Fair use versus fair return: copyright legislation and its consequences.

The purpose of this article is to examine the ramifications of legislative recognition of the concept of fair use in the Copyright Act of 1976. The fair use concept, while of small consequence in its normative origins, has turned out to be the foundation of the most perplexing and divisive issues in the new legislative guidelines governing copyright. Legislative recognition of the concept of fair use, coupled with enormous growth of a new technology--extending from xerography to on-line database systems--creates de facto exemptions to both the intent and content of new copyright guidelines. The issue is not one of limiting use or suppressing information, but of mechanisms for safeguarding the rights of copyright holders, be they authors or publishers, and insuring the free flow of information by providing a proper return on both intellectual creativity and capital expenditures. The authors argue that the elimination, or at least curtailment of fair use doctrine, coupled with an increase in technological approaches to reporting of secondary use of copyrighted material, will benefit all sections of the knowledge industry. Authors will receive proper royalties on use; publishers will be able to sell more books and journals at lower prices; and librarians will be liberated from extensive chores such as monitoring usage or determining fee schedules and transferences. The issue is one of fair return--an issue obscured and ultimately subverted by fair use.     

Global science: the eruption of Krakatau

The eruption of the volcano Krakatau in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) in 1883 had worldwide impact. This was perceived in the three quite different types of global propagation that occurred after the eruption: a rapid pressure wave, noticeable only to measuring instruments, followed a few hours later by the spread of the news of the event, succeeded by a slowly expanding optical phenomenon that lasted for a couple of years. Krakatau was the first natural catastrophe of global magnitude that was almost immediately recognized as such throughout the world, largely thanks to the recently installed worldwide telegraphic network.     

The unintended consequences of the pandemic on non-pandemic research activities

Research about the Covid-19 pandemic has taken center stage in shaping the work of many scholars, inter alia highlighting the importance of research in addressing the grand challenges humanity faces. However, the pandemic has also ushered in increased administrative, teaching and out of work commitments for many researchers, leading to concerns that academics will become less willing to invest time in obtaining resources to undertake non-Covid-related projects. Using a large-scale survey of business, economics and management researchers, coupled with their publication histories and additional institutional data, we examine how far individuals experienced the focus on the pandemic as ‘crowding out’ interest in, and undermining their confidence in applying for grants for work not focused on the pandemic. We found 40% of the sample agree that the pandemic has impaired their confidence in applying for non-pandemic-related grants and ‘crowded out’ other projects. Researchers with current and prior grants, particularly those with the most experience of holding grants, scholars whose work ‘impacted’ beyond academia, and early career researchers, disproportionately considered themselves to be most affected. We also found that researchers’ perceptions differed based on institutional characteristics. We discuss the implications of these findings for grant providers and national research agencies as well as for individual academic researchers and the institutions in which they work.     

Information determinism: The consequences of the faith in information

We identify and examine the assumption of information determinism that is commonplace in policy arenas: that mere access to the “right information” will precipitate desired actions. Our analysis focuses on implications of information determinism in three cases: California disaster response plans in the 1980s, an Indian development project in the 1990s, and an education project directed at the Global South in the 2000s. Our analyses shows that planning based on information deterministic assumptions tends to overlook the sociomaterial circumstances of information production and circulation, including how social structures and materiality shape information in practice. Further, they imbue what we call “information” with the agency to bring about change. While we do not deny that “information” can be useful, we argue that policy needs to move away from information deterministic thinking and its singular focus on information access to address the needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations.     

The bumpy road of technology partnerships: Understanding causes and consequences of partnership mal-functioning

Research on technological partnerships has traditionally sought explanation of their high failure rates in partner characteristics and relationship features. This study introduces the notion of a ‘bumpy road’ in technology partnerships which refers to undesired outcomes such as ‘partnership mal-functioning’ and ‘instability’ to the degree to which innovation activities are hampered. We explain how firm-level strategies can reduce the probability of a ‘bumpy road’ in partnerships. We also assess the impact of this ‘bumpy road’ on innovative performance. We find that firms that excel in diversification of external activities (in terms of different types of partners) perform best. Moreover, a persistent product oriented innovation strategy geared at developing new products, new markets, or higher product quality will yield more stable partnership outcomes. Our results confirm that engagement in partnerships is beneficial for innovative performance. However, firms that experienced a ‘bumpy road’ in their technological partnerships have to pay a price in terms of a negative effect on their innovative performance.     

Antecedents and consequences of social media fatigue

Prior literature suggests that social media users are increasingly experiencing social media fatigue. Only recently have scholars undertaken empirical studies to investigate its antecedents and outcomes to better understand the impact of fatigue on social media users. To further this understanding, the present study has conducted a cross-sectional survey with 1552 users. The Stress-Strain-Outcome (SSO) theoretical framework is applied to examine if privacy concerns, self-disclosure, parental mediation strategies, and decrement in academic performance due to social media use correlate with social media fatigue. Two forms of fatigue are considered, namely, fatigue due to social networking site (SNS) and mobile instant messaging (MIM) use. The study results suggest that privacy concerns, self-disclosure, parental encouragement and worry significantly and positively correlate with SNS and MIM fatigue. Parental permission and parental monitoring are either not or lowly associated with fatigue. In addition to this, SNS and MIM fatigue positively correlated with the tendency to experience academic decrement due to social media use. The antecedents and consequences of social media fatigue were similar for SNS and MIM users. Moreover, students perceived their parents to be more open to their MIM use, and they had higher self-disclosure in MIM than in SNS. The study concludes with significant implications for practitioners, policy makers as well as service designers.     

The thymus and its role

The thymus was first clearly described as long ago as 1522, by Berengario in his Isagoge, but its physiological significance has only very recently become apparent. It is now clear that this small organ plays a key role in organising the immunological defence mechanisms of the body. This article reviews current ideas in the action of the thymus, and the possible repercussions in medicine and our clearer understanding of its function.     

蜜蜂及其作用

本文从蜂产品、蜜蜂在农业中所起的作用及蜜蜂对保持生态平衡等方面阐述了蜜蜂对人类的重要作用。     

Implications and consequences of robots with biological brains

In this paper a look is taken at the relatively new area of culturing neural tissue and embodying it in a mobile robot platform—essentially giving a robot a biological brain. Present technology and practice is discussed. New trends and the potential effects of and in this area are also indicated. This has a potential major impact with regard to society and ethical issues and hence some initial observations are made. Some initial issues are also considered with regard to the potential consciousness of such a brain.     

员工反馈规避行为的形成与后果:基于应对理论的实证研究

反馈规避行为是指员工工作表现较差时,采用某些策略避免与主管进行反馈交换的行为。这种行为在组织中非常普遍,但学术界对其影响因素和影响效果的认识还不明朗。本研究基于应对理论,着重考察了"反馈规避行为是如何形成的?"、"反馈规避行为对工作绩效有何影响?"两个问题。基于192名销售人员和主管的配对样本,研究发现:在影响因素方面,核心自我评价对反馈规避行为有负向影响;主管辱虐管理对反馈规避行为有正向影响,且会调节核心自我评价对反馈规避行为的作用,即在低辱虐情境下,员工核心自我评价对反馈规避行为有显著负向影响,在高辱虐情境下,核心自我评价无显著作用。在影响效果方面,反馈规避行为不但会降低员工的角色内绩效,还会损害其角色外绩效。研究结果在一定程度上丰富和深化了现有研究,对组织管理实践也有启示意义。     

Growing through copying: The negative consequences of innovation on franchise network growth

We explore how more exactly copying a blueprint for establishing a franchise network in a new country influences franchising network growth. We test opposing hypotheses using panel data involving the transfer of franchising knowledge to 23 different countries, measuring the degree to which master licensees ‘copy exactly’ knowledge concerning how to grow a network in their country and the effect that their approach has on subsequent network growth. We conclude that a strategy of copying more exactly seems to enhance growth and that the benefits of more exactly replicating knowledge in the 1st year of a local network’s existence persist for several years. Thus, innovation, in this specific context, seems to hinder firm growth.     

The Star-product and its Algebraic Properties

Many problems in engineering and physics can be described by the input-output viewpoint as a 3 x 3 matrix of linearly bounded operators. This system is an extension of 2 x 2 scattering matrices involving reflection and transmission operators. The extension involving internal sources is necessary to deal with such problems as a stellar or planetary atmosphere, cascade-synthesis in network theory, and least-square estimate in control. In this paper, we have completed all algebraic properties of such systems under the so-called *-product.     

Women in interdisciplinary science: Exploring preferences and consequences

For at least a decade, U.S. funding agencies and university campuses have promoted the expansion of interdisciplinary research. At the same time, federal and local programs have sought to increase the participation of women and minorities in science, mathematics, and engineering. Research has focused on each of these trends independently, but very few studies have considered their interaction by asking how intellectual preferences for and professional consequences of interdisciplinary science might be influenced by gender, race, and/or ethnicity. Focused specifically on gender, this paper considers the expectation that women will be more drawn to interdisciplinary research, and explores the learning styles, work preferences, and career behaviors that might anticipate and/or explicate gender differences in interdisciplinary science. Principal mechanisms by which researchers engage in interdisciplinarity - cross-fertilization, team-collaboration, field-creation, and problem-orientation - are tested for evidence of gendering using preliminary empirical data from three studies. The results of this exploratory analysis offer clues about possible tendencies and raise questions about the potential costs and benefits for those who adopt them.     

Computer efficacy: Determinants,consequences, and malleability

This paper presents a model of the determinants and consequences of computer efficacy with particular attention devoted to the mediating processes through which users form efficacy judgements, including their analysis of task requirements, assessments of situational and personal resources/constraints, and attributional analysis of experience. Of particular interest to this paper are the attributional processes affecting computer efficacy. Recommendations for computer and attributional training are advanced.     

Adjusting to the digital: Societal outcomes and consequences

Innovation in digital technologies is central to contemporary debates about the need for policy and regulatory adjustment in response to the consequences of the centrality of these technologies in contemporary societies. Christopher Freeman's research in relation to changes in techno-economic paradigm and, specifically, in relation to the information and communication technology (ICT) paradigm, cautioned that assessments of these changes needed to go beyond market dynamics to examine social, cultural and political issues. In this paper several predominant themes in his work are foregrounded – the ambiguity of changes within the ICT paradigm; the role of guiding principles in influencing expectations about societal outcomes; and the importance of political factors in shaping the consequences of technological innovation. These three themes are then deployed in a discussion of recent innovations – two technical (5G mobile networks and artificial intelligence-as-a-service) and one institutional (proposals for changes in the international taxation regime in response to claims that the existing regime is inappropriate in the face of global online service provision). In each instance, the aim is to illustrate how following Freeman by giving attention to the themes operates as an important guide to analysis of adjustments to novel deployments of digital technology. The conclusion emphasizes the value of Freeman's contributions to shaping research agendas that acknowledge the need to humanize technology, to consider alternatives to taken-for-granted principles and practices, and to take into account the role of political power in tandem with concentrated economic power.