The Internet Internet and Society 2008

Outline Some history  Communications  Telegraph and telephone: user innovation  Convergence Some technology Presentation: the Internet Presentation: code and layers Summary New Media forms Discussion

Key Ideas Internet development historically situated and unfinished What has been the Influence of cultures of creators Users-producers: use and social innovation What is the politics of the Internet?  How does the internet fit into the network of humans and non- humans?  What does it stand in for, how is it interpreted? Implications of the open network  Personal freedoms  Innovation freedoms Commons in the code argument - e2e –

Communications

Communications shapes society  Sea, river, road, canal, rail, road Society shapes communications  Social groups: military, government, entrepreneurs, engineers, end users, ‘workers’, corporations, etc

Telegraphy: visual->electric  Globalisation 1865, International Telegraph Convention in Europe and the International Telegraph Union (ITU) founded  Fraud  Centralised bureaucracies (gov and corp)  One2one, broadcast (tickertape)

Telephone INNOVATION Bell - engineer-entrepreneur  Replacement for telegraph? Western Union reject Bell’s offer of the patent for $  Broadcasting tool? Overcame key problems with telegraph Competition - unconnected networks Limited bandwidth - aim to please high value customers. Norms on content. TRANSFORMATION User pressure for non- commercial use Middle-class limit own use. Public/private Rural telephony helps integrate women. Sex fears, local authority control. Give into user pressures

Business and politics of Telephony POLICY- 1920s Strategic national assets Licenced, standardised, regulated ‘Natural’ Monopolies, ‘Universal service’ INDUSTRY Vertical integration Little service innovation – single application: voice calls Infrastructure innovation – direct dialling and digitisation (1970s) Smart Network, dumb terminal Data services high value high cost.

Liberalisation: economic innovation Monopoly PTTs failing to deliver innovation and value. Governance Solution: competition  Break up of AT&T in US Stage 1 Market in Telecoms equipment Stage 2 Market in Services Application of a Layer model or value chain model

Videotex European PTTs Electronic, universal information system France, Germany, UK, US Centralised UK, Germany failed (expensive, centralised) France, strong political pressure to be ‘modern’ Support national telecoms industry Political fears, end of newspapers etc Minitel - free. Hacking Most popular use - “Messagarie Rose” :sex and chat Broke down public private boundaries User redefinition - communication Decentralisation of servers. Very successful Everyone else - Teletext.

1980s/90s Interactive television  Highway to the home  Built round TV set, content and firms  Centralised  Internet for ‘everyone else’  Failure of technology  Failure of content  No demand from broadcasters or viewers  Rise of the Internet

Convergence Two or more domains of activity start to share common features, and therefore could be considered as one domain. Digital technology 1970s Computers and Communications 1990s Multimedia Computers, the Internet 2000s Wireless-wireless and Internet -wireless. Convergence Technology Information Business Political and Government Society and Culture

Convergence in the Internet Generic  Technical facility to create or present and control a message or information in a variety of media through a single integrated channel. It has the varying qualities of Multimedia-ness, Interactivity, Personalisation, Facility, Complexity and Universality. Technical  the convergence of computer, telecommunications and television technology as it develops to allow digital storage, manipulation, transmission and reproduction of any media type.

Meanings 2 Information  Multimedia breaks down the barriers between different information and communication types: it is “co-mingled bits” (Negroponte, 1994) It enables richer communications between humans and between humans and machines Industry/Business  The convergence of different industries, telecommunication, computer, information and entertainment which could be facilitated by innovation and diffusion of converging technologies.

Meanings 3 Political & Government  Multimedia has an important national and political dimension. It raises issues of national economic and cultural identity and independence. The industries of multimedia are traditionally regulated, co-ordinated or financed in the national interest. Political allegiances can be attached to specific industries, industry policies and social issues such as freedom of information. Social and Cultural  Multimedia can mean modernity, consumerism, personal choice, freedom from physical constraints, globalisation, economic opportunity, automation, and the arrival of the ‘information’ age. It can also mean dependence on machines and on the unaccountable powers that control them, dehumanisation, social isolation, the division of society into information rich and poor, or the arrival of anarchy.(also Cyberspace)

The Internet: a computer solution 1960s Connecting Computers: resource sharing  1961 Theory of Packet Switching (Kleinrock) 1970s Open-architecture model: TCP/IP Software:TCP/IP built into operating system used by university researchers -Unix BSD AT&T not interested in packet switching technology 1980 TCP/IP becomes a US Military standard 1980s ARPANET splits from military; Integration of University networks internationally 1990s Privatisation of US academic networks; Birth of the internet 1993 World Wide Web

The Internet Al Gore “Information Superhighway” policy 1999 Dot com bust 2000 Search and Web2.0 Wifi 3G Mobile internet

Presentations of Castells and discussions The technological outsider Multiple stories Arises from a number of different cultures  Academic/visionary - military funding-TCP/IP  Hacker - based around Unix/GNU/Linux  ‘Virtual Communitarians’  Entrepreneurial  Who is there now? User-Producers central to innovation Open network, open innovation, Open governance - not public, not private

Discussion Is the Internet the product of the Network Society, or the foundation of it? Are the cultures of the creators, liberal, libertarian, individualistic, freedom loving, embedded in the Internet How does the Internet as a technology stand in relation to laws and social values?

End of Part 1

The Internet Part 2 From Code to Content and on to Community

From Data …. How much Information 1999: School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California at Berkeley.

Text (and Image) Poem Letter Novel Report Order Bill Article Thesis Diary Invitation …. Manuscript Book Chapter Volume Newspaper Article Advert Column Pamphlet Letter Postcard Poster Memo Manuscript Book Chapter Volume Newspaper Article Advert Column Pamphlet Letter Postcard Poster Memo Writers Readers Reviewers Librarians Printers Editors Bibliographer Binder Illustrator Sellers Distributors Postal service Publishers …to Information

New Media 2 hour movie 30sec advert 1/2 hour programme News bulletin Interview Live report TV station 24 hour news station Special interest channel Soap opera Home movies Video Video clip Mashup 2 hour movie 30sec advert 1/2 hour programme News bulletin Interview Live report TV station 24 hour news station Special interest channel Soap opera Home movies Video Video clip Mashup Web Page Website Newsgroup BB Spam Chat Links page Weblog Wiki Portal RSS Webcam Database Search engine Video/audio stream Banner Ad Searchterm ad Dynamic map Metadata URL Mashup SMS Web Page Website Newsgroup BB Spam Chat Links page Weblog Wiki Portal RSS Webcam Database Search engine Video/audio stream Banner Ad Searchterm ad Dynamic map Metadata URL Mashup SMS Radio station Radio show 45 rpm single LP/CD Advert Jingle Radio Play Audio Book Ringtone Mashup/Mix Phone call Radio station Radio show 45 rpm single LP/CD Advert Jingle Radio Play Audio Book Ringtone Mashup/Mix Phone call

Content – “Web 1.0” Posting pages of information Presentation of self in static format Social Communication largely in small groups. Active or ‘lurking’ E-commerce – electronic catalogues. Innovation in back office. But: need ways to organise this massive information source.

Organising and interpreting the massively distributed information system Portals  Human Indexes, recommendations etc Search  Machine Index, Keywords, recommendation, connections, location etc Metadata – descriptions of what is in a web service  This is not enough, and the technology allows many new ways of organistion

“Web 2.0”- putting back people Distributed, ‘bottom-up’ User created information Valuable information is personal and ‘local’  Open, machine readable, content exchange ->XML- >The Semantic Web User combined, user organised = Web 2.0  Blogs, blog rolls  Tagging, folksonomies  Friend finders  Mashups  Social Networking system and services: put individual at centre.

Mashups

Controversial content

Part three: governance and issues

Technical layerInfrastructurePhysical networks of computers, routers, switches, hubs and cables Protocols and standardsTCP/IP, application and service protocols running over TCP/IP or supporting TCP/IP, configurational “platforms”, emerging p-to-p systems. Applications server/client, web server/client, distributed databases, transaction systems. Human, social or Institutional Layer UsersIndividuals, (personal users, ‘work’ users), institutional users, network companies, content and application providers. Real and virtual communities. DevelopmentContent developers, technology developers, infrastructure developers, volunteer and paid developers FinanceUser institutions, Public (government, universities), network companies, broadcasters, service companies, financial markets. Regulators/ GovernanceUsers, user institutions, government, commercial network owners, NGOs ‘Content’ LayerType of Data ‘Multimedia’Structured data, unstructured (text), images, video, audio, interactive applications etc Type of formatWeb Page, music archive, interactive e-commerce site, chat room, , bulletin board, encrypted transaction, streaming radio station, short video clips, surveillance/monitoring data Generic Type of useData interchange, human voice or video communication, server storage, one to many (broadcasting, narrow casting), many to many (community, or market), remote data gathering Specific usePolitical activism, supply chain management, on-line selling, music broadcasting etc Governance Layer Ownership regulationOwnership of networks, control of content, closed/open networks, Use regulation/promotionAppropriate use, universal access, controlled use, legal use Interconnection regulationOpen, closed, commercial, peer to peer, Content regulation/promotion Copyright, Data protection, censorship, freedom of information/speech Mode of governanceApplied to operation and to development. anarchic, oligarchic, democratic, market, governmental, commercial

Presentation: Commons and Layers Internet as an innovation commons Layers  Physical - controlled  Code - network language TCP/IP - free  Content - free End to End, Stupid network Freedom to innovate and use Challenge incumbent Regulatory change - liberalisation Challenge of QoS and traffic shaping

Who Shapes Internet now? Technology companies Intermediate users End users Governments –Computer industry –Telecommunications –Consulting/business admin –Government administration –Media services –Publishing –Television –Engineering design –Banking –Retailers –NGOs –-New communities –Individuals

Social/Economic Policy Issues Access:  price, skill, geography Social Need:  Rights, Universal Access Community and Identity  Changes the way we engage with ideas and people Privacy  Personal Data  Personal Thoughts Security  terrorism  crime Governance  Role of governments  Competition  Protectionism/ National Competitiveness  IPR  Taxation  Freedom of Information  Protection of Minors  Content Regulation  Privacy Democracy  Citizen participation  Citizen action/subversion

Cultural Issues Cyberspace (Neuromancer William Gibson) Cyberculture Cyberpunk Just-in-time culture Always connected Public-private boundary shifting Virtuality (the ‘real’ and the ‘virtual’)

Internet challenges Scalability  Addresses  Quantity IP6 and Quality of Service End-to-end applications e.g. VoIP, SIP (e.g.Skype) Broadband Local loop Business and regulation in layer model Commercialisation, ownership and control Censorship Privacy Globalisation Wireless Dependability Entertainment

Questions for week 9 Can the internet can be controlled? How should it be governed? Is it a true trans-national phenomenon? Where will it evolve? Who is it for?

For week 4 Who uses the internet and the digital divide? Paper on digital divide concept Presentation: Digital homeless Presentation: design for women, children and digital divide or developing countries paper National and global DD How to measure, how to study? Look for statistics in your country, look for policy documents and initiatives.