Berkman Buzz, week of November 3

A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations.  If you'd like to receive this by email, just sign up here.

What's going on... take your pick or browse below.

*Urs Gasser comments on ‘must read’ Microsoft white paper.
*David Isenberg counters network neutrality criticisms.
*David Weinberger hits highpoints of Wendy Seltzer's lecture.
*Doc Searls works on the internet.
*Derek Bambauer discusses the criminalization of disclosure.
*Lawrence Lessig marvels at innovative Creative Commons application.
*CyberOne tackles podcasting, PRX and the power of persuasive arguments.

The Full Buzz.

"Among my main concerns…has been Microsoft’s claim that the i-card model is ‘by design’ in compliance with the unambiguous and informed consent requirement as set forth, for instance, by EU data protection law. I’ve argued that the 'hardwired'-argument (obviously a variation on the theme 'regulation by code') might be sound if one focuses on a particular relationship between one user and one identify provider and/or one relying party – as the white paper does. However, at the aggregated level, the i-card model’s complexity – i.e. the network of informational relationships between one user and multiple ID providers and relying parties – increases dramatically…”
Urs Gasser, “Must Read: Microsoft WP on Privacy-Compliant ID Metasystem”

“Kahn begins by saying that competition, even duopolistic competition, works pretty well. He points out that 97 percent of the population has at least three providers competing for its business, and he is right as far as it goes -- he does not seem to distinguish between cable TV, landline telephony, mobile telephony and Internet service. Certainly 97 percent of the US public can give its money to as many as three companies at the same time for some kind of telecommunications service. Unfortunately, 97% of the US public does not have access to three broadband Internet access providers...”
David Isenberg, “Alfred Kahn on Network Neutrality”

“…[T]he copyrighted content has been wagging the dog, restricting what and how we can communicate. E.g., the DMCA (which encourages ISPs to take material down), restrictions on fair use, the anti-circumvention laws (including the Broadcast Flag). Laws that give an incentive to create can then become a barrier to communication and access, Wendy says. ‘So far this limited monopoly is the best way we've found to give artists and authors an incentive to create.’...”
David Weinberger, “Wendy Seltzer on Copyright Technology Policy”

"I'm tired of hearing the Net referred to as a 'medium.' Same goes for 'social media' such as blogs, wikis and IM. Yes, packets go through the Net. In an almost-literal sense, Senator Stevens is right that it's a system of 'pipes.'  But the Net is pure infrastructure. We work on it, just as we work on the electric power grid, the road system and our water and waste treatment systems — all of which also support the transport of stuff (electrons, cars, water, waste)..."
Doc Searls, "A Whole, not a Hole"

“...[I]t raises the question of when disclosure of sensitive information should be criminalized. We’ve seen this before - Hugh Hewitt accused the New York Times of treason for discussing U.S. monitoring of the SWIFT program, and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is hearing arguments today about whether it’s unlawful to disclose information obtained from a legally recorded cellphone conversation. The circumstances of each case are different, of course, but there is a common thread among them: disclosing sensitive information arguable creates one risk … but reduces another...”
Derek Bambauer, “Disclosure”

“What does CC actually add to the mix? Here's an example emerging from Japan that I saw demonstrated just two months ago. Members of CC-JP were walking around the conference with beautiful t-shirts, each with its own slightly different design. At the bottom of each shirt were CC licensing icons. On the left sleeve of each shirt was an Aztec Code -- a two dimensional bar code common in Japan that (most) Japanese cell phones can read and convert into a URL. I asked the obvious question: "What do these codes do?..."
Lawrence Lessig, “CC & Web 2.0”