Article ID: CBB001034652

Misuser Inventions and the Invention of the Misuser: Hackers, Crackers and Filesharers (2010)

unapi

The conflicts which have erupted over hacking, cracking and filesharing offer a stepping-stone for rethinking the involvement of users in innovation processes. As technical design processes invariably proceed in the shadow of established relations of social power, we can expect them to encompass conflicts over what constitutes the creative use of technology versus its misuse. The figure of the misuser calls attention to the importance of antagonistic relations in the mutual shaping of technology and society. Constructivist STS research has been criticised for neglecting the importance of antagonistic relations in favour of an emphasis on the limitless mutability of human/machine hybrids. The transformative effects of innovation processes on interests and subjectivities cannot be denied. But the induction of such transformations might be interpreted as a method through which struggles are conducted. This dynamic is particularly forthcoming in the case of filesharing, where users innovate precisely in order to overthrow the material practices upon which intellectual property law is founded. It is the intervention of law enforcement agencies in the process of drawing the line between users and misusers that makes the presence of an antagonistic relation manifest.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001034652/

Similar Citations

Book Ryan, Johnny; (2010)
A History of the Internet and the Digital Future (/isis/citation/CBB001033356/)

Book Jessa Lingel; (2021)
The Gentrification of the Internet: How to Reclaim Our Digital Freedom (/isis/citation/CBB153399179/)

Article Saarikoski, Petri; (2014)
Great Northern Machine Wars: Rivalry Between User Groups in Finland (/isis/citation/CBB001214451/)

Article Florman, Samuel C.; (Winter 2019)
Op-ed: Persistent Challenges in the Information Age (/isis/citation/CBB217596260/)

Book Brunton, Finn; (2013)
Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet (/isis/citation/CBB001211855/)

Article Sun Sun Lim; Roland Bouffanais; (December 2019)
Tuning Networks for Prosocial Behavior: From Senseless Swarms to Smart Mobs (/isis/citation/CBB555313954/)

Book Con Díaz Gerardo; (2019)
Software Rights: How Patent Law Transformed Software Development in America (/isis/citation/CBB992270814/)

Book Castells, Manuel; (2001)
Internet galaxy: Reflections on the internet, business and society (/isis/citation/CBB001180055/)

Book Aspray, William F.; Ceruzzi, Paul E.; (2008)
The Internet and American business (/isis/citation/CBB001180684/)

Article B. Fidler; (2017)
Eternal October and the End of Cyberspace (/isis/citation/CBB633984484/)

Book Kevin Driscoll; (2022)
The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media (/isis/citation/CBB172015710/)

Book David D. Clark; Sandra Braman; (2018)
Designing an Internet (/isis/citation/CBB601148284/)

Thesis Cornish, Sabryna L.; (2008)
The Framing of the Internet by the Traditional Mass Media: From 1988 to 1995 (/isis/citation/CBB001561429/)

Article Steinke, Jocelyn; (2004)
Science in Cyberspace: Science and Engineering. World Wide Web Sites for Girls (/isis/citation/CBB000550290/)

Article Bogdan Hoanca; (March 2020)
The Human Connection Drug: Should Addiction to Social Media Be Legislated Out? (/isis/citation/CBB256690650/)

Article Buente, Wayne; Robbin, Alice; (2008)
Trends in Internet Information Behavior, 2000--2004 (/isis/citation/CBB001031228/)

Article Gotkin, Kevin; (2014)
When Computers Were Amateur (/isis/citation/CBB001214450/)

Article Alexander, Cynthia J.; Adamson, Agar; Daborn, Graham; Houston, John; Tootoo, Victor; (2009)
Inuit Cyberspace: The Struggle for Access for Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (/isis/citation/CBB001032535/)

Authors & Contributors
Jessa Lingel
Con Diaz, Gerardo
Roland Bouffanais
Driscoll, Kevin
Bogdan Hoanca
Kimura, Tadamasa
Concepts
Internet
Technology and society
Computers and computing
Computer users
Users of technology
Communication technology
Time Periods
21st century
20th century, late
Places
United States
Americas
North America
Japan
Finland
Canada
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment