Media / Sociology – Page 18 – Thinking Out Loud, aka The Broad Gaze

Slashback

Long time no blog, so it’s time for my own kind of “slashback,” or a look at previous stories worth mentioning.

Law

A student’s facebook profile was accessed under the Patriot Act when he applied for a government job. Privacy and legislative scope issues, all rolled into one story.

YouTube and the copyright cops: safe… for now?

One of my favorite sites, YouTube.com, is coming under increasing legal fire from copyright holders. For now they’re being a good corporate citizen by removing copyrighted material when asked under the rules of ISPs in the DMCA. One to watch.

Chat rooms could face expulsion

The House passed a law (DOPA) designed to limit access to social networking sites to protect minors. I need to go through this and the pending telecom bill to make a more informed comment.

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality debate highlights need for thoughtful action

I start with this post, because I think it’s vital to have an informed opinion on this debate. Click on the “Audio” link to listen to two of the biggest names in the formation of the Internet debate on the value of legislation in this area. Their one point of agreement: if we legislate, it needs to be informed, specific, and narrowly tailored to address the potential dangers (admitted by both) of a non-neutral network.

Microsoft asked to explain network neutrality stance, fights to avoid vote

Microsoft is feeling the heat from its shareholders to make a statement on net neutrality. This is surprising to me, since they’ve been much more vocal than Apple in favor of neutrality. Perhaps more specifics from stakeholders such as Microsoft could help sway the debate; or perhaps there is an effort to avoid treading too close to anti-trust waters.

Cell Phones Presage Future of Non-Neutral Internet and Verizon Wireless: Unlimited, Yet Limited, Access

One thing that I was struck by on my European trip was the advertisements for cell phones…not for service providers, but for the actual phones. Now that I’m back, I do see a few ads for phones, but they’re all attached to wording like “Available only through Cingular.” Essentially, the phones and their functions are tied to the whims of the network providers–the cell phone companies. Personally, I would be more likely to buy and use a smartphone if I were able to use the applications and Internet services that I want, which are closed out due to common polices among service providers. These articles are great examples of the drawbacks to non-neutral (closed) networks.

Google

I just read The Search by John Battelle, so Google issues are pretty hot in my mind.

AT&T Labs vs. Google Labs – R&D History

Links to two articles which are comparing the “new” and “old” ways of doing R&D within telecom companies, as well as how history (and banked capital) impact this process and innovation. I’ve blogged about R&D in America before, and this is a great look at some of the details on how this is (and is not) changing.

Search 2.0 vs. Traditional Search and Text Mining the New York Times

In the last chapter of The Search, Battelle looks at some of the directions of the future of searching. One of his more interesting points is the idea (actually from Tim Berners-Lee) of the “Semantic Web.” The idea is that the more data we gather about our preferences (search history), and the more our computers are able to segment digital data into more meaningful categories, the better our searches will become. These articles are right on point.

Personal

Why we have trouble concentrating

The C-Net Blog pointed me to this interesting article on getting better at concentrating. My “Search” reading has made me realize just how much Google has impacted my ability to concentrate. I’m serious. It’s a wonderful tool, but it makes it too easy to get off on a tangent by starting a search with an “I wonder about…” type of thought.

Finally, in the weather dept.: Thursday’s Downtown Storm Created A Violent Mini-climate

Thursday’s intense rains came down so hard and so fast that the storm created “its own little climate” in downtown Madison with new fronts streaming out from the central city, a meteorologist said today. …

The most serious call came early this morning when thick black smoke was reported pouring out of the front of a building at 1301 University Ave. in a row of five storefront buildings.

That’s my work 🙂

Copying and learning

The story about the young novelist caught accidentally plagiarizing from one of her favorite authors calls to mind a thought I’ve had recently about the role of copying in learning.

It seems to me that imitation is a crucial part of the learning process. Examples: Babies learn to talk by mimicking their parents’ vocal sounds. Garage bands learn and perform covers to figure out what it takes to write a good song. Someone making their first film may borrow cinematographic elements from favorite directors. College kids quote extensively when writing papers until they get a better grasp on the material.

In each case, copying is playing a crucial role in the learning process. I’m not aware of any existing theories of learning by imitation, but would be greatly surprised if something similar was not already out there (perhaps in psychology or education).

What is alarming about this case is that the institutional processes of publication did not catch this earlier. While authors create, it is a publisher’s job as editor to know the field and separate the good from the bad. This case appears to only involve plagiarism, thus not really a legal, but it illustrates some of the core theoretical issues in copyright nonetheless.

WiFi bringing people together?

My University has recently changed their wireless system so that all users sign in to an access point which is building-specific. I’ve often thought that this might offer an excellent opportunity to share information about what’s going on in a particular location, or on campus as a whole. Perhaps some kind of events or news board for a building might have the power to bring people together in a way that a traditional bulletin board might not. By creating an online space which is tied to a physical place, individuals may have more opportunities to get to know others.
The same may be true for municipal WiFi projects. If communities can utilize easy-to-use online tools which are integrated with a physical location, people might find an interest in events, volunteer opportunities, or other civic actions that they may not have otherwise.

Why it won’t work

For the last few days, I’ve been posting about how the application of media law to the public might be a bad thing. It’s just occurred to me that one might rightly ask, “why?”

The answer is because the public needs to be given a chance to accept these laws before they can gain any legitimacy. I’ve been doing a good amount of reading lately about laws, norms, and legitimacy and a common theme is that the norms underlying a law needs to be understood and accepted for a law to be truly valid. One way this might happen is through deliberation about the law and its impact within some form of the public sphere. Gaining acceptance for the law through talk is essential because it allows for the opportunity for reflection on the law and for changes to be made. This is why public education about these laws, or blind enforcement (coercion), may not socially be the wisest choice. Without legitimacy, a law is just an imposed rule begging to be broken.