Web 2.0.. 3.0.. 4.0...

I read somewhere that the notion Web 2.0 has reached far beyond the top of “Peak of Inflated Expectation” at the Gartner´s “Hype cycle curve” (which aims to illustrate the over-enthusiasm for technologies in society).



The notion is interesting in itself, since it aims to define websites with focus on interaction, participation and involvement of users, in opposite to Web 1.0 sites which would be providing one-way information toward passive consumers. As my colleague Kristoffer said on a lunch last week – it is ironic that one calls them 2.0, since Internet the key aspects of Internet have always been about interaction, participation and involvement. That some websites have not been able to fully utilize the interactive opportunities of the new media should not make it eligible to classify them as the standard 1.0.

Anyway, now we see a rapid upgrading process, and discussions about web 3.0 and even 4.0 (where 3.0 is more individualized content derived from web 2.0 platforms, and where 4.0 is up for debate whether it is constant online-sites, real 3D, convergence with biology etc).

Some examples of attempts for Web 3.0 sites would perhaps be the Swedish ventures Newsbrook.se (personalized news site) and totiki.se (an attempt to merge several other web 2.0 sites) although both still in their infancy, and the more diffused iGoogle. An interesting example of Web 4.0 could perhaps be irlconnect.com, which is a Silicon Valley startup aiming to create a visual social network connected to the GPS, Twitter and other technologies to directly link communication to geography. The question from many “oldfashioned” is Do we really wish to be connected always? The answer from the Generation Y is – We already are…

A bit interesting also with irlconnect.com is the (perhaps political) choice of launching the beta-site with only selected web browser compability.

The Swedish Pirate Bay Case in the District Court

Despite its length in pages, the judgment of the Stockholm district court in the landmark Pirate Bay case is strangely unfulfilling and lacking in substantial reasoning and concrete criteria for us lawyers to sink our teeth in.

The case always had three big points of interest. How will you treat the concept of accessory copyright infringement? How will you calculate an equitable account of profits? And how do you estimate actual damage to the rights owners in the digital media landscape? To these three points was added a fourth one of interest when the district court decided that the defendants all be considered joint perpetrators.

When it comes to the issue of accessory to infringements the district court finds that 

1) the Pirate Bay was an effective tool in sharing copyrighted material, 

2) the defendants were aware that a large percentage of the site's users were committing illicit sharing of copyrighted material and, 

3) that the defendants held such positions within the Pirate Bay that they should be held responsible.

But this does not lend any help to the development of guiding principles when it comes to distinguish one Internet service from another. Any CEO of an internet search engine or user-driven site can quite easily fulfill these criteria. What we need to know is what provided the crucial point to separate them. Such things as the abrasive language and belligerent behavior of the Pirate Bay are mentioned, as is the site's refusal to remove torrents despite being prompted to do so. Would a notice and take-down policy have changed the verdict? The judgement gives scant details on these matters and leaves us already looking to the court of appeals.

 

The pirate bay verdict

On Friday 17th of April at 11:00, the court verdict will be announced regarding the Pirate Bay trial. A press conference will be held by the Pirate Bay team online, at 13:00. This will be online, at the website Bambuser, to which a link will be posted on the frontpage of thePiratebay.org.

The message from Pirate Bay:

Regarding Friday

On friday we will get the verdict in the ongoing trial. It will not be the final decision, only the first before the losing party will appeal. It will have no real effect on anything besides setting the tone for the debate, so we hope we win of course.

Since a lot of people and press are really interested in the outcome of this part of the spectrial, we've decided to hold a small press conference on friday at 13.00 swedish time (GMT+1 / CET). It will be held on Bambuser, no-one is invited physically to participate, only digitally.

The URL for the Bambuser-stream will be posted on the front page of the site on friday some minutes before 13. If you're from the press or just interested in hearing our thoughts about the outcome, you are welcome to join the stream and chat.

Ilkka Tuomi in Gotenburg

The researcher and author Ilkka Tuomi has been invited to Gothenburg by the Open Innovation platform and the IT University. He will hold two presentations on the topic of Open Innovation, scheduled to the 23 and 24 of april.

Ilkka has among others written the well-received book Networks of Innovation. We look forward to his stay.

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Welcome to two exicting open innovation seminars!

The Applied IT department and the "Open Innovation - Open Information" Platform (OPIN) invites you to two seminars with Ilka Tuomi. Please forward the invitation to any interested colleague.

23 April "Theories and Models of Open Innovation"
The seminar will give an overview of open innovation models and theories.
Time: 13.15-15.00
Place: Von Neuman, Floor 3, Department of Applied IT, Forskningsgången 6, House Patricia, Lindholmen

24 April: "When innovation is hard: Does the open source development model work in hardware?"
With examples from a study about open sourced semiconductor designs, the seminar will address the question whether, and under what conditions, open distributed innovation works in hardware projects.
Time: 10.15-12.00
Place: Grace Hopper, Floor 3, Department of Applied IT, Forskningsgången 6, House Patricia, Lindholmen


Mr. Tuomi has been visiting scientist at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, Seville, Spain. He has developed research strategy for the Finnish Technology Agency and the Finland Berkeley Information Technology and Society Program, as well as beeing visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, where he conducted research on the new dynamics of innovation networks, working with Professor Manuel Castells. From 1987 to 2001 he worked at Nokia Research Center, Finland, most recently as Principal Scientist, Information Society and Knowledge Management. Since 2005 Mr. Tuomi is founder and chief scientist of Oy Meaning Processing Ltd. He is author of the books "Corporate Knowledge" and "Networks of Innovation", and has published substantially on knowledge management, open source, and open innovation.

Open Innovation presentation

On the 16th of April, the Open Innovation research team will hold a presentation at the Volvo IT Innovation Centre, Lindholmen, Gotenburg. It will be a short introduction to Open Innovation, tailored to AB Volvo, and also a presentation of the research project to the Volvo staff.