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- This seminar will consider some of the legal, political, and social
implications of new communications media such as the Internet. The focus
will be on the broad dynamics of these new media, as we examine trends
such as interactivity, personalization, globalization, and disintermediation
(the circumventing of middlemen -- in commerce, culture, and politics).
Our goal will be to investigate the legal significance of these trends
and their relationship to core democratic values including freedom, equality,
community, and responsibility, as well other important values such as truth,
market efficiency, and fair competition. Topics of special interest include
the role of public and private entities in regulating online activity;
the status of free speech, privacy, and community (particularly as they
relate to democracy); and the changing relationship of the individual to
various institutions, including the traditional press, large corporations,
and agencies of law making and law enforcement. Analysis of legal cases
and problems, as well as readings in media studies and political and legal
theory, will help us think about how life in a networked world may affect
and even alter the underpinnings of our political and legal culture.
Materials
Each week, a "current assignment" will be posted on this web site. It will typically include readings (some web-based, others from assigned books or materials available at the distribution center) and, except for the first week, a question about the readings in advance of the class session.
Four books have been ordered for this seminar and should be available for purchase at the Columbia bookstore. The Dyson title is optional and is intended mostly for those who are unfamiliar with the Internet. The others are required:
* Esther Dyson, Release 2.1: A Design for Living in the Digital Age (Broadway Books 1998) (paperback edition)
* Ithiel de Sola Pool, Technologies of Freedom (Harvard Univ. Press 1983)
* Langdon Winner, The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology (Univ. of Chicago Press 1986)
* David Shenk, Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut (1998) (revised paperback edition)
Additional readings will be available for purchase from the duplicating center. Most of the course materials, however, will be accessible through this web site. The site is based on an experimental interface developed at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society (that's why the URL above begins cyber.harvard.edu). Participants in the class should plan on making regular use of this resource and of the Internet generally. We will review some of the unique features of the site during our first class session. Most important is the dialogue feature, which allows class participants to respond online to questions from the instructor, as well as to answers posed by other students. (More on this below.)
A note about the online materials: Many people, I recognize, prefer not to read long documents online. If that's your preference, you can print from the web (if you have access to a high-speed printer) or we can see about making the online materials available through the duplicating center.
Requirements
No familiarity with the Internet is necessary, though true novices must be prepared to get their feet wet quickly.
The first course requirement is to complete the readings and participate in the online dialogue, which has two components: each week, I will post a question or questions for you to answer by a certain date (which will be indicated). Your answer will then be randomly emailed to another student in the class, who will be required to submit a response to that answer (as will you, to another student's answer). All of this ongoing dialogue will be posted on this site in the archive and in each student's profile. Responses are intended to be short and pointed—no screeds or research papers required.
In addition to participating in the online dialogue and the discussion in class, you are required to write a paper of 15-20 pages. The paper can emanate from one of the topics we discuss in the class or from some other legal issue related to new media. We will discuss this requirement in more depth during the fourth class session, on February 3. You must submit an abstract describing your paper topic by February 17. Your abstract will be distributed to another student for feedback, and you will be required to provide feedback on someone else's abstract.
I will announce my office hours during the first session of the class. You should also feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to set up a time to talk.