Berkman Buzz, week of December 31
BERKMAN BUZZ: A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School
Week of December 31, 2007
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What's going on... take your pick or browse below.
*David Ardia closes the year with Freedom of Information Act reforms
*Ethan Zuckerman begins his with Kenya on his mind
*danah boyd wants her tunes!
*The Internet & Democracy Project releases case studies on Ukrainian and South Korean uses of Internet
*Jake Shapiro looks at PRX’s 2007
*Weekly Global Voice: Online support for Chinese blogger Hu Jia
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The full buzz.
“In one of his last executive actions of the year, President Bush signed into law the "OPEN Government Act of 2007" on December 31, 2007. The Senate unanimously passed the reform bill earlier in December, and it passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on December 18. The Associated Press is reporting that Bush signed the bill without comment.
As I explained in a blog post two weeks ago, the legislation substantially reforms the Freedom of Information Act and expands the definition of who is a "representative of the news media" under FOIA. This change would significantly benefit bloggers and non-traditional journalists by making them eligible for reduced processing and duplication fees that are available to ‘representatives of the news media.’
Other important reforms include…”
David Ardia, “Bush Signs FOIA Reform Bill; New Definition of News Media Will Benefit Bloggers and Non-Traditional Journalists”
“I had a post queued up for the start of 2008. I’d planned to begin the year on an enthusiastic, positive note, suggesting that this might be the year where
That post will be on hold for a little while…”
Ethan Zuckerman, “
- continued -
“I love music and I refuse to be one of those people whose listening habits were formed in college and never progress. I pride myself on acquiring music on a regular basis, but I absolutely positively refuse to buy DRM-ified music. I've been buying CDs and ripping them for years, grabbing music from friends, and downloading using P2P software (even though I know that all three are "illegal"). Because most of the music that I listen to has a short run on CDs (and is not carried by any of the Top 5 distributors), I usually can't buy the CD if I don't get to the album in the first few months. As much as I love psyshop, it's really irritating that the majority of albums are "not available." This means that my only option is to ‘steal’ them. Not an ideal situation. The other problem is that I hate having to wait for CDs - they take forever, especially when they're being shipped from
danah boyd, “the music industry would be proud: I bought music this year”
“The Internet and Democracy project is proud to announce the release of its first case studies, “The Role of Digital Networked Technologies in the Ukrainian Orange Revolution” and “The Citizen Journalism Web Site ‘Ohmynews’ and the 2002 South Korean Presidential Election”. Both analyze the influence of the Internet on key democratic turning points in
Internet & Democracy, “I&D Case Studies Now Available”
“2007 has been a tremendous year for the Public Radio Exchange: we have worked with stations to help thousands of excellent radio pieces reach the public; Generation PRX launched a new site connecting youth producers around the country; and the Public Radio Talent Quest discovered 3 outstanding “hosty” new voices from over 1,400 submissions. PRX is building a powerful platform for public media, and you are part of the growing network that makes it all work.
We have some exciting developments coming in 2008, including version 3.0 of PRX.org, new partnerships, and more news to share in the coming months…”
Jake Shapiro, “Happy new year!”
“Here's a Facebook app waiting to happen: can you name all 51 bloggers currently doing time in Chinese prisons? Any guesses what #52's last blog post will have been about?
For house-arrested Hu Jia in Beijing, it was his firsthand news last week that Guangzhou-based Zhang Qing, wife of imprisoned lawyer Guo Feixiong, had on Dec. 26 discovered that the roughly USD 1,000 left in her bank account had disappeared. No time like the present, Hu Jia was arrested the next day in the middle of a Skype chat while his wife Zeng Jinyan was in the bathroom giving their month-old baby a bath. Ten or more police had forced their way in, disconnected all communications in the house, and left, placing 24 year-old Zeng and baby under house arrest, where they most likely still remain today. Despite Zeng having been chosen last year as one of the world's most influential people, the couple doesn't get blogged about much in
John Kennedy, “China: Lawyers denied visit to detained blogger Hu Jia”