Distributing

Literature is distributed using many different business models and spreads digitally in ways that are subject to many different social and societal norms. In his lecture, Christopher M. Kelty will describe the work of pirate publishers. What are their ethics, what is their intention, and what are the practical problems that result in illegal publishing? Unlike books, smartphones are widespread in almost all regions of the world today. In South Africa, for example, almost everyone has access to a smartphone. FundZa Literacy Trust uses this opportunity to promote reading and writing with the help of electronic texts, especially among young people. In conversation, Mignon Hardie will discuss the background and goals of the project.

Pirate Publishing Models
Lecture by Prof. Christopher M. Kelty (Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles)

Apps & Alphabetization
Practice talk with Mignon Hardie (The FunDza Literacy Trust) and Christopher M. Kelty (Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles)

Moderation by Sven Asmussen (Law, Humboldt University Berlin)

Sven Asmussen, Law, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, is a researcher at Berlin’s Humboldt-Universität, where he is director of the Humboldt Law Clinic Internetrecht. He studied law in Rostock and Freiburg and is completing his doctorate on competition law.

Mignon Hardie, The FunDza Literacy Trust, South Africa, Managing Trustee, is managing director of FunDza Literacy Trust, a non-profit organization promoting the distribution of literature among young people using digital technologies. She has participated in founding and managing several small and mid-sized companies and is currently director of Cover2Cover, a social entrepreneurship venture that publishes teen literature.

Prof. Christopher M. Kelty, Anthropology and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, is associate professor at the Center for Society and Genetics and the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. The focus of his research is the cultural importance of information technologies, especially in the realm of scholarship, science, and technology. In his book Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software (Duke University Press, 2008) he deals with collaborative processes in the free software movement and relevant developments for literature, music, science, and education.