Discuss Ch6Part4 here

Andy Oram: America Online is not in the news much these days; controversies over Paypal and eBay have supplanted it. But I can't think of a good way to use Paypal or eBay to illustrate the points you make with America Online. Paypal and eBay are not there just for chatting and information retrieval; they interact with the real world (i.e., the banking system). America Online is still a major service provider, so it still seems to be the best one to discuss. Still, Paypal and eBay do illustrate the creation of code by private corporations, and it might be worth saying something about their terms of service and disputes about them.

Paypal and eBay differ from AOL mainly in that AOL acts as the gateway through which people reach the internet, and they do not; in that way, AOL is in more of a position to directly control their behavior.  However, the points brought up in class about how control can be excercised by the government by putting the squeeze on payment systems rather than directly applies here; Paypal at least can (does it? I don't know) effectively enforce community standards on anyone who wants to use its services to get paid on the internet.  Paypal also allows a similar form of anonymity to AOL's; neither party in a transaction need reveal much about who he is in the real world (see the article linked on the front page by pete about kids using Paypal to receive payments for webcam pornography, for instance).  eBay differs in this since shipment details are necessary, though even these could be obscured by use of alternate mailing locations.  Perhaps analyzing this relationship would be a useful followup to the section on AOL.    -Avi

A discussion on popular communities that engage in exchange and conversation, such as MySpace (http://www.myspace.com) would offer a current example on the structures of codes and how spaces enable and disable individuals and groups.  It would be interesting to consider the structure of a site like this, and the differences/similarities it has to previous examples (like AOL) in its ability to control the behavior of its users (especially as MySpace has not only become the world's largest social network, but also through its blogging and file-sharing capability has redefined music industry marketing).  Further, a closer examination of this site, and the experiences/relationships of its users could also be utilized as an example of how cyberspace is changing under the influence of commerce and media (such as AOL's merging with Time-Warner in 2000, and the purchase of MySpace  by Fox News Corp. last year). -- JB