Berkman Buzz, week of April 16

BERKMAN BUZZ: A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School
Week of April 16, 2007

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

*Doc Searls sheds light on blogging ‘black holes.’
*Wendy Seltzer examines ease of orchestrating faux DMCA takedowns.
*Rebecca MacKinnon questions Yahoo!’s role in activist’s imprisonment.
*Dan Gillmor reflects on media coverage of Virginia Tech massacre.
*Ethan Zuckerman recaps top TED and PopTech talks via video.
*Chilling Effects issues Internet radio weather report.
*PRX’s John Barth hits highlights of community radio conference.
*Internet & Society Conference 2007: Question of the Week.

The full buzz.

“I used to think the blogosphere was large enough to provide enough distance from black hole subjects that at least some illumination was possible. Now I'm not so sure. Some black hole subjects have event horizons that out-distance anyone's ability to bring constructive thought to bear on a subject — much less to support the telling of helpful stories in mainstream media, which too often subordinate fact-providing to story-telling in any case. …”
Doc Searls, “Sometimes the Most You Can Say is Nothing at All”

“When critics of the DMCA warned that the provisions for copyright takedown would allow any copyright holder, such as the writer of an email (copyrighted from its writing) to subpoena identities and demand takedowns, these fears were dismissed as absurd speculation. Even the wildest speculations don't live up to the ease with which a juvenile prankster could remove hundreds of clips a copyright holder had authorized.”
Wendy Seltzer, “Truth is Stranger than Fiction: Australian Kid Sends Falso DMCA Takedowns to YouTube”

“The problem is, who is going to be able to prove the facts of what actually happened between Chinese investigators and Yahoo!'s local employees in 2002 in China? If nobody can prove the facts one way or the other and if Yahoo! is not forthcoming with them will the case be thrown out due to lack of evidence? Yahoo! may then be legally off the hook, but they still look untrustworthy from the user's perspective. …”
Rebecca MacKinnon, “Victims’ Lawsuit Against Yahoo!”

“The killings Monday at Virginia Tech brought to the forefront the remarkable evolution in media over the past few years. And as we move into a time in which we will be saturated with data, we need to be clear on some of the implications of democratized media. …”
Dan Gillmor, “Virginia Tech: How Media Are Evolving”

“One of my friends from OSI’s Information Program mentioned his excitement that the TED conference had started putting videos of talks from the last two conferences online, and asked me to recommend my favorites. By the time I got home and online, my twinblogger (a reference to our tendency to blog conferences in tandem) Bruno Giussani had posted a comprehensive guide to great talks, not just on the TED website, but from Pop!Tech and LIFT as well. He correctly identifies this is a new trend in operating conferences, an important one. Very, very few people are able to attend these gatherings - putting the talks online lets thousands of times as many people hear the ideas these remarkable speakers have to share. So here are some of my top picks from TED and Pop!Tech, the two conferences I’ve been attending and blogging the past two years…”
Ethan Zuckerman, “Twelve Great Talks to Watch, and No Excuse for Being Bored. (Or Boring.)”

“The issue involves more than just the costs of providing radio over the internet. It is also a matter of highly different royalty regimes. A study by BetaNews concluded that these new rates would create a drastic difference between broadcast and internet radio royalty costs. According to BetaNews, broadcast radio stations paid an average of $1.56 per listener for 2006, while internet radio sites will pay $8.91 per listener for 2006. This disproportionate burden upon internet radio restricts the potential of internet radio, and possibly silences its real advantages. …”
Chilling Effects, “The Silencing of Internet Radio?”

“This year a lot of the discussions focused on audience, tight funding, the challenge of new technologies and the management of small stations with large, volunteer support. My hat is off to those folks running community stations: you'll hear some mighty creative on air work in the midst of challenges that would cause business veterans to tremble. …”
PRX, “NFCB 2007 Debrief”

“How are universities similar to and different from for-profit businesses and what are the implications for their rights as owners and users of intellectual property?”
Internet & Society Conference 2007 - University: Knowledge Beyond Authority