Human Ingenuity: A Novel Standard for Patenting Algorithms

This Comment advocates that the Court afford patent protection to algorithms by adopting the standard of patentability applied in biotechnology patent law: human ingenuity. Part II describes some fundamental aspects of computer technology. Part III discusses the current state of patent law concerning patenting algorithms. Part IV demonstrates that the Court\u27s restrictive standard of patentability is not consistent with case precedent. Part V describes how the Court\u27s policy of precluding algorithms from patent protection subverts the patent system. Part VI explicates a standard of patentability, human ingenuity, and describes how this standard would return predictability to the patent system

The Internet Has Changed Many Things, But Not Everything: The Effects of Internet Use on Gendered and Political Views

Individuals who use the Internet can obtain uncensored information about nearly any subject with ease. The unlimited access and the perceived freedom make the Internet an extremely popular media form. The purpose of this research is to examine the differences in how the types of sites individuals visit affect their gendered views. I specifically examined (1) individuals who go to gender-issue sites are less likely to support traditional, female gender-roles and (2) individuals who go to political sites are more likely to support traditional female, gender-roles. This study, using special questions pertaining to gender-roles within the household and visiting gender and political websites from the 2002 General Social Survey, examines the question as to whether the Internet has an effect on people\u27s gendered views. The relationship among the dependent variable and the independent variables, control variables, and mediating variables were examined in both a bivariate and a multivariate context. First, to test my hypotheses I examined the bivariate correlations between the dependent variables and other variables. Next, I examined the relationships in the multivariate context using a regression model. This analysis creates a model with three separate steps, with the first step being an examination of the relationship between the dependent variable and the control variables. The second step examined the relationship between the dependent variable, control variables, and the independent variables. The final step in the forward step regression model examined the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables and the effects the control and mediating variables had on the relationship. The only significant finding of the current study is that of sex, age, and income, with sex having a more significant effect than either of the other two variables. Females tended to have a more traditional view of female gender-roles. It does not appear that visiting gender-issues or political sites affects a person\u27s traditional female gender-role. This finding indicates that females tend to toe the gender line much more strongly than do males in that they were more likely to do the traditionally female household tasks and not do traditionally males tasks. Male respondents, however, reported that they engaged in both traditionally male and traditionally female household jobs

The Information Commons: a public policy report

This report describes the history of the information commons, presents examples of online commons that provide new ways to store and deliver information, and concludes with policy recommendations. Available in PDF and HTML versions.BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE at NYU SCHOOL OF LAW Democracy Program, Free Expression Policy Project 161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th floor New York NY 10013 Phone: (212) 998-6730 Web site: www.brennancenter.org Free Expression Policy Project: www.fepproject.or

The Information Commons: a public policy report

This report describes the history of the information commons, presents examples of online commons that provide new ways to store and deliver information, and concludes with policy recommendations. Available in PDF and HTML versions.BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE at NYU SCHOOL OF LAW Democracy Program, Free Expression Policy Project 161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th floor New York NY 10013 Phone: (212) 998-6730 Web site: www.brennancenter.org Free Expression Policy Project: www.fepproject.or

ATEE Spring Conference 2020-2021

This book collects some of the works presented at ATEE Florence Spring Conference 2020-2021. The Conference, originally planned for May 2020, was forcefully postponed due to the dramatic insurgence of the pandemic. Despite the difficulties in this period, the Organising Committee decided anyway to keep it, although online and more than one year later, not to disperse the huge work of authors, mainly teachers, who had to face one of the hardest challenges in the last decades, in a historic period where the promotion of social justice and equal opportunities – through digital technologies and beyond – is a key factor for democratic citizenship in our societies. The Organising Committee, the University of Florence, and ATEE wish to warmly thank all the authors for their commitment and understanding, which ensured the success of the Conference. We hope this book could be, not only a witness of these pandemic times, but a hopeful sign for an equal and inclusive education in all countries

“Procure, propagate, and distribute among the people”: the information services of the U.S Department of Agriculture, 1862–1888

Prior to the establishment of the Department of Agriculture in 1862 and concurrent with its growth and development, farmers had myriad ways of sharing and communicating agricultural information. Some of that information was rooted in experimental practice but much of it was anecdotal and based on years of farming experience. The historiography of U.S. agriculture demonstrates that farmers both needed and used that information – information they created, circulated, and consumed in their work as farmers. The introduction of information work at the Department of Agriculture not only altered the kind and amount of information that farmers had access to but effectively sought to redefine who the “experts” were through the production and dissemination of the results of applied scientific research for agriculture conducted by scientists at the newly formed Department or work by others filtered through the institution and thus vetted by it. The vehicle for much of this information transfer was the Annual Reports of the Department of Agriculture. This dissertation is an historical examination of the development of the Department of Agriculture that looks specifically at its information functions from 1862-1888 – the period under the commissionership and before it was elevated to cabinet-level status. Using the Annual Reports of the Department of Agriculture to identify and examine those functions, I situate the information work of the Department of Agriculture within the context of the emergence of the modern state and American empire, industrializing capitalism, and the history of information

Co-productions of technology, culture and policy in North America's community wireless networking movement

This thesis investigates the visions and realities of community WiFi's social and political impact, examining how communication technology and social forms are co-produced and providing a communication studies perspective on the transformation of social visions of technology into technological, social, and policy realities. By following the development of local WiFi projects and the emergence of broader policy-oriented mobilizations, it assesses the real outcomes of socially and politically progressive visions about information and communication technologies (ICTs). The visions of advocates and developers suggest that community WiFi projects can inspire greater local democratic engagement, while the realities suggest a more subtle bridging of influence from community WiFi actors into policy development spheres. The thesis describes local WiFi networks in Montreal and Fredericton, NB, and the North American Community Wireless Networking (CWN) movement as it has unfolded between 2004 and 2007, arguing that its democratic visions of technology and their institutional realities have been integral to the politicization of computing technology over the last four decades. Throughout the thesis, WiFi radio technology, a means of networking computers and connecting them to the internet by using unlicensed radio spectrum, acts as an example of how a technology's material form is co-produced along with its symbolic social and political significance

The EIAT project: gender and technology in the Irish context

This thesis examines the gender/technology relation in th e context of the Ennis Information Age Town (EIAT) project and th e Information Age in Ireland. We examine the ways th a t technology impacts on contemporary culture, moulding existing cultural practices and creating new ones. We also examine th e reciprocal impact which culture has on technology, influencing its creation and development. In practice, we consider the ontology of technology (what it is), the pragmatics of technology (what it does) and the phenomenology of technology (how it affects our experiences). We consider the gender/technology relation in Irish society in the context of recent developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs) which offer th e possibility of fast communication, universal access to information and a virtual communication environment with unforeseen effects on families, communities and institutions. We examine these developments in th e context of the introduction of ICTs in Ennis, Co. Clare as p a rt of the EIAT project. This five-year project involved the delivery of both the relevant technology and training to enable th e people of Ennis to engage with the Information Society. We consider th e diversity of responses of th e women of Ennis to th e project and some of the barriers to their engagement with ICTs. We hypothesise that the informal social networks maintained by many women are an important means of overcoming barriers to women’s engagement with ICTs. We compare these women’s engagement with ICTs within the context of the project with other Irish women who are engaging with ICTs outside th e context of the project. We also examine th e education/technology relation in Ireland in the context of the EIAT project. We consider th e use of ICTs in the classroom and the behaviours and attitudes of primary school children towards these technologies. Once again, we make comparisons between the use of ICTs in schools within the EIAT project and outside th e project. The epistemological basis of this research programme is informed by a diversity of disciplines. As a study of gender, it draws upon research in the area of feminist and gender studies, sociology and communication studies. As a study of gender practices in the context of ICT developments, it draws upon technology studies and computer-mediated communication (CMC) studies. We also present d a ta collected over a period of four years, in Ennis and elsewhere. We conclude with a number of recommendations which we believe will enable more Irish women to engage meaningfully with ICTs