The Network Society - University of Massachusetts Amherst

xiv The Network Society
University and the Consumers Association. He has also become a visiting
professor at LSE and UCL, and a senior fellow at the Australia
New Zealand School of Government. Between 1997 and 2004 he had
a number of roles in government: he established and directed the government’s
Strategy Unit and served as head of policy in the Prime
Minister’s office. Before that he was founder and director of Demos,
described by the Economist as the UK’s most influential think-tank;
chief adviser to Gordon Brown MP; a consultant and lecturer in
telecommunications; and an investment executive. He began his
career in local government in London.
Marcelo Branco is an advisor to the Presidency of the Brazilian
Republic for the Information Society. He is also the coordinator of
the “Projeto Software Livre Brasil” (www.softwarelivre.org). In his
academic work he has collaborated with the University of Cadiz
(Spain), he is honorary professor at the Instituto Superior Tecnológico
CEVATEC in Lima (Perú) and a member of the scientific council of
the International Master in Free Software of the Universitat Oberta
de Catalunya (UOC, Open University of Catalonia, Spain).
Jonathan Taplin is Adjunct Professor at USC Annenberg School of
Communication. His Areas of specialization are in International
Communication Management and the field of digital media entertainment.
Taplin began his entertainment career in 1969 as Tour Manager
for Bob Dylan and The Band. In 1973 he produced Martin Scorsese’s
first feature film, Mean Streets which was selected for the Cannes
Film Festival. In 1984 Taplin acted as the investment advisor to the
Bass Brothers in their successful attempt to save Walt Disney Studios
from a corporate raid. This experience brought him to Merrill Lynch,
where he served as vice president of media mergers and acquisitions.
Taplin was a founder of Intertainer and has served as its Chairman and
CEO since June 1996. Intertainer was the pioneer video-on-demand
company for both cable and broadband Internet markets.
Imma Tubella is Professor of Communication Theory and Vice-rector
for Research at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC),
Barcelona. Her research interests concern the relationship between
media and identity. She is a member of the Board of the Catalan
Broadcasting Corporation. Among other publications, she is a coauthor
of La Societat Xarxa a Catalunya (2003).