RE: Kids on downloading music

From: Eugene Matusov (ematusov@udel.edu)
Date: Wed Oct 01 2003 - 10:30:48 PDT


Dear David and everybody-

 

You are raising an interesting issue that we recently discussed with kids at
the Latin-American Community Center (as a way of hijacking homework and
turning it in something useful and interesting for kids but this is another
story). In our discussion, we came to a conclusion that the biggest issue
there is how to support musicians. The kids made comparisons of downloading
with borrowing books from library and with me donating my time of working
with them. I told them that actually I'm paid for that by my university
(ha-ha! yes, tell that my family. but for the sake of argument it worked).
The kids asked me why university can't pay musicians to support them?! I
think they sensed that culture making like academic scholarship should not
be a part of market economy. It should be supported on public (i.e., tax)
money via public institutes. Like academic freedom, there has to be artistic
freedom promoted by such public institutions.

 

Interesting idea.. What do you think?

 

Eugene

:-) WARNING: Downloading, reading, and thinking of this message without
paying me $1.00 per instance violates Copyright Laws C 2003 of United States
of Universal Capital (USUC). Be moral - pay, do not steal my intellectual
property!!!!! :-)

 

-----Original Message-----
From: David Preiss [mailto:david.preiss@yale.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 11:58 AM
To: ematusov@UDel.Edu; xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: Looking for good chatters

 

After reading the Eugene's law, I can't help but think on the recent
reaction of the music industry to the use adolescents make of internet to
share music. Maybe that law is even stronger when economic interests are at
play. Interestingly enough, this is a case where generational barriers
impose different cultural and economic practices. I wonder what is the
border. It seems that the age when new generations embark in their own
generational practices is not a fixed one and that technology is moving that
border earlier and earlier.

----- Original Message -----

From: Eugene Matusov <mailto:ematusov@udel.edu>

To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu

Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 11:50 AM

Subject: FW: Looking for good chatters

 

Dear everybody-

 

Mike and I have an interesting discussion that Mike suggested moving to
xmca. Please read from bottom up.

 

What do you think?

 

Eugene

 

-----------

 

How about putting our little discussion onto xmca? I believe that your
general law is almost certainly a valid one and we could start to work out
the reasons why. It connects to so many issues floating around xmca like the
enculturation/acculturation difference. I am facing a hard deadline on two
books which makes my contributions minimal, but that does not mean we
shouldn't have it! mike

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Eugene Matusov [mailto:ematusov@udel.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 9:38 AM
To: 'Mike Cole'
Cc: 'EDUC-258@UDel.Edu'; 'Steve Villanueva'; Lynda Tisa (74112@udel.edu)
Subject: RE: Looking for good chatters

 

I agree with you, Mike. We are trying to start up the closed Chat Room with
ASU 5th Dim sites and ALSO with our UD students. I can see already that Chat
Room is an excellent practice for promoting literacy in kids. It is so
meaningful for the kids!

 

Vygotsky like to talk about General Law. We can formulate one now:

 

The more activity meaningful for the kids and the more kids have ownership
for the activity, the more this activity looks dangerous for adults and the
more this activity will be banned by the adults.

 

I think this "General Law" is deeply true in our culture because adults try
either to exploit these meaningful kids-centered activities or they see it
as a powerful competitor for their own agendas that they want to impose on
kids. Thus the Law is deeply based on age segregation and lack of
collaboration between adults and kids.

 

What do you think?

 

Eugene

 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Mike Cole [mailto:mcole@weber.ucsd.edu]

> Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 2:28 PM

> To: ematusov@UDel.Edu

> Subject: RE: Looking for good chatters

>

> It is VERY important to describe the barriers to chats among the kids,

> Eugene. There is a dangerous, destructive, dybik loose in the United

> States. It urges on parents the need for children to be computer literate

> and internet savvy, but it prevents children, even when great lengths

> are taken for their safety, to engage in development-enhancing activities

> like digital story telling, joint website construction, and chatting.

>

> In some of our settings the kids are forbidden to take pictures of each

> other to put on the web! Even without name or location.

>

> We need to document this madness and fine some very public forum to point

> out what is going on.

>

> Sorry you cannot get time off. Get a great job offer somewhere else --
that

> usually makes local administrators more reasonable.

> mike



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