Access

Day 10

So much for the short break. Cant keep away. Also I have been getting some early feedback from some people. The new count is + 650 words (93163). Also the reading tip of the day is Savirinuthu “Open Source, Code and Architecture: Its the Memes Stupid” International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, Volume 19, Number 3 / November 2005 pp 341 – 362.

Which unfortunately is not available for free but the library should have a copy. Another reason to support open access!

In addition to this I have news that my examination committee has been chosen. I cannot write about them but I am happy with the choice. For you gender studies people the committee will consist of 1 woman & 2 men.

This is not the Committee!
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23 days

Todays production was +1478 bringing the total up to 177 pages and 87 064 words. It was a good day.

And the countdown is still in the twenties. Today was lots of work on filters & censorship (Look at OpenNet iniative). On Yahoo! helping China chase cyberdissidents and Google creating a ideologically clean (Chinese style) search engine for China. Its obvious that the companies are bending over backwards to gain access to the Chinese market. Despite all the corporate retoric their actions speak louder than words.

censorship
Censorship by Eric Drooker

Reading tip for the weekend: Rosemary Coombe “Commodity Culture, Private Censorship, Branded Environments, and Global Trade Politics: Intellectual Property as a Topic of Law and Society Research“

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25 days

Todays total is 84 660. This means today’s count was +831 words. The main focus of todays writing was on autonomy and the effects of censorship – very cool stuff. Today’s recommended reading is Stuart Hamilton’s doctoral dissertation “To what extent can libraries ensure free, equal and unhampered access to Internet-accessible information resources from a global perspective?” (another link here).

In addition to this I gave a lecture entitled “What is eCommerce” which included a list of top ten dot com deaths from Cnet. Founded in the UK as an online fashion store, Boo.com eventually burned through $160 million before crashing in May 2000. I took the picture in London in 2001. Its an sticker I found near Seven Dials. Not a good slogan considering the fate of Boo…

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RMS & CC

Hows that for a title which demands that you know what its all about?

Richard Stallman (RMS) was recently interviewed in LinuxP2P and was asked “…what differences are there between generic CC licensing and the GPL?”

Some Creative Commons licenses are free licenses; most permit at least noncommercial verbatim copying. But some, such as the Sampling Licenses and Developing Countries Licenses, donâ??t even permit that, which makes them unacceptable to use for any kind of work. All these licenses have in common is a label, but people regularly mistake that common label for something substantial.

This has caused a minor blog/email rumble of surprise that RMS is against CC. (Its even on Slashdot). I know of, respect and support RMS views. Even though I am project lead for CC Sweden I am also a member of FSF Sweden team and I dont see any contradictions with this or any contradictions in RMS on this topic. Therefore I am a bit surprised at the effect RMS’s statement has caused.

CC cannot be understood as one principle. It is a set of licenses offering the user many different options. The GPL is more ideologically stringent and therefore one can be “for” the GPL on ideological or political grounds. Claiming to be “for” CC on ideological or political grounds can only mean that you are for a simple licensing system which helps creators which is admirable but hardly as ideologically deep as creating an accessible infrastructure based for all.

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29 Days

The first day of major re-writing. 29 days left until I have to hand it all in. Result of the day: -2200 words (todays total: 79 800)

Builders
Sternberg – Builders

The main topic of the day was Access. Recommended reading: Ken Worpole & Liz Greenhalgh “The Freedom of the City” (1996).

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Open Access

This book-chapter preprint takes an in-depth look at the open access movement with special attention to the perceived meaning of the term “open access” within it, the use of Creative Commons Licenses, and real-world access distinctions between different types of open access materials.  After a brief consideration of some major general benefits of open access, it examines OA’s benefits for libraries and discusses a number of ways that libraries can potentially support the movement, with a consideration of funding issues. (The preprint does not reflect any editorial changes that may be made.)

It will appear in: Jacobs, Mark, ed. Electronic Resources Librarians: The Human Element of the Digital Information Age. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2006.

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Censoring for China

Most technology companies that want to be active in China have to sign the â??Public Pledge of Self-Regulation & Professional Ethics for China Internet Industryâ?? which requires ISPâ??s to inspect and monitor national and international sites and block access to harmful content. In the case of China many companies are eager to take part in what promises to be a large and potentially profitable market. Therefore many companies are prepared to sign the Pledge to gain access to the Chinese market among the more notable signatories is the company Yahoo!.
A good example of this is Microsoft who has has shut the blog site of a well-known Chinese blogger who uses its MSN online service in China. The reason for shutting down the blog is that the blogger discussed a high-profile newspaper strike that broke out in China one week ago. Read more at New York Times “Microsoft Shuts Blog’s Site After Complaints by Beijing“

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CC Press Release

This press release is available from here

Silicon Valley-based NGO introduces its innovative copyright licenses in Sweden

San Francisco, CA, USA and Berlin, GERMANY â?? November 30, 2005 â?? Creative Commons, a nonprofit dedicated to building a body of creative work free to share and build upon, today unveils a localized version of its innovative licensing system in Sweden.

Creative Commons copyright licenses are available free of charge from the groupâ??s website (http://creativecommons.org). The licenses allow authors and artists to mark their works as free to copy or transform under certain conditionsâ??to declare â??some rights reserved,â?? in contrast to the traditional â??all rights reservedâ??â??thereby enabling others to access a growing pool of raw materials with minimal legal friction.

Staff at Creative Commonsâ?? offices in San Francisco and Berlin worked with Project Lead Mathias Klang and Karl Jonsson of the Creative Commons Sweden team to adapt the standardized licenses to Swedish law. Creative Commons Sweden is hosted and supported by the IT University of the University of Göteborg.
Today the Swedish versions of Creative Commons licenses are being launched and will be available at http://creativecommons.org/ worldwide/se.

As a first official use of the Swedish Creative Commons licenses, the Swedish band Auto-Auto will be releasing their new EP â??Totemâ?? on December 13, 2005 under a Creative Commons license. â??Totemâ?? will contain five tracks and will be available for download at http:// www.auto-auto.se/. Together with the release, the record company and Internet community Substream are making a remix-kit freely available and will be announcing a competition for the best remix of â??Totem.”

About Göteborg University and IT University

IT University is a faculty within Göteborg University. It is a new addition to the centre for IT research, education and development in the west of Sweden. This venture offers excellent scope for cooperation between researchers within different areas of expertise and specializations. The programs offered are based on advanced research and are in a constant state of development.

Göteborg University offers the most comprehensive range of courses and degree programs in Sweden. Göteborg University has about 40 000 students, a staff of well over four thousand, and almost as many part- time teachers spread over approx. 70 departments.

For general information, visit http://www.gu.se/ & http://www.ituniv.se

About Creative Commons

A nonprofit corporation founded in 2001, Creative Commons promotes the creative re-use of intellectual and artistic worksâ??whether owned or in the public domainâ??by empowering authors and audiences. It is sustained by the generous support of the Center for the Public Domain, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Omidyar Network Fund, and the Hewlett Foundation.

For general information, visit http://creativecommons.org/

Contact

Christiane Asschenfeldt
Executive Director CC International, Creative Commons
christiane@creativecommons.org
+49.30.280.93.909

Mia Garlick
General Counsel & COO,
Creative Commons
mia@creativecommons.org
+ 1 415 946 3073

Mathias Klang
Project Lead Sweden
klang@creativecommons.se
+46705432213

Karl Jonsson
License coordinator Sweden
jonsson@creativecommons.se
+46707454211

Press Kit

http://creativecommons.org/presskit/

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Boys, girls & computers

Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace was an expert on the Babbage analytical engine. Her “Notes” on the engine contained the first published computer program – instructions on how to calculate the Bernoulli numbers.

Grand Text Auto report that Hanna Wallach presented preliminary results from FLOSS-POLS survey. Part of the data shows that while boys have their own computer by the age of 15 most girls have to wait until they are over 20.

In a report on IT related Crime (Lars Emanuelsson Korsell och Krister Söderman) from The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention from the year 2000 we find the wierd and wonderful quote:

â??Män misstänks för dataintrÃ¥ng, de manipulerar, raderar och stjäl program, filer eller data. När kvinnor misstänks som gärningsmän handlar det mestadels om interna dataintrÃ¥ng â?? obehörig registerupplysning och radering av filer, program eller data. Endast tre kvinnor misstänks för databedrägeri.â??

Källa: IT-relaterad brottslighet, BR�-rapport 2000:2

Loosely translated: Men are suspected of breaking into computer systems, they manipulate, erase and steal programs, files or data. When women are suspected it is mostly internally accessing computer systems – unauthorised looking at files and erasing files, programs or data. Only three women are suspected of computer fraud.

The authors therefore state that men are actively carrying out manly tasks of destruction while women are driven by curiousity to peek into files. Men “break, manipulate, erase and steal” while women look and erase. Even to the most untrained this is a joke. Men are doers who do macho stuff while women are either driven by curiousity or erase (by incompetence?).

I realise that the report is from 2000 but… come on!! Can they have written this with a straight face?

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Ethics in Internet

Its not often I get the chance to quote the Vatican but apparently they are for Free Software- Here is a quote from their “Ethics in Internet” report.

“The technological configuration underlying the Internet has a considerable bearing on its ethical aspects. Use of the new information technology and the Internet needs to be informed and guided by a resolute commitment to the practice of solidarity in the service of the common good. The Internet requires international cooperation in setting standards and establishing mechanisms to promote and protect [that common good]. Individuals, groups, and nations must have access to these new technologies. Cyberspace ought to be a resource of comprehensive information and services available without charge to all, and in a wide range of languages. The winner in this process will be humanity as a whole and not just a wealthy elite that controls science, technology, and the planet’s resources. Determined action in the private and public sectors is needed to close and eventually eliminate the digital divide.”

Ethics in Internet
Vatican Report

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