CSE 619

For the second part of The Wealth of Networks by Yochai Benkler goes into more detail about patterns of nonmarket individual and cooperative social behavior. In the past we did not have to worry too much about people plagiarizing or being able to burn copyrighted movies and CDs. However, as technology has developed and prices have been increasing people have gotten crazy with wanting to save money. With this money saving in mind people are finding ways to cut corners like burning movies and CDs and plagiarizing for papers. Laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are being put into place so that there can be more of a safety net for the businesses that create the movies, CDs and books.

            Along with all of the big laws and acts that are out there, there are also the ones that are more there for another layer of protection like the second enclosure movement. Things can be safer with more protection but it also can have its back fires. Some people have the thought that having all of this protection is challenging them to break the code, so to speak. I do not know this from personal reasons, so you can stop thinking that (Just kidding).

            Companies have to decide how they want to go about with protecting what is rightfully theirs. This means with film companies being able to make money off of the film they just aired or the artist whose CDs was just released. I do not like that the people that are breaking the law are taking away something that is not theirs to take. I know that some people may think that the Hollywood stars, singers, authors, producers and all of the other people that are being ripped off when copy writing and plagiarism is happening do not need more money because they are already rich. I just want to point out that if everyone thought this way than those Hollywood stars, singers, authors, producers, etc. will not have a job to pay their bills. Yes they are getting paid a lot more than many different professions but if everyone takes away how they are earning their money than we are taking away their way of life.

            Even though every country has their own laws and expectations, they are all pretty similar in their laws against copywriting. Nothing is the exact same for every country but they are the same when it comes to layering the protection. The countries take notes an advice from each other like when “Europe covered similar ground on telecommunications, and added a new exclusive right in raw facts in databases” (Benkler, 2006). There are the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties that the United States and Europe established for telecommunications.

            The line still for the where is the laws and treaties going overboard in order to protect and when they are just silly ways to put more boundaries on people and their creativity. I understand fully that these laws and treaties need to be put into place because it could get to crazy and people will not be able to figure out whom to give credit to.

Works Cited

Benkler, Y. (2006). The Wealth of Networks. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

CSE 619

     This week are reading was for The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom by Yochai Benkler. The chapter of this book that really grabbed my attention was chapter 8 Cultural Freedom: A Culture both Plastic and Critical because made comparisons from media literacy to real life situations. Media literacy has many layers. The different layers can be referred to as different cultures. Each resource provides a new view point on what the person is looking for.

     Chapter eight starts off by comparing the movie Gone with the Wind and Strange Fruit a song by Billie Holiday and lyrics by Abel Meeropol. It compares how the two different Medias are similar in their content but they were held at different levels by the public. Gone with the Wind was very popular and got great reviews however; the song did not do as good.

     Media literacy is so diverse that it has no problem with being compared to our society. When people are thinking about making a commercial for their product they have to make sure they know who their audience is and the best way to show that audience what they are selling. When people are trying to choose when their commercial needs to be aired the producers will look at their target audience and put it on channels that best fit its purpose.

     I found the perfect video that is a good visual to what I am trying to say, the video is called JCPR/JCIP Right Message Wrong Audience: Commercial Real Estate. When looking through the resources that are out there, teachers need to make sure that what they are finding and planning to use in the classroom makes sense with what is being taught.

     Teachers also have to look at the resources they find to see if the media literacy’s they find are the in the points of view that the teacher wants their students to look at. With Gone with the Wind and Strange Fruit it comes from different points of view. Both resources can be looked at in similar ways however; the song is more intense and descriptive than what is given with the video.

     Teachers should not just look at the views of the resources but of their own classroom as well. They need to make sure that students will feel comfortable enough when watching a video or listening to an audio clip that they will be able to take something away from it. If the resource is to disturbing, as an example, then students will be using their time to try and not hear/see what is going on and will be able to not take away the message that the lesson is trying to get across.

Teachers also have to make sure that the video clip or other media literacy is on the same level as the audience. If the resource is too hard too easy for the level that is watching it students will spend too much time either getting to bored to pay attention because the information is to easy or falling behind because the information is to hard.

Works Cited

Benkler, Y. (2006). The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

JCPR, J. a. (Director). (2013). JCPR/JCIP Right Message Wrong Audience: Commercial Real Estate [Motion Picture].