This last post is going to be a short reflection about the module 'Emergant Media and Markets'. I feel that this module has gone pretty well for me. I really enjoyed the presentation which we had to prepare and present and have found doing the blogs really interesting as it has allowed me to learn and discover new things. I particularly enjoyed doing my first blog about Aleks Krotoski and the blog about RFID tags especially the Izzy's ice-cream part which was fun.
I have found doing the blogs useful as they have allowed me to further my knowledge in some areas which I knew very little about which is good!
However, I feel that I could have done better in my journalistic report as it did not turn out how I wanted it to. I really wanted to display my writing on a website that I had made however once I had completed it I was not happy with how it ;looked and therefore decided to present it as a blog entry instead. I also feel that I could have done better on the writing of the report.
Overall I believe that I have put quite a lot of effort into this module and have enjoyed it. I think that I have learnt quite a lot although can see where I could have done things better.
Monday, 10 January 2011
Can increased enforcements of copyright laws be considered the enemy of creativity?
After a fellow student presented a presentation to us about Piracy and Copyright I have decided to look further into copyright issues and how they may hinder a persons creativity in this post.
What is copyright?
What is copyright?
Copyright is seen as being something which protects your ideas from other people copying them ‘Copyright is the right to prevent others copying or reproducing an individuals or other’s work. Copyright protects the expression of an idea and not the idea itself’ Ward, (2004 P.71).
As in England and America copyright began as a common law. ‘Copyright has its origins in the 16th century’ Ward. (2004 P.72) and it was initially only concerned with printed material such as books, ‘...in 1556, a system of registration of books was established to offer protection to authors’ Ward, (2004, P.72). However, AD Hoc changes over the next 200 years to gradually include additional types of material. Statutory copyright was first established by 1709 copyright act. ‘A statutory license is a license whose key terms are set by law’ Lessig, (2004 P.57). In 1709 America establishes its first copyright law which is emended from the English copyright law. The power to establish ‘creative property’ rights were included in the US constitution, ‘Congress has the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors. The exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.’ US constitution, (article 1, section B, Clause B). The copyright law secures copyright for 14 years and allows the author the opportunity to renew for a further period of 14 years. After this maximum period of 28 years the work was entered to the public domain and could be freely used. In 1909 the renewal terms were increased by another 28 years. Also ‘After the congress’s amendment of the Copyright Act in 1909, record companies were free to distribute copies of recordings so long as they paid the composer ( or copyright holder) the fee set by the statute.’ Lessig (2004 P.57.) Copyright terms extended 11 times since 1962. And finally in 1976 the United States abandoned the renewal principle in favour of one maximum copyright term; life plus 50 years for individuals, and life plus 75 years for corporations.
As in England and America copyright began as a common law. ‘Copyright has its origins in the 16th century’ Ward. (2004 P.72) and it was initially only concerned with printed material such as books, ‘...in 1556, a system of registration of books was established to offer protection to authors’ Ward, (2004, P.72). However, AD Hoc changes over the next 200 years to gradually include additional types of material. Statutory copyright was first established by 1709 copyright act. ‘A statutory license is a license whose key terms are set by law’ Lessig, (2004 P.57). In 1709 America establishes its first copyright law which is emended from the English copyright law. The power to establish ‘creative property’ rights were included in the US constitution, ‘Congress has the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors. The exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.’ US constitution, (article 1, section B, Clause B). The copyright law secures copyright for 14 years and allows the author the opportunity to renew for a further period of 14 years. After this maximum period of 28 years the work was entered to the public domain and could be freely used. In 1909 the renewal terms were increased by another 28 years. Also ‘After the congress’s amendment of the Copyright Act in 1909, record companies were free to distribute copies of recordings so long as they paid the composer ( or copyright holder) the fee set by the statute.’ Lessig (2004 P.57.) Copyright terms extended 11 times since 1962. And finally in 1976 the United States abandoned the renewal principle in favour of one maximum copyright term; life plus 50 years for individuals, and life plus 75 years for corporations.
Copyright law was initially intended to protect intangible properties, that, that is not physical property. For example if you own a book and you stand on it you are not breaking copyright laws because the actual physical book itself is not copyrighted, it is the content which is in the book that is copyrighted so you can’t do what you want with it. Having copyright laws stops a person from copying other peoples work or stealing ideas which is fair for the copyright holders. However, it doesn’t allow people to adapt and change others ideas. This could be argued however to encourage creativity not hinder it, ‘Originality is a fundamental principle of copyright. It implies that the author or artist created the work through his or her own skill, labour, and judgement.’ Vaidhyanathen (2001 P.20). This statement surely supports the idea that copyright is not an enemy of creativity as it forces people to come up with brand new, original ideas rather than just adapting already existing ones. Also without copyright laws anyone could claim to have invented or written something and the actual inventor could not be credited on his or hers work.
Case study
There is a lot of evidence to support that copyright laws are an enemy of creativity and when supposedly broken they can have terrible consequences. In late 2002 Jesse James was a freashman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and he was majoring in information technology. ‘Though he is not a programmer, in October Jesse decided to tinker with search engine technology that was available on the RPI network’. Lessig (2004 P.48). He ‘tinkered’ with a Google-like search engine which allowed other students to up load pictures and notes onto it. Jesse’s s search engine became popular and it included things which were available on the RPI network. There were however music files which other students had uploaded into their public folder ‘Jesse did nothing to induce people to put music files into their public folder. He did nothing to target the search engine to these files.’ Lessig (2004 P50) On the 3rd of April he was notified that the ‘Recording Industry Association’ would be filing a lawsuit against him and three other students that he did not no. Jesse did not believe that he had done anything wrong and claimed he was just making the search engine easier to use. He was fined with $150,000 per infringement which all together totalled to over $15,000,000. All he had done was play around with computer and internet technology as he was studying it, how is it fair that he was fined so much basically doing nothing wrong. Between the years of 1790 and 1800 only 5% of works created were registered for copyright. Now nearly everything is copyrighted. Even borrowing a CD from a friend is illegal. '95% of music downloads are illegal'
This newspaper article from 2009 is one I found whilst doing my research for this blog it talks about what may happen to you if you download illegaly!
The increasing laws and lack of freedom we have is going to put people off trying new things in case somebody has already copyrighted or patent an idea and they end up getting sued for millions of dollars. People now have to worry about whether or not what they are doing is legal or not. internet is more than the fine for a doctor negligently butchering a patient (approx $250,000)’ Lessig (2004 P.185), people who do often never publish or produce them ‘We drive creative process underground...’ Lessig (2004 P.185). It can also be seen to be an unconstructive law, for example ‘Myriad genetics’ have brought the copyright for a gene which is thought to be linked with breast cancer. This means that they own the right over the gene. The problem which occurs from this is that they can allow or even disallow others to study the gene. They can give a license to whoever they want. Essentially this means that someone may have been able to find a cure for breast cancer but ‘Myriad genetics’ have denied them a license. This shows that the copyright law has gone too far, anything can be copyrighted even parts of the human body. Having such strict and so many copyright laws as this essay shows is an enemy when it comes to creativity. ‘...regulations that pass under the name ‘copyright’ silence speech and creativity’ Lessig (2004 P.187).
References
Lessig. L, 2004, Free culture: The nature and future of creativity. London, The Penguin Press.
Vaidhyanathan. S. 2001, Copyrights and Copywrongs: The rise of intellectual property and how it threatens creativity. New York, New York University press.
Ward. M. 2004 The Law and Intellectual Property: The complete guied to all aspects of intellectual property. Brighton. Straightforward publishing.
No named author, 2009, 95% of music downloads are illegal Belfasttelegraph.co.uk, 18th January. Available at: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/technology-gadgets/95-of-music-downloads-are-illegal-14145599.html Last Accessed: 10/01/11
No named author. 2009. Illegal downloading: What happens if you're caught? theindependant.co.uk, 8th July. Available at:http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/illegal-downloading-what-happens-if-youre-caught-1736013.html Last Accessed: 10/01/11
Images
Copyright Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/3020966666/ Last Accessed: 10/01/11
Dollar Available at:http://www.yearn2earncash.com/links/ Last Accessed: 10/01/11
Saturday, 8 January 2011
RFID Tags
As I was unable to attend Alan's lecture I have been asked to write two blogs which relates to the presentations made by my fellow students.
For this blog I have decided to look at RFID tags.
'RFID is an emerging communication system technology and is one of the most rapidly growing segments of today's automatic identification data collection agency.' RFID tags are a type of technology that uses communication via radio waves to pass data between a reader and an electronic tag which is attached to an object.
How it actually works...
Although during my research I came across a couple of sources which stated that there are three types of RFID tags the majority stated that there are two main types. 'There are two general classifications for RFID tags: active and passive'
Passive
Active
'Active tags prove to be extremely flexible in terms of the functionality they can offer. this is due to their on board battery which extends their reading range'
'Active RFID tags are now commonly being used to track and locate valuable assets in the health care, manufacturing and logistics market'. These tags are also used in the Department of Defense (DOD). They started to use active RFID in the 'early 1990's to help with in transit visibility of shipments'
Advantages
RFID tags and ice-cream? This is a fairly recent newspaper article from September 2010 which I found really interesting. It talks about how RFID tags can be used to enhance your social food experience. 'Izzy's ice-cream' is a shop in the US which serves over 100 different flavours of ice-cream but it can only serve 32 fresh daily. So Izzy's created 'RFID flavour tags' which allow customers who are signed in to know what flavours of ice-cream are being served, it is updated every 3 minutes.
Future?
It is thought that in the near future RFID tags could be used to reduce the ques in grocery shops. This article explains how a new tag has been developed which could replace the bar codes which are on the products we buy. This will allow the consumer to not have to que to pay for their goods., instead they would have to run the trolley by a detector which would instantly know what was in the trolley making food shopping a lot less stressful.
Bibliography
Lehpamer. H. 2008 RFID design principles, Noorwood ARTECH HOUSE
Rida. A. 2010 RFID- Enabled Sensor Design and Applications, Noorwood, ARTECH HOUSE
Web sources
Daniley. G. 2007 A guide to selecting an Active RFID tag. TheManufacture.com, 11th May, Available at: http://www.themanufacturer.com/us/content/5547/A_guide_to_selecting_an_Active_RFID_tag. Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Kumar. N. 2010, (Future of Retail) New RFID tags could reduce lines at grocery stores, 28th April, Available at: http://www.psfk.com/2010/04/future-of-retail-new-rfid-tags-could-reduce-lines-at-grocery-stores.html ;Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Millward. D 2007 . Airports to track passengers with radio ID tags, 10th April, Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548100/Airports-to-track-passengers-with-radio-ID-tags.html
Last Accessed: 08/01/10
RFID Tags: Passive Tags or Active Tags, 2010, Online, Available at: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/rfid-tags-passive-tags-or-active-tags.html Last Accessed: 08/01/10
U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2006, Defense logistics: More efficient use of RFID tags could potentially avoid millions in unnecessary purchase, Online, Available at: http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm Last Accessed: 08/01/10
No named author. 2010, RFID tags to enhance your social food experience, 13th September, Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/rfid-tags-to-enhance-your-social-food-experience-2077747.html Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Images
RFID Tag, Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/midnightcomm/171587228/ Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Tag in passport, Available at: http://www.jasonkitcat.com/category/e-democ-e-gov/ Last Accessed: 08/01/10
RFID Tag on finger, Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548100/Airports-to-track-passengers-with-radio-ID-tags.html Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Izzy's Ice-cream, Available at: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176795/Ice_cream_with_RFID_chips_to_go Last Accessed: 08/01.10
For this blog I have decided to look at RFID tags.
 |
| RFID tag |
'RFID is an emerging communication system technology and is one of the most rapidly growing segments of today's automatic identification data collection agency.' RFID tags are a type of technology that uses communication via radio waves to pass data between a reader and an electronic tag which is attached to an object.
How it actually works...
Although during my research I came across a couple of sources which stated that there are three types of RFID tags the majority stated that there are two main types. 'There are two general classifications for RFID tags: active and passive'
Passive
Passive tags are commonly used in:
- Logistics such as manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.
- Security in libraries, bookstores, passports and airports
- Transportation in automatic vehicle identification, electronic toll collection and electronic vehicle control.
 |
| Tag on a passport |
- The tag functions without a battery
- They have a useful life of twenty years or more
- This tag (when compared to active) is less expensive 'Passive tags are mostly deployed primarily for their low cost and ease of implementation due to established standars'
- They are also extremely small, some as small and smaller than a grain of rice.
- They have almost unlimited applications in consumer goods and other areas.
 |
| This image shows just how small these tags can be. |
- They can only be read at very short distances, typically a few feet at most. this greatly limits the device for certain applications.
- It may not be possible to include sensors that can use electricity for power.
- The tag remains readable for a very long time, even after the product to which the tag is attached is no longer being tracked. During my research a came across this article about a store where I live having problems which RFID tags that they had put on razor blades.
Active
'Active tags prove to be extremely flexible in terms of the functionality they can offer. this is due to their on board battery which extends their reading range'
'Active RFID tags are now commonly being used to track and locate valuable assets in the health care, manufacturing and logistics market'. These tags are also used in the Department of Defense (DOD). They started to use active RFID in the 'early 1990's to help with in transit visibility of shipments'
Advantages
- These tags can be read at a distance of 100 feet or more, greatly improving the utility of the device. They have the longest communication range of any tag.
- They may have other sensors that can use electricity for power
- They have the capability to perform independent monitoring and control.
- They have the capability to initiate communication
- They have the highest data bandwidth..
- The tag cannot function without battery power which therefore limits its lifetime.
- These tags are typically more expensive than passive RFID tags.
- These tags are larger which may limit applications.
RFID tags and ice-cream? This is a fairly recent newspaper article from September 2010 which I found really interesting. It talks about how RFID tags can be used to enhance your social food experience. 'Izzy's ice-cream' is a shop in the US which serves over 100 different flavours of ice-cream but it can only serve 32 fresh daily. So Izzy's created 'RFID flavour tags' which allow customers who are signed in to know what flavours of ice-cream are being served, it is updated every 3 minutes.
Future?
It is thought that in the near future RFID tags could be used to reduce the ques in grocery shops. This article explains how a new tag has been developed which could replace the bar codes which are on the products we buy. This will allow the consumer to not have to que to pay for their goods., instead they would have to run the trolley by a detector which would instantly know what was in the trolley making food shopping a lot less stressful.
Bibliography
Lehpamer. H. 2008 RFID design principles, Noorwood ARTECH HOUSE
Rida. A. 2010 RFID- Enabled Sensor Design and Applications, Noorwood, ARTECH HOUSE
Web sources
Daniley. G. 2007 A guide to selecting an Active RFID tag. TheManufacture.com, 11th May, Available at: http://www.themanufacturer.com/us/content/5547/A_guide_to_selecting_an_Active_RFID_tag. Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Kumar. N. 2010, (Future of Retail) New RFID tags could reduce lines at grocery stores, 28th April, Available at: http://www.psfk.com/2010/04/future-of-retail-new-rfid-tags-could-reduce-lines-at-grocery-stores.html ;Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Millward. D 2007 . Airports to track passengers with radio ID tags, 10th April, Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548100/Airports-to-track-passengers-with-radio-ID-tags.html
Last Accessed: 08/01/10
RFID Tags: Passive Tags or Active Tags, 2010, Online, Available at: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/rfid-tags-passive-tags-or-active-tags.html Last Accessed: 08/01/10
U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2006, Defense logistics: More efficient use of RFID tags could potentially avoid millions in unnecessary purchase, Online, Available at: http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm Last Accessed: 08/01/10
No named author. 2010, RFID tags to enhance your social food experience, 13th September, Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/rfid-tags-to-enhance-your-social-food-experience-2077747.html Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Images
RFID Tag, Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/midnightcomm/171587228/ Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Tag in passport, Available at: http://www.jasonkitcat.com/category/e-democ-e-gov/ Last Accessed: 08/01/10
RFID Tag on finger, Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548100/Airports-to-track-passengers-with-radio-ID-tags.html Last Accessed: 08/01/10
Izzy's Ice-cream, Available at: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9176795/Ice_cream_with_RFID_chips_to_go Last Accessed: 08/01.10
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