In order for all of us to relate, let us narrow it down to a blog from Singapore and explore how a chosen identity establishes reputation. Forget Dawn Yeo’s www.xanga.com/clapbangkiss or Wendy Cheng’s www.xiaxue.blogspot.com, whose popularity and reputation have been aided, or marred, by the tabloids and local television shows respectively.
www.xanga.com/eleventhour is one of the most prominent blogs in Singapore, without the publicity of the media. In other words, Eleventhour’s popularity is by word of mouth. Friends or viewers of the blog will make enquiries from where is the best place to buy the latest fashion accessories, to questions like what brand of camera she uses for her collages.
Eleventhour’s blog entries include images of her partying with her friends at exclusive parties, wearing the latest in the fashion trend, thus enforcing her reputation as a ‘party animal’ and fashionista. In order for an online community to thrive, knowing the identity of those with whom you communicate is essential for understanding and evaluating an interaction (Donath, 1996), and identity definition aids the motivation to contribute within an online community. A few of the factors that motivate contribution are reciprocity, reputation, a sense of efficacy, the need of information, and attachment to a group (Kollock, n.d.).
Like many other blogs, www.xanga.com/eleventhour has a tagboard (marked with the red square). A tagboard, shoutbox, saybox, or chatterbox is a chat-like feature of some websites that allows people to quickly leave messages on the website, generally without any form of user registration (‘Shoutbox’, 2007). Though convenient for communication, it is also an easy way for identity thieves to prey on their next victim. Mainly due to the fact that one does not need to register before using a tagboard, identities of reputable people can be assumed easily. This means that an identity thief can pose as a trusted member of a certain community and obtain personal information from others. Fundamentally, it is similar to using your friend’s mobile to communicate with his ‘hot’ friend, to obtain information about her.
This is just an example of how the public reacts to the comment of someone who has a reputable identity:
which site do you get ur fonts from for photoshop? I can't find pretty fonts for my photoshop texts :(
anon>> u can try www.dafont.com. i go mad downloading fonts there!
thanks for the tip, i just found the exact font that i was looking for
In this scenario, ‘anonymous’ posed a question for ‘charme’, the owner of www.xanga.com/eleventhour. I assumed the identity of ‘charme’ and offered her the advice that she needed. ‘Anonymous’ heeds the advice and assumes that ‘charme’ is truly the owner of the blog. What do you think would happen if someone with malicious intent, posing as ‘charme’, asked for the identity card numbers of the readers of the blog?
Victims of identity theft spend an average of 600 hours recovering from this crime and they struggle with the after-effects of it which includes increased insurance or credit-card fees and higher interest rates (‘Hooked on Phishing’, n.d.).
So what can be done to stop, or at least curb, this new breed of criminals? There is only so much that technology and the government can do. It basically starts with the individual. One can practice destroying credit card statements and other documents that contain private financial information or receipts from the ATM or purchases using the credit card ('10 ways to stop identity theft cold', n.d.)
One will be wiser knowing that leaving your ATM receipt on the coffee shop table or casually throwing it on the floor may not just cost you a fine and corrective work order. It might cost you your life savings.
A gift economy exist when help and information is offered without the expectation of any direct, immediate quid-pro-quo (Kollock, n.d.). Because a gift economy usually occurs over the Internet, the benefits of it come from improving the ‘technology of social relations’ (Kollock, n.d.). In this essay, we will explore an example of a gift economy and why it is considered one.
“This music is the glue of the World - it holds it all together. Without this, life would be meaningless.” – Empire Records.
Ask any musician in Singapore where is the best place to find a community of local musicians, chances are, S.O.F.T., www.soft.com.sg, will be the general reply. S.O.F.T. is an online community dedicated to the local music industry. It is a platform where music lovers, musician, music teachers, instrument dealers and event organizers come together to share knowledge on various subjects and spread their information to fellow users.
One example of how a gift economy is evident here is that S.O.F.T. has the ability to reduce the cost of contributing to the production of a public good in numerous ways (Kollock, n.d.). Since information is considered a public good (Benklar, 2003), the ability to share information and help via forums helps reduce cost considerably as compared to seeking help from a professional. For example, a user, AEnimic, posted a question on the forum requesting help on how to compose a harmonized solo. Lessons from a professional guitar instructor will cost easily over a hundred dollars a month. With the use of S.O.F.T., one can receive help without having to pay for it. Other users offer their two-cents worth through the forum, thus, offering help and information. By placing the information on the Internet, it does not only benefit the person who asked the question, but also other users or readers who happen to have the same problem.
‘Jamming’ is a term where musicians gather and play their instruments without extensive preparation and predefined arrangements (‘Jamming’, 2007). It used to require musicians to be at one place physically. But users of S.O.F.T. have come up with an ingenious idea of ‘jamming’ through the forums. One will upload a tune, which is available for downloading, and users who are interested in contributing to the forum, can download the tune, record a solo to that tune, upload it and allow other users to critique.
Why do I even bother?
You might wonder what motivates people to contribute. One reason could be that by offering help to a fellow musician, one can hope for reciprocity. Also, if each person contributes freely, the S.O.F.T. community will have ‘access to information and advice that no single person can match’. This might encourage other users to contribute and in turn, add on to one of the features that a successful online community requires: an ongoing interaction (Kollock, n.d.).
Reviews of instruments can also be found on the website. Users can give a review of a particular instrument for other users to learn more of. For other users to take the review seriously, a reputation of one who gives high quality information must be obtained. Increase in the number of contributions might add to the reputation of a user as more people might recognize the person’s contribution. Identity persistence is needed in order for this to be possible (Kollock, n.d.). Making sure contributions are visible and that contributors are recognized for the efforts is another structural feature that might be advantageous in building up a good reputation.
Conclusion
S.O.F.T. is not only a common, but it is also a public good. Consumption of the information found on www.soft.com.sg by one individual does not reduce the amount of information, which is available for the consumption of others (‘Public good’, 2007). One can agree that with the gift economy so evident on websites today, the glue is only getting stronger.
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Reference:
‘The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace’ n.d.
Retrieved on 07/02/07
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm
‘The Political Economy of Commons’, 2003.
Retrived on 07/02/07
http://www.upgrade-cepis.org/issues/2003/3/up4-3Benkler.pdf
Jamming
Retrieved on 08/02/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jam_session
Public good
Retrieved on 08/02/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good
Madonna is a pop icon with hits like ‘Like a virgin’ and ‘Vogue’. Renowned Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg, has movies like ‘E.T.’ and ‘Catch me if you can’ to boast about. Rock legends, The Eagles, are known for classics like ‘Hotel California’ and ‘Tequila Sunrise’. These people have one thing in common: they are professionals. They make their living, be it singing or directing, with their God-given talents for their fans to appreciate. And Copyright makes that possible.
Copyright is a set of exclusive rights regulating the use of a particular expression of an idea or information (“Copyright”, 2007) over a certain amount of time. It’s a point where creativity and business meet. “The purpose of these laws is to ultimately by promoting learning and knowledge” (Ovalle, 2005). What this means is that instead of inventing something that has already been created, copyright forces one to come up with something better. You could call it a friendly competition.
The copyright laws protect the creators as well. It gives the creator or inventor the rights ‘to the reproduction of the work, preparation of the derivative works, and the distribution of the copies’ (Copyright FAQ: 25 Common Myths and Misconceptions, 2004). In short, the copyright law gives the creator ownership of his or her creation. In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Act was passed by the American Congress, which extended the term by 20 years. This meant that the copyright over works owned by their creators would now last the life of the creator, and an additional 70 years (Manjoo F, n.d.).
But the age-old issue with artist, musicians alike is the argument that copyrights, in one way or another, stifle creativity. There have been countless debates about this issue and the lines are still somewhat blurred. Copyright owners jump at the opportunity to exercise their right and take legal action to those who, unintentionally or otherwise, cross that line. One example is when rap group, 2 Live Crew, wanted to make a parody of a song, ‘Pretty Woman’, by Roy Orbison. Despite refusal of permission to use the song, they stubbornly published the parody and ‘exploited it commercially in a nationally distributed album’ (Music and Copyright, n.d.). Thankfully, though a little too late for 2 Live Crew, some compromises have been made.
One of them is Fair Use. ‘Fair use is a doctrine in United States Copyright Law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review’ (‘Fair Use’, 2007). Again, the line that separates commercial use and educational purposes is still not clear. Hence, Fair Use has come up with four parameters to eliminate the possibility of copyright law infringement due to ignorance.
But in 2001, the gap between creativity and copyright law was bridged with the launch of Creative Commons (CC). CC is a non-profit organization that has released several copyright licenses, known as Creative Common Licenses, which restrict only certain rights (or none) of the work (‘Creative Commons’, 2007). In other words, instead of stating ‘All rights Reserved’, CC allows owners of materials to have ‘Some rights Reserved’. What this means is that there is royalty-free work available for other creative minds to work and build on. One other organization also allows the dissemination of royalty-free material is Getty Images. They provide photos and illustrations that are royalty-free for designers to design without worry that they might be slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Even with the aid of Fair Use and CC, a big problem lies with the public. Fines have been imposed, prices of music have been cut down, big Hollywood stars have urged us to stop, but piracy is still an ongoing problem. Downloading of music and movies is considered piracy and an infringement of the copyright laws as it provides pecuniary gain and displaces potential gains (Brady K, 2004). Music labels against downloading seem to be fighting a losing battle.
But does the downloading of music and movies put the creator, or copyright owner, at a disadvantage? Studies have shown that up to 75% of all artists actually profit from file sharing. There are a few explanations on why this is happening. One explanation is that pirates save money by downloading the music of highly popular artists, thus leaving them more money to buy albums of less popular artists. Another is that the downloading allows the public to sample the music. If they like what they hear, they will buy probably buy the rest of the album. Downloading also acts as a form of advertising for the artist (Why most artist profit from piracy, 2006).
It seems like the only thing we can do to stop piracy is to try to change the mindsets of both parties. Artist and copyright owners should realize that downloading does not necessarily ‘hurt’ them. Instead of banking in on the public buying the music that they put out in stores, they could embrace the downloading and look at it as ‘advertising’ for the concerts. They could make the singles available for download to generate a greater interest for the desired artist.
On the other hand, the public should not take advantage of the situation. They should adopt the mindset that copyright laws are there to protect the interest of other human beings that are trying to make living; just like them.
Copyright is just protection of a skill that most of us possess: imagination. One might argue that if Shakespeare’s heirs had copyright over Romeo & Juliet, would West Side Story be made? But on the hand, without copyright, would Bono, of U2, be the humanitarian that he is today?
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Reference
Copyright
Retrieved on 01/02/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright
An introduction to Copyright,
Retrieved on 01/02/07
http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/%7Ei312co/2.php
Copyright FAQ: 25 Common Myths and Misconceptions
Retrieved on 31/01/07
http://users.goldengate.net/%7Ekbrady/copyright.html
The mouse who would be king
Retrieved on 31/01/07
http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2004/04/08/copyright_culture/index.html
Music and Copyright
Retrieved on 02/02/07
http://publishing.wsu.edu/copyright/music_copyright/
Fair Use
Retrieved on 01/02/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
Creative Commons
Retrieved on 02/02/07
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons
Why most artist profit from piracy
Retrieved on 02/02/07
http://torrentfreak.com/why-most-artists-profit-from-piracy/
