Julian Dibbell

mail: 1309 E. 50th Street, Chicago, IL 60615, USA (permanent)

email: julian@juliandibbell.com

phone: 773-789-7406

web: www.juliandibbell.com

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Abstract

Julian Dibbell has, in the course of over a decade of writing, teaching, and public speaking, established himself as one of digital culture’s most thoughtful and accessible observers. He has published books, essays, and articles on virtual worlds, social media, online communities, hackers, bloggers, music pirates, computer viruses, encryption technologies, and the cultural, political, and philosophical questions that tie these and other digital-age phenomena together. He is a non-resident fellow of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society and a J.D. candidate at The University of Chicago Law School (class of 2014).

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EDUCATION

1986
B.A., summa cum laude, English, Yale University

PUBLICATIONS

Books

2010
Best Technology Writing 2010 (editor). New Haven: Yale University Press.

2006
Play Money: Or How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot. New York: Basic.

1999
My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World. New York: Henry Holt.

Articles

Hundreds of articles published in commercial periodicals since 1987, among which several, the following included, have been selected for anthologization:

2008b
“How to Handcraft an Achingly Self-Referential Virtual Commodity Fetish Object (For Fun and Profit!)” Instructables.com. Reprinted in Drunk on Capitalism: An Interdisciplinary Reflection on Market Economy, Art and Science (Springer Business+Media, 2012).

2008a
“Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, Sociopaths of the Virtual World.” Wired magazine. Reprinted in The Best of Technology Writing 2009 (Yale University Press, 2009).

2007
“The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer.” The New York Times Magazine. Reprinted in The Best of Technology Writing 2008 (University of Michigan Press, 2008).

2006
“Dragon Slayers or Tax Evaders?” Legal Affairs. Reprinted in The Best of Technology Writing 2007 (University of Michigan Press, 2007).

2001
“Pirate Utopia.” Feed. Reprinted in The Best American Science Writing 2002 (HarperCollins, 2002).

2000
“Portrait of the Blogger as a Young Man.” Feed. Reprinted in We’ve Got Blog: How Weblogs Are Changing Our Culture (Perseus, 2002).

1993
“A Rape in Cyberspace: Or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society.” The Village Voice. Reprinted in Reading Digital Culture (Blackwell, 2001), Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture (Duke, 1994) and ten other collections, as well as in Spanish, Japanese, Norwegian, and Ukranian translations.

Conference papers

2009
“The Chinese Game Room: Play, Productivity, and Computing at Their Limits,” presented at Productive Play workshop, University of California, Irvine, 2008. Published in Artifact, Volume 2, Issue 3 2008, pages 1 – 6. (First published on: 18 August 2009)

2006
“Owned! Intellectual Property in the Age of eBayers, Gold Farmers, and Other Enemies of the Virtual State,” presented at the State of Play conference on virtual worlds 2003. Published in The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (NYU Press, 2006).

2004
“The Work of Pop in the Age of Its Digital Reproducibility: Music, Meaning, and the Post-Napster Perplex,” presented at the Experience Music Project conference 2002. Published in This Is Pop: In Search of the Elusive at Experience Music Project (Harvard University Press, 2004).

Columns

2005-2006
“Site Specific.” Weekly website reviews. The Village Voice.

2000-2001
“Idee Fixe.” Bimonthly essays on technological obsession. Feed.

1993-1994
“Strange Loops.” Monthly essays on the cultural politics of digital technologies. The Village Voice.

Blogs

2004-Present
Co-founder, co-moderator, contributor — Terra Nova, collaborative web log on topics in virtual worlds research.

2003-2004
Sole author — Play Money: Diary of a Dubious Proposition, first-person chronicle of a year spent trying to earn a living selling virtual goods for real money.

EXPERIENCE

Writing

1986-Present
Freelance writer. The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, New York magazine, Business 2.0, Rolling Stone, Details, Spin, Le Monde (Paris), Folha de São Paulo (Brazil), and others.

2003-Present
Contributing editor (exclusive contract 2003-2004) — Wired magazine.

2006
Bargaining-unit freelance writer — The Village Voice.

1995-1997
Contributor (exclusive contract). Time magazine.

Teaching

2009
“The Hacker Ethic: Understanding Online Culture and its Social Effects.” Five-day statewide honors colloquium. Oklahoma Scholar-Leadership Enrichment Program, University of Oklahoma.

2003
“Law and Virtual Worlds.” One-semester course, co-taught with Prof. Lawrence Lessig. Stanford Law School.

2000
“Life in Cyberspace,” one-quarter course. University of Illinois, Chicago.

1999
“Life in Cyberspace.” Two-day freshman honors colloquium. Indiana University, South Bend.

Editing

1988-Present
Freelance editor and copyeditor. Newsweek, New York magazine, Voice Literary Supplement, Pantheon Books, Chicago Review Press Books, University of Chicago, and others.

1997-Present
Proofreader — Harper’s magazine.

1988-1996
Assistant editor, copy desk — The Village Voice.

1985-1986
Co-founder, co-editor — Nadine magazine, Yale University’s first pop-music quarterly.

Research fellowships and professorships

2010
George A. Miller Visiting Research Professorship — University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

2002-2003
Center for Internet and Society Visiting Fellowship — Stanford Law School.

1986-1987
ITT International Fellowship — Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional (Brazil).

Professional service

2003-Present
Academic peer reviewer. Harvard University Press, University of Michigan Press, International Conference on Facets of Virtual Environments, Computer Supported Collaborative Work Conference.

PRESENTATIONS

2009f
Panelist, “Old Media, New Media, and New New Media,” the State of Play conference, New York Law School, New York, New York.

2009e
Panel moderator, “Economies and Economics,” the State of Play conference, New York Law School, New York, New York.

2009d
“For the Lulz: How 9,000 Internet Jackasses Took On the Church of Scientology & Redefined the Politics of Play,” public lecture and keynote address, at the Games, Learning, and Society Conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

2009c
“For the Lulz: How 9,000 Internet Jackasses Took On the Church of Scientology & Redefined the Politics of Play,” presented at the American Studies Program, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

2009b
“Ludocapitalism,” guest lecture, graduate communications department seminar, Prof. Michael Cole, University of California, San Diego.

2009a
“Kittens, Kittens, and the Crisis of Online-Cultural Propriety: An Exercise in Memetic Literacy,” 2009 Steve Jones Internet Research Lecture, presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois.

2008g
“Ludocapitalism: Four Ways I’ve Made Real Money from Virtual Economies, and What They Mean,” keynote lecture, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication Annual Undergraduate Conference, New York University, New York, New York.

2008f
“Sympathy for the Griefer: MOOrape, Lulz Cubes, and Other Lessons From the First Two Decades of Online Sociopathy,” presented at the Games, Learning, and Society Conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

2008e
“The Chinese Rooms: Or What Is Ludocapitalism?” presented at Homo Ludens Ludens symposium, LABoral Centre for Arts and Creative Industries, Gijón, Spain.

2008d
“Play Money: Or How to Handcraft an Achingly Self-Referential Virtual Commodity Fetish Object (For Fun and Profit!),” presented at Art for Sale conference and festival, Vooruit Arts Center, Ghent, Belgium.

2008c
“Ludocapitalism: Or, Four Ways of Making Real Money from Virtual Economies, and What They Mean,” 2008 Harry J. Skornia Distinguished Lecture in Public Broadcasting, University of Illinois Communications Collaboration conference, University of Illinois, Chicago.

2008b
“Ludocapitalism: A Few Ways of Making Real Money From Virtual Economies, and What They Mean,” public lecture, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York.

2008a
“Field Notes From an Imaginary Jurisdiction,” guest lecture, law-school course on cyberlaw, Prof. Patricia Bellia, Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, Indiana.

2007d
“The State at Play: Field Notes From an Imaginary Jurisdiction,” keynote lecture, Technology Law Institute, Georgia Bar Association, Atlanta, Georgia.

2007c
“Play Money: Gold Farms, Polar-Bear Rugs, and the Theory and Practice of Contemporary Ludocapitalism,” presented (via Second Life) at Itau Lab conference, São Paulo, Brazil

2007b
“The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer,” presented at the Games, Learning, and Society Conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

2007a
“Play Money: Gold Farms, Polar Bear Rugs, and the World-Historical Relevance of Game Studies,” public lecture, University of California, San Diego.

2006j
“Play Money: Gold Farms, Polar-Bear Rugs, and the Theory and Practice of Contemporary Ludocapitalism,” public lecture, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.

2006i
Panelist, “How Did We Get Here?” and “Tax and Finance,” State of Play/Terra Nova symposium, New York Law School, New York, New York.

2006h
“Play Money: Gold Farms, Polar-Bear Rugs, and the Theory and Practice of Contemporary Ludocapitalism,” keynote presentation, Medi@terra: Gaming Realities conference, Athens, Greece.

2006g
“Play Money: Gold Farms, Polar-Bear Rugs, and the Theory and Practice of Contemporary Ludocapitalism,” public lecture, Said Business School, Oxford University, Oxford, England.

2006f
“Play Money: Gold Farms, Polar-Bear Rugs, and the Theory and Practice of Contemporary Ludocapitalism,” keynote presentation, Nordic Games conference, Malmo, Sweden.

2006e
“Play Money: Field Notes From a Make-Believe Economy,” public lecture, University of Idaho, Moscow.

2006d
PUSH conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

2006c
“Money for Nothing: In Search of the Vanishing Line Between Work and Play,” presented at the Game Developers’ Conference, San Jose, California.

2006b
“Play Money: Field Notes From a Make-Believe Economy,” public lecture, Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, California.

2006a
“Play Money: Field Notes From a Make-Believe Economy,” faculty seminar and public lecture, Center for Cultural Analysis, Rutgers University, Rutgers, New Jersey.

2005c
Keynote panel moderator, “Does Size Matter?”, the State of Play conference, New York Law School, New York, New York.

2005b
“Virtual Economies and Policy,” guest lecture, MBA business law course, Prof. Dan Hunter, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2005a
“Notes Toward a Ludocentric Theory of Late Capitalism,” public lecture, Bard College, Annendale, New York.

2004d
“Fantasy Texts, Material Effects,” guest lecture, undergraduate English course, Prof. Marcus Boon, York University, Toronto, Canada.

2004c
“Play Money and Its Discontents: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the End User License Agreement,” presented at Digital Culture symposium, FACT, Liverpool, England

2004b
“Ownz0red: Property and Policy in the Age of eBayers, Gold Farmers, and Other Enemies of the Virtual State,” presented at Community Work symposium, IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

2004a
“Virtual Economies,” presented to the Notre Dame Web Group, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.

2003e
“Virtual Worlds and the Social Contract,” guest lecture, undergraduate political science course, Prof. Jim McAdams, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana.

2003d
“Owned! Intellectual Property in the Age of eBayers, Gold Farmers, and Other Enemies of the Virtual State,” presented at the State of Play conference, New York Law School, New York, New York.

2003c
Panel moderator, “The State of the Art: Designing Games, Designing Values,” the State of Play conference, New York Law School, New York, New York.

2003b
“Black Snow: A Parable Concerning Virtual Worlds and the Nature of Property on the Internet,” presented at Harvard Law School’s Internet Law Program, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2003a
“Black Snow: A Parable Concerning Virtual Worlds and the Nature of Property on the Internet,” public lecture, Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, California.

2002
“The Work of Pop in the Age of Its Digital Reproducibility: Music, Meaning, and the Post-Napster Perplex,” presented at the Experience Music Project, Seattle, Washington.

2000
Panelist, “Human Subjects Research in Cyberspace,” Computers, Freedom & Privacy conference, Toronto, Canada.

1999c
Panelist, “Cybercommunity,” plenary meeting of the Penn National Commision on Society, Culture and Community, the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1999b
“Community and Cyberspace, Communities in Cyberspace,” public lecture in conjunction with 1999 Freshman Honors Colloquium, Indiana University, South Bend.

1999a
Panelist, “Covering Cyberspace,” Media in Transition conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1996
“My Dinner With Catherine McKinnon (And Other Hazards of Theorizing Virtual Rape),” presented at Virtue and Virtuality: Gender, Law & Cyberspace symposium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1994
Panelist, “Differentiating Action and Expression in a Virtual World,” Fundamental Rights on the Information Superhighway symposium, New York University School of Law, New York, New York.

Language Skills

Portuguese (excellent conversation and reading skills, very good writing)
Spanish (good reading and writing, passable conversation)