First Monday March 2005

Dear Reader,

The March 2005 issue of First Monday (volume 10, number 3) is now available at
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_3/

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Table of Contents

Volume 10, Number 3 - March 7th 2005

New approaches to television archiving
by Jeff Ubois
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_3/ubois/

Abstract:

Worldwide, more than 30 million hours of unique television programming are
broadcast every year, yet only a tiny fraction of it is preserved for future
reference, and only a fraction of that preserved footage is publicly
accessible. Most television broadcasts are simply lost forever, though
television archivists have been working to preserve selected programs for
fifty years. Recent reductions in the cost of storage of digital video could
allow preservation of this portion of our culture for a small fraction of the
worldwide library budget, and improvements in the distribution of online video
could enable much greater collaboration between archival institutions.

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Free software and open source: The freedom debate and its consequences
by Mathias Klang
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_3/klang/

Abstract:

Recently the University of Goteborg held an online course in the theory and
philosophy of free software and open source. During this course a lively
discussion on terminology took place, in particular the concept of freedom was
discussed. Without arriving at particular conclusions the posts included views
in part on the lack of user awareness on what was property within the
computer, on the difference between free, gratis, and libre in different
languages and cultures and the need for both a common terminology and
infrastructure. This paper is not an attempt to resolve these issues but to
bring these questions to the attention of a wider audience in the hope that
the discussion will continue.

To most outsiders the ethics of software is not something usually considered.
To most proficient computer users with a passing interest in this question the
ethics of software is recognised as one of the fundamental questions in the
digital rights area. To most of the latter, terms such as free software, open
source, and their derivatives (FLOSS, FOSS, Software Freedom) are
interchangeable. Choosing one over the other is a matter of taste rather than
politics. However, to most insiders the question is not one of taste. There is
a fundamental difference between the two areas even if they share a similar
root. Free software is not the same as open source. The two groups differ in
their fundamental philosophical approach to software and its importance to
society as a whole. This paper examines the two groups' differing philosophies
and explores how their actions have affected software development, access to
fundamental software infrastructure, and the development of the concept of
freedom.

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Economics of scientific and biomedical journals: Where do scholars stand in
the debate of online journal pricing and site license ownership between
libraries and publishers?
by Haekyung Jeon-Slaughter, Andrew C. Herkovic, and Michael A. Keller
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_3/jeon/

Abstract:

The emergence of e-journals brought a great change in scholarly communication
and in the behavior of scholars. However, the importance of scholars' behavior
in the pricing of scientific journal has been largely ignored in the recent
debate between libraries and publishers over site license practices and
pricing schemes. Stanford's survey results indicate that sharply increasing
costs are the main reason for individual subscription cancellation, driving
users to rely on library or other institutional subscriptions. Libraries
continue to be a vital information provider in the electronic era and their
bargaining power in the market and the importance of roles in scholarly
communication will be increased by branding and a strong relationship with
users. Publishers' strategy for thriving in the electronic era is not to lose
personal subscribers. Cooperation among the three sectors - scholars,
libraries, and publishers - promises optimal results for each sector more than
ever.

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Re-approaching Nearness: Online communication and its place in Praxis
by Ulises A. Mejias
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_3/mejias/

Abstract:

An interesting transposition has happened. It used to be that the farther
things were, the more difficult it was to know them. Today, thanks to
communication technologies, we often develop relationships with what is far at
the expense of what is immediately around us. This paper explores the
increased irrelevancy that the near acquires through our use of online
technologies. But by proposing a model of praxis that incorporates our actions
online as well as offline, this paper also argues that online technologies can
play an important part in bringing the epistemologically far near to us, and
making the physically near relevant again.

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Al Qaeda and its affiliates: A global tribe waging segmental warfare?
by David Ronfeldt
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_3/ronfeldt/

Abstract:

Al Qaeda and its affiliates are operating much like a global tribe waging
segmental warfare. This paper describes the dynamics of classic tribes: what
drives them, how they organize, how they fight. Al Qaeda fits the tribal
paradigm quite well. Thus, continuing to view Al Qaeda mainly as a
cutting-edge, post-modern phenomenon of the information age misses a crucial
point: Al Qaeda and affiliates are using the information age to reiterate
ancient patterns of tribalism on a global scale. The war they are waging is
more about virulent tribalism than religion. The tribal paradigm should be
added to the network and other prevailing paradigms to help figure out the
best policies and strategies for countering these violent actors.

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The Iraq insurgency: Anatomy of a tribal rebellion
by William S. McCallister
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_3/mac/

Abstract:

The answers to what motivates and sustains the insurgency in Iraq are not
readily found in traditional insurgency literature. Much better answers can be
found by reexamining something deemed anachronistic in the information age:
the dynamics of traditionally networked tribes and clans. This paper provides
such a reexamination, and shows that tribal dynamics are particularly evident
among insurgents in Fallujah and other parts of the so-called Sunni triangle.

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