mdst_110 / 2007_fall / week_9


just grin and bearshare it; or, who's afraid of the big bad wolf...



agenda

keywords

culture jamming, fan fiction, film colorization, moral rights, net act, p2p, pixelvision, riaa, secure digital music initiative


questions from lecture

1. will the "grassroots" feel of convergence culture kill mass culture as we know it, or does it simply extend the reach of mass culture?
2. how should notions of the sacred impact cultural expression, if at all?
3. to what extent is craft undermined by digital culture? is the decline of album-oriented music a bad thing?
4. do you think it just that angelica huston was able to assert moral rights regarding the colorization of john hutson's the asphalt jungle (1950)?

questions from readings

henry jenkins, convergence culture: where old and new media collide [chapters 4,5,6]

1. does fan fiction have an educational benefit, or is it a case of "mere copying"? does it make sense to try and shut down fan fiction sites?
2. why does jenkins's book exist only as a book? why isn't it all over google video and youtube as well?
3. jenkins: "the political role of the internet is expanding without diminishing the power of broadcast media" (214). true?
4. do you think that the spread of the internet has contributed to the polarization of political culture?
5. is it in the interest of tv networks to digitize their own content?
6. jenkins discusses the revolutionary possibilites of the web. what has been the most revolutionary idea that has been web-based?

siva vaidhyanathan, the anarchist in the library [chapter 4]

1. is the ability to download music from networks like gnutella or napster an advancement in consumerism or an act of stealing? or could it be both?
2. are file sharing and illegal downloads much different than recording cassettes from cd’s and vinyl records decades ago?
3. why does siva continue to buy recorded music? why should you? is downloading music unethical? is there any "gray area" where downloading music is concerned?
4. if you download your music, what program do you use? are you paying for your songs? if you used napster back in middle school, where did you go after it got shut down? does the threat of lawsuits intimidate you or change your behavior in any way?
5. mixtapes were credited with spreading music so that more people would discover a song/band and possibly go buy an album. since you started downloading music off the internet, how has the number of actual cds you have bought changed? do you agree with siva's statement, "if i cared less about music, i would have recorded fewer cassettes, but I also would have purchased fewer albums" (p.55/42)? does this still apply now that copying is digital, and not analog?
6. do colleges and universities have a moral responsibility to police copyright violations on their networks? what do you think of the u.s. naval academy's approach in this regard (57)?
7. when it comes to the digital music debate, do you tend to side with the anarchists, the mushy liberals, or the oligarchs (64)?
8. do you think people would be more willing to buy cheaper downloadable versions of albums and be able to go to concerts and buy more band "paraphernalia" than if they were to be forced to purchase hard copies and have less to spend on live shows? or will people begin to lose interest in expensive concerts when they can simply download music online and go to less-expensive shows of smaller, lesser-known bands?