The Anarchist in the Coffee House: A Brief Consideration of Local Culture, the Free Culture Movement, and Prospects for a Global Public Sphere

Jürgen Habermas\u27 influential historical work, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, describes a moment in the social and political history of Europe in which a rising bourgeoisie was able to gather in salons and cafes to discuss matters of public concern. The public sphere represented a set of sites and conventions in the eighteenth century in which (almost exclusively male) members of the bourgeoisie could forge a third space to mediate between domestic concerns and matters of state. Here, Vaidhyanathan examines one particular Public Sphere experiment--the rise of a global Free Culture Movement that aims to limit the spread of strong intellectual property regimes by considering the complications encountered by the movement when it crosses a very different value set at work in global cultural policy debates--the protection of native or local culture exemplified by the Native Culture Movement

Replaced by a robot: Service implications in the age of the machine

Service organizations, emboldened by the imperative to innovate, are increasingly introducing robots to frontline service encounters. However, as they augment or substitute human employees with robots, they may struggle to convince a distrusting public of their brand’s ethical credentials. Consequently, this article develops and tests a holistic framework to ascertain a deeper understanding of customer perceptions of frontline service robots (FLSRs) than has previously been attempted. Our experimental studies investigate the effects of the (1) role (augmentation or substitution of human employees or no involvement) and (2) type (humanoid FLSR vs. self-service machine) of FLSRs under the following service contexts: (a) value creation model (asset-builder, service-provider) and (b) service type (experience, credence). By empirically establishing our framework, we highlight how customers’ personal characteristics (openness-to-change and preference for ethical/responsible service provider)  and cognitive evaluations (perceived innovativeness, perceived ethical/societal reputation, and perceived innovativeness-responsibility fit) influence the impact that FLSRs have on service experience and brand usage intent. Our findings operationalize and empirically support seminal frameworks from extant literature, as well as elaborate on the positive and negative implications of using robots to complement or replace service employees. Further, we consider managerial and policy implications for service in the age of machines

Erich Fromm and the Critical Theory of Communication

Erich Fromm (1900-1980) was a Marxist psychoanalyst, philosopher and socialist humanist. This paper asks: How can Fromm’s critical theory of communication be used and updated to provide a critical perspective in the age of digital and communicative capitalism? In order to provide an answer, the article discusses elements from Fromm’s work that allow us to better understand the human communication process. The focus is on communication (section 2), ideology (section 3), and technology (section 4). Fromm’s approach can inform a critical theory of communication in multiple respects: His notion of the social character allows to underpin such a theory with foundations from critical psychology. Fromm’s distinction between the authoritarian and the humanistic character can be used for discerning among authoritarian and humanistic communication. Fromm’s work can also inform ideology critique: The ideology of having shapes life, thought, language and social action in capitalism. In capitalism, technology (including computing) is fetishized and the logic of quantification shapes social relations. Fromm’s quest for humanist technology and participatory computing can inform contemporary debates about digital capitalism and its alternatives

The Cryptopicon: The Legal, Ethical, and Intellectual Implications of Big Data

The emergence of networks, algorithms, and processing power, and the willingness of states and private firms to collect massive amounts of data on individual identities and habits, raise significant questions about how we should regulate such practices via norms, laws, and code. Intellectual property, privacy, and the complex relationship between the two are among these challenges. This talk will consider some ideas that could illuminate the challenges and opportunities we face in the Era of Big Data

The state of copyright activism

One of the great hopes I had while I researched and wrote Copyrights and copywrongs (New York: New York University Press, 2001), a cultural history of American copyright, during the late 1990s was that copyright debates might puncture the bubble of public consciousness and become important global policy questions. My wish has come true. Since 1998 questions about whether the United States has constructed an equitable or effective copyright system frequently appear on the pages of daily newspapers. Activist movements for both stronger and looser copyright systems have grown in volume and furor. And the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in early 2003 that the foundations of American copyright, as expressed in the Constitution, are barely relevant in an age in which both media companies and clever consumers enjoy unprecedented power over the use of works

The Googlization of everything: (and why we should worry)

In the beginning, the World Wide Web was exciting and open to the point of anarchy, a vast and intimidating repository of unindexed confusion. Into this creative chaos came Google with its dazzling mission—“To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible”—and its much-quoted motto, “Don’t be evil.” In this provocative book, Siva Vaidhyanathan examines the ways we have used and embraced Google—and the growing resistance to its expansion across the globe. He exposes the dark side of our Google fantasies, raising red flags about issues of intellectual property and the much-touted Google Book Search. He assesses Google’s global impact, particularly in China, and explains the insidious effect of Googlization on the way we think. Finally, Vaidhyanathan proposes the construction of an Internet ecosystem designed to benefit the whole world and keep one brilliant and powerful company from falling into the “evil” it pledged to avoid

The Cryptopicon: The Legal, Ethical, and Intellectual Implications of Big Data

The emergence of networks, algorithms, and processing power, and the willingness of states and private firms to collect massive amounts of data on individual identities and habits, raise significant questions about how we should regulate such practices via norms, laws, and code. Intellectual property, privacy, and the complex relationship between the two are among these challenges. This talk will consider some ideas that could illuminate the challenges and opportunities we face in the Era of Big Data

Societies Online: Facebook & Democracy (with Siva Vaidhyanathan)

A leading scholar who studies online media, Siva Vaidhyanathan, takes a critical look at both the affordances and dangers of large platforms like Facebook, Google, and Reddit. Vaidhyanathan breaks down the global power of Facebook: what it provides in a positive sense, but also how exactly it makes money off of its users, and how its design and business model pose a serious threat to democracy. Siva shares some ideas about what would need to change for Facebook to serve its users—and societies—better