ICA Member Panayiota Tsatsou's latest book, Digital Divides in Europe: Culture, Politics and the Western-Southern Divide, was recently published by Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. The book examines the topic of digital divides, particularly the Western-Southern divide in Europe.  Looking at specific countries such as Greece, Portugal and the UK, Tsatsou investigates the role of socio-cultural and decision-making parameters in the Western-Southern divide. The study identifies the role of decision-making and socio-cultural parameters in the Western-Southern divide in Europe and concludes that this divide should be seen as a ladder of divides influenced by a complex set of socio-cultural and policy/regulatory factors.

ICA's The Handbook of Communication Ethics was named the top edited volume of the year by NCA's Communication Ethics Division. The book was edited by George Cheney (U of Texas, Austin), Steve May (U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), and Debashish Munshi (U of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand). NCA reviewers praised the book, noting the "massive undertaking" required to assemble such an impressive ensemble of chapters covering theory, practical implications, and important contemporary issues.

Peng Hwa Ang and Arul Chib of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore were awarded a 2-year grant of CA$1,381,700 by the International Development Research Centre of Canada for the Strengthening Information Society Research Capacity Alliance (SIRCA II) program. SIRCA II, administered by the Singapore Internet Research Center, involves mentor-based capacity-building activities for emerging researchers in the global south conducting research on social change involving some aspect of technology. A total of 15 grants will be awarded to applicants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. More details may be found at www.sirca2.sirca.org.sg. 

Professors Join Faculty of School of Communication Studies at Kent State
Oct. 31, 2011 -- The School of Communication Studies at Kent State University welcomes two new professors to its faculty: George Cheney, Ph.D. and Sally Planalp, Ph.D.

George Cheney, Ph.D.
Cheney received his bachelor's degree from Youngstown State University in 1980 and a master's degree and Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1982 and 1985, respectively.

Cheney enjoys the study of organizations, rhetoric and public discourse, identity and power in organizations and corporate responsibility, just to name a few. His dissertation concentrated on the U.S. Catholic Bishops' 1983 peace pastoral through the lens of an organization's identity transformation.

Cheney has authored or co-authored six books and more than 80 articles and chapters. Currently, he is working on three more books: Just a Job?  Communication, Ethics, and Professional Life (with Oxford University Press); The International Communication Association Handbook of Communication Ethics (with Erlbaum); and A Rhetoric for Peace (in early stages of development).

Cheney's award-winning 1999 book Values at Work (with Cornell University Press), chronicles the struggle of the Mondragon worker cooperatives in the Basque Country, Spain, to hold on to their values of democracy and equality while entering a global market.

Cheney currently holds the position as North American book review editor for Organization, which is an international journal. He was past Organizational Communication Division chair for the National Communication Association.

Cheney will teach Communication in a Global Society and Communication and Quality of Work Life.

Sally Planalp, Ph.D.
Planalp comes to Kent State from the University of Texas, Austin. Her research focuses include interpersonal communication, close relationships, emotion and health. She has authored a book titled Communicating Emotion, which examines emotional communication from an interdisciplinary perspective, and has written several articles and book chapters on the subject of emotion and communication. Planalp has previously taught courses in interpersonal communication, communication and emotion, interpersonal health communication and research methods.

Planalp has recently applied her background in communication research to health care professionals, focusing on communication at the end of life and the relationships between hospice volunteers and patients. She was also involved in a grant project with colleagues at the University of Utah regarding Web-based training and a communication toolkit for the nurses and pharmacists answering calls at Poison Centers, or Specialists in Poison Information. 

Planalp will teach Interpersonal Communication and Relational Communication courses next semester.

Both Cheney and Planalp live in Kent.

Responses Request on Subject of Fair Use: Your example needed to win teaching exemption for DMCA

From Patricia Aufderheide, American U

Law students at our law school's IP clinic, run by lawyer and Prof. Victoria Phillips (cc'd here), are undertaking the exciting challenge of winning a renewal of, and even expanding the current DMCA exemption for all university professors and for film/video students. Your information could change  and help their case.

As you might know, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 has criminal penalties for breaking encryption on any media, EVEN if you have the right under fair use to access that material otherwise. Teachers and students have many situations where they might want to access unlicensed copyrighted materials, employing their fair use rights. (Does your assignment permit critiquing media? Might a student who is preparing a paper for digital posting want to quote from an e-version of a book? Are you incorporating copyrighted material into a slideshow for a workshop or conference lecture? etc.)

Every three years, the Copyright Office asks for anyone who wants to get an exemption from the DMCA's draconian provisions to come forward and explain why they need it. Two rounds ago, film professors won an exemption for breaking encryption on DVDs (e.g., with Handbrake) because of the good work of our IP clinic, then co-led by Prof. Peter Jaszi, with Prof. Peter DeCherney. Last round, that exemption was expanded to ALL university professors and SOME students (film/media) on DVDs.

This time, it might be possible to expand that exemption to materials beyond DVDs (encrypted text, for instance; BluRay; images; audio files). And also to all students!

The Copyright Office has been extremely reasonable in accepting petitions that are backed by evidence.

We are looking for two kinds of evidence:

1) Are you able to use this exemption--to break encryption on DVDs to teach/research better--now? If so, how do you use it? (Renewal is not guaranteed; if it turns out nobody cares, well then maybe it's not necessary, the Office could reasonably argue).

2) Are there any situations in which you find yourself thwarted from teaching or researching because you can't legally break encryption on some piece of media, or now that you think of it you might like to expand your practice to be able to do something with encrypted media that you've "taken off the table" because you "knew" you couldn't get at it legally?

All we need is just a crumb of information from you, but it would make a HUGE difference to the case the students and Prof. Phillips can make to the Copyright Office. You can contact Prof. Phillips vfphillips@wcl.american.edu or Pat Aufderheide paufder@american.edu. You can even say, "Well, I'm not sure but it's OK for a student to check in with me."

If you want a slightly bigger briefing check out my recent blog post (which has links to earlier ones):

http://centerforsocialmedia.org/blog/fair-use/dmca-exemptions