Comments on: How Can We Further the Spillover Effects of Digital Networks?

By: roock

roock — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:43:04 +0000

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By: Kevin D

Kevin D — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:17:10 +0000

Thanks for dropping by, Mark.

I didn't mean to say _I_ think VOA is paternalistic, just that it is often seen as such abroad, and a two-way medium might be more welcome by a wider spectrum (liberals <–> nationalists).

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:52:42 +0000

Glad to hear that you found our research to be helpful in inspiring additional optimism on the potential for new technologies to make a positive impact. I would actually argue that Ms. MacKinnon would agree, though in both the cases of Burma and China, it is a constant challenge.
While the spillover is something that we found to be an opportunity, there are still difficulties associated with it. I wouldn't discount VOA, nor say that they are paternalistic. Globally, radio is still a huge player, and is never going to be replaced by the internet. They certainly reinforce one another. VOA does not highlight ethnic voices as much as they would like to see, but do a great job of giving a connection to the outside world. Something that is encouraging if nothing else, in a place as closed off as Burma. Projects like VOA also have the benefit of being more difficult to shut down, for a variety of reasons.

But spillover is something that we think is a large opportunity and there are other countries where mobile providers have already understood the economic benefits of supporting more “blurred borders.” We'll see if that continues or if borders become more… strongly defined.

By: Kevin D

Kevin D — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:28:33 +0000

Hey Nelson – you might want to check out the paper I wrote on a similar topic last semester: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12599470/Freedom-Figh...

By: Nelson

Nelson — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:54:11 +0000

Thanks for this post! This is extremely relevant to some papers I'm trying to write for my Telecom Policy class and my Technology, Terrorism & Nat'l Security class…. I'm still figuring exactly what the topics are going to be, but I want to write about how we can get closer to the cyberutopian ideal in the real world of today. If communications networks aren't necessarily bringing greater freedom to people, like behind the great firewall of China, then maybe we're doing something wrong, or not doing enough.

By: links for 2009-02-20 « 6 to cut, 4 to sharpen

links for 2009-02-20 « 6 to cut, 4 to sharpen — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:04:09 +0000

[...] How Can We Further the Spillover Effects of Digital Networks? – Blurring Borders A good insight into a point from my presentation at Tufts (tags: networks border information) [...]