Specialcindy’s Weblog

This week i must say, i am having a hard time reading this week’s reading. But after I read it over and over again …. I think i got it .

so….. In the reading of “How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom” written by Yochai Benkler, talks about the what a society’s freedom looks like is based on how people make information, how people view the information, how people imply and use these sources, and how people communicate to each other. In other words, he is trying to show how the older industrial information economy and the newer networked information economy are different. Although, the older economic model can allow creation of better wealth for corporations, the networked economy does has the potential to make a lot of freedom as well as helps to support the public values. The author, Benkler, is trying to show the positive effect by point out to the people that it is our choice to decide or choose how to use these informational technologies that the society provide us.

In the context of Web 2.0, it make everyone’s life a lot easier. Especially when people is doing a research. It helps a lot of people save a lot of time and it a lot organize. I guess we can say it like we are addicted to the web 2.0. In other word, Web 2.0 products enable people to become part of people life and communities that do everything from design and create new software, and share knowledge to help people solve global problems. I guess as the society and public are constantly looking for new and better tool or source. The contributors will need to constantly improve.Therefore, I think it must be very hard for all the contributors out there, because their job is like never end. Also it is very kind of these contributors to shared ownership and shared responsibility to make the world a better place.

Sometimes it may seem very easy to talk about copyright. Yet, there are not many people that fallow the copyright laws. I guess it is just like what many people say, “you know the rules before you break the rules.”  We all understand what is right and wrong, but it is our choice to choose what to do. Also sometimes, it is very difficult to judge what is your or not. For example, lets say you brought a DVD movie, and later on you decide to show the movie with everyone around the world, you post the movie on Youtube online. Do you really have the right to do so or are you breaking the copyright low? 

On the other hand, if you check the programs in your own computer, did you pay for all the programs that you have in your computer or did you download them online? Therefore, would you be blaming the person that post the program such as Photoshop and others online and share with everyone and without you spending thousand dollars?

I guess we all know the laws but sometimes it very hard for us not to break them.