I found this journal and I thought it fitted in well with this week’s discussion on Freedom and Control. The journal discusses the issues of Copywriting on the internet and how copywriting issues affects issues such as, downloading, gaming, music etc. Like Turkle’s idea of freedom online, Grimes in this journal describes the internet as ‘an opportunity to express and share cultural products and artefacts’, the internet breaks down communication barriers and allows the user to access software to widen what they can do online. However, the issue of copywriting contradicts the idea about the freedom of the internet. Lastowka in this journal argues that ‘the most popular websites are commercially owned and generated’ and these organisations strive to be the ‘gatekeepers of cyberspace’. This is proving the element of control that there is online, despite the freedom arguments. Capitalists use copy write in a way to make money and keep control online, as capitalists have the ability to copy write products/sites they have a strong element of control. An example which is used in the journal is the legal battle of trying to stop file sharing on websites like Napster and KaZaa, which have been successful, which highlights the fact that capitalist organisation have a large authority on the internet. Arguments of copywriting are shown throughout the journal and it raises questions about how far the organisations can actually copy write their products? If a player gets to a certain point in a game with a character that they developed, does the character still belong to the organisation, or is it the player’s character? These questions raise issues with how far copywriting can be pushed in an environment which is meant to reflect freedom and expression! Have a read through the journal, and let me know what you think!
Sara M. Grimes
Online multiplayer games: a virtual space for intellectual property debates?
http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/8/6/969
New Media Society 2006; 8; 969
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This certainly looks like a useful article Claire. Notice how they have taken a narrow issue to highlight a general concern about the 'net - a good ploy. A question though - is the internet meant to reflect freedom and expression? That may be what we would like it to be, but not necessarily how it is concieved by many people. There's also the question of how big the organsiation is and how intense, frequent, widespread is the "theft"!
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