Berkman Buzz: July 20, 2012

The second case studies in our interop series looks into Bar Code interoperability, a great case that highlights the aspects inter-industry cooperation as well as collective action problems. The case was researched by incoming Berkman student fellow Matthew B. Becker. He submitted the following blog post as an introduction to the case:

When approaching the subject of interoperability, bar codes were an immediate interest of mine. Practically ubiquitous today, bar codes can be found on nearly every package, and are increasingly common in many other applications beyond retail. It is precisely this prevalence that made me wonder how such a technology came to be implemented so widely.

As previously noted, “Interop” is part of a series of experiments regarding the format of a book. In the case of Interop, we publish it along with a set of case studies that have served as the raw data for the analysis and theory we present in the book version. As our early case studies on digital music, digital identity systems, and mash ups, all the materials are freely available online, via SSRN. Over the next few weeks, we will introduce some of the more recent case studies, several of them authored by wonderful research assistants on our Interop research team. Today – in time with the very high temperatures outside and the increased energy consumption – we would like to introduce the case study on the “smart grid” written by Paul Kominers. Paul submitted the following abstract to introduce the case he researched with us:”

Imagine a mountain climber without a map. Rather than going downwards to return to town as might be sensible, he wants to find the highest point in the entire mountain range. But due to a blizzard, he cannot see very far; he can only tell whether a certain direction takes him higher or lower, and he has to stop every fifty yards or so to reevaluate and pick a new direction.

There were three separate, significant announcements today from the UK. All three make major moves toward assuring open access to publicly-funded research. But they differ in important respects. We shouldn't overlook the differences or think there was just one large announcement. Here's a quick overview:

(1) The Research Councils UK (RCUK) strengthened its long-standing OA policy. My blog post includes a short list of the major points on which the new RCUK policy differs from the Finch recommendations. (2) David Willetts, the UK Science Minister, accepted the OA recommendations in the Finch report. In a comment, my blog post pulls together my previous criticisms of the Finch report. (3) The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) announced plans to mandate OA for research submitted to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) after 2014.

Google May Have To Start Censoring Search Results In France: ...http://bit.ly/QddsgI
—Opennet (@ONInews)

On paper, or maybe that should be in pixels, Marissa Mayer is a brilliant choice to run Yahoo. No one disputes her talent or drive; even if some colleagues anonymously call her personal style prickly, that would not be an issue if we were talking about a male chief executive.

No, the big question is about Yahoo itself. Has the downward trajectory of the past several years become an unrecoverable tailspin? If so, nothing she or anyone else can do will matter much in the end.

The nation's largest Internet service providers, in an unprecedented partnership with titans of the entertainment industry, have agreed to implement a uniform policy aimed at deterring online copyright infringement known as the Copyright Alert System. An agreement that sets forth extensive details about the program was finalized more than one year ago, but it has yet to take effect. Coverage of the scheme by Time and CNN has drawn attention back to the program in recent weeks. So, where exactly does the Copyright Alert System stand?

For those of you unfamiliar with the CAS, it is a graduated response approach to copyright enforcement created in an agreement between five major ISPs and representatives from the entertainment industry. Often referred to as the "six strikes" plan (for the number of warnings subscribers may receive), the program will result in a series of alerts that increase in seriousness if an Internet user's account is flagged by a content owner as one associated with the unauthorized sharing or downloading of copyrighted material via a peer-to-peer network.

check out this awesome @Flickr set on @TechGirls discussion w/@berkmancenter youth & media crew #GeekIsChic 1.usa.gov/NxjC9e
—Suzanne Phillion (@SuzKP)

Yesterday, YouTube announced a new tool within their upload editor that enables people to blur the faces within the video, and then publish a version with blurred faces. WITNESS has advocated for YouTube and other platforms to take this step for a number of years in blogs, public presentations, reports and private advocacy and applauds YouTube for leading the way in including this functionality.

We'll be reviewing the tool in the coming days, and explaining how to use it well to protect vulnerable people in your videos. In this post I'll discuss the human rights perspective on why tools like this are important for commercial platforms to adopt.