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CIAO DATE: 08/07
Issue 11, Autumn 2006
Articles
Access To Knowledge Conference Yale 2006
Toward a Post - Academic Science Policy: Scientific Communication and the Collapse of the Mertonian Norms (PDF, 29 pages, 269 KB) - by David Kellogg
In recent decades, the textual economy of science that dominated the postwar period has begun to transform into an emerging form that John Ziman has called "post-academic science." This essay illustrates the cultural force of postwar science adminstration, including its patronage structure, through a close reading of Robert K. Merton’s 1942 essay on the norms of science against Vannevar Bush's influential 1945 proposal for science policy. The essay then traces how the norms of industrial and academic science are being combined into new forms of collaboration and patronage, and how the academic understanding of science fails to describe emerging practices. The author concludes by examining some recent controversies in the public understanding of science and exploring how a dialectical, post-academic model helps us interpret the present crisis.
Where Antitrust ends and IP begins - On the Roots of the Transatlantic Clashes (PDF, 55 pages, 513 KB) - by Katarzyna Czapracka
U.S. antitrust enforcers see little scope for antitrust policy to mitigate the consequences of imperfect IP policies. They are reluctant to intervene in what is perceived to be the sphere of IP policy and take the view that any competitive concerns are better remedied by changes in the IP policy. Exactly the opposite tendencies are present in EU competition law. Both the European Commission and the ECJ see a role for competition law to correct improvidently defined IPRs, even if it entails adjusting competition principles. It may seem reasonable, as unlike competition policy, most issues relating to IP policy within the European Union are still decided at the national level. Yet, there is an inherent danger in this approach. It may lead antitrust authorities to adopt analytically questionable approaches that undermine the coherence of the antitrust laws. Competition agencies must be particularly cautious in adopting the measures to curb IP laws, as they may discourage private R&D investment. The Commission's views on application of Article 82 to interoperability information, as expressed in the Microsoft Decision and the Article 82 Paper, confirm that these reservations are valid.
Access to Global Telecommunications: A Comparative Discussion of the International Legal Issues Confronting the Telecommunications Relay Service (PDF, 22 pages, 202 KB)- by Joshua Pila
The U.S. Telecommunications Relay Service (“TRS”) strives to facilitate access to telecommunications services for hearing and/or speech impaired individuals. This system, and other countries’ similar efforts, fails to take account of new technologies such as Internet Protocol (“IP”) and the increasingly global reach of telecommunications networks. The system works well for traditional domestic calls, but performs poorly when challenged by calls that traverse international networks or leave the Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”). In these cases, conflicting regulatory obligations, network architectures, cross-border funding mechanisms, and international standardization issues interfere with TRS users’ ability to communicate in a functionally equivalent manner. This paper analyzes current U.S. TRS regulations and technologies, compares this system to Great Britain’s TypeTalk regime, explains system faults in international and Internet Protocol contexts, and argues that U.S. and international telecommunications regulators should understand and attempt to resolve these challenges by: 1) a registration system and specialized technology for IP Relay, 2) maintenance or creation of a shared funding mechanism for required TRS provision tied to TRS usage, 3) removal of international revenues from fund contribution formulas, and 4) international negotiation in private industry bodies or the ITU for promulgation of TRS technology industry-wide standards.
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICCS) - Online Communities in the Digital Economy
An Ecosystem View on Online Communities of Practice (PDF, 31 pages, 553 KB) - by Sheng-cheng Lin and Fu-ren Lin
A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share common concerns, problems, or passions for a domain, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise through interaction on an ongoing basis. People view a CoP as a wellspring of precious knowledge in the era of knowledge economy. Notably, many researchers support the notion that a CoP is not designed or made but grown. However, there is no systematic theory of online community development. Based on the properties of autotrophic and open system of online CoPs, there are several differences between traditional groups and online CoPs. Interestingly, there exists an ideal mapping between the properties of an online CoP and an ecological ecosystem. This study adopts Yin’s analytic strategy of descriptive framework and Odum’s ecosystem model to develop an online CoP ecosystem model to identify the evolution of an ecosystem over time. Finally, some policies implications for development of online communities of practice are proposed based on the ecosystem view.
Examining the Cognitive Style Effects on the Acceptance of Online Community Weblog Systems (PDF, 12 pages, 112 KB) - by Will Wai-kit Ma, Theodore H. K. Clark and Pu Li.
Weblogs ("Blogs") are becoming increasingly important over time with researchers asking why millions of Internet users are so eager to post their own diary on the web everyday. This study collected data from 265 business school undergraduate students on their opinions concerning weblog usage and attitudes. This study then used cognitive style to analyze differences among various user types. Analysis of respondents' cognitive style placed them along a spectrum with two extremes: intuitive (with nonlinear thinking) and analytic (using rational information processing). Group analysis found significant differences between the two cognitive groups: (1) performance expectancy was significantly higher in the analytical group while (2) effort expectancy and social influence were higher in influencing intention to use within the intuitive group.
Ghost Towns or Vibrant Villages? Constructing Business-Sponsored Online Communities (PDF, 22 pages, 299 KB) - by Rosemary Stockdale and Michael Borovicka.
Businesses are being encouraged to construct online communities to interact with their customers and to realise the many benefits such communities offer. These benefits include enhanced brand recognition and more opportunities to develop close customer relationships. However, there remains little understanding of how such communities should be developed and maintained and many have failed, languishing as ‘ghost towns’ online. A case study of Lonely Planet examines the way in which the travel publisher has established a vibrant online community with more than 250,000 members. Analysis shows that the company has integrated the elements of a socially constructed community with those of a business one. Lonely Planet has increased the value proposition for their customers while nurturing a sense of social belonging. This case study of a vibrant business-sponsored online community contributes to more understanding of how such communities can be developed.
Building Virtual Bridges to Home: The Use of the Internet by Transnational Communities of Immigrants (PDF, 20 pages, 176 KB) - by Celene Navarrete-A. and Esperanza Huerta
For decades transnational communities of immigrants have used various forms of communication to maintain ties with their places of origin. Transnational communities of immigrants are creating and enhancing virtual spaces for (re)creating and maintaining a SOC across national borders. This paper explores the concept of sense of virtual community in transnational groups of immigrants. We review research from different disciplines to understand how the Internet is shaping the ability of dispersed national groups to create, preserve and extend their SOC in virtual spaces. The theory of SOC applied to virtual communities provides the frame of reference in which this phenomenon is analysed. Based on our analysis of the literature we argue that the unique characteristics of communities of immigrants—such as shared histories, cultural values, experiences, common country of origin, and offline interaction—shape the nature and dynamics of their interactions online. Social, political and economic implications of the offline/online interaction are also addressed for the host and home society.
Social Types in Technical Newsgroups: Implications for Information Flow (PDF, 21 pages, 537 KB) - by Tammara Combs Turner and Karen E. Fisher
Using Fisher and Durrance’s framework of information communities, this study examines the roles played by differed social types in information flow within online technical newsgroups. Data collection methods included content analysis of discussion threads from technical newsgroups, focus groups, participant observation and interviews with key informants, along with quantitative analysis of data obtained from Microsoft Research’s Netscan project. Findings support and expand the information communities framework. Four social types were identified: (1) Questioners, (2) Answer People, (3) Community Managers and (4) Moguls. Newsgroups facilitated social and information exchanges among individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and geographic locations as they posted and replied to messages publicly available for viewing. Interaction of these various social types cultivated information flow as users engaged in information seeking, giving and use behavior. Implications for information policy are discussed.
Gatekeepers, Virtual Communities and the Gated: Multidimensional Tensions in Cyberspace (PDF, 28 pages, 212 KB) - by Karine Barzilai-Nahon
Gatekeeping/Information Control is exercised frequently and daily in virtual communities. In this context, Gatekeeping exists in four different levels of stakeholders: Formal regulators, infrastructure regulators (e.g., service providers), communities’ managers and members of the communities (serving as the representative of the communities or as individuals). The article analyzes the sensitive balance of relationships among these stakeholders. Additionally, it examines how power is manifested and exercised through information control in forums. Three levels that impact gatekeeping nature are analyzed – the gatekeepers, the community and the gated while addressing: first, the duality of gatekeepers as protectors or manipulators; second, the politics of power of marginalized groups in cyberspace and finally, the meaning of gated anonymity to information control.
Book Review
"Media Regulation, Public Interest and the Law" by Mike Finetuck and Mike Varney (PDF, 3 pages, 24 KB) - by Simone Bonetti