The Known Unknowns
What we know that we don’t know about openness and its potential harms
Pranesh Prakash
Principal Consultant
Anekaanta
CC-BY-SA 4.0
(copy, share, adapt: sharing is caring)
no proprietary software or standards were used in the making of this slide deck
Why talk of openness?
Your boss is talking about it.
Socially, economically, politically relevant.
Helpful to get ideas straight.
Aims
Clarify what openness means in different context.
Get you to think both about the value as well as the potential harms.
"Openness" / "Open X" / "Free X"
First Level
Software Standards Data Content
Second / Third Level
Open Access to Scholarly Literature, Open Government Data, Open Biodiversity Data, Open Educational Resources, Open Geo Data, Open Encyclopædia, Free Access to Law, Open Culture, Open Video, Open Environmental Data, Open Weather Data, Open Financial Data
(All this is tentative, and open to violent disagreement)
"Openness" / "Open X" / "Free X"
Movements
Activists
Researchers
Openness as default.
Often seeking to arrest the slide into non-openness becoming the predominant model.
Motivations
Each movement has a different sets of motivations.
People within movements don't necessarily agree on motivations.
Conditions of "Openness"
Free Software
No permission to use
Non-discrimination (usage for any purpose)
No permission to study and learn from the software
No permission to copy and redistribute
No permission to modify and distribute
Permissions + Discrimination
Conditions of "Openness"
Open Standards
Availability to study
No payment or little payment to study
No payment to use
Neutrality/Interoperability of technology as far as possible
Independent/Participatory/Collaborative/transparent process for creation
Malleable for localization
Non-commercial organization maintains
Availability + Payment + Permissions + Neutrality + Participatory + Malleability
Conditions of "Openness"
Open Data
Availability
No payment for study and use
No permission to reuse and redistribute
No purpose limitation
{Open standards}
Machine-readability
Availability + Payment + Permissions + Non-discrimination + Technical openness
Conditions of "Openness"
Open Content
Availability
No payment
No permission to access, use, modify, share
No purpose limitation
{Open standards}
Availability + Payment + Permissions + Non-discrimination + Technical openness
Conditions of "Openness"
Free/ Open Access to Law (FALM / The Hague GP)
Availability on Internet
No payment for law
No permission to republish
No payment for scholarship
Anonymous access
No technical barrier to download
Neutrality/Interoperability of citations
Discoverability
Open standards
Anonymity + Discoverability + Availability + Payment + Permissions + Technical openness + Neutrality
Conditions of "Openness"
Open Video
{Open Content}
{Open Format}
We added:
No payment for creation
No payment for access
Openness as lack of censorship
Openness as collaboration and participation
Openness as visibility / discoverability
Conditions of "Openness"
Wikipedia
Meanings of "Openness"
Availability
No payment
No permissions
Neutrality
No discrimination
No technical restrictions
No censorship
Anonymity
As we go further down, the more specific the conditions of "openness" get.
... But Openness Doesn't Cover
Other Layers of "Access"
(Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities)
Knowledge Differentials
(Language)
Power Differentials
(Ability to collect data, ability to use data)
Examples of Complications
Revenue models are complicated
(Privatization of government)
Examples of Complications
Redistribution of power is complicated
(Sometimes small fry are helped, sometimes they're harmed)
(Land surveys, non-remunerated labour)
Examples of Complications
Domains are complicated
(Biodiversity)
Examples of Complications
Human beings and their needs are complicated
(Transparency vs. Privacy)
(Transparency vs. Security)
Some Questions
Who "creates"/contributes to it?
Who uploads it, who distributes it, who downloads it?
What guidelines exist to aid those who do that?
Who actually has the means to use it?
Who actually uses it?
What uses are imagined and what is it used for?
Is "openness" conceived of as a binary?
Who all have been involved in thinking through these questions.
We should not only advocate for, but also interrogate "openness".
The Known Unknowns: What We Don’t Know About Mitigating the Harms of Openness
By Pranesh Prakash
The Known Unknowns: What We Don’t Know About Mitigating the Harms of Openness
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