Berkman Buzz, week of November 19

BERKMAN BUZZ: A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School
Week of November 19, 2007

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What's going on... take your pick or browse below.

* Jake Shapiro reports from the New Media Institute.
* Ethan Zuckerman explains the importance of anonymous blogging.
* Dan Gillmor on possible future endeavors.
* Creative Commons aims for 50,000 friends.
* Citizen Media Law Project: A Nation of Infringers?
* Weekly Global Voice: Iraq: Awakening.

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The full buzz.

"Last week I was at the New Media Institute in Jackson Mississippi, put on by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) and hosted at Mississippi Public Broadcasting.  NBPC is one of the 5 minority consortia in public broadcasting (the others are Native American, Latino, Pacific Islander, and Asian American), and Executive Director Jacquie Jones pioneered the idea a year ago of putting together a week-long training and convening event for minority media producers focused on technology and new tools and platforms. "
Jake Shapiro, "Jackson Mississippi and the New Media Institute"

"I field a lot of questions from journalists and students about anonymous blogging. Roughly once a week, I end up answering the question, 'Why should I believe what someone has to say if he won’t tell me his name?'  There’s a stock answer to this question at this point. 'You judge the reputation of a blogger by network and by track record. Read back through that blogger's posts and you'll get a good sense for where she's coming from and what her biases are. Look at who links to her and what they say about her, and you'll find out what her credibility is with other bloggers.'"
Ethan Zuckerman, "What’s in a name?"

"In the past several weeks, with a brief timeout, I've been thinking hard about the new Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship that I'll be starting at Arizona State University next year. To say that I'm excited about this is an understatement; I can't wait to get started."
Dan Gillmor, "Digital Media Entrepreneurship, a Few Thoughts…"

"Looking for another way to support CC? Be our friend! By connecting with Creative Commons on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr, you can help us broaden our reach and educate the masses about the Creative Commons mission."
Creative Commons, "The 50,000 friends challenge"

"John Tehranian, a law professor at the University of Utah, has an article coming out in the Utah Law Review in which he concludes that the dichotomy between copyright law and social norms 'is so profound that on any given day even the most law-abiding American engages in thousands of actions that likely constitute copyright infringement.'"
CMLP, "A Nation of Infringers?"

"Can it really be true? Dare I say it? Iraq is actually getting safer? What with a new movement called ‘Awakening' throwing Al-Qaeda out of Baghdad suburbs; Reports that violence is markedly down; Iraqis returning in droves; could George Bush's surge really be working? Iraqi bloggers investigate and give the real word from the street."
Salam Adil, "Iraq: Awakening"