Aram Sinnreich

MediaCon Panel with Trevor Pinch & DJ Spooky (audio)

This weekend, I was fortunate to host a keynote discussion between media theorist (and Moog afficionado) Trevor Pinch and DJ/author Paul D. Miller, a/k/a DJ Spooky. It was part of an excellent conference called "Extending Play" organized by the doctoral students at Rutgers SC&I. 

Our panel was a lot of fun -- a freewheeling discussion that ranged from music and tech geekery to broad social theory. You can listen to the audio transcript here:

ExtendingPlay_Keynote_Sinnreich_Pinch_Miller

 

 

Margaret Thatcher's Cultural Legacy

Yesterday, I contributed to an interesting story on Marketplace Radio regarding Margaret Thatcher's musical legacy. There's a lot to say on this subject, but my basic point was that Thatcherism catalyzed the punk movement, which was still largely regional, at exactly the moment that media deregulation in the US and elsewhere made British culture a hot export. In essence, Thatcherism ended up promoting its own critique abroad.

The text version of the story has more of my input than the audio version.

 

Aram talks Piracy Crusade at NYU (video)

Last month, I got a chance to give a talk based on my forthcoming book The Piracy Crusade at NYU, as part of the Computer Science department's Computers and Society lecture series. I always love talking to those folks, in large part because the guy who puts it together, Professor Evan Korth, is one of the coolest people I know. At a certain point, I just abandoned the presentation altogether and got into the nitty gritty. Fun ensued.

p.s. Big ups to Joly for recording and posting the video!

New Syllabus: Copyright, Culture & Commerce

This semester, I'll be teaching a class called "Copyright, Culture & Commerce" at Rutgers SC&I. I used to teach a very similar course at NYU (which I inherited from Siva Vaidhyanathan), but this is basically a complete reboot. I've built the syllabus from scratch, and made a real effort to balance some of my own opinions with conflicting ones, and to integrate debate into the classroom experience.

One of the biggest problems I've faced is that I know so much more about the subject than I did 5 years ago when I first taught the class, and have read so many more texts, that it's much harder to squeeze it all into one coherent undergraduate experience. 

I welcome your feedback -- especially over the next few days, before I have to finalize the syllabus and hand it out to my students.

Week 1: Introduction

Week 2: Why Do We Have Copyright?

• Readings:
  • Vaidhyanathan, Copyrights and Copywrongs, Ch. 1
  • Patterson, Copyright in Historical Perspective, Ch. 1 & 12
  • Also peruse: http://www.copyright.gov/history/
• Debate: Madison vs. Jefferson, U.S. Constitution
• EXTRA CREDIT: Attend Amy Goodman talk, 7pm at RSC Multipurpose Room

Week 3: Commons & Anticommons

• Readings:
  • Boyle, The Second Enclosure Movement: http://j.mp/VFVrtH
  • Heller, Gridlock Economy, Ch. 1
• Debate: New York Times Co. v. Tasini: http://j.mp/VfXvrb

Week 4: The Growth of Copyright

• Readings:
  • Lessig, Free Culture, Ch. 10: http://j.mp/UovJIa
  • Netanel, “Copyright and a Democratic Civil Society”, Section I: The Expansion of Copyright Holder Rights: http://j.mp/Y5TdXa
  • Hatch, Introduction of The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1997: http://j.mp/VfX9B2
  • Miller, Extending Copyrights Preserves US Culture: http://j.mp/VfX5Bb 
• Debate: Eldred v. Ashcroft: http://j.mp/Y5RxNp

Week 5 : Fair Use and the Public Domain

• Readings:
  • Aufderheide & Jazsi, Reclaiming Fair Use, Ch. 1-4
  • Lethem, The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism: http://j.mp/W9Kj5B
  • Article about Rupert Murdoch opposition to fair use: http://j.mp/W9IaXA
• Debate: Rogers v. Koons: http://j.mp/UkOtYQ

Week 6: IP & Corporate Power

• Readings:
  • Bollier, Brand Name Bullies, Ch. 8 & 11
  • McLeod, Freedom of Expression, Ch. 5: http://j.mp/UoKxX1
  • Steiglehner, 10 Questions for Evaluating a Company’s IP Portfolio: http://j.mp/W9Lxh4
• Debate: Toywar: http://j.mp/11BOoFQ

Week 7: Copyright & Globalization

• Readings:
  • Brown, Can Culture be Copyrighted?: http://j.mp/Upmzef
  • Drahos & Braithwaite, Information Feudalism, Ch. 5: http://j.mp/UpnJqa
  • Interview with Francis Gurry, WIPO Director: http://j.mp/VIzDgY
• Debate: ACTA: http://j.mp/X8Eu6Y

Week 8: Piracy & Punishment

• Readings:
  • Sinnreich, The Piracy Crusade, Ch. 4-5
  • Johns, Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars, Ch. 15
  • Drahos & Braithwaite, Information Feudalism, Ch. 2: http://j.mp/UpnJqa
• Debate: MGM v. Grokster: http://j.mp/VKL1ZK
• Guest Lecture: Ray Beckerman, Recording Industry vs. The People
• Midterm Assigned

Week 9: DRM & DMCA

• Readings:
  • Copyright Office DMCA summary: http://j.mp/X7zAHq
  • EFF, Unintended Consequences: Twelve Years under the DMCA: http://j.mp/X7Aqnm
  • Doctorow, Content, Ch. 2-3: http://j.mp/X7zeAq
• Debate: Felten v. RIAA

Week 10: Copyright, Convergence & Configurability

• Readings:
  • Sinnreich, Mashed Up, excerpted on Truthdig.com: http://j.mp/W9T5QX
  • Jenkins, Convergence Culture, Ch. 5
  • Latonero & Sinnreich, The Hidden Demography of New Media Ethics
• Debate: Newton v. Diamond: http://j.mp/X8NEQW & Bridgeport v. Dimension http://j.mp/VKNIuD

Week 11: Open Source, Free Software & Copyfight

• Readings:
  • Stallman, GNU Manifesto: http://j.mp/VKktrO
  • Barlow, Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace: http://bit.ly/axHR1T
  • Lessig, Free Culture, “US, NOW” pp. 276-286: http://j.mp/UovJIa
  • Coleman, Coding Freedom, pp. 185-205: http://j.mp/X7KigV 
• Debate: tk 

Week 12: In Defense of Copyright

• Readings:
  • Levine, Free Ride. Ch. 3
  • Sherman, What Wikipedia Won’t Tell You: http://nyti.ms/y59NF7
  • Day, In Defense of Copyright: http://j.mp/UQG11Q
• Debate: tk
• Guest lecture (via Skype): Robert Levine 

Week 13: Can Copyright be Fixed?

• Readings:
  • Lessig, Free Culture, “THEM, SOON” pp. 287-306: http://j.mp/UovJIa
  • van Schijndel & Smiers, Imagining a World Without Copyright: http://j.mp/X8bhsW
  • Patry, How to Fix Copyright, Ch. 2
  • Public Knowledge, The Internet Blueprint: http://j.mp/Wi6Pcn
  • Debate: OPEN Act: http://j.mp/VKlMqL
• Final project assigned

Week 14: Is Democracy Piracy?

• Readings:
  • Sinnreich, The Piracy Crusade, Ch. 8-9
  • Hyde, Common As Air, Ch. 9
  • Ray Kurzweil interview: http://j.mp/X8zaAD
• Debate: Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics: http://j.mp/VKHVoM

Aram talks Piracy Crusade at the New School (video)

I recently gave a guest lecture about my forthcoming book The Piracy Crusade via Google Hangout for Josephine Dorado's classes on internet culture at the New School. Here's the video:

INET NY Copyright Panel (video)

Two weeks ago, I sat on a panel at INET New York about the "six strikes" Copyright Alert System, the bargain struck between Hollywood and America's major broadband ISPs to identify people suspected of illegally infringing copyrighted content and slowly cut off their bandwidth.

The event was very informative. For the first hour, corporate stakeholders (e.g. RIAA, MPAA, Verizon, Comcast) discussed the specifics of their plan. For the second hour, a bunch of us critics and consumer advocates (e.g. Gigi Sohn, Jeff Jarvis) responded to the plan, raising several questions and concerns.

Then there was a final mega-panel in which both groups got to address each other directly. I don't think any of us had our minds changed 180 degrees, but I'm pretty sure we all gained some deeper insight into what's at stake here. The full video of the event is below. Surprisingly riveting for a wonkfest.

 

p.s. As of today, the CAS launch has been postponed till next year (ostensibly due to Hurricane Sandy)

Code vs. Code event (video)

A few weeks ago, I spoke at an event with P2P defense attorney Ray Beckerman on behalf of Ben Kallos' bid for a NYC Council seat. Here's the full video of the event, which covers a fair amount of copyright, law & policy stuff:

Presentation for The Piracy Crusade

This week, I'll be giving my first public talks based on The Piracy Crusade, first at Woodbury University and then at NYU. Here's the full presentation -- I welcome your feedback.

The Piracy Crusade on Prezi

Larry Gross on why Communication & Media Studies matter

My dad recently confessed to me that, even after reading 1-1/2 of my books and following my career for 15 years, he has "no idea" what my work or my field is about (my historian sister and law student brother have an easier time justifying themselves). While this is a bit close to home, it is unfortunately not uncommon for people I know to express confusion or even disdain about my chosen field. As the comedian Marc Maron responded when a recent interviewee on his WTF podcast said he'd majored in Communication as an undergraduate, "isn't that just a catch-all field for people who don't know what they're interested in?" (I'm paraphrasing). 

At the recent International Communication Association conference in Phoenix, ICA president (and my former doctoral advisor) Larry Gross gave a blistering speech, outlining several challenges faced by the academy in general and our field in particular. One of his points was the challenge of "cultivating engaged scholars and scholarship." In the course of these remarks, he delivered what I thought was a pretty spot-on description of why -- and how -- I do what I do:

Today we see political leaders everywhere agreeing on the necessity of imposing austerity on the 99% to pay the bills run up by the 1% -- and education is prominent among the institutions being sacrificed in the name of “fiscal responsibility.”

While conspiracy theories are often more fervently held than they are empirically sustainable, in this instance a fair case can be made for a conscious effort on the part of the “establishment” of the post-1960s era to roll back what they saw as an assault on their power.  The case rests in part on a 1971 memorandum that a successful corporate lawyer named Lewis Powell addressed to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  The memorandum outlined the dangers Powell believed the corporate establishment needed to comprehend and counter:

"No thoughtful person can question that the American economic system is under broad attack. This varies in scope, intensity, in the techniques employed, and in the level of visibility…what now concerns us is quite new in the history of America. We are not dealing with sporadic or isolated attacks from a relatively few extremists or even from the minority socialist cadre. Rather, the assault on the enterprise system is broadly based and consistently pursued. It is gaining momentum and converts…The most disquieting voices joining the chorus of criticism come from perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians."

The Powell Memorandum laid out in great detail not only the causes for alarm but a strategy for counter-revolution.  Powell’s advice has been credited with turning on the faucet that poured millions of dollars into funding right-wing institutes, think tanks and advocacy groups.  Powell understood the need for a long march strategy and his vision has been vindicated by the political shifts in the United States during the past four decades.  President Richard Nixon must have appreciated Powell’s wisdom, as he appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court shortly after the memorandum was written.

In the spirit of the Powell memorandum the right wing in the U.S. broadened the focus of the counter-revolution from their perennial target of popular culture to encompass the domain of elite culture. Communication scholarship and teaching figured in an important way in the debates over the role of the academy because we are among those who can be accused of "diluting or displacing" canonical texts in favor of the degraded products of popular culture.

By devoting serious attention to the mass media, communications scholars were among the first members of the academy to question the sanctity of the elite cultural canon. In fact, I would argue that the status of communications study within the American academy suffered for years -- and probably still does -- from our association with mass culture. 

What these "threats" had in common, and what provoked the enmity of right-thinking politicians, journalists and academics, is that they represented a specter haunting our society: subordinates getting uppity, silenced voices starting to speak out, new perspectives shifting the center of gravity towards the margins. But, despite the ferocity of the counterattack mounted against them, the marginal voices and forces were not in fact remotely as successful as the public was told. 

However much communication scholars expanded – or corrupted – the curriculum, and however much they challenged the universality of traditional canons, the field of communication studies in the United States was also retreating from an explicit engagement in the realm of political economy at the very moment that upheavals in communication technologies and media industries were transforming the national and global landscape.  Whether by design or unhappy coincidence the critical engagement of communication scholarship with these momentous developments and policy debates diminished, along with the imperative to train our students to participate in and contribute to these important decisions.

The result is that public policy debates are taking place in the US today with little meaningful input from communication scholars, and thus often with too little socially contextualized and theorized empirical data and research to inform them.  While many of our programs train graduate students to study media effects, media content, and media processes, too few of our students are trained in the study of media economics, law, regulation and policy, and fewer still are able to do this in a way that produces research that is both academically rigorous and yet useful and accessible to policymakers, media activists, and interested citizens.

We’re all familiar with the condescension if not contempt with which many academics view colleagues who address lay audiences rather than scholarly peers and graduate students. One of the ironies of the hostility to writing that addresses a broad audience rather than a peer cohort is that one such audience is comprised of our undergraduate students (and even some of our graduate students and colleagues in somewhat distant corners of the discipline).  As Jan Radway put it,

“the largest and most predictable audience for the material we generate is not composed of our professional peers.  Rather it is made up of young men and women, aged roughly eighteen to twenty-two, ranged before us in the classroom, seeking not only professional middle-class validation, but often guidance and reassurance about the appropriate emotional, moral, and political standpoint to take with respect to a confusing and oppressive world.”

 

Moscow Panel: "Culture: Create or Copy" [video]

Last month, I returned to Moscow to speak at Google's Big Tent Event. My panel, which was entitled "Culture: Create or Copy," was focused on the question of whether configurable cultural practices like memes, mashups and remixes are legitimate and socially valuable, and therefore whether communications and cultural policy should provide a degree of support for them. Obviously, I was there to bang the "yes" drum. This was not an idle "academic" topic; the panel's moderator was Ekatrina Chukovskaya, Deputy Minister of Culture for the Russian Federation.

Here's the video of the panel: