Technology360

The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom

Four people on my blogroll -- Lawrence Lessig, David Weinberger (who has the best summary), Bruno Giussani and John Bracken -- this week posted that Yochai Benkler's book of this title is out.  Actually, the PDF version is available for free download but when I ordered a copy from Amazon, it said it wouldn't be shipped for a month.  I've read only the introduction so far, but the treatment seems compelling and I look forward to reading the whole thing.  The PDF will travel with me across the country three times next month, so maybe I'll finish reading it on my tablet before the hard copy arrives.  Here's the Amazon description:

"With the radical changes in information production that the Internet has introduced, we stand at an important moment of transition, says Yochai Benkler in this thought-provoking book. The phenomenon he describes as social production is reshaping markets, while at the same time offering new opportunities to enhance individual freedom, cultural diversity, political discourse, and justice. But these results are by no means inevitable: a systematic campaign to protect the entrenched industrial information economy of the last century threatens the promise of today’s emerging networked information environment.  ¶  In this comprehensive social theory of the Internet and the networked information economy, Benkler describes how patterns of information, knowledge, and cultural production are changing—and shows that the way information and knowledge are made available can either limit or enlarge the ways people can create and express themselves. He describes the range of legal and policy choices that confront us and maintains that there is much to be gained—or lost—by the decisions we make today."

Updated 4/24/2006:
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School has a podcast of Prof. Benkler discussing this book.  MP3, 38 MB.  You don't need an iPod, iTunes or any other portable thingy to listen to podcasts.  Your computer works just fine.  Link:  Berkman Center.

--Dennis

Watching the Nervous Little TV Networks

Kenneth Musante writes:  "... It’s obvious to anyone that the future of video is distribution via some form of the Internet. It’s not just traditional TV advertising that’s dying; it’s TV itself. It‘s not just about ratings and statistics. Video distributed over the Internet is interactive, engaging, and on-demand. While the Internet pipes aren’t yet big enough to warrant direct streaming of HD-quality TV shows, TV networks should at least be preparing for the day when their primary business of broadcasting content over the airwaves becomes pushed aside by the distribution of content over IP.  ¶  With today’s online advertising technology, it should be possible to serve appropriate video ad segments according to a person’s viewing habits, how they found the video in the first place, where they are located, and what content is contained in the show. Advertising over the air, or even via cable is too static. All you can do with them is estimate the number of viewers by a score determined by a third-party rating service. In other words, a targeted video advertisement delivered via IP is worth more per second than a 30-second spot delivered to a broad, un-targeted audience via TV. ..."  Link:  Adotas.

Is there an online video bubble?

Paul La Monica writes:  "... there is good reason to believe that online video is not just a fad. According to a study of more than 1,200 Internet users released by the Online Publishers Association, 24 percent said they watched online video at least once a week, while 46 percent said they watched at least once a month.  ¶  What's more, two-thirds of those who regularly viewed online video said they also watched online video ads, and 44 percent of those users said they have taken action on what they've seen, i.e. they went to an advertiser's Web site and, in some cases, even made a purchase. ..."  Link:  CNN Money.

NBC, Affils Band Together for Broadband

Allison Romano writes: "While the broadcast networks and their affiliates try to navigate the murky waters of digital distribution,  NBC and its affiliates unveiled plans Wednesday to launch a new co-owned broadband venture later this year stocked with video from the local stations. Executives stressed the portal will be different from video-sharing sites like YouTube.com and that it goes beyond streaming NBC shows online.  ¶  The venture, dubbed The National Broadband Company, will aggregate video from NBC’s 230 affiliates, such as clips on health, consumer news and entertainment. Future plans could possibly include user-contributed content and clips from NBC Universal’s library. The video would likely be ad-supported. It represents an early model of how local stations could make money of their rich library of video. ..."  Link:  Broadcasting & Cable.

Television Stations Are Urged to Break a Few Rules

Stuart Elliott writes:  "The expression 'think outside the box' has been overused enough to become jargon. But for a few hours yesterday [4/20] it was appropriate, as local television stations were urged to diversify beyond their boxes, i.e., TV sets, to remain relevant — and profitable — in the new digital age.  ¶  'Conventional wisdom, it's an enemy at a time like this,' said Beth Comstock, president for digital media and market development at NBC Universal, part of General Electric. 'In media today, I don't think there is a single rule that can't — and frankly, probably shouldn't — be broken.'  ¶  'This isn't just about driving growth,' she added. 'It's about staying in business.' ...¶... For the first time, the conference was devoted to a single topic: the importance of the 'multiplatform' — that is, offering content and advertising not only on local broadcast stations but also online, on cellphones and other wireless devices, through video on demand and on video iPods. ..."  Link:  New York Times.

Updated 4/24/2006:
Advertising Age has a video exerpt and related article by Hoag Levins (link; free registration required, good for seven days only).  --Dennis

Dear FCC -Be careful what you ask for

Mark Cuban writes:  "You want a la carte, you got a la carte.  ¶  It's called the internet. Every single major cable and telephone company offers high speed access to the internet and they allow you to pick and choose the content you want to view.  ¶  The internet is the definition of ala carte program. Every type of programming imaginable. All there for you to find and choose what you want, when you want it.  Some witha price tag. Most for free.  ¶  Open up your favorite search engine and put in the name of the program you want. Or put in the type of programming you want. It's your Electronic Programming Guide. If it's there and available you can find it. ..."  Link:  Blog Maverick.

For a related commentary, see Richard Siklos', Why Can't I Have Just the Cable Channels I Want?: "... The great paradox of this debate is that it comes as the number of media options is exploding and the way they are being priced is all over the map. The much-maligned bundle will most probably prevail as the most popular business model for media, although it, too, is likely going to need an extreme makeover. ..."  Link:  New York Times.  --Dennis

Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has issued a report on the DMCA, from which the executive summary is quoted here:

"Since they were enacted in 1998, the "anti-circumvention" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), codified in section 1201 of the Copyright Act, have not been used as Congress envisioned. Congress meant to stop copyright infringers from defeating anti-piracy protections added to copyrighted works and to ban the "black box" devices intended for that purpose.

In practice, the anti-circumvention provisions have been used to stifle a wide array of legitimate activities, rather than to stop copyright infringement. As a result, the DMCA has developed into a serious threat to several important public policy priorities:

The DMCA Chills Free Expression and Scientific Research.
Experience with section 1201 demonstrates that it is being used to stifle free speech and scientific research. The lawsuit against 2600 magazine, threats against Princeton Professor Edward Felten's team of researchers, and prosecution of Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov have chilled the legitimate activities of journalists, publishers, scientists, students, programmers, and members of the public.

The DMCA Jeopardizes Fair Use.
By banning all acts of circumvention, and all technologies and tools that can be used for circumvention, the DMCA grants to copyright owners the power to unilaterally eliminate the public's fair use rights. Already, the movie industry's use of encryption on DVDs has curtailed consumers' ability to make legitimate, personal-use copies of movies they have purchased.

The DMCA Impedes Competition and Innovation.
Rather than focusing on pirates, many copyright owners have wielded the DMCA to hinder their legitimate competitors. For example, the DMCA has been used to block aftermarket competition in laser printer toner cartridges, garage door openers, and computer maintenance services. Similarly, Apple invoked the DMCA to chill RealNetworks' efforts to sell music downloads to iPod owners.

The DMCA Interferes with Computer Intrusion Laws.
Further, the DMCA has been misused as a general-purpose prohibition on computer network access which, unlike most computer intrusion statutes, lacks any financial harm threshold. As a result, a disgruntled employer has used the DMCA against a former contractor for simply connecting to the company's computer system through a VPN. ..."

Link:  Electronic Frontier Foundation [«HTML, PDF]

Bandwidth Glut Almost Over?

Om Malik writes:  "Improbable as it may seem, but the bandwidth glut created by the telecom bubble of the late nineties might be coming to an end. Or there is at-least light at the end of the tunnel. Many of the major long haul service providers are in fact are in the process of lighting up their dark fiber to add capacity. There is talk of a new transpacific cable being laid by a new group. ...¶  But unlike the 1990s, this time around the capacity is being added in a as-needed basis, according to research firm, Telegeography. The demand is being driven by a big growth in consumer broadband connections, says Alan Mauldin research analyst with Telegeography. ..."  Link:  GigaOM.

"Focus group" on internet radio

New York-based VC professional Fred Wilson has had a couple of interesting posts on listening to radio on the net.  Combined with the comments to these posts, they're an interesting mini-focus group on radio listening to new media.  Internet Radio Rocks (link:  A VC) and How Do I Like My Radio Delivered? (link:  A VC).  --Dennis

Seeking Attention

Sam Williams writes:  "... For users, meanwhile, attention means intelligent time management, knowing when to close the laptop and talk to your family, and when to tackle the 200 e-mails in your inbox.  ¶  'It's all about optimizing the limited amount of time we all have,' says Steven Gillmor, a technology blogger and recent [Seth] Goldstein collaborator. Gillmor traces his personal concern about attention to the advent of the RSS automated newsfeed, a tool that radically restructured his own Web-surfing priorities and prompted the creation of attention.xml, an add-on developed with the help of Technorati founder Dave Sifry that lets RSS users monitor their news-reading activities.  ¶  At the 2005 O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference in San Diego, CA, Gillmor and Goldstein met and shared their disparate thoughts. Out of the resulting conversation emerged Attention Recorder, a Firefox browser extension that lets users statistically monitor their Web-surfing activity down to the individual click-and-search query, and Attention Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to rallying users and marketers alike around four main principles: 1) attention data should be considered the personal property of the user at all times, 2) users should be able to rent or grant access to attention data at will, 3) users should be able to pay for services with attention data alone, and 4) users should be able to see how marketers use that data. ..."  Link:  Technology Review.  Gillmor and Attention Trust links added to quote. --Dennis