The Escapist's Own Biz Dev Manager Published in a Law Journal

[Greg Tito]

The Escapist's Own Biz Dev Manager Published in a Law Journal

In a past life, Ms. Janelle Bonanno was an excellent lawyer in New York City before she was a gamer extraordinaire.

Well, to be honest, she was always a gamer. It is with great pleasure that I congratulate The Escapist's Business Development Manager Janelle Bonanno for publishing a white paper with New York Law School Institute for Information Law and Policy called "Facilitating Collaboration On Geospatial Data Using Social and Legal Norms." For lawyers, being published in a prestigious law journal like this is a pretty big deal.

Now you may think that a paper with a title like that is all dry and boring - and you might be half right - but Ms. Bonanno's white paper is actually pretty compelling stuff for people in our field. Gamers know that accurate maps are extremely important, and the "Geospatial" data that Janelle wants to encourage us to collect via social media would provide ways for people with no background in cartography to still provide meaningful data. The way the legality of maps is set up now, databases and wikis about our world is copyrightable - which is like saying the anatomy of the human body is protected by copyrights for the first person to discover it. Wiping away the rights of "map-makers" so this important global data can be accessible and improved upon by all will be instrumental in helping people in emergency situations, like the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

If you're interested, Janelle Bonanno [http://www.nyls.edu/user_files/1/3/4/30/58/1134/DatabaseLicensing_110207.pdf]!

Be sure to follow her on Twitter [http://twitter.com/#!/s0osleepie]. And if you're lucky, you can find her on StarCraft II and beat the pants off her pesky Roach rush.



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[CD-R]

Good for her. Still have no idea what your talking about though.

 

[Stevey M]

Wheee, congrats Janelle!

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Never really thought about the laws involving maps before now...


HMM...

Congrats, [user]s0osleepie[/user].

Yeah. I'm calling her by her username. Just because that's how I roll on these forums.

 

[Caliostro]

Wait... You can copyright maps? What the dick?

You know what? Fuck that. I'm gonna copyright air. And water.


Congrats sleepie!

 

[RA92]

Gamers know that accurate maps are extremely important, and the "Geospatial" data that Janelle wants to encourage us to collect via social media would provide ways for people with no background in cartography to still provide meaningful data.

I swear, she is preparing us for the zombie apocalypse where all the map makers are dead and we have to create our own maps to assist us in traversing the post apocalyptic scenario.

We solemnly stand behind your greater cause sOosleepie. Lead us forward.

 

[s0osleepie]

Gamers know that accurate maps are extremely important, and the "Geospatial" data that Janelle wants to encourage us to collect via social media would provide ways for people with no background in cartography to still provide meaningful data.

I swear, she is preparing us for the zombie apocalypse where all the map makers are dead and we have to create our own maps to assist us in traversing the post apocalyptic scenario.

We solemnly stand behind your greater cause s0osleepie. Lead us forward.

Your perception and foresight is astounding

 

[Kelly Helder]

Janelle Bonanno is a genius.

She also plays Zerg like a mofo. Beware the power that is s0osleepie!

 

[Therumancer]

Interesting.

I think I get the drift of the article she wrote, and I can see where she seems to be coming from, but I can't agree with it. A lot of people have put a lot of time and effort into creating accurate maps, and I think they are entitled to the ownership there. When it comes to the human body, that comes down to the people making the anatomy textbooks or whatever.

The idea of circumventing the system by using social media is interesting, but that winds up meaning that your at the mercy of every goober with a sense of humor to be accurate. It would be like the wikipedia of travel, reliable 90% of the time but 10% of the time totally off the wall. If I had to find my way into a place I'd never been before, I'd definatly prefer to trust a professionally created map, especially if it's periodically updated by satellite or whatever.

Truthfully though I do think it would make an amusing spin for a "killer rednecks" movie if they lured the cars full of stupid teens/college students onto the back roads by having messed with community mapping to ensure a steady pool of victims.

In a more serious sense though, the potential for trolling through misreporting or changing things is legendary.

 

[emiliobadillio]

Janelle has brains, beauty, and serious gaming skills. Who could ask for anything more?