First Monday January 2005

Dear Reader,

The January 2005 issue of First Monday (volume 10, number 1) is now
available at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_1/

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Table of Contents

Volume 10, Number 1 - January 3rd 2005

Artists' earnings and copyright: A review of British and German music
industry data in the context of digital technologies
by Martin Kretschmer
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_1/kretschmer/

Abstract:

Digital technologies are often said (1) to enable a qualitatively new
engagement with already existing cultural materials (for example
through sampling and adaptation); and, (2) to offer a new
disintermediated distribution channel to the creator. A review of
secondary data on music artists' earnings and eight in-depth
interviews conducted in 2003-04 in Britain and Germany indicate that
both ambitions have remained largely unfulfilled. The article
discusses to what extent the structure of copyright law is to blame,
and sets out a research agenda.

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What's the Buzz about? An empirical examination of Search on Yahoo!
by Nicole Bladow, Cari Dorey, Liz Frederickson, Pavla Grover, Yvette
Knudtson, Sandeep Krishnamurthy, and Voula Lazarou
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_1/bladow/

Abstract:

We present an analysis of the Yahoo Buzz Index over a period of 45
weeks. Our key findings are that: (1) It is most common for a search
term to show up on the index for one week, followed by two weeks,
three weeks, etc. Only two terms persist for all 45 weeks studied -
Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez. Search term longevity follows a
power-law distribution or a winner-take-all structure; (2) Most
search terms focus on entertainment. Search terms related to serious
topics are found less often. The Buzz Index does not necessarily
follow the "news cycle"; and, (3) We provide two ways to determine
"star power" of various search terms - one that emphasizes staying
power on the Index and another that emphasizes rank. In general, the
methods lead to dramatically different results.  Britney Spears
performs well in both methods. We conclude that the data available on
the Index is symptomatic of a celebrity-crazed,
entertainment-centered culture.

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Sensible design principles for new networks and services
by Kalevi Kilkki
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_1/kilkki/

Abstract:

The use of many complex technologies has been either much less or
essentially different than what were the great expectations when
development started. Based on an analysis about the reasons for past
failures, we propose three rules for sensible network design process
to avoid useless development efforts. First, the analysis of customer
needs has to concentrate on practical uses that are likely to become
everyday routines. Secondly, the development of a new technology must
be based on well-defined, carefully selected core principles.
Thirdly, during the development process the real experiences in real
networks must be continuously taken into account.

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The penguin in peril: SCO's legal threats to Linux
by Ishtiaque Omar
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_1/omar/

Abstract:

This thesis reviews the novel licences employed by open source
developers. The paper examines how the success of the open source
Linux operating system has led to conflict with traditional closed
source software firms through the case study of SCO v. IBM, currently
before the United States Federal District Court. Apart from exposing
weaknesses in open source licensing, the case highlights the need to
consider the intellectual property laws governing inputs into
software development. The thesis further explores future intellectual
property legislation that may forestall open collaboration. It is
argued that proponents of such development methods must engage in
policy discussions to limit the exclusionary authority of
intellectual property licensors, by ensuring broad user rights to
protected works.

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Can many agents answer questions better than one?
by Boris Galitsky
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_1/galitsky/

Abstract:

The paper addresses the issue of how online natural language question
answering, based on deep semantic analysis, may compete with
currently popular keyword search, open domain information retrieval
systems, covering a horizontal domain. We suggest the multiagent
question answering approach, where each domain is represented by an
agent which tries to answer questions taking into account its
specific knowledge. The meta-agent controls the cooperation between
question answering agents and chooses the most relevant answer(s). We
argue that multiagent question answering is optimal in terms of
access to business and financial knowledge, flexibility in query
phrasing, and efficiency and usability of advice. The knowledge and
advice encoded in the system are initially prepared by domain experts.

We analyze the commercial application of multiagent question
answering and the robustness of the meta-agent. The paper suggests
that a multiagent architecture is optimal when a real world question
answering domain combines a number of vertical ones to form a
horizontal domain.

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