From M/Cyclopedia of New Media
Im a second year Law/Journalism student and it is my hope to work for a film magazine.
Victoria Cole
--Victoria Cole 15:30, 27 Jul 2004 (EST)
My Project Proposal
Annotated Bibliography
P2P Collaboration
Music Filesharing and Downloading
McCandless, D. (2001). Warez world: The world of software pirates: A story of hunters and gatherers. Telepolis 26 July. Retrieved 10 Aug. 2004
http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/te/9170/1.html
- According to this article, the Internet has been crafted for a specific and integral purpose - the free swapping of material. The author believes that the existence of such material in a worldwide forum is unique - and, if given a monetary value in the real world (like computer software or commercial music encoded into MP3 for example), major political quandaries ensue in regards to sharing and trading. Although not directly connected to P2P collaboration, this article does present both the software companies and the pirates' viewpoints, as well as plausible reasons behind the pirates' actions. Napster, a ‘buzzword’ for Internet copyright theft and this assignment and a significant player in this ‘Warez’ trading debacle, is referred to several times - its capacity to compact music into tiny, easy, CD-quality files placed under intense scrutiny by the author. Therefore, what can be taken from this article and what the author believes that Napster has proved a million times over, is that as long as there is information with value, there will be people willing to nab it at no cost.
Ewing, J & Lowry,T (2004) It Seemed Like A Good Idea... Business Week. New York: Aug 2, 2004., Iss. 3894; pg. 60 Retrieved 10 Aug 2004
http://proquest.umi.com.gateway.library.qut.edu.au/pqdweb?index=0&did=000000671002671&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1092039782&clientId=14394
- This article is extremely relevant to the topic at hand because if one takes into account it's pen date, it may be one of the most recent developments relating to Napster. The author explains that Bertelsmann, a formidable media company of late, is being sued for approximately $17 billion due to it’s association with Napster (funding the P2P outlet and permitting it to oversee the illegal swapping of files that it was notorious for in the first place).
Shirky, C. (2001). P2P smuggled in under cover of darkness. OpenP2P.com 14 Feb. 2001. Retrieved 10 Aug 2004
http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/02/14/clay_darkness.html.
- Shirky’s article is one that could be used comparatively with regards to my topic as it is presents uses for P2P collaborative software that are not part of the usual type associated with it – that usual type being downloading and browsing through music files. Instead, the ramifications Napster and ICQ wreaked on workplace relations through email were analysed. We are told that employees who rejected regimented and mundane forms of group emailing within the workplace turned to Napster as a refreshing, rebellious and favoured vessel to house their file transfers – and stimulating and controversial declaration about P2P software that compliments my topic.
Ward, M. (2001). Why MP3 piracy is much bigger than Napster. BBC News Online
13 Feb. 2001. Retrieved 7 Aug 2004:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1168087.stm
- Arguing how shutting down Napster would have little, if any, effect on the amount of music being stored and swapped on the net, this article was a very accurate forwshadowing for 2001 when taking into account today's multitude of naughty music dealings... It detailed past history, namely how the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld lower court rulings that the Napster infringed copyright but how it stopped short of granting an injunction that would shut down the whole service. The author also noted that up to 87% of the music shared via Napster was copyrighted. Such an article seems beneficial to the topic at hand because it perfectly relays how music downloading and filesharing, unlike web blogging and other less controversial forms of P2P collaboration, has and continues to encounter infinite Internet obstacles. The author went on to explain how the US courts faced a huge problem if they did want to stop Napster, largely because the company does not control the computers where the copyrighted music is stored. Subjects like the ‘New Napsters’, substitute indexers, separate centralised and decentralised networks, systems that swap files via instant message networks, lone websites that host pirated MP3s and discussion groups such as Usenet and IRC are all compared and contrasted, and it was concluded that if a court wanted to really shut down Napster or a similar program in the future, it would have to remove all the files from all the 50 million computers connected to Napster and all the others that worked with all those other networks. According to him, and as we now know with the re-emergence of Napster as a subscription-based company and many Napster 'knock offs' the court ruling looks like it is “too little, too late�.
McChesney, R. (1997). Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy. Seven Stories Press. New York [ISBN 1888363479]
- This text was another eerily precise foreshadowing as, although put together almost a decade ago, predicts a number of events and developments we now are privy to. Its primary interest is that of the command of media via colossal organizations. The author’s chapter on the 'Internet and the Digital Revolution' is probably of the most use for this topic, detailing the business sector's command of 'democratic media technologies'.
Schumacher-Rasmussen, E. (2003). Commentary: Roxio, Napster, and why the music industry just doesn’t get it. Emedia, February.
http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?CategoryID=44&ArticleID=4984
- This reading was useful in both general and more specific ways – discussing filesharing in general and then narrowing down to commentary on a couple of music filesharing case studies (Roxio and Napster). The basic event discussed was Roxio's then (in Feb 2003) $5 million purchase of the remnants of Napster after its much publicised dissolution, and how this caused much controversy in the music and collaboration sectors as to the future of the relationship between P2P filesharing, music downloading and CD burning. At the time the author wrote this it wasn’t common knowledge that Napster would make a comeback, however doomed, as a subscription founded system, however the article does predict that free alternatives (such as Kazaa) will fair better.
Napster (2004) 'What Is Napster.' Retrieved 12 Aug 2004
http://www.napster.com/what_is_napster.html
- An explanation of what Napster is all about today - a must as a reference point for a topic of Music Filesharing and Downloading. What the program now allows you to do is download songs into a 'library' and you are able to play and preview them from within the program's confines. Burning these songs now requires a 'purchase fee'.
Bruns, A. (2003) From Blogs to Open News: Notes towards a Taxonomy of P2P Publications. Brisbane: ANZCA 2003. [Conference Paper, 9-11 July 2003]. Retrieved 10 Aug 2004:
http://www.bgsb.qut.edu.au/conferences/ANZCA03/Proceedings/papers/bruns_full.pdf
- The unit coordinator’s own relevant paper was a helpful source, housing more generalised information focusing on how Peer-to-peer (p2p) communication is currently a major driver of online content development. Dr Bruns’ main focus of this paper seemed to be on how the philosophy of the open source software development movement is being applied now to news reporting and publishing, leading to what can be described as open news – which on the surface may seem irrelevant to the topic but on closer examination parallels it on many levels. Whether music or news, filesharing – a form of communal ‘publishing’ seems to be replacing mainstream paradigms at an alarming rate.
Chan, A. (2002). Collaborative news networks: Distributed editing, collective action, and the construction of online News on Slashdot.org. Unpublished M.Sc.thesis, MIT. Retrieved 10 Aug. 2004:
http://web.mit.edu/anita1/www/thesis/Index.html
- Anita Chan's extensive and informative thesis, which she submitted to the department of comparative media studies in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of science in comparative media studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is, whilst not specifically aimed at music file collaboration, generally very useful in compiling information on P2P collaboration. Her focus, like Dr. Bruns, is news sharing. She explores collaborative news networks as a whole, then centres on one particular network, Slashdot org, in what could be deemed as a case study of sorts (not unlike what is to be expected later on in this unit). Using Slashdot as a guinea pig, she pulls apart collaboration in newsworks through users, uses and utilities - not specifically touching on music but giving some great general thoughts to chew on. She also talks about defining and debating 'news' on the case study's network.
Lessig, L. (2004). Lessig blog. Retrieved 10 Aug. 2004 from Stanford Law School site:
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/lessig/blog/
- This is a web blog full of relevant information to the topic at hand - both general and some specific. Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law Stanford Law School is the brains behind this collaborative site and is able to be contacted with queries, as are other important and relevant bodies. Most relevant to this bibliography is the discussion board. It becomes more useful even as these words are written, with comments being posted all the time. There are also books by Lessig, a particularly useful one being Code and other Laws of Cyberspace. The book argues a general collaborative and Internet concern: that we should think about the architecture of cyberspace�?its "code"�?as a kind of regulator; that this regulator is likely to regulate more; that "doing nothing" is to lose some of the freedom the net now guarantees. (i.e. losing music filesharing privileges). Free Culture is another book the site boasts access to, and essentially it explains how big forms of media use technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity - again, general yet so perfect to relate to music downloading and filesharing.
MediaChannel.org (2004). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved 10 Aug. 2004:
http://www.mediachannel.org/about/FAQ.shtml
- This site was referenced due to its importance to a subject like New Media technology in general – and it would be an asset to consult for an assignment like this for general rules and practices. MediaChannel, its own words, is 'a media issues super site', aiming to be an essential bookmark for every media professional, student, activist, critic, academic, or policy maker interested in the state of the media internationally.
Opensource.org (2004). Open source initiative OSI – welcome. Retrieved 10 Aug. 2004:
http://www.opensource.org/
- Open Source Initiative (OSI) claims to be a non-profit corporation dedicated to managing and promoting the Open Source Definition for the good of the community, specifically through its'certification mark and program. It seems to be a valuable reference point for anything to do with P2P collaboration, as you are able to read about successful software products that have these properties of filesharing and downloading, which allow you to be confident that a software really is "Open Source." The website also makes copies of approved open source licenses.
Stand down: The left-right blog opposing an invasion of Iraq. (2004). Retrieved 10 Aug. 2004:
http://www.nowarblog.org/
- This is another example of P2P collaboration in a general sense that is widely used, this time focusing on opposing the ongoing war in Iraq. It is an example of open source intelligence where anyone can contribute to a knowledge base by drawing on their experience and areas of interest, and the entire group and world shares the information. The result is an ongoing learning process and a chance for everyone in the world to have their say on issues of contention. This is of assistance for the topic of music filesharing and downloading simple because it is an example of how P2P can be used 'properly' dare I say, without causing too much damage.
(Victoria Cole 09:55, 13 Aug 2004 (EST))
