Douglas Thomas is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 scholar, researcher

Researcher

A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...

, and journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

. He is currently Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

 where he studies technology, communication, and culture. He is author or editor of numerous books including Reading Nietzsche Rhetorically (Guilford, 1998), Cybercrime: Security and Surveillance in the Information Age (with Brian Loader

Brian Loader

Brian Loader is a British scholar, and Researcher. He is currently co-director of the Social Informatics Research Unit with his colleague Roger Burrows in the Department of Sociology at the University of York where he studies technology, communication, and politics. He is the founding Editor of...

, Routledge, 2000), Hacker Culture (University of Minnesota Press, 2002), and Technological Visions: The Hopes and Fears that Shape New Technologies (with Marita Sturken

Marita Sturken

Marita Sturken is a scholar, author, professor, and critic.Marita Sturken is Professor and Chair of the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, where she teaches courses on cultural studies, visual...

 and Sandra Ball-Rokeach). He has published numerous articles in academic journals and is the founding editor of Games & Culture: A Journal of Interactive Media.

In 1998 and 1999, he covered the case of Kevin Mitnick

Kevin Mitnick

Kevin David Mitnick is a computer security consultant, author, and hacker. In the late 20th century, he was convicted of various computer- and communications-related crimes. At the time of his arrest, he was the most-wanted computer criminal in the United States.-Personal life:Mitnick grew up in...

 for Wired News

Wired News

Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...

. On July 24th, 2002, he testified before Congress of the topic of Cyber Terrorism and Critical Infrastructure Protection.

His research has been funded by the Annenberg Center for Communication

Annenberg Center for Communication

The Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Southern California promotes interdisciplinary research in communications between the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Viterbi School of Engineering, and the separate USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, also funded by...

, The Richard Lounsbery Foundation

Richard Lounsbery Foundation

The Richard Lounsbery Foundation is a philanthropic organisation which "aims to enhance national strengths in science and technology" by supporting research projects, science education and key scientific policy issues through seed money or partial support...

, and the MacArthur Foundation

MacArthur Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...

 and has focused on the relationship between virtual worlds and civic engagement

Civic engagement

Civic engagement or civic participation has been defined as "Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern."-Forms:...

 and digital media and learning.

His recent article, co-authored with John Seely Brown

John Seely Brown

John Seely Brown is a researcher who specializes in organizational studies with a particular bent towards the organizational implications of computer-supported activities....

, "The Gamer Disposition" was named a Harvard Business Review Breakthrough Idea of 2008,

and also featured it on its Conversation Starter blog.