Berkman Buzz: Week of September 1, 2008

BERKMAN BUZZ:  A look at the past week's online Berkman conversations.  If you'd like to receive this by email, just sign up here. The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

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*Charles Nesson reads aloud from Born Digital
*David Ardia takes a look at what counts as opinion in Massachusetts
*Doc Searls asks why Comcast would bother putting a cap on downloads
*Derek Bambauer says, "No one likes it when Outlook acts like your mom"
*The Internet & Democracy Project rings in the new school year with a look at what's to come
*Jillian York tells us about Turkey and YouTube's contentious relationship
*Digital Natives Reporters in the Field: "Digital Natives Forum Today! & Obama Works: Online Activism Breeds Local Change"
*Weekly Global Voices: "Defamation & the Malaysian Blogger"

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Charles Nesson's audio blogpost, "Born Digital"

"Peter Robbins, author of the Robbins Report, a blog that appears on the popular community website Cape Cod Today, and an anonymous commenter have been sued over statements they made criticizing a group of Barnstable, MA residents who opposed the dredging of Barnstable Harbor.  The case raises a host of interesting questions, including whether the statements at issue are protected opinions and the potential applicability of Massachusetts' anti-SLAPP and retraction statutes..."
From David Ardia's blogpost, "Cape Cod Blogger Peter Robbins Sued For Libel Over Comments About Local Dredging Dispute"

"Comcast, which has amazingly bad PR chops, has done it again. Comcast to Place a Cap on Internet Downloads, headlines the NYTimes story. An excerpt: 'Until now, Comcast had not defined excessive use, but it had contacted customers who were using the heaviest amount of broadband and asked them to curb usage. Most do so willingly, the company said. The ones who do not curb their usage receive a second notice and risk having their accounts terminated....'"
From Doc Searls' blogpost, "Value subtraction"

"The Wall Street Journal notes a career-enhancing moment by an executive at Carat International, who sent an e-mail with confidential information about restructuring (= large-scale firings) to the entire firm, rather than the (more limited) intended recipients. Fortunately, Carat’s IT department managed to 'pull back' the message (known to geeks as 'if unread, then retract'; when I worked at Lotus, this was among the most-requested feature additions by customers, and they’ve finally added it). Unfortunately, AdAge.com got a copy and published it..."
From Derek Bambauer's blogpost, "Loose E-mail, Fast E-mail"

"Here in Cambridge the days are growing shorter, the temperature cooler, and tens of thousands of students have descended on the Boston area for the start of another school year. In that spirit, I’d like to share our research plans for this fall here at the Internet and Democracy Project. We have completed a number of case studies that we will release in the coming weeks. This includes an analysis of the impact of the site Ushahidi, blogs, and SMS on post-election violence in Kenya. Second, we will release a case study on last year’s largely Internet driven protests in Burma, which ultimately failed to lead to political change but whose long term impact remains unclear and debatable..."
From the Internet & Democracy Project blogpost, "New School Year, New Research From the Internet and Democracy Project"

"Turkey has a contentious relationship with popular video-sharing site YouTube. Blocked for the first time in early 2007, YouTube was intermittently available for most of 2007, only to be  banned again in January of 2008. Each time, the block has been in response to political videos. In the case of the most recent block, the videos were said to have insulted Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey; insulting Ataturk is a crime, as is "insulting Turkishness" under the controversial Article 301 of Turkey's penal code..."
From Jillian York's blogpost, "Turkey and YouTube: A Contentious Relationship"

"Along with Dr. Sunshine Hillygus, Keli Goff, Nasser Wedaddy, and Judith Perry, Paul Selker, Director of Outreach and Communications at Obama Works, will be discussing ObamaWorks with us today. Earlier, summer intern Nikki Leon talked to Paul on camera about how online interaction can breed offline activism. Obama Works is an independent grassroots organization that helps Obama supporters in neighborhoods across the country to organize community service events. The group was founded in early 2008 by a group of Yale students who were inspired by Barack Obama and felt that the energy surrounding his campaign could be channeled to do more than generate votes..."
From the Digital Natives Project blogpost, "Digital Natives Forum Today! & Obama Works: Online Activism Breeds Local Change"

"Local newspapers report a little bump in Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s defamation proceedings against Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK), when the High Court today ordered Shafee to appoint a lawyer. RPK’s lawyer, Manjeet Singh, had pointed out that Shafee may not represent himself in a case in which he has reason to believe that he will be called on as a witness in the hearing...'"
From Daniel Chandranayagam's blogpost for Global Voices Advocacy, "Defamation & the Malaysian Blogger"