Anderson. David. "An Early German Collapse Now Predicted By the British," New York Times 09 Jul 1944. ProQuest. 28 Nov 2008

    This historic article published in the New York Times is a report from British economists in London via wireless.  Experts in Britain predicted that Germany would collapse because of economic weakness in three to six months (the report from London was released July 8, 1944).  Germany’s economy was stretching itself and running at full capacity, but British economists pointed out that the pace at which Germany was functioning could not be maintained and would ultimately result in collapse if Germany were not defeated militarily first. In July of 1944, the attacks of the Allies were fierce and Germany was struggling to keep up with the demands of manpower and material resources.  Germany’s production efficiency was decreasing while its demands continued to increase.  Recruitment continually fell short and all resources (except coal) were scarce.  Overall, the British reported that Germany was completely worn down by the Allies and would soon collapse into surrender.
    By 1944 the situation for the Nazis was, indeed, dire.  The German economy was being stretched by the demands of war and could not keep up with the strength of the Allies.  At this time, though, films were still being produced.  Resources and manpower were lacking according to the British economists, yet Goebbels ordered for 200,000 troops to be used in the filming of Kolberg.  Kolberg was the costliest film of the era, and it was filmed during this critical time period for the Nazis (1942-1945).  This report by the British made it very clear that the Nazis should have been concentrating all of its resources and efforts to staying in the war, yet they were being diverted to the film industry.  Clearly, the Nazis did place an overly high value on film. (Thompson and Bordwell 274)

Thompson, Kristin, and David Bordwell. Film History An Introduction. 2nd. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003.

This is a blog entry, but it seems to be of high enough quality for use. Its thesis is that the Republican reading of hard times in Three Little Pigs, both the Depression of the 1930s and even today's housing crisis, is "undercut by various elements of subversion." Characterization helps to differentiate between the lazy pigs and the responsible pig, and these personas are echoed not only in the pigs' actions but the objects they use to decorate their houses. But the author argues that the lazy pigs are so likeable that the message is somewhat obscured, and hypothesizes that much of the Wolf's animosity and the pigs' fear may resemble the corporate structure and relationship between Walt Disney and animators. The primitive use of color contributes to the dream-like quality of Disney, a "surreal," sometimes uncanny vibe which contrasts sharply with how Warner Brothers cartoons, especially today, appear "secular, straightforward, unpretentious, urban, and ethnic.”

This resource would be helpful for showing the effective use of characterization. Its specificity in mentioning how characters are differentiated, through their actions, attitudes, and possessions as well as through color, would be useful. A new look at the short film’s allegorical power, namely, its relevance in today's US economy, is also interesting, as is its comparison of the dreaminess of Disney as compared to the reality of Warner Brothers animated shorts.

    This letter was written by the IIPA as a response to the request of public comments regarding the ACTA. The document offers empirical evidence, which demonstrates the importance of the copyright sector to the U.S. economy in terms of contributions to the GDP. The letter also includes evidence of the losses the copyright-dependent industries have incurred because of piracy. The IIPA supports the ACTA in its quest for establishing stricter international standards for enforcing copyright.
    The opinion of the IIPA provides an economic perspective to the issue of infringement of intellectual property rights. It is clear that the U.S. has incurred losses due to piracy and this fact further complicates my research question because these losses cannot be easily dismissed. They are the primary motivator for the U.S. to seek international agreements on this issue. In the end, the ultimate goal of the U.S. is to protect its own industries and economy. Even though the empirical evidence is only about the United States, it implies that one of the causes is the disjointed international system for dealing with piracy. The IIPA supports the ACTA and the establishment of another set of rules that countries must follow. It is most concerned about the positive effect copyright has had on the U.S. industries and the detrimental consequences of international piracy. The letter presents a narrow point of view by including only raw numbers by a handful of studies. It also talks only about copyright in the context of the U.S. and thus paints an incomplete picture of the global situation. After all, the U.S. is connected to other countries and piracy is an international phenomenon.

This article primarily focuses on the music industry and the influences of file sharing on the advancement of sales. This introspective look on one particular facet of file sharing also promotes further analysis of future complications that may result from the passing of the ACTA. Author Alejandro Zentner claims that music sales have fallen substantially over the past four years. To support this theory, the author uses modeling techniques with country-level data to determine particular facets of the industry that are most heavily influenced and effected. Zentner’s studies showed that countries with higher internet usage and broadband penetration suffered the highest drops in music sales, suggesting that illegal music downloading explains the reduction in sales. Within this model, the author further extrapolates that file sharing may explain the change in the composition of music sales over the past four years. The conclusion Zentner comes to states that "strong intellectual property rights create monopoly distortions, but weak property rights may lead to low creation of artistic work. The development of faster connections and methods of accessing information more efficiently will severely impact the sales of goods." As a result, intellectual property rights are compromised over the mass dissemination of music, and other goods, through illegal downloading.

This article provides a particularly nice vantage point from which to look at the effects of file sharing on the economy. Zentner’s analysis examines these effects in a quantitative manner and links reasons for the ACTA’s birth over the past few years. Though focusing more on the drop in music sales over the past few years, this article looks at the effects of file sharing on the shape of sales, a strong influence on my argument about the future of file sharing.

This research project provides a considerably strong and opinionated argument against the passing of the ACTA. Theorist Aaron Shaw argues that the ACTA will create harsh legal standards that infringe on the principles of a democratic government and civil liberties. Shaw further states that the USTR is just one of many organizations that is taking part in the formation of this agreement, a fact unknown to most file sharing users. The author further writes that service providers will be protected from the actions of their subscribers, throwing their own internet users under the train tracks of the law. If signed, this agreement would put money back in the hands of a few wealthy states and corporations while simultaneously crushing the rest of the world . This rejection of multilateralism will laud the usage of the DRM and other technology-blocking devices that prevent existing file sharing/transfer of information. Many large, multinational companies such as Microsoft and Time-Warner both agree that their software and liabilities would be better protected after the passing of this, but Shaw argues that they are overlooking the patents being passed on user-generated software, such as Myspace. This highlights many other points about the importance of user-generated interfaces such as Apple’s App store and the restrictions that would be placed on future products made by users.

This article provides a good third party view on the ACTA and the preliminary steps taken against its passing. Shaw’s outlook, though highly biased towards the liberalization of the media and its associated property rights, does provide a few good points about the potential consequences should this be approved. Though the passing of this bill could serve to help larger companies, the stress placed on consumers could serve as a double-edged sword for the larger service providers. The thesis within which my argument is framed specifically focuses on the transfer of information, so Shaw’s argument on the ethics of file sharing and the blockage of information seems to benefit my stance most. I highly recommend this source as a good introduction to the opposition against the ACTA.  Shaw also provides a clear argument against the passing of this and the future consequences that may result in both a theoretical and economical context.

Depalma, Anthony. "With Jobs Scarce, Many Turn to Graduate School." New York Times 3 July 1991. 7 Apr. 2008 .

     In this New York Times article, Anthony DePalma describes an economy in which jobs for newly graduated students are scarce and few in between. As a result, many college graduates are opting for graduate school. The students recently graduated are well aware of the scarcity in the labor market and know that finding a job after college would not be easy. Job recruiters are hiring almost half as many workers as they thought they would. Thus, graduate school applications are up by 20% in the largest 430 institutions that offer graduate programs. Graduate admissions directors know that during a poor economic period, it's common for graduate school applications to increase. However, they will only be able to accept 2% more applicants than in previous years. Another problem is that less financial aid will be available because of budget constraints and cuts due to the bad economy.
    In The Graduate, Benjamin Braddock graduated from a prestigious school in the Northeast with a stellar record that includes being editor of the school paper for two years and captain of the track team. Despite these achievements, he is without a job come graduation. His father recognizes this problem and urges him to apply to graduate school and become a doctor or lawyer. While the status of the economy is not mentioned in the movie, Mr. Braddock realizes that his son is wasting his talent by sitting beside the pool each day. On another note, by not getting a job Benjamin is refusing to conform to the social norms of his day. Although his father wants him to get a job or attend graduate school, Benjamin doesn't want to do either.

This book has a chapter dedicated to music industry in relation to the internet. Ian Dobie discusses MP3's and "other cyber music wars" as they serve to threaten the recording industry and contribute to complication of web studies. Also there is a discussion of the effects of technological advancement on the sound recording industry as a business.