Monthly Archives: January 2013

Technology and Ownership

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/obama-autopen-signs-fiscal-cliff-bill_n_2405116.html

The president has used an autopen to sign legislation three times during his term.  This columnist writes that other presidents have used something similar to an autopen, with technology being the difference between Obama and his predecessor; however, it seems that only President Obama has received criticism.  As technology continues to progress, where will we draw the line between convenience and plagiarism?  Is the autopen a legitimate form of the president’s signature?  How does this apply to not only signatures, but entire pieces of work such as books and music, which are even more commonly available online as time passes?

Autopen Question

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/02/168477773/how-will-president-obama-sign-the-fiscal-cliff-bill

A person’s signature to a document represents that he or she has read and agreed to the terms of the document. If an autopen signs a document, the person does not necessarily have control of the document to which he or she is agreeing. If the terms of a document are changed without that person’s knowledge and consent, is that person still responsible for the terms provided on the document? If yes, is that fair? If no, does the autopen reduce the significance of a person’s signature?

Welcome, and a challenge

Dear Readers,

Welcome to our course blog for VaST 231!  We will use this space for sharing research, discussing course activities, thinking “out loud,” and publishing polished writing.

To get things started, I’m offering an opportunity to not buy a book.  I have an extra copy of Ted Striphas’s The Late Age of Print, one of our required course texts, and it could be yours.  Here’s how:

Create a post on this blog in which you 1.) include a link to a news article about the president’s Autopen and 2.) give a discussion question based on your reading of the article.

The author of the post with the most comments from classmates responding to the question will receive the book on the first day of class.

Watch for a course syllabus on our Moodle site next week, and in the meantime, enjoy your January, and I look forward to meeting everyone in a couple of weeks.