Benkler, Bandwidth, and the State of the Internet in Japan
Hey all! I've been doing some writing about the Political Economy of Web 2.0 and happened across this recent piece by one of the giants of Network political economy, Yochai Benkler: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/04/recovery_prescription_build_... In it, he calls for a massive public program to build communications infrastructure in the United States. He makes a reference near the beginning of the piece to Japan, where 100 Mbit connections to the home have apparently been common place for awhile now. Here's my question. The basic premise of Benkler's thought is that widespread cheap computational power and bandwidth should lead to a decentralized network full of horizontally collaborating smallholders. Is this what has happened in Japan? Does anyone know of any work on the current state of the Internet there that might address this question? Is Japan a FOSS paradise? Or have the forces Nicholas Carr describes in his "Big Switch" lead to greater centralization? The Japanese case seems like it ought to provide some great evidence on this one way or another, but I never see any referenced. Can anyone get me started? Thanks. - Andy -- - Andrew Famiglietti PhD Candidate Bowling Green State University Bowling Green Ohio
You may want to check "Internet World stats" you can google it but it shows you the statistics of broadband penetration by region for sure and maybe Japan if yo click on the country. Best wishes Bolanle -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Famiglietti Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 6:07 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-L] Benkler, Bandwidth, and the State of the Internet in Japan Hey all! I've been doing some writing about the Political Economy of Web 2.0 and happened across this recent piece by one of the giants of Network political economy, Yochai Benkler: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/04/recovery_prescription_build_... In it, he calls for a massive public program to build communications infrastructure in the United States. He makes a reference near the beginning of the piece to Japan, where 100 Mbit connections to the home have apparently been common place for awhile now. Here's my question. The basic premise of Benkler's thought is that widespread cheap computational power and bandwidth should lead to a decentralized network full of horizontally collaborating smallholders. Is this what has happened in Japan? Does anyone know of any work on the current state of the Internet there that might address this question? Is Japan a FOSS paradise? Or have the forces Nicholas Carr describes in his "Big Switch" lead to greater centralization? The Japanese case seems like it ought to provide some great evidence on this one way or another, but I never see any referenced. Can anyone get me started? Thanks. - Andy -- - Andrew Famiglietti PhD Candidate Bowling Green State University Bowling Green Ohio _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Andy, Japanese Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications publishes White Paper "Information and Communications in Japan" every year. The most recent one is of 2007. You can download the English version at http://www.johotsusintokei.soumu.go.jp/whitepaper/eng/WP2007/2007-index.html You may especially be interested in Chapter 1-3 "ICT and Life and Society" where you can find some detailed stats on Internet use in Japan. One thing you perhaps need to keep in mind in considering this issue is the widespread use among Japanese people of cellular phones with Internet capabilities. It might be possible that cellular phones have much bigger impacts than broadband infrastructure. Good luck, Taku
Hey all!
I've been doing some writing about the Political Economy of Web 2.0 and happened across this recent piece by one of the giants of Network political economy, Yochai Benkler:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/04/recovery_prescription_build_...
In it, he calls for a massive public program to build communications infrastructure in the United States. He makes a reference near the beginning of the piece to Japan, where 100 Mbit connections to the home have apparently been common place for awhile now.
Here's my question. The basic premise of Benkler's thought is that widespread cheap computational power and bandwidth should lead to a decentralized network full of horizontally collaborating smallholders. Is this what has happened in Japan? Does anyone know of any work on the current state of the Internet there that might address this question? Is Japan a FOSS paradise? Or have the forces Nicholas Carr describes in his "Big Switch" lead to greater centralization?
The Japanese case seems like it ought to provide some great evidence on this one way or another, but I never see any referenced. Can anyone get me started? Thanks.
- Andy
-- - Andrew Famiglietti PhD Candidate Bowling Green State University Bowling Green Ohio _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
participants (3)
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Andrew Famiglietti -
Olaniran, B -
SUGIMOTO Taku