New papers on freesoftware.mit.edu | opensource.mit.edu
<apologies for X-posting> Hi All The following papers have been posted to our website. Thanks to all the authors for their submissions! See you all in the New Year! ~Karim~ PAPER 1 Author: Vadén Tere Title: Intellectual Property, Open Source and Free Software http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/vaden.pdf Abstract The notion of intellectual property is used in order to create digital commodities. While the commodification of code is useful for certain kinds of knowledge intesive work (the Taylorist forms), it severely disrupts other types of knowledge creation. Applying Scott Lash's division of knowledge creation into organisational and disorganisational types, we also gain insight into the different positions towards IP held by different wings of the FOSS community. PAPER 2 Authors: Garzarelli, Giampaolo & Roberto Galoppini Title: Capability Coordination in Modular Organization: Voluntary FS/OSS Production and the Case of Debian GNU/Linux http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/garzarelligaloppini.pdf Abstract: The paper analyzes voluntary Free Software/Open Source Software (FS/OSS) organization of work. The empirical setting considered is the Debian GNU/Linux operating system. The paper finds that the production process is hierarchical notwithstanding the modular (nearly decomposable) architecture of software and of voluntary FS/OSS organization. But voluntary FS/OSS project organization is not hierarchical for the same reasons suggested by the most familiar theories of economic organization: hierarchy is justified for coordination of continuous change, rather than for the direction of static production. Hierarchy is ultimately the overhead attached to the benefits engendered by modular organization. PAPER 3 Author: Modica, Salvatore Title: Knowledge Transfer in R&D Outsourcing (and Linux-Vs-Windows) http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/modica.pdf Abstract: Why did Microsoft not hire all those smart programmers who ended up developing Linux through the internet? Because, we answer, the value of the information about its operating system that Microsoft should have transferred to any of them to render her productive would have been too high compared to her expected individual contribution, so that after writing a contract with Microsoft the typical developer would have run away to sell the acquired knowledge on the market. On the other hand, knowledge transfer in R&D outsourcing is not always so critical, and for example in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries research contracts are extensively used, usually in the context of a long term relationship between firm and innovator. We analyze this kind of repeated interaction, and find that when the knowledge-transfer problem is not blocking, the firm should transfer to the innovator as much information as it is compatible with the latter's incentive constraints. PAPER 4 Author Dafermos, George Title: Blogging the Market http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/dafermos3.pdf Abstract: Weblogs have been recently characterised as the "open source media". And in much the same way that open source software is been deployed, marketed and sold within both commercial and non-commercial contexts, weblogs can advance both commercial and non-commercial objectives. However, in this primary - research paper, the focus is on the benefits that organisations can seize by embracing weblogs, and how weblogs are bound to revitalise marketplace and workplace conversations. In addition, several case studies are being analysed, ranging from Slashdot and Openflows to Amazon, Macromedia, Groove Networks, and Gizmodo. PAPER 5 Author: McCormick, Chip Title: The Big Project That Never Ends': Role and Task Negotiation Within an Emerging Occupational Community (Dissertation in progress) http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/mccormick.pdf Abstract: This dissertation involved in-depth interviews of over fifty open source developers in two major open source projects. The primary areas of interest were 1) conducting an ethnographic study of the work practices and culture of 'post-burecratic' organizations to see what lessons these groups may hold for managing intellectual labor and 2) examining whether the open source movement represents a new professional model for software engineering. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PAPER 6 Updated Paper Author: Chiao, Benjamin Hak-Fung Title: An Economic Theory of Free and Open Source Software: A Tour from Lighthouse to Chinese-Style Socialism (revised version) http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/chiao.pdf Abstract The theory is that free and open source software is private property under the guise of common property. Such software is distributed mostly under the GNU General Public License. The intents in The GNU Manifesto suggest striking similarities between this license and communism. The resulting economic properties, however, are similar to those of Chinese-style socialism: both resulted from an increased separation of legal and economic ownership. The phenomenal growth of China in the last twenty five years and of such software in the past few years could be attributed to such separation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PAPER 7 Abstract Submission Author: Muffatto, Moreno & Matteo Faldani Title: Open Source as a Complex Adaptive System - Published in Emergence 5 (3) http://www.emergence.org/ Abstract: The Open Source community and its activities can be considered to have the characteristics of a system. The Open Source system is distinctive because it is neither controlled by a central authority that defines strategy and organization nor totally chaotic. It can be placed at a middle position between a planned system and a chaotic one. In this sort of position there are non-formal rules which allow the system to produce significant results. The Complex Adaptive System theory can be used to better understand and analyze the Open Source system. This work presents a description of the main characteristics of the functioning of the Open Source community regarding its organizational structure and development process. The concept of complex adaptive system is then introduced and its functioning mechanisms briefly described. Finally, we will interpret the characteristics of the Open Source community in the context of complex adaptive systems theory. -- =============================================== Karim R. Lakhani MIT Sloan School of Management & The Boston Consulting Group, Strategy Practice Initiative e-mail: karim.lakhani@sloan.mit.edu | lakhani.karim@bcg.com voice: 617-851-1224 fax: 617-344-0403 http://spoudaiospaizen.net/ http://opensource.mit.edu | http://freesoftware.mit.edu http://userinnovation.mit.edu
Dear Friends, Does anyone have good-quality scans of the _Time_ and _Newsweek_ Dec. 1, 1997 covers, featuring the parents of septuplets? There was a controversy because _Newsweek_ digitally altered the mother's teeth. I am planning to use these images as examples in a lecture on digital ethics in a Communication Technology and Culture class. I have found images of the two covers, but they are low-quality and I can't really see the difference. http://www.acm.ndsu.nodak.edu/~hklefsta/website/casestudy.htm Thank you for your help. Cassandra Van Buren ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Cassandra Van Buren, Ph.D. Department of Communication University of Utah 255 S. Central Campus Drive LNCO 2400 Salt Lake City, UT 84112 801.581.7268 cvb@utah.edu http://www.utah.edu/newmedia/cvb
An information society or a controlled society? Developments on the debate on computerization Paris, June, 30, July, 1 and 2 CALL FOR PAPERS The quarterly review Terminal and the CREIS association have been involved for more than twenty five years in the debate on the social implications of computerization. Indeed, from computerization and society to an information society, the last twenty five years or so have been marked by a general and accelerated spread of the different computer tools and their interconnections. This debate needs to be extended and in part renewed. The social representation of information and communication technologies has changed. It no longer seems to be such a separate part of society. It has stopped being the Orwellian instrument of oppression so strongly criticized in the 80¹s. IBM imperialism has been forgotten, that of Microsoft does not scare many and intrusive files have become part of everyday life through the marketing talent of marketing and business people. Informatic has been domesticated¹, so they say. The multimedia interfaces of the PC have lost the harshness of the terminals of yesteryear and surfing on the Internet has become child¹s play, while at the same time, hardware and software continue to force new organisational norms on the worker and on the citizen. Thus, in the age of electronic commerce and the Vitale health card, there is an ever-general consent to reveal bits and pieces about oneself in exchange for a service. Since September 11, public security issues legitimise more and more coercive files of the population, which obviously goes against any idea of privacy but which is considered socially valuable. What is more, as in the history of the different network technologies (railways, electricity, water, telephone, ) the Information and Communication Technologies have been called upon to help a society where social and technical progress have never been more out of touch with each other. With the spread of the Internet to the general public since 1993, the equality myth is now being served up to us again. Thus, bringing a solution to the digital divide¹, which threatens the third and fourth world together, would lead to settling the problems that face society such as, among others, social inequality, alienating work forms, indiscriminate access to culture and narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, the North/South imbalance or yet again the flaws of democracy. However, over and above the chatter, new forms of social contestation of an international nature are emerging such as the anti-globalisation movement or even more specifically the free software movement. So, it is necessary for all those who are there to make sure that public and private liberties are respected as much as for those who analyse more widely the social insertion process of the ICT to compare their questioning to the means of production, diffusion and appropriation of informatics. Such is the aim of the 13th symposium of the CREIS, in partnership with Terminal review: examine how the critical issues addressing the computerization of society these last twenty five years have altered or still have to alter. When and how did we go from computer science and society to an information society, what does this drift mean from a political, economic or social point of view and why, from the G8 to the televised news, is so much to be said about the information society? An analysis rooted in recent history would seem to shed light on the different areas in question. The expected contributions, through the issues of computerization, will tackle: - The new work dimension (flexibility, control, ) - The internationalisation and financing of the economy - The development of public services (education, health, culture,) - Public and private liberties and social control - The citizen¹s new use of democracy - Public policy of expending the information society - North/South relations PROGRAM COMMITTEE Pierre Berger, ASTI, France Jacques Berleur, FUNDP, Namur, Belgique Mariella Berra, CREIS, Università di Torino, Italie Dominique Desbois, TERMINAL, Paris, France Michèle Descolonges, Sociologue, France Eric George, CREIS, GRICIS, Université d¹Ottawa, Canada Thomas Lamarche, TERMINAL, Université Lille 3, France Yves Lasfargue, OBERGO, France Meryem Marzouki, Lip6/PolyTIC-CNRS, IRIS, Paris, France Armin Murmann, CREIS, IES, Genève, Suisse Daniel Naulleau, CREIS, Université P&M Curie, Paris, France Robert Panico, CREIS, IUT de Valence, France Chantal Richard, CREIS, Université Paris-Nord, France Jacques Vétois, TERMINAL, France STEERING COMMITTEE Maurice Liscouet, CREIS, IUT de Nantes, France Daniel Naulleau, CREIS, Université P&M Curie, Paris, France Robert Panico, CREIS, IUT de Valence, France Chantal Richard, CREIS, Université Paris-Nord, France Jacques Vétois, TERMINAL, France Geneviève Vidal, CREIS, Université Paris-Nord, France SUBMISSION INFORMATIONS Papers will be selected on the basis of 3 or 4 pages abstracts. Communications will be in French or in English (format RTF, Times New Roman, 12). They will be sent to electronic colloquium secretariat (le.creis@wanadoo.fr), before January 20th, 2004 Colloque CREIS TERMINAL 2004 Département d¹Informatique Maison de la pédagogie Université Paris VI 4 Place Jussieu F 75252 Paris Cedex France Tel /Fax: + 33 1 44 27 71 13 E-mail : colloque@creis.sgdg.org I wish to receive the colloquium program Name : E-mail : . Address : ..... Phone : ... Fax. : ... Colloquium languages : French and English CREIS - Centre de coordination pour la Recherche et l¹Enseignement en Informatique et Société: http://www.creis.sgdg.org Revue Terminal: http://www.terminal.sgdg.org =================================================== Éric GEORGE Professeur/Professor Département de Communication/Department of Communication Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Chercheur, Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire sur la communication, l'information et la société (GRICIS)
participants (3)
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cvb -
Eric GEORGE -
Karim R. Lakhani