November 7: Harvard-MIT-Yale Cyberscholar Working Group
Harvard-MIT-Yale Cyberscholar Working Group
Wednesday, November 7, 6:00 pm
Berkman Center Conference Room
23 Everett St., 2nd Floor, Cambridge MA
The Cyberscholar Working Group is a collaboration between the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, and the Comparative Media Studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Techology. The working group is an opportunity for peer review and discussion of current projects submitted by a presenter. Discussion sessions are designed to facilitate advancements in the individual research of presenters and in turn encourage exposure among the participants to the multi-disciplinary features of the issues addressed by their own work.
The Berkman Center will be hosting this month’s Harvard-MIT-Yale Cyberscholar Working Group. We will be meeting next Wednesday, November 7, at 6pm in the Berkman Center conference room. Dinner will be provided.
We will have three presenters at this session:
* ISP Fellow Shlomit Wagman will present on her paper, “A New Model of Liability for Defective Software.”
* Kevin Driscoll from MIT Comparative Media Studies will give a multimedia presentation entitled “Thanx 4 Da Add: How Soulja Boy Hacked Mainstream Music.”
* Professor Eric Gordon of Emerson University and Berkman Fellow Gene Koo will present based on their paper, “Placeworlds: Using Virtual Worlds to Foster Civic Engagement.”
Presentation abstracts follow below. Longer versions of papers will be available shortly. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Amar Ashar at ashar at cyber.law.harvard.edu. For presenter bios and more information please visit the Cyberscholar web page.
= = =
“A New Model of Liability for Defective Software”
* Abstract *
Software is a product with unique characteristics. Law should take into account those features when assessing how to apply tort doctrines to its defects. Current law has failed to do so, as it is not fully tailored to the Information Economy in general and information products in particular. This research provides a theoretical and normative foundation for a comprehensive legal approach to defective software, drawing on Innovation Policy. It calls for a paradigm shift and the establishment of a novel theoretical framework: one which is based on the premise that software is destined to fail, hence focusing on incentives for ex ante implementation of recovery and restoration measures rather than compensation for ex-post damages; one which builds upon the ever-changing nature of software and the online update mechanism (which replaces the traditional “recall”), while allocating some responsibilities to the user; one which promotes the values of collaboration and openness, providing the community with repair tools; and one which relies upon a new set of remedies, originating in information technologies. Three hypothetical cases, discussing data corruption, security breach and incompatibility between software, will be used to demonstrate the way such a model works. This research may have far-reaching implications when viewed as a case study of the general application of Innovation Policy in the Information Economy.
= = =
“Thanks 4 Da Add: How Soulja Boy Hacked Mainstream Music”
* Abstract *
Armed with a camcorder, a computer, and a high-speed internet connection, Soulja Boy triggered the hottest dance craze since the macarena with a single video blog post to his MySpace page. More than a series of dance steps, “Crank Dat” became an empowering stage upon which innumerable participants found safe space to perform their identities, signify their communities, and represent their localities. Fueled by a wealth of edits, remixes, and fan videos, the unsigned Soulja Boy ruled mainstream radio all summer before a major label deal came knocking. We’ll examine the origins of the craze, watch dozens of DIY music videos, and discuss the events following his signing.
= = =
“Placeworlds: Using Virtual Worlds to Foster Civic Engagement”
* Abstract *
As a means of enabling communities to express their own visions of public and civic space, we have launched a program that looks to an unlikely tool to aid in the production of vividly real places: online virtual worlds. The program is called Hub2, and our goal is to strengthen the ability of neighborhood residents to make places. Online virtual worlds provide a unique opportunity for groups to dramatize their everyday lives through the production of virtual places in Second Life.
