Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Many experts regard the lack of agreed measurements of communica-
tions technologies' environmental impact as the pressing question for the
industry (Martin 2011). Let's be part of solving that problem by retrain-
ing ourselves through a genuine interdisciplinarity. Some things could be
done quite quickly: for example, a focus on the asymmetrical relationships
between publishers, manufacturers and players, whereby EULAs and other
devices seek to appropriate users' creativity for corporations without an
equivalent openness about the industry's ecological impact. Cybertar-
ian evangelists for open information such as Google and Facebook are
immensely secretive when it comes to such matters (Greenpeace 2011a).
They should be held to account. And any Game Studies scholar can follow
the industry's complicity with confl ict minerals as exposed by the Interna-
tional Criminal Court, UN investigations, civil society organizations and
Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protec-
tion Act of 2010 (Drimmer and Phillips 2011; Sutherland 2011).
We do not have to accept the governing binary of adoration or rejection
that rules Game Studies. We can love or dislike games—even be agnostic—
and recognize their environmental costs. Working to ameliorate that eco-
logical impact is vital, so let's break down the binary code and confront
the real.
NOTES
1. You can see two remarkable documentaries about this: Blood Coltan (Pat-
rick Forestier, 2008; see http://topdocumentaryfi lms.com/blood-coltan) and
Blood in the Mobile (Frank Piasecki Poulsen, 2010; see http://bloodinthemo-
bile.org/categories/p/videos) in addition to a more recent video report on cell
phones and coltan ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/sep/02/
congo-blood-gold-mobile-phones-video). We do not provide access dates to
TV shows we watch. We consider this an invasion of academic freedom.
2. These issues are graphically illustrated in Panorama 's program on illegal
e-waste recycling in West Africa, where 77 per cent of British e-waste goes
( http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9481000/9481923.
stm) or 60 Minutes 's harrowing account from China ( http://www.cbsnews.
com/stories/2008/11/06/60minutes/main4579229.shtml) . We do not provide
access dates to T V shows we watch. We consider this an invasion of academic
freedom.
REFERENCES
American Academy of Pediatrics, Council on Communications and Media. (2009).
“Policy Statement—Media Violence.” Pediatrics 124 (5): 1495-1503.
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and
Innovation, Queensland University of Technology and Games Developers'
Association of Australia. (2011). Working in Australia's Digital Games Indus-
try: Consolidation Report . Brisbane: Australian Research Council Centre of
 
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