.
In the early 2000s, Louis was involved in the development community surrounding RSS
and podcasting
, proposing a number of amendments to the specifications of the time. The proposal included creating a date element for every item in an RSS feed and provided the theoretical framework to distribute data files over an RSS channel, anticipating what is now known as podcasting
.
Reporter and Business 2.0
.
Beginning in 2000, Louis started publishing a weblog, which is noted for its dissection and research into technology trends.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and blogger.
Early work
In 1994 and 1995, as publisher of iWorld (now known as Internet.com and part of Jupitermedia Corporation), part of the Mecklermedia group of InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
online media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
companies, Louis first became involved in online politics on Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
, particularly the newsgroup
Newsgroup
A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on...
alt.internet.media-coverage, during debate over the Communications Decency Act
Communications Decency Act
The Communications Decency Act of 1996 was the first notable attempt by the United States Congress to regulate pornographic material on the Internet. In 1997, in the landmark cyberlaw case of Reno v. ACLU, the United States Supreme Court struck the anti-indecency provisions of the Act.The Act was...
and activism against it. In a joint effort with the EFF
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
and the Voters Telecommunications Watch, iWorld and Mecklermedia publicly endorsed a national day of protest , turning the background of web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
s around the world to black. The protest received national news coverage and was a catalyst in the planning for a lawsuit (Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, , is a United States Supreme Court case, in which all nine Justices of the Court voted to strike down anti-indecency provisions of the Communications Decency Act , finding they violated the freedom of speech provisions of the First Amendment. Two Justices...
) which went to the United States Supreme Court and reaffirmed First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
protection for Internet publishers.
After leaving iWorld, Louis contributed to many publications as a freelance writer, including a popular line of introductions to the internet, and was also involved in several start-ups
Startup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
, including Earthweb and Net Quotient, a consulting group. At Earthweb, Louis reprised his role of editor, hoping to reproduce the early success of iWorld.
From 1999 to early 2000, Louis joined the short-lived dot-com
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...
Boo.com
Boo.com
Boo.com was a British Internet company, founded by Swedes Ernst Malmsten, Kajsa Leander and Patrik Hedelin, which went bust following the dot-com boom of the late 1990s....
; when the company failed, he wrote a detailed analysis of the challenges the company had faced, offering some context in terms of running large scale website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s, which was widely circulated.
Contributions to standards
Throughout the 1990s, Louis was involved in a number of initiatives led by the World Wide Web ConsortiumWorld Wide Web Consortium
The World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
, including the development of an early draft standard for merging television with the web. The initiative was launched too early in the development of the web and the effort quickly died off with few people adopting the proposed standard.
In the early 2000s, Louis was involved in the development community surrounding RSS
RSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
and podcasting
Podcasting
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
, proposing a number of amendments to the specifications of the time. The proposal included creating a date element for every item in an RSS feed and provided the theoretical framework to distribute data files over an RSS channel, anticipating what is now known as podcasting
Podcasting
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
.
Writing
In 1994-1995, Louis served as editor on a number of guides to the Internet. He was a principal research editor on four books authored by Michael Wolff: Net.Money, Net.Sports, Net.Trek, and Net.Tech. Louis also wrote articles for a wide number of technology publications including The Silicon AlleySilicon Alley
Silicon Alley is a nickname for an area with a concentration of Internet and new media companies in Manhattan, New York City. Originally, the term referred to the cluster of such companies extending from the Flatiron District down to SoHo and TriBeCa along the Broadway corridor, but as the location...
Reporter and Business 2.0
Business 2.0
Business 2.0 was a monthly magazine publication founded by magazine entrepreneur Chris Anderson, Mark Gross, and journalist James Daly in order to chronicle the rise of the "New Economy"...
.
Beginning in 2000, Louis started publishing a weblog, which is noted for its dissection and research into technology trends.