The Geopolitical Economy of the Global Internet Infrastructure

Winseck, Dwayne

doi:10.5325/jinfopoli.7.2017.0228

Cited by 70 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In 2016, the company built a massive undersea cable in partnership with Microsoft, connecting the US to Spain, in line with current trends of internet companies entering the cable industry (Winseck, 2017). Facebook also mobilizes discourses of openness and neutrality (typical of platform logics) in the Open Compute Project, which aims to apply open source principles, common in software development, to data center hardware (components, cables, racks, etc.…”

Section: Platforms As Media Infrastructuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital media infrastructures: pipes, platforms, and politics

Plantin

Punathambekar

2018

Media, Culture & Society

178

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Over the past decade, a growing body of scholarship in media studies and cognate disciplines has emphasized the social, material, cultural, and political dimensions of the infrastructures that undergird and sustain media and communication networks and cultures across the world. This infrastructural turn assumes greater significance in relation to digital media and in particular, the influence that digital platforms have come to wield. Having "disrupted" many sectors of social, political, and economic life, many of the most widely used digital platforms now seem to operate as infrastructures themselves. This special issue explores how an infrastructural perspective reframes the study of digital platforms and allows us to pose questions of scale, labor, industry logics, policy and regulation, state power, cultural practices, and citizenship in relation to the routine, everyday uses of digital platforms. In this opening article, we offer a critical overview of media infrastructure studies and situate the study of digital infrastructures and platforms within broader scholarly and public debates on the history and political economy of media infrastructures. We also draw on the study of media industries and production cultures to make the case for an inter-medial and intersectoral approach to understanding the entanglements of digital platforms and infrastructures. AbstractOver the past decade, a growing body of scholarship in media studies and other cognate disciplines has focused our attention on the social, material, cultural, and political dimensions of the infrastructures that undergird and sustain media and communication networks and cultures across the world. This infrastructural turn assumes greater significance in relation to digital media and in particular, the influence that digital platforms have come to wield. Having "disrupted" many sectors of social, political, and economic life, many of the most widely used digital platforms now seem to operate as infrastructures themselves. This special issue explores how an infrastructural perspective reframes the study of digital platforms and allows us to pose questions of scale, labor, industry logics, policy and regulation, state power, cultural practices, and citizenship in relation to the routine, everyday uses of digital platforms. In this opening article, we offer a critical overview of media infrastructure studies and situate the study of digital infrastructures and platforms within broader scholarly and public debates on the history and political economy of media infrastructures. We also draw on the study of media industries and production cultures to make the case for an inter-medial and inter-sectoral approach to understanding the entanglements of digital platforms and infrastructures.

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Section: Platforms As Media Infrastructuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital media infrastructures: pipes, platforms, and politics

Plantin

Punathambekar

2018

Media, Culture & Society

178

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“…The second dimension is the (im)material nature of digital technologies. As previously recognized, digital is often falsely equated with immaterial structures (Deibert, 2003; Winseck, 2017). Software, data and algorithms come to mind when thinking about the digital economy.…”

Section: Economic Regulations In a Digital Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Regulations for a Digital Economy: Between New and Old Challenges

et al. 2020

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Digital technologies are often described as posing unique challenges for public regulators worldwide. Their fast-pace and technical nature are viewed as being incompatible with the relatively slow and territorially bounded public regulatory processes. In this paper, we argue that not all digital technologies pose the same challenges for public regulators. We more precisely maintain that the digital technologies' label can be quite misleading as it actually represents a wide variety of technical artifacts. Based on two dimensions, the level of centralization and (im)material nature, we provide a typology of digital technologies that importantly highlights how different technical artifacts affect differently local, national, regional and global distributions of power. While some empower transnational businesses, others can notably reinforce states' power. By emphasizing this, our typology contributes to ongoing discussions about the global regulation of a digital economy and helps us identify the various challenges that it might present for public regulators globally. At the same time, it allows us to reinforce previous claims that these are importantly, not all new and that they often require us to solve traditional cooperation problems. Over the years, many have argued that digital technologies pose unique regulatory challenges for states (Fraundorfer, 2017; Herrera, 2002; Schwab, 2017). Their fundamental fastpace and transnational nature are broadly construed to be incompatible with the relatively slow and territorially bounded public regulatory processes. In addition, it is argued that the greater ability of private companies to conceal or move their activities in the digital realm means that

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“…The tendency of capitalism to seek the 'annihilation of space through time' (Harvey, 1989: 205) is a familiar one, and one in which communication technologies are often employed. For example, these tendencies can be traced back to the networking of the world with telegraph cables and continues today as fibre optic cables are stretched across oceans, which provide the infrastructure for the global Internet (see Winseck and Pike, 2007;Winseck, 2017). This infrastructure provides the material basis upon which forms of digital labour and massively decentralised collaborative production can occur.…”

Section: Communication Labour Digital Labour and Its Social Reprodumentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating the Digital Commons: Corporate Involvement in Free and Open Source Software

Birkinbine

2020

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The peer-reviewed book series edited by Christian Fuchs publishes books that critically study the role of the internet and digital and social media in society. Titles analyse how power structures, digital capitalism, ideology and social struggles shape and are shaped by digital and social media. They use and develop critical theory discussing the political relevance and implications of studied topics. The series is a theoretical forum for internet and social media research for books using methods and theories that challenge digital positivism; it also seeks to explore digital media This book represents the culmination of more than six years of studying and using free and open source software, which began during my doctoral studies in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. I was first introduced to open source software during the summer of 2011 when a colleague, Jeremy Swartz, took me on a guided tour of the Open Source Convention (OSCON) in Portland, Oregon. At the convention, I was offered three different jobs by companies who had exhibits there. I was told, 'we are looking for people like you'. I was incredibly surprised by this because I knew practically nothing about free and open source software at that time. I had heard of Linux, but that was about it. Nonetheless, all of the exhibitors-including Facebook, Google, the New York Times, and the United States Government-seemed keenly interested in attracting free and open source software programmers to their organisations. That experience piqued my interest in why companies were so interested in open source, and it became the focus of my studies. Along the way, I have had the privilege of discussing the subject with incredibly smart and patient people whohave helped me. I thank my dissertation committee for their patience, comments, and critiques throughout the process. Janet Wasko was an incredibly gracious and accommodating adviser throughout the process. Thanks for the support during my time at Oregon, the one-on-one meetings and, of course, all the fun. Bish Sen provided critical feedback throughout the process and always pushed me to think about the broader implications of my work. Gabriela Martinez was equally supportive, xii Incorporating the Digital Commons provided great feedback, and was always available for conversations. I thank both of them for the assistance throughout the process. Finally, I thank Eric Priest, who agreed to supervise an independent study on open source technology. My understanding is that Eric became one of the few law professors to serve on a dissertation committee at the University of Oregon. I also thank the members of my cohort-Toby Hopp, Erica Ciszek, Francesco Somaini, Brant Burkey, and Fatoumata Sow-who were sources of inspiration, support, and friendship throughout our time in the program. In addition, Tewodros

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The Geopolitical Economy of the Global Internet Infrastructure

Cited by 70 publications

References 15 publications

Digital media infrastructures: pipes, platforms, and politics

Digital media infrastructures: pipes, platforms, and politics

Global Regulations for a Digital Economy: Between New and Old Challenges

Incorporating the Digital Commons: Corporate Involvement in Free and Open Source Software

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