302 unit4 dmca

Volti, Unit 4, ch. 16-18:Shaping and Controlling Technology

• Technology and its Creators: Who’s in Charge of Whom?

• Organizations and Technological Change• Governing Technology

Technological Determinism• “There looms the possibility that technology is

out of control. …with technology advancing according to its own inner dynamic, unrestrained by social arrangements, culture, and thought.” (303)

• “The belief that technology acts as an independent force in our lives is known as ‘technological determinism’.” (303)

“Digital Shoplifting” in Japan• People who visit bookstores to

photograph magazine pages with their cellphones rather than make a purchase.

• “Given the enormous speed of business closures, we cannot overlook this information-lifting with cellphones” -- Kenji Takahashi, Japan Magazine Business Assoc

© 2004, BBC

Governing Technology• “Technology appears to be out-of-control,

as many technologies appear to be driven by their own momentum. But this is not really what is happening; seemingly out-of-control technologies move ahead because they suit the real interests of individuals and organizations.” (350)

Social Constructivism• “The emergence of particular technologies,

choices between competing technologies, and the way these technologies are actually used owe a great deal to socially grounded forces like power, gender, and organizational ambitions.” (304)

TECH 3020 Apr 10, 2023

DMCA

CSS

Policies: DMCA• “If an industry has a strong interest in a

particular technology, it may exert a great deal of influence so Congress and the relevant government agencies will lend support to that technology.” (311)

• Campaign contributions / Lobbyists• EFF: “Endangered Gizmos”

http://www.eff.org/endangered/

Digital

Copy

Governing Technology• “Efforts to forecast the precise

consequences of a new technology so that precise policies can be constructed to deal with them are doomed to failure.”(350)

302 unit4 dmca

Technology

particular technology

new technology

technology acts

governing technology

precise policies

dmca css

control technologies

competing technologies