Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Users' Patronage: The Return Of The Gift In The "Crowd Society", Giancarlo F. Frosio

Giancarlo Francesco Frosio

In this work, I discuss the tension between gift and market economy throughout the history of creativity. For millennia, the production of creative artifacts has lain at the intersection between gift and market economy. From the time of Pindar and Simonides – and until the Romanticism will commence a process leading to the complete commodification of creative artifacts – market exchange models run parallel to gift exchange. From Roman amicitia to the medieval and Renaissance belief that “scientia donum dei est, unde vendi non potest,” creativity has been repeatedly construed as a gift. Again, at the time of the British …

Confronting The Internet's Dark Side: Moral And Social Responsibility On The Free Highway, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

This book focuses on the tension between Free Speech fundamentalism and Social Responsibility at the individual, corporate, and nation-state level. It brings an international perspective to the central topics (child pornography, hate speech, suicidal and homicidal enablers, cybercrime and terrorism). The central philosophical argument of this book is the Promotional Approach, which the author sees as a kind of Golden Mean between Ronald Dworkin and Joseph Raz. The book utilizes the Aristotelian doctrine of the mean to endorse the kind of practical wisdom required to make choices between freedom and security, unlimited license and moral responsibility. It argues that this …

Internet Architecture, Freedom Of Expression And Social Responsibility: Critical Realism And Proposals For A Better Future, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

The article opens by explaining the architecture of the Internet. Given its present raison d'être, a free highway allowing maximum freedom, one may argue that the bounds of free expression are broader in scope on the Net compared with the bounds of legitimate speech allowed on other forms of communication. Contesting this assertion, it is argued that legally speaking, there is no difference between electronic communication and other forms of communication. I probe some problematic forms of expression: terrorism, criminal activity and cyberbullying, arguing that freedom of expression is important but so is social responsibility. The article concludes by offering …

People Do Not Just Snap: Watching The Electronic Trails Of Potential Murderers, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

The author argues that the international community should continue working together to devise rules for monitoring specific Internet sites, as human lives are at stake. Preemptive measures could prevent the translation of murderous thoughts into murderous actions. Designated monitoring mechanisms for certain websites that promote violence and seek adherents for the actualization of murderous thoughts could potentially prevent such unfortunate events. The intention is to draw the attention of the international community' multi agents (law-enforcement agencies, governments, the business sector, including Internet Service Providers, websites administrators and owners, civil society groups) to the urgent need of developing monitoring schemes for …

Combating Terrorism On The Free Highway, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

The Internet has enabled transnational jihad based on a decentralized network that overcomes the limitations of face-to-face interaction. Terrorists are making the most of the Internet to: 1) find essential information, 2) communicate, and 3) coordinate among each other in order to wage violent anti-social operations.

Compiling Online Legal Information In Transitional States: Challenges And Opportunities, Brian D. Anderson

Brian D Anderson

In transitional states, especially those developing systems of democratic governance, the creation of online, reliable, and accessible legal information systems is a critical component of good governance. When these databases are created, however, there are significant challenges that may arise to achieving a working and sustainable database. Once created, additional opportunities exist for creating better content, educating users, and enhancing the rule of law through open access to laws. This article will address some of the particular challenges and opportunities presented to transitional states when creating an online legal information system, specifically those involving political and social issues from gaining …

After Privacy: The Rise Of Facebook, The Fall Of Wikileaks, And Singapore’S Personal Data Protection Act 2012, Simon Chesterman

Simon Chesterman

This article discusses the changing ways in which information is produced, stored, and shared — exemplified by the rise of social-networking sites like Facebook and controversies over the activities of WikiLeaks — and the implications for privacy and data protection. Legal protections of privacy have always been reactive, but the coherence of any legal regime has also been undermined by the lack of a strong theory of what privacy is. There is more promise in the narrower field of data protection. Singapore, which does not recognise a right to privacy, has positioned itself as an e-commerce hub but had no …

Walled Gardens: Privacy Within Public Leisure Space Online And Offline, Payal Arora

Payal Arora

Social network sites are the new urban parks where people congregate, socialize and exercise leisure. Its web architectures however are being walled in, dictated by market systems and State ideologies. These cyber-enclosures are justified along the lines of privacy that garners protection, efficiency and functionality. There is significant concern for the potential irrevocable loss of the ‘public’ and ‘open’ character intended of internet infrastructures, fearing the fostering of social segregation, homogenization and corporatization of leisure and a loss of civic sense. This paper addresses these concerns by looking at contemporary material architectures that are shaping public social and leisure space, …

Jamaican Lexicography In The Twenty-First Century: Issues And Prospects, Joseph T. Farquharson

Joseph T. Farquharson

No abstract provided.

Literary Criticism In New Media: A Critical Analysis Of The Website Television Tropes And Idioms And The Place Of Literature In Digital Culture, Linda K. Börzsei

Linda Börzsei

The aim of this thesis is to present and critically assess the website Television Tropes and Idioms (commonly known as TV Tropes, located at www.tvtropes.org), and to describe how it might be inserted into the context of literary theory and criticism, as well as show how it displays the characteristic features of New Media and indicates a possible place for literature in digital culture. The website catalogues recurring patterns and conventions in literature and entertainment media. Included in its analysis is an examination of the term 'trope' and a demonstration of the website literary critical method with the help of …

The Economics Of Network Neutrality, Nicholas Economides, Benjamin E. Hermalin

Benjamin E. Hermalin

Pricing of Internet access has been characterized by two properties: Parties are directly billed only by the Internet service provider (ISP) through which they connect to the Internet. Pricing, moreover, is not contingent on the type of content being transmitted. These properties define a regime known as “network neutrality.” In 2005, some large ISPs proposed that application and content providers directly pay them additional fees for accessing the ISPs’ residential clients, as well as differential fees for prioritizing certain content. We analyze the private and social incentives to introduce such fees when the network is congested and more traffic implies …

Internet History, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

This paper outlines and analyzes milestones in the history of the Internet. As technology advances, it presents new societal and ethical challenges. The early Internet was devised and implemented in American research units, universities, and telecommunication companies that had vision and interest in cutting-edge research. The Internet then entered into the commercial phase (1984-1989). It was facilitated by the upgrading of backbone links, the writing of new software programs, and the growing number of interconnected international networks. The author examines the massive expansion of the Internet into a global network during the 1990s when business and personal computers with different …

Copyright, Digitization, And Aggregation, Lesley Chiou, Catherine Tucker

Lesley Chiou

The digital revolution means that consumers can now quickly and easily access content that is aggregated from many online sources. However, digital aggregation has tested the boundaries of copyright law. It is not clear whether allowing extracts of copyrighted works to be distributed by others benefits or harms copyright holders. We ask whether digital aggregation encourages users to "skim" or to investigate content in depth. We exploit a contract dispute that led a major aggregator to remove information from a content provider. We find that after the removal, users were less likely to investigate additional content in depth. The relaxation …

Revolution In Political Affairs, Dylan Kissane

Dylan Kissane

Extract:

"Recognising the marked impact of the internet on both practical politics and the practices of political scientists, it is not too large a step to paraphrase the US Department of Defence and decree the internet a Revolution in Political Affairs. Akin to its military phrase mate, the internet is effecting all areas of political discourse, exchange and public policy while, at the same time, forcing those who study and theorise politics to change their existing ways of thinking, working and imagining their chosen field..."

Decentralizing Culture: The Effect Of Digital Networks On Copyright And Music Distribution, Benjamin Gibert

Benjamin Gibert

The advance of technology profoundly impacts how people interact with culture as the proliferation of digital networks transforms the effects of copyright in modern societies. This paper argues that the oligopolistic conditions of content markets and the legal discourse of intellectual property law have historically enabled copyright holders to promote a limited conception of art and obscure the complexities of copyright theory. While conceptual ambiguity is inevitable in the construction of aesthetic legal categories, current practices impose too many restrictions. The practical choices made concerning copyright in cyberspace will determine the evolution of culture in increasingly networked societies. The music …

Barricading The Digital Frontier: Copyright, Technology And The War On Music Piracy, Benjamin Gibert

Benjamin Gibert

The Internet is changing the way vast numbers of people experience culture today. Providing tools to interact with, manipulate and freely redistribute content, technology is dissolving conventional divisions between creators and consumers of cultural artefacts. As new technological and legislative mechanisms are deployed to stop digital piracy, there is a need to reflect on the meaning of copyright, piracy and culture in the context of digital technologies. This paper discusses the relationship between copyright and cultural participation. It refers to the music industry in order to depict the changing patterns of consumption behavior precipitated by the rise of digital networks …

Information, Direct Access To Farmers, And Rural Market Performance In Central India, Aparajita Goyal

Aparajita Goyal

This paper estimates the impact of a change in procurement strategy of a private buyer in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Beginning in October 2000, Internet kiosks and warehouses were established that provide wholesale price information and an alternative marketing channel to soy farmers in the state. Using a new market-level dataset, the estimates suggest a significant increase in soy price after the introduction of kiosks, supporting the predictions of the theoretical model. Moreover, there is a robust increase in area under soy cultivation. The results point toward an improvement in the functioning of rural agricultural markets. (JEL …

Los Cambios En Los Mundiales De Fútbol, Fernando Carrión Mena Arq.

Fernando Carrión Mena

Todos los mundiales de fútbol son hitos importantes de transformación y cambio del conjunto de las actividades que se relacionan con este deporte; más aún, en un momento como el actual que se vive una revolución científico tecnológica. Por eso, cada cuatro años los mundiales se convierten en los espacios de la innovación en sus dos acepciones: producir novedades que muten los procesos anteriores y producir un nuevo conocimiento para ser aplicado a las actividades económicas.

Es primera vez que se organiza un mundial de fútbol en el continente africano, lo cual es un reconocimiento a la realidad simultánea de …

Internet Auctions And Frictionless Commerce: Evidence From The Retail Gift Card Market, Lesley Chiou, Jennifer Pate

Lesley Chiou

This study investigates the pricing of retail gift cards on eBay. We find substantially less price dispersion than previously documented in other online markets for consumer goods. As gift cards are homogenous goods with clearly defined value, this suggests that greater price dispersion found in other markets may be due to unobservable differences in product characteristics, or from lacking the competitive nature of auction environments. Additionally, gift cards for the discount retailer Wal-Mart exhibit less price dispersion than other large retailers’ gift cards, consistent with the perception that greater search by price-sensitive shoppers can lead to less friction in markets

A Tale Of Two Campaigns: A Comparative Assessment Of The Internet In French And Us Presidential Elections, Dylan Kissane

Dylan Kissane

French politicians, like those in democracies around the world, were enthralled by the success of Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 US Presidential elections. Part of that thrall sprung from the candidate’s embrace of internet campaigning and his use of Web 2.0 tools to communicate his ideas, raise campaign funds and break through to voters that might otherwise not be reached through traditional and mainstream media campaigning. In the wake of Obama’s win, speculation emerged that internet and Web 2.0 campaigning would soon become a key tool in French politics, particularly at the personality-driven and high-profile Presidential level. In …

Inclusión Digital Y Políticas Públicas En Argentina: Un Marco De Análisis, Lucas Jolías, Alejandro Prince

Lucas Jolías

La inclusión digital es uno de los principales desafíos de los gobiernos en los próximos años, pero para cumplir con éste objetivo se debe prestar atención a las particularidades de la adopción de TIC en nuestra región, contemplando las diferencias socioeconómicas, culturales y motivacionales. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la inclusión digital en Argentina, prestando atención al contexto latinoamericano. La hipótesis más importante es que los niveles de inclusión digital en la actualidad son en gran medida producto del mercado y la capacidad económica y de consumo de las clases medias y altas, pero que para conectar a …

Responsibility Of And Trust In Isps, Raphael Cohen-Almagor

raphael cohen-almagor

This discussion is about the neglected concepts of trust and social responsibility on the Internet. I will discuss and explain the concepts and their implications to people and society. I then address the issue of moral and social responsibilities of ISPs and web-hosting companies. I argue that ISPs and web-hosting companies should aspire to take responsibility for content and that they should respect and abide by their own terms of conduct.

The Impact Of Targeting Technology On Advertising Markets And Media Competition, Susan Athey, Joshua S. Gans

Joshua S Gans

This paper examines the impact of geographic targeting technology on local advertising markets when local and general media outlets compete for readers. In a base case, it is demonstrated that when the general outlet adopts such technologies, this does not impact on advertising prices or profits as that outlet expands ad space to meet demand. When wasted impressions are costly or there are advertiser capacity constraints that create competition between outlets for advertisers, this conclusion changes and there is a positive return to targeting. This adoption is likely to adversely impact on local outlet profits.

40 Sites In 40 Minutes, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

The best of free mediation resources on the world wide web

Application Layer End-To-End Arguments: From Ends To Means, And Beyond Network Neutrality, Matthias Bärwolff

Matthias Bärwolff

This paper observes that the ultimate objectives of the end-to-end arguments do not necessarily entail a preference for having functions with the end hosts rather than with the network. The horizontal connotations of the end-to-end metaphor collapse when it is elevated to an application layer argument featuring strong "second order" objectives such as those pursued by network neutrality adherents. An internet that serves those ends will have to allow for ISPs to tussle with end users over economic value and surplus considerations, and acknowledge the beneficial rôle of the resulting transactions between the internet’s stakeholders.

Cyberchiefs. Autonomy And Authority In Online Tribes, Mathieu O'Neil

Mathieu O'Neil

People are inventing new ways of working together on the internet. Decentralized production thrives on weblogs, wikis and free software projects. In Cyberchiefs, Mathieu O'Neil focuses on the regulation of these working relationships. He examines the transformation of leadership and expertise in online networks, and the emergence of innovative forms of participatory politics. What are the costs and benefits of alternatives to hierarchical organization? Using case studies of online projects or "tribes" such as the radical Primitivism archive, the Daily Kos political blog, the Debian free software project and Wikipedia, O’Neil shows that leaders must support maximum autonomy for participants …

The Web As Corpus Versus Traditional Corpora: Their Relative Utility For Linguists And Language Learners, Robert Lew

Robert Lew

The paper compares systematically the utility of specially-made text corpora and the textual resources of the World Wide Web for linguists and language learners. Different modes of access are discussed, including via dedicated concordancing software, web-concordancing and the universal search engine.

Radical Tribes At Warre: Primitivists On The Net, Mathieu O'Neil

Mathieu O'Neil

No abstract provided.

The (In)Essentiality Of Monopoly Power In Network Neutrality Violations, Matthias Bärwolff

Matthias Bärwolff

It has recently been proposed that competition in the provision of internet access does not obtain the normative goals of network neutrality proponents. Even under competition internet access providers will still have substantial incentives to discriminate against independent providers' content and applications.

We argue that this argument effectively conforms to basic insights from models of monopolistic competition and, in itself, holds little of the policy relevance alleged by network neutrality advocates. Without empirical validation the conclusions of such an argument-an urgent call for material network neutrality regulation-is unjustified.

Further, we point to the duality of the discrimination problem, for the …

Voson: A Web Services Approach For Facilitating Research Into Online Networks, Robert Ackland, Mathieu O'Neil, Russell Standish, Markus Buchhorn

Mathieu O'Neil

No abstract provided.