The Communication Crises and the Evolution of Personal and Cultural Protocols

Tuesday, April 19, 12:30pm ET, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St., Cambridge, MA. This event will be webcast live.

Respected newspapers (NYT) and bloggers (Swissmiss) agree: we have a full-scale "communication crisis" on our hands - “Too many channels. Too many messages. Too much noise. Too much guilt." Otherwise meaningful conversations and valuable data points are spread incoherently across various platforms, making it difficult to manage this data. Barriers exist between generations, industries and culture. Large corporations are developing technologies to help bridge these differences but behind every technology problem is a human problem. In response to this, we built Protocol to help users - particularly multi-channel high-frequency communicators - communicate their personal communication preferences. Protocol also doubles as an interesting data gathering device to study the evolving behavior and new technology use.Interested parties can sign up for access at http://www.protocol.by Hugo van Vuuren, is a Berkman Fellow and student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Previously he helped launch The Laboratory at Harvard whilst completing a fellowship at The Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Greg Elliott is currently pursuing a master's degree here at the MIT Media Lab in Information Ecology, focusing on interface and device design for healthcare and environmental impact. more information on our website>

Rethink Music Conference

April 25-27, Boston, MA. Hosted and organized by the Berklee College of Music.

The Berklee College of Music, in association with Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and Harvard Business School, will host the Rethink Music conference which will examine the business and rights challenges facing the music industry in the digital era and formulate solutions to promote the creation and distribution of new music and other creative works. Registration is now open. more information on our website>

Label Success (Rethinking Music IV)

Did you ever wonder how artists become rock stars? Sure, talent is a big part of it. But behind almost every successful musician — from the platinum selling pop idol to the quirky regional artist who only sells records by the handful — you’ll probably find at least one person, if not a team of people working hard to make sure the business side of the music business stays going. And if you think that’s changed with the digital revolution, you’d be surprised. Sure, technology has made the recording process easier, and artists can connect directly with fans and promote shows easily through the web. But putting together a hit and sharing it with the world is hardly a solo effort. Today we sit down with two of the folks who help keep the music flowing. “Big” Jon Platt is President of EMI Music Publishing’s North American creative team, and responsible for signing Jay-Z among countless other chart-topping arti sts. Kim Buie is the Vice President of A&R for Lost Highway records out of Nashville, the home of artists like Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, and Tom Jones. Watch the video or download the audio>

Doreen Tu on Cybercrimes in Taiwan

With the rapid growth of Internet usage in Taiwan over the last decade has come an increase in cybercrimes such as online fraud, copyright infringement, and access offenses. In this talk Doreen Tu — prosecutor of Taipei District Court Prosecutors' Office — discusses Taiwan's experiences and challenges of combating cybercrime. Watch the video or download the audio>