Open and shut
Assistant professor of communication Tarleton Gillespie earned the 2009 Outstanding Book Award from the International Communication Association (ICA) for “Wired Shut: Copyright and the Shape of Digital Culture” (MIT Press, 2007).
“Gillespie convincingly shows that the current debate over digital rights has been largely one sided,” said the award subcommittee, “with the corporations that stand to profit gaining increasing control over the law and increasing sophistication in ‘wiring shut’ the technology by incorporating hard-wired schemes to limit copying.”
One nominator said: “Thanks to his exceptionally thorough research, his fluency with the traditions of legal, technological and media scholarship, and his lively prose style, Gillespie has created a model of digital-era communication analysis.”
Gillespie accepted the award, which includes a $500 prize, May 23 during ICA’s 59th Annual International Conference in Chicago.