papers:

new papers

six degrees of reputation: the use and abuse of online recommendation systems

Working paper, with Trevor Pinch, forthcoming with MIT Press
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This paper reports initial findings from a study that used quantitative and qualitative research methods and custom-built software to investigate online economies of reputation and user practices in online product reviews at several leading ecommerce sites (primarily Amazon.com). We explore several cases in which book and CD reviews were copied in part or in whole from one item to another and show that hundreds of product reviews on Amazon.com might be copies of one another. We further explain the strategies involved in these suspect product reviews, and the ways in which the collapse of the barriers between authors and readers affect the ways in which these information goods are being produced, and exchanged. We report on techniques that are employed by authors, artists, editors, and readers to ensure they promote their agendas while they build their identities as experts. We suggest a framework for discussing the changes of the categories of authorship, creativity, expertise, and reputation that are being re-negotiated in this multi-tier reputation economy.

free software and open source papers

opening the sources of accountability

First Monday, volume 9, number 11 (November 2004)
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This paper scrutinizes the concept of accountability in light of free and open source software. On the view that increasing accountability grants value to society by motivating those most likely and able to prevent risk and harm to do so, I argue that while developing software collaboratively, licensing it openly, and distributing its source code freely are promising first steps in the long journey to rehabilitate accountability in our highly computerized society, our very understanding of what accountability is changes too. The paper analyzes the concept of accountability in an open environment and explores the implications in two mission –critical application fields in which software plays a significant role: electronic voting, and electronic medical records. It further considers the potential remedies to accountability's erosion that free and open source software offer, and the ways in which accountability can be generalized to collective action if we understand it less as punishability and more as a culture that encourages the prevention of risk and harm. With such reconceptualized accountability in mind, I find that code visibility, a self–imposed standard of care and sensible licensing arrangements are a potent, practical, and effective alternative to the strict liability standards offered as a solution to the accountability problem by earlier scholars.


a license to kill (innovation)? open source licenses and their implications for innovation

work in progress with Michal Tsur

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This paper examines the implications of Open Source License (OSL) selection on software innovation, and suggests how modifying the Open Source Definition, or modifying certain provisions in OSLs that have become de-facto standard licenses in open source development, could better accommodate the competing needs and diverse motivations of different would-be software innovators. We make an important distinction between 'initial developers'- those developers who decide what license will apply to the code they write, and 'later developers' - those developers who subsequently wish to use code that was previously released under a certain OSL (and are therefore affected by license terms selected by initial developers). This distinction facilitates the analysis of the effect OSL provisions have on the development of new 'independent' code and, importantly, their effect on any subsequent use of code released under an OSL. The changes we propose could considerably increase the likelihood that a wider variety of developers (including commercial firms) would make use of code released under such revised OSLs, as well as the likelihood that code would be released under OSLs to begin with.

the politics of foss adoption in healthcare

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this paper is part of a special report by the social science research council on the politics of free and open source adoption (POSA), Joe Karaganis (ed)
POSA 1.0 is now available ***here*** in the form of a Wiki. there is a $500 prize for the best contribution towards version 2.0

The special report suggests that, at this stage of open source development and advocacy, the important question may no longer be how open source works as a social and technical project, or whether open source provides benefits to a range of constituencies (in terms of cost, security, etc.), but rather how open source is becoming embedded in political arenas and policy debates. FOSS adoption is increasingly a matter of politics and public policyÑwithin public and private institutions, within municipalities and government agencies, and increasingly within political parties and national governments. It has become a subject of discussion within a wide range of international organizations, from the European Commission to UN agencies to forums like the World Summit on the Information Society. These conversations reflect the modest success of open source advocates in connecting FOSS to a variety of broader political and social goodsÑeconomic development, the transparency of government functions, privacy of data, forms of local autonomy and agency, and of course - cost.

The projects surveyed in the paper demonstrate that a variety of institutional and funding contexts can generate stable, reliable, secure and ready to deploy FOSS HCIT solutions. Significant barriers remain for widespread adoption of FOSS in health care but the traditional strengths of the FOSS model (low up-front costs, modularity and ease of customization, and a high degree of security) are a good match to the growing needs of the health sector. Health care remains a promising vertical market for FOSS adoption but a range of legal, business, and public policy barriers will have to be addressed. The combination of clearer public policy that valorizes FOSS, technical and economic proofs-of-concept by grass-roots projects, and shifting financial incentives for big business are arguably all working in the same direction: FOSS will play a major role in HCIT in years to come.

on the uncertainty principle and social constructivism: the case of free and open source software

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In this paper I propose and use an enhanced version of SCOT—the Social Construction of Technology—to look at the socio-technological development of free and open source (1969-2003). The paper analyzes the relevant social groups that attributed meanings to free operating systems and used their interpretive flexibilities when shaping them, the attempts of these groups to reach closure using both rhetorical and conceptual means, and the development of several technological frames. I use the historical case study of free and open source software in order to alert the reader to several methodological weaknesses in the original SCOT framework and to suggest and apply potential remedies. Specifically I, find that SCOT in its initial version is susceptible to what I call the ‘uncertainty principle of social constructivism’ which states that the social position and technological momentum of an artifact cannot be analytically recorded with precision at one and the same time. I find that SCOT does not properly account for the activities of individuals and corporations which are dominant in Capitalism, and that it lacks temporal dimensions and commitment to iteration that would enable us to properly understand the intricate workings of technology at moments of controversy. I suggest several practical solutions and new metaphors that enable us to overcome these challenges, while telling the story of an ongoing technological revolution in social constructivist terms.

on sourcescapes and filescapes: towards a critique of the political economy of free and open source software

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working paper based on my master's thesis at nyu

In this essay I launch a theoretical inquiry in order to investigate in detail a moment in informationalism that gives rise to F/OSS and P2P networks, movements that revolutionize the very basic tenets of the network society and can partially explain this society’s disjunctive nature. I suggest that unlike other, more capital-friendly, information technologies, F/OSS and P2P networks do more than simply change the constraints of time and space, shift geographical and industrial borders, or reduce the importance of physicality and rigid structures. The sourcescapes and filescapes that are revealed by an investigation of these once-tacit-by-nowvocal revolutions, I argue, are becoming the theatre of a new socio-economical war whereby battles are fought over the sedated concepts and categories of political economy. The winners in this digital fracas imbue new, sometimes even surprising, meanings into fundamental concepts like economic power, consumer desire, and social identity that extend well beyond Cyberia.





design papers

Critical Technical Practice as a Methodology for Values in Design

with Phoebe Sengers, Kirsten Boehner, and Joseph 'Jofish' Kaye (Culturally Embedded Computing Group)

presented in the 'quality value choice' workshop as part of the annual meeting on computer human interaction, portland, oregon, april 2005
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Critical Technical Practice (CTP) is an approach to identifying and altering philosophical assumptions underlying technical practice. In this paper, we propose CTP as a useful method for developing value-sensitive design, complementing existing ethics-based approaches in HCI. CTP, originally proposed by Phil Agre, tightly binds technology development (as practiced in computer science) with critical reflection (as practiced in critical studies and design research), thereby uncovering and altering hidden values and assumptions in technology design. HCI, due to its interdisciplinary constitution and reflective nature, is a particularly fruitful domain for critical technical practice. We demonstrate through four case studies how critical technical practice supports the identification of values underlying design as well as the development of concrete technical alternatives.

reflective design

with Phoebe Sengers, Kirsten Boehner, and Joseph 'Jofish' Kaye (Culturally Embedded Computing Group)

submitted to the Critical Computing Conference aarhus august 2005
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As computing moves from the desktop and lab bench into every aspect of our culture and daily lives, it is developing an unprecedented cultural reach. In the process, values and assumptions which underlie our technical practices may unwittingly be propagated throughout our culture. In response to this new techno-cultural situation, we propose making reflection a core principle of technology design. Drawing on existing critical computing approaches such as participatory design, value-sensitive design, and critical technical practice, we describe reflective design, an approach which tightly binds technology development (as practiced in computer science) with critical reflection (as practiced in critical studies and design research) to uncover and alter hidden values and assumptions in technology design and use. We demonstrate through two case studies how the reflective practices embodied in reflective design support the integral identification of values underlying design. At the same time, we show how this approach critically examines the practices used in the design and deployment of computing technologies, while simultaneously developing concrete conceptual and technical alternatives.





other papers

an observation of the information revolution through walter benjamin’s critical concepts of progress

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In our time inasmuch as progress operates within an ever-accelerating social and technological transformation—not only cannot progress be distinguished from its progression through a homogenous empty time, but also, progress cannot be sundered from technological change. How can we address questions regarding technological progress within a social system of predominant ideas and values—that are themselves subject to constant flux? In what follows, I draw upon Benjamin’s critical concepts and apply them to the contemporary technologies and their potential and actual effects on our information driven society. I will discuss the advent of the information revolution and offer a critique of its hollow concept of progress that presupposes a linear process of progression of mankind through homogenous empty time. To do so I identify two of the digital revolution’s dominant aspects: the compression of space and time and the inequality in dispersal of information technologies. I use Benjamin’s Theses on the Philosophy of History as a basis, and review texts in Anthropology, Economics, History, Popular and Cyber culture, to emphasize how Benjamin’s critique of modern progression is relevant today more than ever.



concepts of time in one hundred years of solitude: a means of social criticism

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published in Anamesa: an interdicsiplinary journal, new york university press Spring 2003

Re-reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude one always finds reasons for delight. In this paper I want to offer a personal reading that will concentrate on one theme: Marquez’s depiction of time, time compression, and cyclical temporal flows, as means to an end—a basis for social concern and criticism. Above all, Marquez’s idiosyncratic perception of time serves him to criticize the rush of modernity, and make his readers stop and ponder. While haste is the high concept of our time (fast-internet, fast-food, and express lanes have become part of our everydayness) Marquez’s metonymical Macondo offers an alternative vantage point on rapidity and a refreshing clairvoyance into our own future, shall we not learn to balance our temporal existence. Far from being exhaustive, this review underlines key parts of the novel in which the concept of time and its interpretation serve Marquez in the build-up of this social criticism. I’ve selected quotes that caught my eye and ear and are a starting point for further consideration of the key themes that will be discussed.




connectivity as the measure of man: on ideologies of western dominance through the case of the digitizing mission

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In Machines as the Measure of Men Michael Adas examines the ways in which Europeans' attitudes toward the material superiority of their culture influenced their attitudes toward, and interactions with, the peoples of the newly discovered areas of Africa, India, and China. Europeans, Adas tells us, came to identify scientific and technological achievement, the understanding and mastery of nature, as an objective measure of the value of a civilization. By this standard, they saw themselves as superior to the non-Europeans they came to know, justifying their right to 'civilize' and dominate the world. Combining literature from Anthropology, Economics, History, Cyber-culture, and Poetry I argue that a similar ideology of Western dominance is carried across the digital information revolution, with one tactical difference: digital connectivity replaces machines as the measure of people. Today, instead of rail-road coverage come bandwidth statistics; instead of grain and fiber production comes fiber-optics deployment; and instead of library sizes we have page-views and unique-visitors statistics as the gauges of a nation’s technological eminence. All the while, the underlying theme of Men’s mastery of nature as a measurement of evolutionary ranking is corroborated: the strategy is the same and only the devices of measurement are different. Second, based on what I identify as typical industrial-age interpretations schemas of technological and scientific achievements—ostensibly objective measures of society but, in effect, the foundations of subjective moral judgments—I will argue that today we can readily identify a contemporary parallel of the ‘civilizing mission’, arguably a ‘digitizing mission’ that is aimed towards developing nations and developing communities within the developed Western world. A mean and an end alternately, connectivity at the hands of the digerati—the digital elite—who pursue such a digital mission is bound to ever increase, as will be discussed.




on the object-oriented version of the zombie argument and its implications on the mind-body problem

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Following the sentiment of ideas developed by Chalmers, Kim, Nagle, Penrose, Searle and others, in this paper I attempt to add weight to the contention that Physicalism (the ideology that contends that, in the last instance, all the entities in the world are physical and that the things people usually consider as being non-physical or mental are in-effect not more than a lasting phantasmagoria) is completely amiss and that the mental cannot be reduced to or be fully explicated by the physical except contingently. To substantiate this claim, I will look at a recent development in computing, the introduction of object-oriented programming (OOP), which presents a possibility to rebuild the controversial zombie argument in a new way that is arguably less prone to attacks by the standard criticism (namely, that when taken seriously functional zombies are metaphysically implausible). In the spirit of Turing and Searle, I want to accept, momentarily, the (untenable) functionalist premise that all human activity can indeed be recorded as a set of sensory-input/behavioral-output ‘functions’. Our computational zombie will encapsulate all these functions and try to imitate human behavior without having any consciousness or causal mental powers. Our zombie is a purely physical entity, realized in silicon. What I plan to show using this thought-experiment of a computational, object-oriented zombie and the discussion that follows is that regardless of whether we can mistake the new zombie for a human or not, Physicalism reaches a dead-end. If I am right and this new kind of zombie is perceivable, then at least one of the following statements must be true (1) human mental ability cannot be reduced or otherwise be fully spelled out by physical entities alone, or (2) Physicalism implies Epiphenomenalism; mental events are caused by physical events in the brain, but have no effects upon any physical events. In either case Physicalism as most physicalists would like to defend it is shown to be wrong.