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Just last Friday, November 4, 2022, marked the fall of Z-Library, an online free ebook repository hailed as the internet’s largest “shadow library”. Shadow libraries are online databases of readily available content, generally free of charge, offering sources normally inaccessible to readers due to financial costs or membership requirements. Z-library once boasted a collection of over 11 million books and 84 million articles at its peak, and was loved by students, academics, and book-lovers alike.

Now, users who visit the site will be faced with a page that reads: “This domain has been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service in accordance with a court order.” So far, the US Department of Justice has refused to comment on the seizure of Z-library’s internet domains. Although the court order has yet to be publicized, many suspect that the seizure is due to the large amount of files uploaded onto the site and shared with authorization from the original authors.

Responses to the seizure has been largely divided. On the one hand, writers such as those in the Author’s Guild (America’s largest professional organizations for writers) have voiced their concern over websites like Z-library stealing their work without due compensation. Digital book piracy have dire consequences on the livelihoods of authors, disproportionate affecting independent or self-published authors.

Meanwhile, Z-library has played a critical role in making educational sources such as academic textbooks and peer-reviewed articles free of charge for struggling university students and those from developing countries. While the Author’s Guild’s website describes the mission of the Guild to “advocate for the rights of writers by supporting free speech, fair contracts, and copyright,” a question to ask is whether banning online ebook databases truly promote free speech? And if yes, what are the consequences?

While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights expressly states that everyone has a right to education, how is this to be interpreted in face of digital ebook databases? Especially one upon which the education (or at least intellectual recreation) of millions depend upon?

Sources:

Author’s Guild: https://authorsguild.org/

Tiktok blocks Z-library hastag: https://torrentfreak.com/tiktok-blocks-z-library-hashtag-pending-piracy-investigation-221031/

Z-library banned, students in a frenzy: https://www.thedailystar.net/daily-star-books/news/z-library-banned-students-frenzy-3162551

Z-library gets taken down: https://www.thefridaytimes.com/2022/11/04/bad-news-bookworms-popular-e-book-pirating-site-z-library-gets-taken-down/

September 13, 2022 marked the premiere of the web anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix. The anime series, produced by Studio Trigger, is based on the video game Cyberpunk 2077 developed by CD Projekt Red.

The synopsis of the show reads “a standalone episode story about a street kid trying to survive in a technology and body modification-obsessed city of the future”. Set in the Cyberpunk universe, the animated series serves as a prequel to the game. The series features an original script and a cast of characters unique to the show, although it continues to take place in Night City borrowed from the game.

Immediately upon its release, fans of the Cyberpunk merchandise have been eager to place the two works side by side to measure up how they stack up against each other. So far, the show Cyberpunk: Edgerunners boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes “average tomatometer”, and 96% in average audience score. Meanwhile despite Cyberpunk 2077’s global popularity, the game has been receiving mixed reviews ever since its release, boasting a rating of 7/10 on Steam.

In one gamer’s review: “Cyberpunk 2077 often tries too hard to be too many things at once”. Despite its promise of cyberpunk aesthetic, body modifications, and deep philosophical themes, the level of technological sophistication simply did not hold up. The level of specialization players could select for their avatars were extremely limited, and the presence of many bugs greatly affected the gaming experience.

But even then, as an open-world game where players are free to approach objectives freely, surely it offers more freedom and agency than a show about cyberpunks — right?

As Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan coins: “The medium is the message”. In the 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, the educator Neil Postman agrees with McLuhan that “form determines content”. Postman contended that a particular medium is only capable of sustaining ideas on a particular level of depth. As such, the corrosive nature of television on our intellectual lives lies in its inability to communicate rational arguments, as it is a medium based on images.

To consider, what sort of content does the medium of video games command? What about animated series?

Moreover, if we assume that people’s tastes are consistent, will they be consistent across different genres? For instance, are fanatics of the cyberpunk genre more likely to adore both the game and the show? Or are fans of video games or fans of anime more likely to adore either the game or the anime?

Sources:

Amusing Ourselves to Death Book Summary: https://kadavy.net/blog/posts/amusing-ourselves-to-death-book-summary-neil-postman/

Cyberpunk: Edgerunner wiki: https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Cyberpunk:_Edgerunners

Cyberpunk 2077 review: //culturedvultures.com/cyberpunk-2077-ps4-review/

The Medium is the Message: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/07/the-medium-is-the-message/