A gift economy is when help and information are offered to others without any expectation of any help in return. Not only do these exist in real life, but also on the internet. Richard Brooks states, ‘’Most internet users collaborate with each other without the direct mediation of money or politics. Unconcerned about copyright, they give and receive information without thought of payment.’’ There are hundreds if not thousands of gift economies all over the internet. One of the most well known gift economies is Linux. One that may not be as well known is the web forum Off Topic, or OT. I participate in this online economy on a daily basis.
OT is a large, worldwide web forum which has over a dozen different message boards relating to different topics. There is an off topic forum (obviously) as well as a car forum, truck forum, for sale forum, relationship help forum, a forum to help people with various addictions, and also a religion forum, to name a few. While registration is only open for 4 months out of the year, it is free to anyone who is interested in joining. Currently, there are over 170,000 active members, and last week there were almost 85 million new posts!! That ranks OT as 6th in the world for most posts in a week, where it is consistently ranked.
So what makes OT an online gift community? Taken from Peter Kollock’s article ‘’The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace,’’ Rheingold (1993) has described interaction in one online community (the WELL) as consisting of a gift economy, in which help and information is offered without the expectation of any direct, immediate quid-pro-quo. Even in more anonymous settings, such as Usenet discussion groups, there is a surprising amount of free help and information given out, often to complete strangers whom one may never meet again.
Using that as a basis for analysis, OT is a gift economy because of the constant threads made asking for help with various topics. Some examples taken from current topics on the forum are, ‘’what should I mix Grey Goose with?’’ and ‘’just caught my g/f cheating on me, need advice.’’ While a majority of threads can contain rude, offensive and unhelpful answers, there are also an equal number of helpful answers. The people that can post these helpful answers are often complete strangers, people you will not likely ever meet in your lifetime. These people also never expect direct compensation for their help. They aren’t charging a fee, or expect a particular user to help them with a problem in the future. A professional PC consultant could charge you hundreds of dollars to fix your computer, yet if you make a thread on OT about what is wrong, you will likely get several people attempting to help you, free of charge.
An example of a thread which I helped in was when a member was considering moving to Buffalo for a job. He was looking for information about the city, what people thought about it, and what types of things there were to do around town. Being that there are several members from Buffalo, we were able to provide all the information he was looking for. I don’t know who the guy is, nor will I ever. I also don’t know the other members from Buffalo yet we all offered our opinions. Another time I made a thread asking for advice on building a computer. Within less than a day there was all of the advice and information I needed to buy the right parts and get my computer built. I have no idea who any of the other members were that helped, and I’m sure they don’t know me either.
As mentioned previously, not all of the information people provide is helpful. However, more often than not someone can get enough information or advice to guide them through their situation, free of charge or without a direct expectation to reciprocate. This is why OT is a great example of an online gift economy.
Sources:
The Hi-Tech Gift Economy by Richard Barbrook
The Economies of Online Cooperation by Peter Kollock
Forum rankings
Offtopic.com statistics
Interview with OT's founder and owner, Fazle
Showing posts with label com125. Show all posts
Showing posts with label com125. Show all posts
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Com125 Assignment 3: What you don't know about copyright infringement
People know about copyright infringement when it comes to illegally downloading music. It’s been all over TV, radio, and obviously the internet. What most people don’t know about is copyright infringement related to websites and their content. What are the processes related to removing and restoring the content and what gives people or companies the authority to do it? Also, who is favored in these processes?
In 1998, a federal law was passed that grants online and internet service providers the authority to remove internet content if it allegedly infringes a copyright. This law also gives these providers safety from being prosecuted by the person who has the copyright, and the person infringing upon it. The law is the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act or OCILLA, which is a part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA.
The two parts of the law that are most commonly encountered are the take down and put back provisions. How do they work? Check out the example provided by this site:
Takedown example
Here's an example of how the takedown procedures would work:
1. Alice puts a copy of Bob's song on her AOL-hosted website.
2. Bob, searching the Internet, finds Alice's copy.
3. Charlie, Bob's lawyer, sends a letter to AOL's designated agent (registered with the Copyright Office) including:
1. contact information
2. the name of the song that was copied
3.the address of the copied song
4. a statement that he has a good faith belief that the material is not legal
5. a statement that, under penalty of perjury, Charlie is authorized to act for the copyright holder
6. his signature
4. AOL takes the song down.
5. AOL tells Alice that they have taken the song down.
6. Alice now has the option of sending a counter-notice to AOL, if she feels the song was taken down unfairly. The notice includes
1. contact information
2. identification of the removed song
3. a statement under penalty of perjury that Alice has a good faith belief the material was mistakenly taken down
4. a statement consenting to the jurisdiction of Alice's local US Federal District Court, or, if outside the US, to a US Federal District Court in any jurisdiction in which AOL is found.
5. her signature
7. AOL then waits 10-14 business days for a lawsuit to be filed by Bob.
8. If Bob does not file a lawsuit, then AOL puts the material back up.
So who does it appear is favored by this example? Bob clearly has the advantage because all he needs to do in order to have the song removed is state that he has a good faith belief that the material is a copyright infringement. In order to have it put back up, Alice needs to state (under penalty of perjury) that it is not infringing. What this means is that Bob can make any claim he desires whether it be true or false, without suffering any legal action if he is false. Alice has to make a legally binding statement that the material was mistakenly taken down.
Another advantage for Bob would be the delay between receiving Alice’s counter-notice, and the ISP putting her content back up. This generally takes between 10 and 14 days. An example, once again used by this site, would be that Alice has a website advertising a protest against Bob’s company. A week before the protest, Bob claims that the site has infringed the copyright of his company name. Alice’s site will be taken down right away. Even if Alice appeals immediately, having to wait 10-14 days means that the protest will be over before the site is put back up, thus being useless.
As is the case with music, the creator of the material seems to have the upper hand here as well. It is important that they are able to receive due credit for their work, but in the cases above, it seems as though they are given too much freedom and ability to make false claims that directly benefit themselves.
Complying with the DMCA
More info on the DMCA
OCILLA
In 1998, a federal law was passed that grants online and internet service providers the authority to remove internet content if it allegedly infringes a copyright. This law also gives these providers safety from being prosecuted by the person who has the copyright, and the person infringing upon it. The law is the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act or OCILLA, which is a part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA.
The two parts of the law that are most commonly encountered are the take down and put back provisions. How do they work? Check out the example provided by this site:
Takedown example
Here's an example of how the takedown procedures would work:
1. Alice puts a copy of Bob's song on her AOL-hosted website.
2. Bob, searching the Internet, finds Alice's copy.
3. Charlie, Bob's lawyer, sends a letter to AOL's designated agent (registered with the Copyright Office) including:
1. contact information
2. the name of the song that was copied
3.the address of the copied song
4. a statement that he has a good faith belief that the material is not legal
5. a statement that, under penalty of perjury, Charlie is authorized to act for the copyright holder
6. his signature
4. AOL takes the song down.
5. AOL tells Alice that they have taken the song down.
6. Alice now has the option of sending a counter-notice to AOL, if she feels the song was taken down unfairly. The notice includes
1. contact information
2. identification of the removed song
3. a statement under penalty of perjury that Alice has a good faith belief the material was mistakenly taken down
4. a statement consenting to the jurisdiction of Alice's local US Federal District Court, or, if outside the US, to a US Federal District Court in any jurisdiction in which AOL is found.
5. her signature
7. AOL then waits 10-14 business days for a lawsuit to be filed by Bob.
8. If Bob does not file a lawsuit, then AOL puts the material back up.
So who does it appear is favored by this example? Bob clearly has the advantage because all he needs to do in order to have the song removed is state that he has a good faith belief that the material is a copyright infringement. In order to have it put back up, Alice needs to state (under penalty of perjury) that it is not infringing. What this means is that Bob can make any claim he desires whether it be true or false, without suffering any legal action if he is false. Alice has to make a legally binding statement that the material was mistakenly taken down.
Another advantage for Bob would be the delay between receiving Alice’s counter-notice, and the ISP putting her content back up. This generally takes between 10 and 14 days. An example, once again used by this site, would be that Alice has a website advertising a protest against Bob’s company. A week before the protest, Bob claims that the site has infringed the copyright of his company name. Alice’s site will be taken down right away. Even if Alice appeals immediately, having to wait 10-14 days means that the protest will be over before the site is put back up, thus being useless.
As is the case with music, the creator of the material seems to have the upper hand here as well. It is important that they are able to receive due credit for their work, but in the cases above, it seems as though they are given too much freedom and ability to make false claims that directly benefit themselves.
Complying with the DMCA
More info on the DMCA
OCILLA
Thursday, September 6, 2007
COM125 Assignment 2: History of America Online
For many people, including me, America Online (AOL) was the beginning of the internet. It was one of the first major providers to offer software that combined an internet connection, email, instant messaging, web browsing, and games along with many other features. Using AOL was the first time I had access to the internet, and the way I use the internet today is based on the features that AOL offered such as IM and email.
AOL began as Quantum Computer Services who offered only one product, an online game service for the Atari game console. In 1983, Steve Case (former CEO) joined the company as a marketing employee and was promoted to the rank of CEO in 1989. In 1991, the company released AOL for DOS (think one step before Windows.) That same year the company was renamed from Quantum to America Online.
Shortly after the release of the DOS version came the first version of AOL for Windows 3.x.The release of AOL for Windows was a big deal because it was the first online service to use software that could be run on Windows, thus making it more user friendly than the DOS version due to the fact that you could click links on the screen instead of typing commands. This was important because it made the program available to be used by more people, since it was less complex.
The first versions of AOL were still focused mainly on games but another innovation was the chat room, which allowed large groups of people to talk in real time. There were several types of chat rooms and rooms of varying topics so that people of similar interests could meet and have discussions.
By the mid-90’s, AOL had gone from an almost bankrupt company to arguably the largest internet provider ever, surpassing both Prodigy and CompuServe. AOL originally charged per hour, but in 1996 starting charging an unlimited use monthly fee of $19.99. Within a few years of doing this, over 10 million people were using AOL.
In 2000, AOL purchased Time Warner, and the two companies merged. Since then, the value of AOL has dropped significantly and reflects its falling subscription rate. This could be for many reasons, one of which is likely the use of DSL and cable internet access becoming more and more popular. Regardless of what the future has in store, the innovations of AOL in its early years certainly helped the company to leave its mark in the history of the internet.
AOL began as Quantum Computer Services who offered only one product, an online game service for the Atari game console. In 1983, Steve Case (former CEO) joined the company as a marketing employee and was promoted to the rank of CEO in 1989. In 1991, the company released AOL for DOS (think one step before Windows.) That same year the company was renamed from Quantum to America Online.
Shortly after the release of the DOS version came the first version of AOL for Windows 3.x.The release of AOL for Windows was a big deal because it was the first online service to use software that could be run on Windows, thus making it more user friendly than the DOS version due to the fact that you could click links on the screen instead of typing commands. This was important because it made the program available to be used by more people, since it was less complex.
The first versions of AOL were still focused mainly on games but another innovation was the chat room, which allowed large groups of people to talk in real time. There were several types of chat rooms and rooms of varying topics so that people of similar interests could meet and have discussions.
By the mid-90’s, AOL had gone from an almost bankrupt company to arguably the largest internet provider ever, surpassing both Prodigy and CompuServe. AOL originally charged per hour, but in 1996 starting charging an unlimited use monthly fee of $19.99. Within a few years of doing this, over 10 million people were using AOL.
In 2000, AOL purchased Time Warner, and the two companies merged. Since then, the value of AOL has dropped significantly and reflects its falling subscription rate. This could be for many reasons, one of which is likely the use of DSL and cable internet access becoming more and more popular. Regardless of what the future has in store, the innovations of AOL in its early years certainly helped the company to leave its mark in the history of the internet.
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