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MAC281 Essay Questions 2011-12 Answer ONE question from the following.

Your essay must be word processed and be 2000 words in length. The hand-in date is Week 13: Wednesday May 15 th at the Library Services, Prospect Building. A digital copy can also be submitted See Module Guide for advice on writing your essays. If you need help contact the lecturer responsible for the question you are attempting (contact details in module guide). Be sure to identify the appropriate essay question number you are attempting

1) Recent proponents of copyright term extensions have argued that lengthy protection incentivises artists to create, knowing the law supports them being reimbursed. Assess the ways in which copyright protection supports or fails to support the creativity process. 2) Our vision is music availability everywhere, at any time and in any place. But the biggest question is how do we monetise it in an environment of widespread piracy? (Eric Daugan, Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategy, Warner Music International, in IFPI Digital Music Report 2010). Considering a specific country as an example to what extent has the music industry lagged behind pirates in providing music everywhere? 3) Illegal file-sharing has been a key factor in the recording industrys 22% worldwide sales declines between 1999 and 2004 (Source: IFPI), and the halving in size of the British singles market over 1999-2004 (Source: BPI). To what extent is file-sharing a response to the failings of an industry predicated upon an outdated business model? 4) Politicians and music companies need to recognize that the nature of music consumption has changed, and consumers are demanding lower prices and easier access (Peter Bradwell, researcher at Demos, 1st Nov 2009). To what extent are music consumers forcing a rethink of copyright law and what it means to be a pirate? 5) When podcasting first emerged in 2004 it seemed to be a disruptive technology (Clayton M. Christensen & Joseph L. Bower, 1995). Evaluate the impact and legacy of podcasting upon the traditional radio business. 6) Social media tools have lowered the cost of doing things to the point where our desire to engage with one another is enough to get things to happen at a very large social scale rather than a smaller family and friends scale (Clay Shirky cited in Us Now, 2009, Banyak Films). Assess the democratic significance of social media with reference to at least two examples in which Internet technologies have been employed to organize large-scale activities quickly and/or effectively.

7) Focusing on the emergence of citizen journalism, assess the threat posed by participatory media to professional practice. Your argument should draw from recent examples. 8) Much of the industry and academic commentators see the need for "narrative" structures in order to understand games and make games "better." ... This is a debate that shows the very early stage we are still in, where the struggle of controlling and shaping the theoretical paradigms has just started (Aarseth, 2001). Assess the extent to which contemporary debates surrounding video games still seem stuck in this very early stage, obsessed with narratology and ludology as critical approaches. 9) In relation to video game design recent attention has been focussed on concepts like emergent narratives (Warren Spector, 2004), transmedial play (Stephen Dinehart, 2006) and interactive drama (David Cage, 2009). Assess the extent to which narrative matters in relation to contemporary video games? 10) [It] might actually be counterproductive to evaluate video games as a primarily visual art, but we must at least acknowledge that the image is a central component of so many games that we study and play (Barry Atkins, 2006). To what extent do you dis/agree with the above and would a consideration of the auditory experience assist in understanding the gaming experience? 11) The deck seems stacked against the use of popular music as a narrative element of video games, at least outside of non-interactive cutscenes (Gibbons, 2011). Given the myriad amount of ways in which music can be employed in games, assess the pros and cons of employing licensed popular music within video games. It would be useful if you could illustrate your argument with examples taken from games. 12) If, in the 1990s, virtual reality was truly the technology of miracles and dreams (Sherman & Judkin, 1992:126), has the technology fulfilled its potential? You should discuss your answer in relation to current uses and applications of VR in everyday life, focusing your answer on one of the following areas: gaming, social networking or commercial practice. 13) The interface has become a crucial site, a significantly ambiguous boundary between human and technology. (Scott Bukatman 1994). Given the necessity for the human-computer interface, does virtual reality make us liberated prisoners of technology? 14) We know as we go, from place to place (Ingold, 2000:229). How may this statement and Ingolds wider philosophy relating to place making practices, be applied to users of online or virtual places?

15) To what extent do you agree/disagree with the statement we are all photographers now? Discuss how the Internet and digital technology has impacted upon the role, meaning and aesthetic of the still photograph and critically evaluate these changes within our image culture. 16) Net neutrality means simply that all like Internet content must be treated alike and move at the same speed over the network (Lessig & McChesney, 2006). Assess the implications of a two-tiered communications network upon consumers and content creators, paying attention to the differences between fixed line broadband and mobile internet. 17) On the face of it open source software poses a threat to commercial organisations that survive by selling their intellectual property, yet Microsoft dominates the desktop operating system (OS) market and Apple dominate the portable OS market. Assess the success of open source software in relation to commercial competitors with reference to two specific examples (eg Linux, Android, Firefox, etc). 18) Students are free to create an essay question of their own, but they must agree this in consultation with the module leader (via email is fine) before 30th May 2012. The question should touch on issues related to the module content.

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