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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks Barry.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is fascinating thinking. I'm
examining ways independent musos can promote their music via the media
ecology - particularly MySpace and other such ventures - and a journalist by
training. As you point out, there are many avenues for promotion to occur
but, especially once the unwelcome messages start to dominate (spam in its many
and varied forms), the gates close and this becomes less effective. I'm
examining this phenomenon first-hand this month - trying to promote my survey's
URL to independent musos :-).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What I'm wondering about, though, which your paper
doesn't get into, is the relationship between first-party and third-party
gatekeeping. In other words, the ways in which people "out-source" their
gatekeeping functions to eg spam blockers, radio show hosts, and so on. I'm
particularly interested right now because I'm reading "The future of music" by
Kusek and Leonhard (<A
href="http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/">http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/</A>),
which futurises the "music like water" thesis, in which people allow
personalised technological agents to perform the gatekeeping role and provide
them with ubiqitous, gratifying, music.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Now, to my way of thinking, that's a techno-utopian
prospect with which there are many difficulties, and your paper has raised a lot
more issues in my head. Not least of these runs parallel to the
"Daily me" thesis developed in Cass Sunstein's Republic.com (<A
href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7014.html">http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7014.html</A>),
which has an e-democratic, public sphere take on the same kind of automated
"filtering", to use Chris Anderson's <A
href="http://www.thelongtail.com/">(http://www.thelongtail.com/</A>) term for
the same thing. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>How can this be reconciled? Is the cost of
gatekeeping/filtering the price of increased freedom to choose? Must it be
borne by the individual (antivirus software) or can it be shared among the
community (anti-spam prosecutions)? Can it be outsourced and is there a
profit to be made in building filters? At what level(s) are the filters most
effective? Are some of these filters (eg compliance with the "safe harbour"
provisions of the DMCA) unwanted but unavoidable as far as the individual
goes? Is this really any different in essence from the current regime of
journos-as-gatekeepers?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And most importantly, will the need for filters (or
involuntary enforcement of them) mean that the result of increased choice
becomes, perversely, a new self-declared limitation on diversity? Or range
of limitations?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>WDYR??? Anyone??</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Cheers,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hughie</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=bblesser@alum.mit.edu href="mailto:bblesser@alum.mit.edu">Barry
Blesser</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=idc@bbs.thing.net
href="mailto:idc@bbs.thing.net">Institute for Distributed Creativity</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, December 18, 2006 2:07
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [iDC] Article on
Gatekeepers</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=218260204-18122006>I write a column
for one of the radio broadcast industry's magazines, Radio World Extra, but in
reading the idc postings, I realized that the basic principles of that
article apply far more broadly that the specific case that I discussed. I
am taking the liberty of distributing that article to see if it produces any
resonance. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=218260204-18122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=218260204-18122006>The basic theme is
simple. The same electronic Internet technology that allows for efficient
distribution of information (now in surplus) produce a gatekeeper that each
individual erects to control the message density (head space scarcity).
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=218260204-18122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=218260204-18122006>Regards,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=218260204-18122006>Barry</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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