Berkman Buzz, week of September 10
BERKMAN BUZZ: A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School
Week of September 10, 2007.
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What's going on... take your pick or browse below.
*Gene Koo questions Web 2.0 political participation.
*Derek Slater criticizes Apple’s latest DRM policy.
*danah boyd reflects on the Jewish New Year and “social scripts.”
*Doc Searls discusses the changing business model of citizen media.
*Open Net Initiative: State-Sponsored Spyware.
*Citizen Media Law Project: Pennsylvania Considering Strengthening Open Records Law.
*Weekly Global Voice: Japan: Prime Minister Abe Steps Down.
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The full buzz.
“Networking is the lifeblood of all politics. So why are the Obama and other political applications for Facebook so terribly disappointing? At best, they function like bumper stickers for profile pages, and while my neighborhood’s lawn signs fill me with civic pride, I also know that sporting ‘I like Ike’ buttons is a feeble way to participate in politics. Effective political engagement encompasses much more than the mere act of voting or supporting a candidate; it includes writing to officials, participating in hearings, and most of all, joining civic associations.”
Gene Koo, “Facebook politics taste too del.icio.us”
“Tired of paying several dollars to buy ringtone versions of music you already own? When it comes to songs ripped from your CD collection or downloaded MP3s, widely-available software tools allow you to roll your own ringtones instead and put them on a variety of phones. But what the world of unencrypted music giveth, DRM-locked media taketh away. DRM allows media vendors to restrict your fair use rights so that they can be sold back to you piecemeal as ‘features.’”
Derek Slater, “iTunes Ringtones: Making You Pay Again For Music You Already Own”
“Last night was the first night of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. For Jews, this means celebration with family and friends, eating apples and honey, sending postcards to friends, and wishing all well (‘Shanah tovah!’). One of the things that I love about Jewish holidays is that they are typically filled with friends, family, food, alcohol, and celebratory attitudes (except for Yom Kippur which is a bit more serious). As a non-Jew, I have a deep admiration for the various rituals that are a part of Jewish holidays. I especially love how my snarky secular Jewish friends are more likely to modify them to make them more fun rather than reject them.”
danah boyd, “An Astonishing Admission by a Journalism Professor”
“I managed to irk pretty much everybody with my post ‘Citizen journal breaks a heroic story.’ Shelley Powers and David Kearns both took issue with the ‘citizen journalism’ concept. Shelley said it doesn’t work, and David pleaded “for the demise of that horrible ‘citizen journalist’ meme’. Liz Straus, who pointed me to the story in the first place, said ‘Aw Doc, why the focus on citizen journalism and not the focus – as David points out – on the oral history that’s been happening since time began?’ More than one comment gave David Armano a hard time for apparently preferring to report via Twitter and blog, rather than through mainstream news media.”
Doc Searls, “Toward a new ecology of journalism”
“In the past two weeks, there have been two reports of pending legislation authorizing law enforcement officials to install spyware directly onto target computers. In Germany, news outlets recently obtained details of a proposal being considered by the legislature to authorize law enforcement authorities to ‘plant spyware on suspects’ hard drives through e-mail messages appearing to stem from official sources.’ In Mumbai, India, police appear to be considering requiring that all cybercafes ‘install programs that will capture every key stroke [and] at regular interval screen shots, which will be sent back to a server that will log all the data.’”
Open Net Initiative, “State-Sponsored Spyware”
“The Pennsylvania House and Senate are considering new legislation designed to strengthen the state's Open Records Law. This is welcome news, as Pennsylvania's current law is one of the most antiquated – and public-unfriendly – laws in the country. (It's an indication of Pennsylvania's disregard for public access that I had to link to the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association's website for the current version of the law because the state's legislative website does not include laws enacted prior to 1975, and the Pennsylvania law came about in 1957.)”
David Ardia, “Pennsylvania Considering Strengthening Open Records Law”
“After less than a year in office, with approval ratings dropping to record lows after a recent humiliating upper house election defeat, and facing increasingly vocal opposition even from within his own party, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo finally took the step many had been demanding on Wednesday and declared his intention to resign. Only days earlier, Abe had promised to step down if he did not receive support for legislation to extend Japanese anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, a promise which never ended up being put to the test. The abruptness of the decision, which appears to have been news to everybody but Abe's closest supporters, brought the beleaguered prime minister yet more criticism, and for the most part his move doesn't seem to have gone down very well with bloggers either.”
Chris Salzberg, “Japan: Prime Minister Abe Steps Down”