Class 7: The “open standard” debate(s)
Rather than any required readings for this class, I’d like you to listen to a recording of a talk titled “Opening Innovation through Opening Standards” by Yale Information Society Project Executive Director, Laura DeNardis. The 30 minute talk was the keynote address at the Paris Interoperability Workshop (June 24, 2009). She discusses the linkage between open standards and innovation policy and presents two examples — in the areas of synthetic biology and Internet video — in which she argues that greater openness in interoperability standards is necessary to promote innovation. I strongly recommend that you download the talk from its official site, but if the 22MB file causes any problem, I’ve created and temporarily uploaded a 7MB version — but the smaller version has some irritating sound quality problems.
I additionally recommend two articles, but you can consider these optional. The Denardis article expands on some of the points made in her talk; focus particularly on her definition of “maximal openness” and associated policy justifications for this approach. The Tsilas article, while written earlier, offers some counterpoints; focus on his arguments under the section heading “Not Just Tradition for Tradition’s Sake – RAND Policies Foster Innovation” and on his concluding recommendations. Both articles are short (17 and 12 pages, respectively) and worth at least a quick review.
- Laura DeNardis, Open Standards and Global Politics, 2009 Int’l J. Comm. L. & Pol’y 168 (.pdf here)
- Nicos L. Tsilas, The Threat to Innovation, Interoperability, and Government Procurement Options From Recently Proposed Definitions of “Open Standards,” 10 Int’l J. Comm. L. & Pol’y 8 (2005) (.pdf here)
Slides:
Here in .ppt (2.5MB) and here in .pdf (1.5MB)
[I later also posted a summary of the material I reviewed in preparation for this class]
