The easy availability of information on the Internet may lead to the commoditization of content. However, if content is free or low cost, it may be difficult for those who produce it (like journalists) to earn a living. Economists and other scholars examine this tension and suggest various solutions.
"The most valuable innovation at the heart of Facebook was probably not the social network so much as the creation of a tool that convinced hundreds of millions of people to hand over so much personal data for so little in return." — Tim Wu, Professor of Law, Columbia University
"Google should not be sued every time it decides to ding an app. We want retailers to exercise discretion. That's why they're valuable to us." — Eric Goldman, Professor of Law, Santa Clara University
"School districts basically have to tell their teachers not to do anything stupid online. That's the gist of it." — Eric Goldman, Professor of Law, Santa Clara University
"When journalists are rewarded for viewership, there’s a perverse motivation to play into people’s attraction to freak shows and horror." — danah boyd, Senior Researcher, Microsoft Research
This article examines the use and effectiveness of “flags” as a way the users of social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, can mark content as objectionable. An article by Kate Crawford, a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, and her colleague Tarleton Gillespie is referenced.
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Santa Clara internet law scholar Eric Goldman writes about California AB2408, proposed legislation intended to address social media platforms that are addictive to children.
August 5, 2022
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The Copyright Office has proposed that an extended collective license (ECL) be created to allow mass digitization of some copyrighted works. For several reasons, the Copyright Office plan is not workable.
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