The document discusses technological determinism and the idea that technology develops independently of social and cultural influences. It also discusses how technologies are often driven by the interests of individuals and organizations, rather than an autonomous momentum. Additionally, the emergence and use of technologies is shaped by social forces like power and gender. The document then examines policies like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and how industries can influence government support for particular technologies through lobbying and campaign contributions. It also notes that precisely predicting and regulating new technologies through policy is difficult.
Think about spam (unsolicited commercial email). It seems to be epidemic, and all projections indicate that by next fall over 90% of all email will be spam. Is it simply “advancing according to its own inner dynamic” now, beyond any attempt to govern or regulate it? Examples from previous discussions: SMS in India, television in Bhutan, Internet in China & Saudi Arabia, etc.
There are 20 000 bookstores in Japan. Small operators are already hit hard by conventional theft and hundreds of them close down every year due to financial difficulties, Takahashi said. "Given the enormous speed of business closures, we cannot overlook this information-lifting with cellphones," he said. He said it was unclear if digital shoplifting is tantamount to a crime as the copyright law only covers use of information for commercial purposes. A major operator of a national chain of bookstores has spotted the practice but found it difficult to prevent. “ Digital Shoplifting” in Japan “ I t is hard for floor staff to tell if customers are just making phone calls or taking pictures” New Cell Phone Used in “Digital Shoplifting” Camera Phone Etiquette Abuses
China uses their own proprietary wireless standard, WAPI
Think about those combination DVD / VHS players being sold everywhere here in the U.S. You won’t see those over in Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, or other Asian countries. Why? Because these countries abandoned VHS years before we did, and instead migrated to VCD and later DVD. Since most DVD players can also play VCD, they have little need or motivation to mass produce and buy DVD/VHS players in their own countries. There simply isn’t much demand for these devices there.
Largely regulated: numerous copyright & IP laws, based on economic and cultural perspectives DVD region codes, macrovision copy protection, etc. E-commerce sales tax debate so far has been decidedly one-sided: Let the market figure itself out
Digital Millennium Copyright Act Federal law, as of 1998 Penalizes creators of devices that override copy protection measures for digital media Lobbied by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) RIAA / MPAA: lobbied hard for Orrin Hatch to push enFORCE bill, which grants RIAA & MPAA immunity from future antitrust lawsuits. See: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34191.html Policies: DMCA, cont. Best intentions Unintended consequences: MGM / Macrovision vs. 321 Studios Chamberlain vs. Skylink Lexmark vs. Static Control Content Scrambling System
RIAA / MPAA: lobbied hard for Orrin Hatch to push enFORCE bill, which grants RIAA & MPAA immunity from future antitrust lawsuits. See: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34191.html
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/04/glaser-realdvd-not-for-pirates/ "The message this sends is if you get into the business of enabling consumers to do with DVDs what they've long done with CDs, you'll get sued out of the business." --Fred von Lohmann, EFF attorney
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/04/glaser-realdvd-not-for-pirates/ RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser defended his DVD copying software product before a federal court here Tuesday, testifying that DRM controls on the $30 software make it virtually useless for pirates. “ Our product is not designed for somebody who is willing to pirate,” Glaser told a packed federal courtroom during the second day of a legal challenge to the RealDVD software brought by the Hollywood studios. He said the RealDVD software, which U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel froze from the market in September pending the outcome of a three-day hearing expected to end Wednesday, allows for just one copy of a DVD. “You cannot make a copy of a copy,” he said, noting that the copy can only be played on five computers running the RealDVD software. “ Customers that don’t like those limitations aren’t our target market and we don’t have the best product for them,” Glaser testified.
![[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/302unit4dmca-110620075846-phpapp01/85/302-unit4-dmca-1-320.jpg)
![[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)