Group items tagged

"A Netflix law just hit the books. As of July 1 in Tennessee, Netflix password sharing can net you a misdemeanor conviction punishable by a $2,500 fine and/or a year behind bars." Do we just LOL at this? One end of an interesting spectrum of DRM approaches...

With the information explosion of the 21st century, copyright law is now considered a central element of the nation's information economy. Whether the issue is downloading music or distance education, traditional copyright principles are being applied to new technologies in a way few could have predicted. This research guide helps its readers select useful print and electronic materials on the American copyright law. The guide focuses on the Copyright Act of 1976, but refers to other intellectual property fields and international copyright where applicable.

Does "social media" need rebranding, and if so, should it be split from "web 2.0" in general?

The term "modern communications infrastructure" is GREAT, especially when thinking about how to get people who are less likely to be using the stuff on their own to adopt new media techniques.

Quarterly Home Page | Quarterly Issues | © 1998 by Washington University CALLER INTELLIDATA: PRIVACY IN THE DEVELOPING TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY Cite as 76 Wash. U. L.Q. 351 George Orwell's 1984 discusses the implications that technology and information gathering can have on privacy.[1] It describes a world where Big Brother monitors the everyday conduct of its citizens through technologically advanced equipment.[2] In 1984, Big Brother is the government.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND WORKERS' PRIVACY: ENFORCEMENT Hans-Joachim Reinhardt The use of information technology at work has emphasized a tension between two distinct principles that appear at first sight to be opposed to one other: On the one hand, there is the principle of the inviolability of the employees' private lives and private communications and, on the other, the principle of the employers' rights to enjoy their private property and their managerial powers of command.

Another article found in my search for information about the "global digital divide." According to the article, last week, the United Nations released a report that "argued that disconnecting individuals from the Internet is a violation of human rights and goes against international law" and that all States should seek to ensure there is "as little restriction to online content as possible." The Atlantic points out, following Wired's Threat Level blog, that the UN report came "the same day that a monitoring firm found two-thirds of Syria's Internet access has been shut down without notice." While access isn't the only factor in the digital divide on a global or a national scale (disparities in information or new media literacy is also a huge factor, for example), I agree that the availability of unfettered access as a matter of government policy is the bare minimum.

It confuses me that it can be considered a basic human right if, for a portion of the population, it's hard to access and at times, can be unreachable. Even though I know it's more what Tom said about it being a negative right, the phrasing just doesn't sit right. Either way, this is a great thing and I'm surprised it didn;t happen sooner.

I had come across this article as well in our group project research, Maggie, and I think that the UN is taking steps to bring the conversation on the right to freedom of opinion and expression into the digital age, as Tom mentions. Article 19 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, in place since 1948, states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." So in the context of the recent shutdown of ISPs by Syria, more generally the use of the Internet as a means of civic and political dissidence, and even the debate around net neutrality in this country, I agree with Maggie that the UN's approach seems to clarify and reiterate unfettered access to information.

The Berkman Center often conducts great, free webcasts on its many different research focuses and produces an incredible number of research reports. Lots to digest on the site, but I wanted to share for everyone's perusal. I'd really recommend subscribing to its blog as well.

This site is chock-full a great information!

I often get frustrated by my 77 year old mother, who recently got a nice new computer (under much pressure from her daughters), but has a lot of reluctance about using it. This journal (iJETS) had many articles such as this one, that I believe could shed light on tactics to motivate this segment of society.

I really enjoyed this article, because my 63 year old mother in law is very computer-resistant, and I find it very frustrating. She wants to talk to me on the phone, but I really only want to use email. A generation difference really can make a technology difference.

My mom is also not online and no interest in the iPad. She often comments how the newspaper in her city is getting thinner and thinner so I often wonder if her view of the world and events if filtered by the fact that she's not online, and so much news and opinion is. Conversely, I met up with an old friend from high school last week who told me he refuses to really activate his Facebook account because his 70-something mom is on it and very active. I also know 30 year olds who only use computers and email at work because they have to and eschew everything else. Generalizations aside, I'm not convinced it's physical age, but more of a state of mind when it comes to new technology.

Just came across these fairly recent article on Danna boyd. (yes, that's lower case 'b.') She's been involved with some pretty interesting online studies that focus on teen and young adults. Some of her research has included topics such as, "Online White Flight," "Digital Self-Harm," and Privacy Techniques." I found it particularly interesting that on the topic of Digital Self-Harm, she discovered that vicious anonymous questions on a teen's profile weren't examples of cyberbullying but were posted by the teen herself!

Thanks for bringing her into the conversation, Mary Beth! danah boyd is definitely one of my favorite researchers. I read large portions of her dissertation as part of HIB my first semester in the program here at Rutgers, and a lot of what she's said has stuck with me since. You can read it here: http://www.danah.org/papers/TakenOutOfContext.pdf. I also recently attended a webinar from the Berkman Center, where she's a fellow, in which she summarizes nicely a lot of her work under the broader theme of "Embracing the Culture of Connectivity." You can watch it here: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/2011/05/academicSM.

Commentary from Jessamyn West: "What we do know is that the US Government has indicted Aaron Swartz [who you may know around the internet for any number of things] for, apparently and allegedly, downloading 4mil articles from JSTOR without (I think?) the proper credentials. Aaron turned himself in. At issue are many points of JSTORs terms of service and what sort of access is given to guests of the university. As Aaron is a net activist, I'm certain this is some level of intentional move on his part, I'm quite curious to see where it goes."

Comparing giving up a computer's password to giving up a key to a safe. No court precedent exists. Encryption, is it a legal barrier that can be created to protect potentially illegal data?

I Came across this copyright timeline yesterday. Gives a good synopsis of some famous cases and how they brought about changes in the law.

I thought about giving my cats their own FB page, but if they got more friends than me I would be very disturbed by that!

I never heard of this and had to look it up myself to believe it. It is a bit strange, but definitely entertaining.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001827272353 That's the FB page for our dog Nanook - friend him if you'd like. My younger son started the page; he's kind of protective of the house and barks a lot so I find it amusing that my kids' friends wanted to be friends with him.

Opinion-editorial from Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circui, and his law clerk Stephanie Grace on the changing nature of the Fourth Amendment, reasonable expectations of privacy and technology.

A really interesting series of videos, audio, visualizations, and other outputs from "Hyper-Public: A Symposium on Designing Privacy and Public Space," at Harvard's Berkman Center

Interesting to think about the fact that the concept of privacy is really shifting. Danna boyd's illustrates this point well with her statement that that "even though we're in the public, doesn't mean we desire publicity." She also mentioned "youth" hiding in broad day light through their use of online code.