The videogame generation is in The House: President-Elect Barack Obama has appointed a pair of Net Neutrality advocates and MMOG fans to head his FCC transition team.
Wharton assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics Kevin Werbach and University of Michigan communications and internet law expert Susan Crawford will co-chair the transition team, providing information to the incoming Obama administration on U.S. internet and telecommunications policies, budgetary and personnel issues. The pair are described by GigaOM as "seasoned Net Neutrality advocates," and Werbach is also a World of Warcraft player.
Not just a casual player, either: Werbach is a member of two guilds. "One of them was started by my friend and inveterate tech connector, Joi Ito," he wrote in a 2006 blog entry. "The other guild is very different - it's composed primarily of academics and other thinkers who study and write about virtual worlds."
"What [Warcraft] does is provide an incentive for people to develop new software and ideas for collaborative production," the post continues. "Many of those ideas will translate to other group activities, including those within the business world. I think MMOGs will be, at a minimum, a significant testbed for these new technologies, because users see a direct benefit and are willing to experiment with new things."
Crawford has some legitimate gamer cred herself, writing on her blog that she is a "huge fan of Second Life," the online virtual world that's actually more akin to a social network than a straight-out game; she admits to having trouble maneuvering in the world ("If you see an avatar spinning and gesturing meaninglessly, that's me," she wrote) but expressed admiration for the way Second Life creator Linden Lab has elected to grant IP rights to individuals who create content in the game.
It's far too early to predict the impact this kind of gamer experience could have on the policies recommended by Werbach and Crawford, but the simple fact that they they have the experience to draw upon represents a significant change from previous administrations. Videogames are the "new normal," and while Obama himself may not have graduated past Pong, it's good to see that he's surrounding himself with people in relevant positions who have.
Malygris: Obama Appoints Gamers To FCC Post "What [Warcraft] does is provide an incentive for people to develop new software and ideas for collaborative production," the post continues. "Many of those ideas will translate to other group activities, including those within the business world. I think MMOGs will be, at a minimum, a significant testbed for these new technologies, because users see a direct benefit and are willing to experiment with new things." Permalink
What the hell, Blizzard just got done legally destroying that guy who was using bots in their game. I'm not defending his actions or anything, I just wouldn't call them a bastion of collaborative production and thinking.
Anyways, hope he's done with the Expansion pack by January 20th, he's gonna have his work cut out for him.
They sound like the type of people that should be in the position, educated and intelligent. I'm sorry folks, no matter what, M-Rated games shouldn't be sold to children. However, pressure on the ESRB as to what makes an M rating is damned silly, there is almost no way Halo should be M rated.
I don't really see what the fact of them playing games has to do with them getting this job. If they're great at it they should get the job, doesn't matter where they get their inspiration from. The fact they're gamers sounds great to us, but it'll probably spark a lot of controversy around the people who claim games destroy our society. But I digress, fact of the matter is: being a gamer isn't relevant to me in this case. However I'm glad they got the job.
EDIT: Or am I completely missing the point? Sorry I was being very naive and I have to be honest I don't really know what the job description is so maybe it is relevant, could someone elaborate?
I apologise for not thinking it through that much it just didn't occur to me.
Malygris: Obama Appoints Gamers To FCC Post "What [Warcraft] does is provide an incentive for people to develop new software and ideas for collaborative production," the post continues. "Many of those ideas will translate to other group activities, including those within the business world. I think MMOGs will be, at a minimum, a significant testbed for these new technologies, because users see a direct benefit and are willing to experiment with new things." Permalink
What the hell, Blizzard just got done legally destroying that guy who was using bots in their game. I'm not defending his actions or anything, I just wouldn't call them a bastion of collaborative production and thinking.
Anyways, hope he's done with the Expansion pack by January 20th, he's gonna have his work cut out for him.
Because the bots violated their TOS and infringed on other players' experiences in the game.
What Blizzard *has* done is nurtured its mod community from the very beginning (granted, they'd had experiences in this before, what with map editors in their previous games), giving them plenty of tools to customize their own experience. It's kind of like open source without actually being open source.
Because the bots violated their TOS and infringed on other players' experiences in the game.
What Blizzard *has* done is nurtured its mod community from the very beginning (granted, they'd had experiences in this before, what with map editors in their previous games), giving them plenty of tools to customize their own experience. It's kind of like open source without actually being open source.
I know, I flipped through the suit and I think the guy was in blatant violation. But in the long list of companies, games, and mods he could list off that don't wield their user mods with an iron fist Blizzard is a decidedly fanboy choice. I'm touched that he actually plays video games but the fact that he's already making goofy references is at least worth raising an eyebrow at.
Supporters of Net Neutrality in a position of government? This is certainly a good thing! No more talk of the interwebs being a series of tubes to be dominated by corporations!
Sennz0r: I don't really see what the fact of them playing games has to do with them getting this job. If they're great at it they should get the job, doesn't matter where they get their inspiration from. The fact they're gamers sounds great to us, but it'll probably spark a lot of controversy around the people who claim games destroy our society. But I digress, fact of the matter is: being a gamer isn't relevant to me in this case. However I'm glad they got the job.
EDIT: Or am I completely missing the point? Sorry I was being very naive and I have to be honest I don't really know what the job description is so maybe it is relevant, could someone elaborate?
I apologise for not thinking it through that much it just didn't occur to me.
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is in charge of regulating everything from media censorship to digital rights management. As most humorous news spoofs point out, in the past most people in the FCC have barely even understood how the internet works. So to get people who not only understand and frequent the internet, but support net neutrality, is awesome and will hopefully mean no more crap like when free internet radio stations were almost banned.
Sennz0r: I don't really see what the fact of them playing games has to do with them getting this job. If they're great at it they should get the job, doesn't matter where they get their inspiration from. The fact they're gamers sounds great to us, but it'll probably spark a lot of controversy around the people who claim games destroy our society. But I digress, fact of the matter is: being a gamer isn't relevant to me in this case. However I'm glad they got the job.
EDIT: Or am I completely missing the point? Sorry I was being very naive and I have to be honest I don't really know what the job description is so maybe it is relevant, could someone elaborate?
I apologise for not thinking it through that much it just didn't occur to me.
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is in charge of regulating everything from media censorship to digital rights management. As most humorous news spoofs point out, in the past most people in the FCC have barely even understood how the internet works. So to get people who not only understand and frequent the internet, but support net neutrality, is awesome and will hopefully mean no more crap like when free internet radio stations were almost banned.
Ahh see now I understand. Don't mind the stupid foreigner making these kind of remarks then :) Yes I will have to agree then that is a step forward and it's great to have some people who actually know what they're dealing with on the job.
Obama Appoints Gamers To FCC Post
The videogame generation is in The House: President-Elect Barack Obama has appointed a pair of Net Neutrality advocates and MMOG fans to head his FCC transition team.
Wharton assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics Kevin Werbach and University of Michigan communications and internet law expert Susan Crawford will co-chair the transition team, providing information to the incoming Obama administration on U.S. internet and telecommunications policies, budgetary and personnel issues. The pair are described by GigaOM as "seasoned Net Neutrality advocates," and Werbach is also a World of Warcraft player.
Not just a casual player, either: Werbach is a member of two guilds. "One of them was started by my friend and inveterate tech connector, Joi Ito," he wrote in a 2006 blog entry. "The other guild is very different - it's composed primarily of academics and other thinkers who study and write about virtual worlds."
"What [Warcraft] does is provide an incentive for people to develop new software and ideas for collaborative production," the post continues. "Many of those ideas will translate to other group activities, including those within the business world. I think MMOGs will be, at a minimum, a significant testbed for these new technologies, because users see a direct benefit and are willing to experiment with new things."
Crawford has some legitimate gamer cred herself, writing on her blog that she is a "huge fan of Second Life," the online virtual world that's actually more akin to a social network than a straight-out game; she admits to having trouble maneuvering in the world ("If you see an avatar spinning and gesturing meaninglessly, that's me," she wrote) but expressed admiration for the way Second Life creator Linden Lab has elected to grant IP rights to individuals who create content in the game.
It's far too early to predict the impact this kind of gamer experience could have on the policies recommended by Werbach and Crawford, but the simple fact that they they have the experience to draw upon represents a significant change from previous administrations. Videogames are the "new normal," and while Obama himself may not have graduated past Pong, it's good to see that he's surrounding himself with people in relevant positions who have.
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