Knowledge
Politics News
Please find below news of our recent activities. To receive Knowledge Politics updates by email, please contact us on info [at] knowledgepolitics [dot] org [dot] uk. Knowledge Politics welcomes broadband review 22 February 2008 Knowledge Politics has today welcomed the government's announcement of a review of broadband infrastructure. The review will be overseen by the former Chief Executive of Cable and Wireless, Francesco Caio, and will be overseen by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Knowledge Politics Head of Policy Craig Berry said, "The review will help Britain to keep ahead of the curve in the global economy. But there remain wider issues the government is failing to address. Greater equity in internet access requires a much broader and more ambitious social policy programme, which we will continue to push for." Visit the Technology and Society portal More information about the review here  Knowledge Politics Quarterly 3 October 2007 Knowledge Politics has today launched a new interdisciplinary online journal, KPQ. The first issue features articles from leading academics including Robert Hassan, Fred Flagg and Alberto Massetti-Zannini. Introducing the journal, Editor Craig Berry said, "The time has come for academics and experts to look across disciplinary borders and provide a concerted focus on the politics of knowledge. For whatever reason, this is not done enough – and as a result we are failing to learn vital insights from other researchers. It is my hope that KPQ can play a small part in rectifying this." More information and submission guidance here View the latest issue The future of the information society is a local one 1 October 2007 Knowledge Politics today publishes its long awaited reported on localism and the information society. Contributors to the report include Edward Andersson of Involve, Helen Goulden of Communities and Local Government, Shaun Fensom of Manchester Digital and Professor Gordon Dabinett - with a focus section on proposals for 'city top-level domains'. The report argues there is a strong place for locality and local activity in the emerging information society. Download the report here View our press statement Knowledge Politics: Internet survey must spur further action 9 August 2007 Knowledge Politics has today welcomed the publication of the latest Oxford Internet Survey, a bi-annual study of net usage in Britain, but warned that it may reveal more questions and answers. "Recognising the extent of the digital divide is one thing – closing the gap is the real challenge," Craig Berry, Head of Policy at Knowledge Politics, said in his response. Read the survey results here View our press statement Visit the Internet Governance portal IP vital for development says Knowledge Politics pamphlet 7 August 2007 Knowledge Politics today launched the fourth and final pamphlet of its series on intellectual property rights in the digital age. The final pamphlet discusses how the global intellectual property regime impacts on - and is being challenged by - the developing world. Featured contributors are Vera Franz of the Open Society Institute, Dr Duncan Matthews of Queen Mary College and Tove Gerhardsen of Intellectual Property Watch. Download the pamphlet here Visit the Intellectual Property portal Read or blog post Knowledge Politics welcomes Google's announcement on user info 21 June 2007 Knowledge Politics today welcomed Google' decision to reduce the amount of time it retained information on its users, but sounded a note of caution about the future of user protection on the web. Craig Berry, Head of Policy said the move "does not remove concerns about Google’s relationship with internet advertisers, and its advance into the higher education sector," and called for greater attention to the issue from public authorities at national and international level. Read more comment on our blog Read our press statement here Knowledge Politics announces launch of new online journal 30 April 2007 Knowledge Politics today set out plans for a new online journal, which will publish new research in information society policy from across the globe. Head of Policy Craig Berry said, "we expect to provide a forum for postgraduate research students working on subjects related to the Knowledge Politics remit: media, internet, broadcasting, technological development, social implications - in terms of theory, policy or practice." The first edition of the journal - Knowledge Politics Quarterly - is set for publication in the Autumn. Submissions are invited. More information and submission guidance here Knowledge Politics - localism goes hand-in-hand with information society 28 April 2007 Knowledge Politics Head of Research Richard Berry today argued that localism was alive and well, and a vital component of a progressive information society. Berry discussed recent initiatives on wi-fi and digital inclusion by city councils in Sunderland and Norwich, as well as the .london campaign in the UK capital. Writing in the Knowledge Politics blog, he said: "What we are seeing are local solutions to national or global issues. This happens in many other policy areas, such as the environment, and there is no reason why it can't happen for the information society too." Read the posting here Visit our Technology and Society portal Jury still out on Audiovisual Media Services Directive 18 March 2007 A
new Knowledge Politics pamphlet has revealed that agreement is still to
be reached on the Audiovisual Media Services Directive between opposing
sides of the debate. The pamphlet includes contributions from
academics, politicians and industry representatives, featuring Mary
Honeyball MEP, Vicky Read of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, Richard
Collins, Michael Holoubek, Sonia Livingstone and Andrea Millwood
Hargrave. Honeyball dismisses the claims made by some earlier in the
debate that the Directive would impose the same rules on personal
websites containing video content as those imposed on major
broadcasters. Meanwhile, Read explains that although EU activity in the
area is justified, co- or self-regulation may be more suitable.
Read the
pamphlet hereVisit our Internet Governance portal Read our blog posting View our press statement Microsoft under the spotlight in new Knowledge Politics pamphlet on global IP rules 18 March 2007 The
power of multinational corporations in the global IP regime is one of
the key themes in a new pamphlet published today by Knowledge Politics.
Researchers William Shugart and Ben Richardson debate the role of
Microsoft in what has become a global game of information sharing,
knowledge transfer and rights protection. The pamphlet also features
Susan Sell discussing the future of TRIPs and Sam Howard-Spink
providing an in-depth focus on IP conflicts within the international
music industry. Addressing the complexity of the global IP regime, Head
of Policy Craig Berry writes in his introduction: "It is a fundamental
misconception of our time that the ‘digital age’ is monolithic.
Enhanced heterodoxy, incontrast, is now the norm."
Read the
pamphlet hereVisit our Intellectual Property portal MPs demand radicalism in UK intellectual property policy 15 March 2007 Writing in a new Knowledge Politics pamphlet, MPs Derek Wyatt and Pete Wishart have both called for the Government to implement a more radical approach to intellectual property than is suggested by the Gowers Review. While Wishart demands a greater term length for music copyright, Wyatt suggests instead that copyright and patent law must be brought together and overseen by a new Intellectual Property Centre similar to Ofcom. The pamphlet also features a conversation between Andrew Gowers and campaigner Becky Hogge. Speaking at the launch of the pamphlet, Knowledge Politics Head of Policy Craig Berry said, "there are competing interests here, but one thing we all agree on is that the answers must be bold and suited to the new digital environment." Read the pamphlet here Visit our Intellectual Property portal Jakubowicz calls for renewed public broadcasters for the digital age 17 February 2007 Karol Jakubowicz, former head of the Council of Europe's Mass Media steering committee, has today called for public service broadcasters to be permitted to develop their presence on new media platforms. Writing in a Knowledge Politics pamphlet, Jakubowicz argues that rather than being marginalised as 'niche' providers and confined to the traditional media, public service broadcasters should follow the 'full portfolio distinctiveness model' as we enter an information society. Writing in his foreword to the pamphlet, Andrew Gwynne MP said Dr. Jakubowic "offers an intriguing perspective, arguing that public service broadcasting must both retain its basic characteristics and change very significantly."
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the pamphlet View our press statement Read our blog posting Visit our PSB campaign page Knowledge Politics head asks for new look at ideology of information society 24 January 2007 Craig Berry, Head of Politics at Knowledge Politics, has argued that comprehensive explanations for the shape of contemporary globalisation can only be achieved by studying the ideologies of political actors. Speking at a conference of the Centre for International Politics at the University of Manchester, Berry referred to the political actors involved in the formation of information society policy at the EU level as a key example of where ideologies have informed the direction of public policy. He said analytical progress could be made by, "studying ideologies of political actors, to assess their agency on its own terms, rather than assuming its meaning." Visit our Information Society Theory thematic portal Knowledge Politics - this is a turning point for broadcasting 24 January 2007 Knowledge has today responded to recent major developments in the regulation of broadcasting in Britain. The announcements by Ofcom of a consultation on a new Public Service Publisher (PSP) - a commissioner of new media content focussed on meeting public purposes - and their assessment of the BBC iPlayer download service have been covered widely in the press. Responding to the news, Knowledge Politics Head of Policy Craig Berry said this could mark a turning point on our way to an information society. He argued that it could mark the moment when public service broadcasting was guaranteed a place in the future digital age, or the moment when restrictions on PSB started to be imposed more and more: "Whichever path we take, this week will surely be heralded as the beginning of the process." Visit our Public Service broadcasting campaign page Read our press statement here |
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