Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference 14-17th December 2016 Program Index

or habitudinal differences manifest themselves. In order to illustrate these points of contention and
opportunities for engagement, this paper will compare internationalization efforts at two large
comprehensive universities in Japan and China where the researcher has been affiliated as faculty and
administrator. Data include participant observation, interviews and focus groups as well as policy
documents. A triangulation of data shows a delicate balance between disputes over hegemony and efforts of
collaboration that mirrors institutional ambiguity in implementing the principle of internationalization.
2M
Complexity and change in digital piracy (Chair, Virginia Crisp)
Sean Fuller
Contemporary online media piracy: Content acquisition and media change
This paper considers the impact of internet piracy on television in terms of industrial standards, the interface
between television and governance, and even television content. Piracy in this sense is defined by
lawmakers and industry figures, but also by consumers of pirated content, the pro-piracy movement, and by
the communities formed around sites facilitating illegal file sharing. But it also takes very different forms in
relation to television today than it took in relation to the trade in video and DVD copying or even music
downloading in the past. I want to emphasise discourse on the ethics of piracy and who engages in it,
including its justification as a “victimless crime”, and consider the significance of its sheer prevalence. This
requires considering internet piracy as an important cultural phenomenon, tied to changing practices of
consumption, changes to televisual form more broadly, and to technological change, but marginal to the
profit models by which the television industry is traditionally sustained. Conceptually, I want to approach
these issues not just through the lens of internet and new media studies, but also by returning to Raymond
Williams’ discussion of television as a technological form that is always, and inseparably, also a social form.
Foregrounding the changes to television that mean it is now assembled with the internet in many ways, I
want to situate the relations between television and internet piracy through Williams, and in relation to
more contemporary literature on “media change”.
Yu Ji
Beyond User-versus-Creator Matrix: Complicating Online Piracy
New technologies have cast online piracy as a central component of contemporary debates about copyright.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and free downloading of copyrighted material have challenged established
copyright regime. Some scholars also point out that the emphasis on private ownership of intellectual
property may exacerbate existing economic and cultural inequalities, and threaten cultural development
(Macmillan 312). However, every year, creative industries allege billions of dollars loss caused by online
piracy. They have claimed that it harms the rights of copyright owners and influences future quality of
cultural products. Governments in a number of countries have responded to their appeals by announcing the
illegality of file-sharing and unauthorized downloading, such as the Digital Economy Act in the United
Kingdom in 2010 and the Stop Online Piracy and Protect Intellectual Property Acts in the United States in
2011-2012. The most aggressive response towards these debates is the campaigns of the Swedish Pirate
Party. Standing for the users’ digital rights, the founder of this party and his followers fiercely contest the
existing copyright law system in order to defend online piracy. Thus, online piracy has become a polarizing
term, which is hailed by some people and reviled by others. The debates about and activities around online
piracy have presented good case studies on how different stakeholders (copyright owners, intermediaries
and users) defend their roles and pursue their rights in new media, how policy is made intending to catch up
with the rapid pace of technical development. This thesis focuses on the political and cultural side of online
piracy—particularly approaching it from the perspectives of different stakeholders, namely copyright
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