Monkeys, typewriters and networks: the internet in the light of the theory of accidental excellence

Viewed in the light of the theory of accidental excellence, there is much to suggest that the success of the Internet and its various protocols derives from a communications technology accident, or better, a series of accidents. In the early 1990s, many experts still saw the Internet as an academic toy that would soon vanish into thin air again. The Internet probably gained its reputation as an academic toy largely because it violated the basic principles of traditional communications networks. The quarrel about paradigms that erupted in the 1970s between the telephony world and the newly emerging Internet community was not, however, only about transmission technology doctrines. It was also about the question – still unresolved today – as to who actually governs the flow of information: the operators or the users of the network? The paper first describes various network architectures in relation to the communication cultures expressed in their make-up. It then examines the creative environment found at the nodes of the network, whose coincidental importance for the Internet boom must not be forgotten. Finally, the example of Usenet is taken to look at the kind of regulatory practices that have emerged in the communications services provided within the framework of a decentralised network architecture. --

Mediated democracy - linking digital technology to political agency

Although the relationship between digitalisation and democracy is subject of growing public attention, the nature of this relationship is rarely addressed in a systematic manner. The common understanding is that digital media are the driver of the political change we are facing today. This paper argues against such a causal approach und proposes a co-evolutionary perspective instead. Inspired by Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities" and recent research on mediatisation, it introduces the concept of mediated democracy. This concept reflects the simple idea that representative democracy requires technical mediation, and that the rise of modern democracy and of communication media are therefore closely intertwined. Hence, mediated democracy denotes a research perspective, not a type of democracy. It explores the changing interplay of democratic organisation and communication media as a contingent constellation, which could have evolved differently. Specific forms of communication media emerge in tandem with larger societal formations and mutually enable each other. Following this argument, the current constellation reflects a transformation of representative democracy and the spread of digital media. The latter is interpreted as a "training ground" for experimenting with new forms of democratic agency

Digital Tracking as a Political Program

Even in exceptional times, surveillance remains a political program rather than an imminent force

Internet... the final frontier: an ethnographic account: exploring the cultural space of the Net from the inside

The research project The Internet as a space for interaction, which completed its mission in Autumn 1998, studied the constitutive features of network culture and network organisation. Special emphasis was given to the dynamic interplay of technical and social conventions regarding both the Net’s organisation as well as its change. The ethnographic perspective chosen studied the Internet from the inside. Research concentrated upon three fields of study: the hegemonial operating technology of net nodes (UNIX) the network’s basic transmission technology (the Internet Protocol IP) and a popular communication service (Usenet). The project’s final report includes the results of the three branches explored. Drawing upon the development in the three fields it is shown that changes that come about on the Net are neither anarchic nor arbitrary. Instead, the decentrally organised Internet is based upon technically and organisationally distributed forms of coordination within which individual preferences collectively attain the power of developing into definitive standards. --

Monkeys, typewriters and networks: the internet in the light of the theory of accidental excellence

"Viewed in the light of the theory of accidental excellence, there is much to suggest that the success of the Internet and its various protocols derives from a communications technology accident, or better, a series of accidents. In the early 1990s, many experts still saw the Internet as an academic toy that would soon vanish into thin air again. The Internet probably gained its reputation as an academic toy largely because it violated the basic principles of traditional communications networks. The quarrel about paradigms that erupted in the 1970s between the telephony world and the newly emerging Internet community was not, however, only about transmission technology doctrines. It was also about the question - still unresolved today - as to who actually governs the flow of information: the operators or the users of the network? The paper first describes various network architectures in relation to the communication cultures expressed in their make-up. It then examines the creative environment found at the nodes of the network, whose coincidental importance for the Internet boom must not be forgotten. Finally, the example of Usenet is taken to look at the kind of regulatory practices that have emerged in the communications services provided within the framework of a decentralised network architecture." (author's abstract)"Aus der Perspektive der Theorie von der zufälligen Entstehung herausragender Leistungen spricht vieles dafür, daß sich der Erfolg des Internet und der ihm zugrundeliegenden technischen Standards einer Reihe von kommunikationstechnischen Zufällen verdankt. Noch in den frühen 1990er Jahren galt das Internet in den Augen vieler Experten als akademisches Spielzeug ohne große Zukunft, denn es widersprach allen Konstruktionslehren herkömmlicher Telekommunikationsnetze. Der Paradigmenstreit, der in den 1970er Jahren zwischen der Telefonwelt und der sich herausbildenden Internetgemeinde ausbrach, drehte sich nicht nur um die 'rechte' Art von Übertragungstechnik. Es ging dabei auch um die - bis heute unentschiedene - Frage, wer über den Kommunikationsfluß herrscht: die Betreiber oder die Nutzer des Netzes? Der Aufsatz beschreibt zunächst unterschiedliche Netzarchitekturen und setzt diese in Beziehung zu den jeweiligen Kommunikationskulturen, die sich in ihre Gestalt eingeschrieben haben. Anschließend wird die an den Netzknoten beheimatete, kreative Umgebung dargestellt, deren Bedeutung für die rasche Ausbreitung des Internet nicht unterschätzt werden sollte. Am Beispiel des Usenet wird schließlich auf die regulativen Praktiken eingegangen, die sich im Rahmen der dezentralen Internetarchitektur bei den Kommunikationsdiensten gebildet haben." (Autorenreferat

Internet... the final frontier: an ethnographic account ; exploring the cultural space of the net from the inside

"The research project 'The Internet as a space for interaction', which completed its mission in Autumn 1998, studied the constitutive features of network culture and network organisation. Special emphasis was given to the dynamic interplay of technical and social conventions regarding both the net's organisation as well as its change. The ethnographic perspective chosen studied the Internet from the inside. Research concentrated upon three fields of study: the hegemonial operating technology of net nodes (UNIX) the network’s basic transmission technology (the Internet Protocol IP) and a popular communication service (Usenet). The project's final report includes the results of the three branches explored. Drawing upon the development in the three fields it is shown that changes that come about on the Net are neither anarchic nor arbitrary. Instead, the decentrally organised Internet is based upon technically and organisationally distributed forms of coordination within which individual preferences collectively attain the power of developing into definitive standards." (author's abstract)"Das im Herbst 1998 abgeschlossene Forschungsprojekt 'Interaktionsraum Internet' hat sich mit den konstitutiven Merkmalen der Netzkultur und Netzwerkorganisation beschäftigt. Im Vordergrund des Interesses stand das dynamische Zusammenspiel technischer und gesellschaftlicher Konventionen in der Organisation wie auch im Wandel des Netzes. Die ethnographisch angeleitete Binnenperspektive auf das Internet konzentrierte sich auf drei ausgewählte Bereiche, um Prozesse der Institutionenbildung und die Formen ihrer Transformation zu studieren: die hegemoniale Betriebstechnik der Netzknoten (UNIX), die grundlegende Übertragungstechnik im Netz (das Internet Protokoll IP) und einen populären Kommunikationsdienst (Usenet). Der Schlußbericht des Projekts enthält die Ergebnisse der drei Untersuchungsstränge. Gezeigt wird anhand der Entwicklung in den drei Feldern, daß sich der Wandel des Netzes weder beliebig noch anarchisch vollzieht. Das dezentral organisierte Internet beruht vielmehr auf technisch wie organisatorisch verteilten Formen der Koordination, in denen individuelle Handlungspräferenzen kollektiv definitionsmächtig werden." (Autorenreferat

'Weisheit, Wahrheit und Witz': Über die Personalisierung eines Allgemeinguts

This paper looks at the history of the individualization of knowledge. Intellectual property is based on the assumption that individuals are originators of insights and ideas. The notion of the author as creator is a recent invention. Until late 18th century, literati were regarded as craftsmen or mediators, who merely write down the divine wisdom by following the rules of rhetoric. The author as defined in modern copyright law thus gets a lot of credit for intellectual achievements that once were believed to be public domain

Wandel von Staatlichkeit in digitalen Namensräumen: zwischen Hierarchie und Selbstregulierung

"Die vorliegende Fallstudie ist im Rahmen des Sonderforschungsbereichs 597 'Wandel von Staatlichkeit' im Projekt 'Regulation und Legitimation im Internet' an der Universität Bremen entstanden. Das Ziel der Fallstudie ist, den Wandel von Staatlichkeit über einen Zeitraum von knapp drei Jahrzehnten empirisch nachzuzeichnen. Den Untersuchungsgegenstand bilden Adressierungssysteme, genauer: Namensräume für digitale Kommunikationsnetze. Namensräume dienen dazu, Nutzer von Kommunikationsdiensten mit einer unverwechselbaren Identität auszustatten. Ihre Organisationsstruktur spiegelt Vorstellungen über die Rolle des Staates im Betrieb von Kommunikationsinfrastrukturen wider. Der Fallstudie liegt die Hypothese zugrunde, dass Veränderungen von Staatlichkeit in zwei Dimensionen zu finden sind, auf der organisatorischen Ebene in Form einer (Teil-)Privatisierung vormals öffentlicher Aufgaben und auf der räumlichen Ebene in Form einer Inter- bzw. Transnationalisierung vormals territorialstaatlicher Handlungskompetenzen. Anhand eines Vergleichs wird untersucht, ob sich in der Organisation von Adressräumen seit den frühen 1980er Jahren Hinweise auf eine dauerhafte Transnationalisierung von Regelungsstrukturen finden lassen. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass eine Transnationalisierung von Regelungskompetenzen tatsächlich belegt werden kann, dass aber dessen langfristiges Ausmaß noch immer Gegenstand von Verhandlungen und daher offen ist." (Autorenreferat)"This case study originated in the context of the Collaborative Research Center 597 'Transformations of the State' as part of the research project 'Regulation and Legitimation on the Internet'. The goal of the case study was to empirically trace the transformation of statehood over a period of nearly three decades. The subject matter for investigation is address systems, or more precisely name spaces for digital communication networks. Name spaces provide users of communication services with a unique identity. A name space's organizational structure reflects specific ideas about the role of the state concerning the operation of communication infrastructures. The case study is based on the assumption that transformations of statehood occur along two different dimensions; on an organizational level through a (partial) privatization of previously public tasks, and on a spatial level through a trans- or internationalization of previously national responsibilities. By means of a comparison, the case study seeks to ascertain if the organization of name spaces has been subject to a process of trans-nationalization. The study arrives at the conclusion that a transnationalizationof former public tasks can indeed be identified. However, the long term extent of trans-nationalization is still under negotiation and therefore an open issue." (author's abstract