New Media Chapter 8 in Text

New Media ( Chapter 8 in Text) § § § Definition & the Information Revolution Changing economics Changing regulation Social Issues Social Challenges: § The Knowledge Gap § Surveillance and loss of privacy § Sharing and Market “Hacktivism” Cmns 130

History of New Media § Since 1970 s, but especially 1990 s, nations concerned with the “ information highway” § Treated the Internet like an 1840 s challenge of the telegraph § Concern that to remain competitive in a global trading economy, nations needed to “wire up” § Provide businesses, workers and consumers access to the Internet for education, retail, entertainment § Frontier metaphors often used § Essential for economic transformation away from industrial to service/ information economies: the so-called “innovation agenda” § In Canada, wired telco/cable providers dominated agenda: wireless only now emerging Cmns 130

Building the Internet § Nations regulate telecommunications internationally: agree on bandwidth of electronic transmission, spacing of satellites, sharing of costs/ interconnection § Also develop technical standards for interconnection ( IP protocols such as MP 3) § This is the international standards role of nations, businesses and technical experts in creating a market for technology, and ensuring consumers don’t buy technology which will not work § Business play a bigger and bigger role influencing this shadow world of standards: citizens underrepresented § But: companies still need states to rule on standards Cmns 130

Definition of New Media § Digital communication § Used in the production, distribution and reception of communication § Involves use of new communication networks: Internet as mass medium Cmns 130

Information Revolution § Digitization: using computers to store, manipulate and transmit information in form of speech, text, data, and video more cheaply and faster than every before. § Networking: distributed, fast digital networks wired and wireless § Convergence: refers to merging of what were three separate industries: telecommunications, computing, and electronics or broadcasting Cmns 130

Characteristics of New Media § Convergence of telecommunications and entertainment/broadcast media industries § Wire or wireless communication § Point to point or addressable § Interactive ( two way) ( now multiple conferencing) Cmns 130

Characteristics Continued § Interpersonal: ie. The terrain of telephony treats telephone calls ( discretionary contact between two consenting persons) as PRIVATE not PUBLIC communication ( where telco distributors are not responsible for content of message) § Multiple: can be Mass/Broadcast which is PUBLIC communication ( broadcasters are responsible for message in exchange for spectrum monopoly: hybrid character) § Now a grey area of semi public/private communication ( can monitor cell phones, amass, monitor and store unprecedented personal communication) Cmns 130

Digital Communication § Where image text or sound is converted into binary numbers- ones and zeroes ( 0/1) § Digital codes can duplicate, track store or play back complex kinds of content § Strong when combined with ever greater chip capacity in computers, and bundles of glass fibre ( fibre optics) capable of carrying large quantities of information § Current “revolution”: the Digital Video Disk § DVDs: higher resolution, no rewinding, now coming recordable for storage and intending to replace CDS § Also: wireless Internet ( games on the cell phone) Cmns 130

Implication of Digitization § Drive to animation and special effects § Actors worried about cyber simulators replacing them § Domination of nature: totally simulated worlds? § Question of authenticity of image Cmns 130

The Role of the Media in the Age of Digital Reproduction § Walter Benjamin, a noted cultural scholar, suggests that the infinite reproducibility of the communication product ( CD, video, internet) due to its low marginal cost of duplication changes the nature of the work of art § But western capitalism has conceived of the realm of ideas and expression as proprietary § Books, stories or photos may be copyrighted so they ‘belong’ to the author and no one may borrow or copy them without permission, attribution or payment § The high risk nature of entertainment ( so called hit rule) calls for imitation or ‘clones’ in popular culture ( riding the next so called fad or wave) § Infinite reproducibility, repackaging, repurposing and presenting information as original § There are many pressures on ‘news’ or ‘entertainment’ manufacture for cutting corners on production: ethical standards to prevent recycling content and presenting it as original are weak– Cmns 130 digital watermarking is a weak barrier

Technical Potentials of the New Media § Costs of production dropping: makes media creation more accessible ( digital camera and access to the net) § Costs of distribution down § Interactive// less hierarchical § Faster…more global Cmns 130

The Internet § What: a vast network of high speed wires and satellite relays linking computers worldwide § No central hub: thousands of computer nodes ( it is highly distributed) § Uses a type of switching that is hard to trace: designed after WW 2 in the RAND corporation to avoid worldwide military attack § Now used for: email, commerce, chat lines, file sharing etc. § Sometimes synonmous with on line world Cmns 130

Components of the Internet § World Wide Web § Internet Service Providers (AOL Time Warner; Sympatico, Telus, Shaw@Home, AT&T) § Portals ( MSN) § Browsers: Explorer, Netscape § Search Engines and directories ( Google, etc) Cmns 130

Rate of Diffusion § Each generation of technology ( telegraph, telephone, radio, satellite to cable TV, VCRs) had an increasingly rapid rate of diffusion § Key is where it reaches ‘mass’ or majority ( 60% or more) of consumers. § Internet has done so within one decade: only other technology to do so, but not quite as fast were the VCR and cell phones § Now well over 75% of Canadians have access: that number rises to 100% under 25 § The Internet the fastest techology in rate of social adaption Cmns 130

Impacts § Changed the way we work § Accellerated space time compression: globalization processes § Convergence of computers and distribution allows greater efficiency of control and communication § Much cheaper to sell via Internet than in person ( 1/100 th cost per transaction for banks, airlines) § Average person is now estimated to spend 187 hours a year on line ( source: Penguin Media and Information 2003) Cmns 130

Social Transformations of the Internet § Utopic Visions § § § Breaks oligopoly power Allows user control over media selected, compiled, used Provides new forms of social connection beyond space based New communities of interest may form ( beyond borders) Together with other technologies allow development of artificial intelligence/body/intelligence augmentation A Democratic Realization § § § Cmns 130 Dystopic Visions Reinforces and extends it ( US controls 65% share of world Internet server hosts) Keeps user in ‘invisible walled gardens’ Has enabled social predation: largest use for pornography /weapons and illicit drug/and stalking on line New market intelligence aggregating in unprecedented scope: data shadows and on line surveillance Few use the Net for political news, mobilization: while alt. news and other organizations are growing: commercial search engines bury them so they are difficult to find…thus an authoritarian politics continued, not a democratic one

World Wide Web § Between 22 and 800 million sites– less than half indexed § Main search engines: § § § Google (500 m page estimate) Alta Vista 294) Yahoo Iwon, Northern Light Fast Cmns 130

Industry Structure § No one owner of Internet § ISP providers route through a tangled web of other providers § One dominant PC software manufacturer: Microsoft ( Internet Explorer) § Decade long anti trust suit settled out of court § Like AT&T, US Department of Justice concerned about dominant market power, and predatory competition § Until 1990 s, little competition between telephones and cable companies: now starting § Late 1990 s a wave of Stock Speculation and large scale mergers for dot com sector just before its crash § AOL ( which owns Netscape) tookover Time Warner: sign of new technology surpassing old § Emergence of little known Netscapes of Power Cmns 130

Ideology of the Internet § Electronic Freedom Foundation § § § § § Media Oligopolies ( Incumbent Media) Neo liberal/New Media Free Egalitarian Decentralized Ad Hoc Open and peer to peer Experimental Autonomous Anarchic Cmns 130 § Social Responsibility model: but self not government regulation § For Profit § Hierarchical § Systematized and Centralized § Planned § Proprietary § Pragmatic § Accountable § Organized § Reliable § Source: Richard Campbell, Media and Culture, 41.

The Business Case for On line Start Ups § Sector characterised by rapidly falling costs § Transistorization etc. § Costs for average computer falling 30% per year ( just 0. 01% of costs in 1970) § E commerce applications growing, but still less than 5% of retail( slower than supposed) § Personal messaging ( email) very high § Use for Information /Research high: but rise of subscription media ( eg. Newspaper on line, growing only among global travel segment) § Drive to get video downloadable for entertainment (video cell phones banned in washrooms) § Still largest volume of business is porn worldwide Cmns 130

Globalization of the Internet § US has privatized domain names but retained control over their allocation § This is a sore point for Europe and other powerful economic regions § Internet content providers are estimated to be 98% English, 87% commercial, and dominantly US in origin § Other foreign governments now trying to: § § § Invest in promotion of infrastructure Offer government services on line Promote the development of indigenous services § ( eg. Canada: New Media Content Fund at Telefilm and the Canadian Television Fund) Cmns 130

Canadian Shape of Convergence § § Links telecom and broadcast and news No computer sector Does link portals and so on First impacts of convergence have been to de-localize news and media production § Consolidation of media production § Centralization in a few cities Cmns 130

Regulation of the Internet § Canada ‘s CRTC decided in 1999 not to regulate the Internet : to leave it to open competition § Australia and Europe are taking very different directions § 1996 US Telecommunications Act ( calling for deregulation) is opposed world wide: § It is essentially impossible for one country to act as a content gatekeeper for a world community– Michael Epstein, quoted in Campbell, 57. § Hate and offensive contents are of growing social concern ( especially sexual predation on the Net) § 1996 US Communications Decency Act made it a felony to transmit obscene, indecent, or harassing material on the Internet where children might see it: struck down n grounds Internet no different from a book store: not like broadcast ACLU v. Janet Reno, 1998)23 § Rise of ‘filters’/ ratings? On line entertainment Cmns 130

“Hacktivism” § Development of Open Source Code: Linux which is free open source operating system challenges Microsoft § File sharing “coops” of the type of Napster ( trading MP 3 s) growing § “junk” and growth of viruses § Romantic vision of small content providers surging on the net § Eg. The ‘garage bands’ now can find an audience; the poet self publish, the digital video camcorder allow the production of broadcast quality documentaries for $20, 000 versus 1. 2 million in the TV industry § A technologically optimistic view: technology as emancipatory, “revolutionary” shattering the powers of entrenched business, cultural authorities § What Winseck in the courseware calls ‘fantasy’ Cmns 130

Intellectual Property Law § Part of Intellectual Property Law § Governs the realm of inventions ( Patent Law) and brands or names ( Trade Mark Law), Trade Secrets ( Commercial Law) and Copyright Cmns 130

The Canadian Copyright Act § “protection” § For the life of the author plus 50 years § Where the creator has the sole right to perform the creative act, grant permission or a “license” to reproduce it, or copy it. § What is not copyrightable: § Facts– but the compilation of them ( i. e how they are interpreted, is) § Ideas- unless they are manifest in a drawing, paper, or written form ( see Vivian and Maurin, page 365) § Copyright: important in book publishing, sound tracks to films, music § All TV and radio based on copyright payment to the performers they use § Increasingly important in international trade, all forms of academic expression Cmns 130

Canadian Copyright Agencies § CANCOPY: 130 courseware § SOCAN Cmns 130

US Digital Millenium Copyright Act ( 1998) § Computer users who copy or distribute the digital expression of others without their permission are liable to prosecution § ISP’s may avoid liability if they police and remove offenders § Arose because of spread of MP 3 ( a digital compression technology) Cmns 130

Napster § Before 1999, just 5 companies, court cases on price fixing underway § § § Developer launches Website wi 2 mi per day Called P to P networking Allowed visitors to search for files on other MP 3 users’ hard drive and download to burn their own CDs: control over compilation shifts to consumers § ‘freeware’: since Napster’s server did not house or archive the music, the owners thought they were exempt from copyright law and reasoned that prosecution should happen at the individual level: since so dispersed and large ( estimated in the millions a month) it was believed it was not possible to enforce Cmns 130 the law

The Napster Case (see Fleras: 262) § Musical Recording Industry argued Napster infringed copyright– even Metallica! § Damages estimated in the millions § Refused to admit free sampling in fact increased exposure to music: eventual purchase § Lined up a number of musicians to argue that the financial damage was to artists ( not the multinationals) Cmns 130

Napster defense § § § § An information source Not ‘housing’ or copying Intention to move to a subscription service Struggled to settle out of court Agreed to charge a monthly fee Purchased by Bertelsmann Lost Case Cmns 130

Effects of Napster § Now usurped in the market ( Morpheus , Kazaa and others) but trying a comeback § Victor? : to large companies: § § BUT– they introduced 2 tier pricing to allow new artists to break in They reduced price of CDs More services experimenting with subscription and transaction fees Major transformation in Music Happening § Victor? To consumers § § § Forcing a major rethink of copyright Hierarchy of value: new versus brand artists merit more protection Should IP be free? It takes a community to raise an artist. Cmns 130

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The Argument § Fleras: intrusion of commercial interests and government regulation has compromised the regulatory potential of the Internet § Mc. Luhan: the inception of a new media casts into sharper relief the premises, priorities and power relations of existing media ( page 249). Cmns 130

Crucial Questions § Should those who control the medium also control the message? § Cases: Gay. TV and Shaw Cable § BCE /CTV and Independent Film § Sympatico(Bell) and Oliver Hate Site § Issue is: will gatekeeper show preference/discriminate against competitors, or evade responsibility? Cmns 130

The Consumer’s Guide to the New Media § 1. Question Everything that is seen, heard or read in new media. ( no FDA) § 2. Conclude almost everything is to make money for someone. § Assume everything is a potential threat to your privacy: § Source: John Pavlik “ The Structure of the New Media Industry: in The Media Entertainment Industries, Allyn and Bacon, 2000. Cmns 130

The Myth of Convergence § § § Not new Since 19 th century Telegraph and global news agencies born together ( Winseck) § AT&T ran RCA/Films until State department busted it § In Canada today, we have one of the most consolidated media systems in the world, with a high degree of cross-media ownership Cmns 130

Risk and Political Economy Game § Inventors of new technologies generate new patents ( ham heaven) § When market become established: patents bought or litigated ( crisis of capital for development) § Incumbent industries either block development or buy out new technology § If new technology threatens core business of old, then predatory behavior, or massive buyout § If new technology too risky, then businesses buy not make new service. § Thus new technologies rarely challenge the incumbents, but over 50 years can see major change in owner players: market efficient at reducing risk and adapting to change Cmns 130

The Critical Political Economy View: Lost in Cyberspace by Dwayne Winseck § Sees Intellectual Property Disputes as masking the larger problem: oligopoly of power and control § Internet now dominated by big players, not an ideal perfect competition § Convergence not new: 19 th and 20 th century waves and predicted in Canada since 1971 § In Canada: § § § Rogers allied with Microsoft and AT&T Can. West: news and TV and radio Bell Globemedia, CTV, Expressvue, Globe and Mail and Sympatico, largest ISP Cmns 130

Impacts of Cross Media Ownership § Now vertically and horizontal companies can control all aspects of message § Should those who control the medium also control the message? § Yes: allows economies of scale, more money reinvested in content, better assumption of risk, more choice and convenience for consumers § No: debt means less investment in content, loss of jobs, avoidance of risk, less choice and higher prices for consumers ( Winseck, 326) Cmns 130

Canadian Argument § § § Canada does have more choice among services Highest level of cable, cell, Internet penetration in G-8 Chronic shortage/ market failure in high cost production Shrinking public investment in non commercial or community media Indicators News § More news services, fewer private foreign news bureaus, more reliance on wire services; diminishing number of jobs § Indicator Entertainment § Digital channels not allied with big Canadian companies on verge of bankruptcy § Can’t get carried by cable companies, or carried at too high a wholesale rate § Services high level of repetition( estimated more than 66% reruns) § Lag of asymmetry: late on video file swapping, speed of video downloads Cmns 130

Winseck’s conclusion § In short, there is a resilience in the “old media” that will not yield § Incumbents battle new entrants and either buy them up or forge partnerships, or force them out of business § People still mostly rely on TV for their political information § Internet works to extend and conserve existing market dominance in cyberspace Cmns 130

Netscapes of Power § Must watch “netscapes of power”: rise of gatekeepers and “walled gardens” § Trend to bundling services for convenience § Styling information services for personal preferences – and not challenging these ( narrower and narrower homogenous taste communities) § Technologies of discrimination: owner preference in placing subsidiaries at front of retail shelf and burying competitive service providers Cmns 130

Fleras: Rhetoric and Reality ( p. 269) Cmns 130

Rhetoric & Reality § § § § Subversive/Freewheel Egalitarian Anarchic Power to the People Globalizing Free Empowering and Enlightening Diversity § § § § Cmns 130 Corporatized/Control Ehaves/Ehavenots Authoritarian power to the dollar Americanizing Marketing and Advertising Make Money Conformity

Social Issues: Surveillance § Network architecture is now “smart” § Before, telcos did not know the content of messages § Now, they do. Bits are monitored, stored in charting flow and effective service § Nortel and Cisco can establish network architectures which: § Identify each traffic type-Web, email, voice, video…and isolate the type of application even down to specific brands, by the interface used, by the user typeand individual user identification or by the site address (winseck: 331) Cmns 130

Surveillance 2 § Rise of “cookies” ( spies on content, personal information and preferences jeapordizing privacy) § Technological potential of building a complete ‘data shadow’ of the consumer, to better market to them § Emerging self regulation of services § Eg restrictive private contracts for use, limiting video downloads, for example, in absence of regulation permitting it. § Or: @Home…wide open powers to remove offensive matter which is too prone to authoritarian censorship § Still major fights: first over spam ( reaccessing your email accounts, and next data shadowing/market surveillance) Cmns 130

The Walled Garden § AOL Time Warner term § Disney too § Keep users within designated zones for as long as possible ( Winseck, 335) § How? § By creation of content and service menus, organization of hyperlinks, bias of search engings, network architecture, promotion, content synergies, elimination of bypasses § Creation of walled gardens: safe, predictable, branded § Eg: Disney assumes role of immigration officer in AOL’s world: if people enter their site, and then leave AOL, contract can be cancelled ( Winseck, 336) Cmns 130

The Information Gap § Rest of the World is less than one-tenth on the way to cyberspace § Vast continents ( Africa) left out of “global information highway” § Rich consumers and those educated elites the first to embrace computers and the Internet § Poor, uneducated slow: many countries do not have policies to help individuals(eg. Computers in the home), although do help schools Cmns 130

The Knowledge Gap § Information and Knowledge gap is widening: despite mass penetration of the Internet in Canada, still high levels of illiteracy, ( under 25%) relatively low levels of university education ( several points below Europe), and growing child poverty: estimates place one in four to one in three kids below poverty level § Structurally higher levels of unemployment, precarious jobs § Gendered landscape of technological control Cmns 130