The DPLA empowers people to learn, grow, and contribute to a diverse and better-functioning society by maximizing public access to our shared history, culture, and knowledge.
We offer computer-mediated seminars through our interactive Berkman Online Lecture and Discussion (BOLD) series. Topics have included intellectual property and privacy on the…
The Born This Way Foundation has partnered with the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and The Berkman Center at Harvard to explore the best…
The Berkman Center's Circumvention project is engaged in designing and conducting research aimed at gaining a broad understanding of the usage of circumvention tools.
Led by Executive Director and Harvard Law School Professor of Practice, Urs Gasser, the Berkman Center's cloud computing initiative seeks to identify and evaluate the challenges…
The Berkman Center partnered with eIFL to deliver a distance learning program on copyright for librarians. The resulting curriculum, made available on March 24, 2010, can be used…
The DDoS research project seeks to understand the ways in which DDoS attacks are becoming a popular technique for limiting access to independent media and human rights sites…
The goal of the Digital Media Project is not to advance a simple agenda but instead to help educate stakeholders – government officials, the media, artists, businesspeople, and…
With the generous support of the Revson Foundation, the E-Publishing Models Project is focused on exploring current issues associated with digital publishing business models and…
This project aims to achieve a better understanding of interoperability—that is, the ability of entities such as software, devices, or components to exchange information—in the…
In partnership with the Center for Democracy and Technology and Business for Social Responsibility, in addition to leading human rights groups, academic institutions, socially…
With funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the Berkman Center is undertaking a two-year research project to investigate the role of the Internet in Russian society.
The Internet and Democracy Project is an initiative that will examine how the Internet influences democratic norms and modes, including its impact on civil society, citizen media,…
Taught by world-renowned experts in the field, the Berkman Klein Center’s Internet Law Program addresses the most pressing cyberlaw issues being debated by lawmakers in the U.S…
In early June 2012, Urs Gasser and John Palfrey released Interoperability: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems. The book is inspired by their 2005 study and…
Noank's mission is to license and distribute digital content globally while fairly compensating content owners, using the most efficient, sustainable, and effective business and…
We formed the Open ePolicy Group in February 2005 with members from every region of the world to share insights from governments, companies and organizations at the forefront of…
A collaborative project between the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and…
The Surveillance project is drawing a map of the different forms and impacts of surveillance online. Funded by the MacArthur Foundation and run in collaboration with our partner…
The Kinder & Braver World Project: Research Series (danah boyd and John Palfrey, editors), is presented by the Born This Way Foundation & the Berkman Center for Internet and…
Leveraging its national and global networks, the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is forming a first-of-its-kind thematic network of experts,…
The first generation of children who were born into and raised in the digital world are coming of age and reshaping the world in their image. Our economy, our politics, our…
The Berkman Center is pleased to announce the publication of a new paper, "Interoperability in the Digital Ecosystem." The paper builds upon our previous interoperability work,…
This briefing document was developed with helpful inputs from industry stakeholders and other practitioners in preparation for the “E-Books in Libraries” workshop, hosted on…
In Interop, technology experts John Palfrey and Urs Gasser explore the immense importance of interoperability—the standardization and integration of technology—and show how this…
Urs Gasser and John Palfrey have continued to contribute to the World Trade Institute’s NCCR Trade Policy project with a particular focus on the interoperability as an enabler of…
Urs Gasser and John Palfrey have continued to contribute to the World Trade Institute’s NCCR Trade Policy project with a particular focus on the interoperability as an enabler of…
Urs Gasser and John Palfrey have continued to contribute to the World Trade Institute’s NCCR Trade Policy project with a particular focus on the interoperability as an enabler of…
Drawing from a corpus of over 50 Million Russian language tweets collected between March 2010 and March 2011, the Berkman research team created a network map of 10,285 users…
This paper summarizes the major findings of a three-year research project to investigate the Internet’s impact on Russian politics, media and society. We employed multiple methods…
As part of the official launch of the Born This Way Foundation, The Symposium on Youth Meanness and Cruelty took place at Harvard Law School on February 29th, 2012. Generously…
In order to empower youth to create a kinder and braver world, we must begin by making sure that youth are safe. Youth are not safe when they are being bullied, harassed, or…
"Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace," edited by Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain.
In this book, intellectual property expert and Harvard Law School professor John Palfrey offers a short briefing on intellectual property strategy for corporate managers and…
Given the rising awareness of the potential of the Internet as a political space and increasing government control over the space, it is easy to understand the widespread interest…
Infringements on Internet freedom, particularly through Internet filtering and surveillance, have inspired activists and technologists to develop technological counter-measures,…
A Summary of Our Recent Research and Recommendations
Over the past two years, we have undertaken several studies at the Berkman Center designed to better understand the control of the Internet in less open societies. In this paper,…
This paper evaluates the impact of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on independent media and human rights sites in nine countries, as well as the broader impact of…
This paper is the first release from the Berkman Center's Russian Internet research project. It analyzes the Russian blogosphere, with an emphasis on politics and public affairs.
This paper evaluates the usage of blocking-resistant circumvention tools, simple web proxies, and VPN services and finds that overall usage of circumvention tools is still very…
An Exploratory Study by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, in Collaboration with UNICEF
This paper's main objectives are: to raise awareness about issues related to digital safety for youth in developing nations; to provide a tentative map of these issues and give…
"Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace," edited by Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain, with a foreword by…
Statement to the United States Senate, Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Statement by danah boyd, Urs Gasser, and John Palfrey, urging consideration of the gap between the intentions of COPPA and how children and their parents perceive its…
The scope of this literature review is to map out what is currently understood about the intersections of youth, reputation, and privacy online, focusing on youth attitudes and…
The response synthesizes current research and data on the media practices of youth, focusing on three main areas -- 1) Risky Behaviors and Online Safety, 2) Privacy, Publicity and…
This case study is part of a series produced by the Internet and Democracy project. It analyzes the composition of the Arabic blogosphere and its possible impact on political and…
This paper describes research findings that show young people operate in the digital realm overwhelmingly ignorant of the rights, and to a lesser degree the restrictions,…
A large variety of different projects have developed tools that can be used to circumvent Internet filtering, allowing people in filtered countries access to otherwise filtered…
Final Report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States
The Internet Safety Technical Task Force was created in February 2008 in accordance with the "Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety" announced in January…
In the twenty-first century, a state can come to know more about each of its citizens via surveillance than ever before in human history. Some states are beginning to exercise…
Based on original research and advancing new theories, leading internet and technology experts John Palfrey and Urs Gasser offer a sociological portrait of the 'Born Digital'…
Book Description, from Amazon: Many countries around the world block or filter Internet content, denying access to information--often about politics, but also relating to…
The focus of this case study is the relationship between innovation in Web services applications and the interoperability (or interoperability potential) that we see. We conclude…
This report – representing one of three case studies that are part of a transatlantic research project aimed at exploring the potential relation between ICT Interoperability and…
In this study, we have done a deep-dive on three cases - DRM-protected music, Digital ID, and Mashups in the Web services context - as well as cursory reviews of other narratives…
This paper, one of three case studies in a transatlantic research project exploring the connection between Information and Communication Technology interoperability and…
Corporations are increasingly finding themselves caught in the crosshairs as they are asked by local authorities to carry out censorship and surveillance online. This chapter…
This foundational white paper reports on a year-long study by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, examining the…
This paper traces the evolution of thinking about the technical concept of the end-to-end principle and the legal concept of the regulation of the flow of packets across the…
Spammers continue to run circles around the anti-spam police. Dozens of countries have antispam laws on the books, yet enforcement of the statutes is costly, infrequent, and…
In summer 2005, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision which is surely destined to play a significant role in the interrelation between law and technology in the coming…
In Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984), this Court held that the manufacture and distribution of technology that is sometimes used to engage…
The online environment and new digital technologies threaten the viability of the music and film industries' traditional business models. The industries have responded by seeking…
This paper provides an analysis of Apples iTunes Online Music Store. The exploratory case study presented in this document is research
in progress. Comments and questions are…
For the foregoing reasons, amici suggest that the Court to exercise caution in regard to any aggregate treatment of Defendants and to consider reduced awards in light of the…
This Green Paper provides an initial analysis of Apples iTunes Online Music Store. The exploratory case study presented in this document is research in progress. Comments and…
Three problems of online life - spam, informational privacy, and network security - lend themselves to the peer production of governance. Traditional sovereigns have tried and, to…
ICANN’s experimentation in running a representative and open corporate decision-making process to manage the domain name system has largely failed. This failure has manifested…
Our objective is to provide a foundation to answer key questions facing copyright holders, technology developers and consumers. Among these: How do we balance the legitimate…
In an age of eBooks, Google, and Smartphones, many have questioned the importance of libraries. John Palfrey ’01, has penned a new book, which he calls “a love letter to libraries…
In the second week of February, 2012, four faculty from Harvard Law School (including Berkman directors Terry Fisher and John Palfrey) and three faculty from Harvard Business…
The Berkman Center enthusiastically shares an article from Faculty Co-Directors John Palfrey and Jonathan Zittrain on "Better Data for a Better Internet," published in this month…
The directors of the Berkman Center wish to extend our warmest congratulations to John Palfrey, our colleague and friend, upon his appointment as the Head of School of the…
The Berkman Center is pleased to announce that it is collaborating with Lady Gaga, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The California Endowment to launch the…
Attending ICA 2011 this week and trying to figure out which sessions to take in? A number of Berkman Center people are also participating in ICA 2011...
Last month the Ford Foundation hosted the Wired for Change conference, and a pack of Berkman Center folks, friends, and family were in New York for the event. Ford has posted full…
The Berkman Center is pleased to share a new report from the DDoS research project: "Distributed Denial of Service Attacks Against Independent Media and Human Rights Sites," in…
The Berkman Center for Internet and Society today announced that it will host a research and planning initiative for a “Digital Public Library of America.” With funding from the…
Next Thursday (6/17) and Friday (6/18) the Harvard Law School Library and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society will host two workshops focused on the Law.gov initiative, a…
Via John Palfrey: In the spirit of Open Access week and otherwise, Harvard's Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review is today launching a new online publication, Amicus...
Berkman Fellow Gene Koo, who is working with our friends at CALI to build eLangdell : The Legal Ed Commons (a platform for collaboratively creating legal teaching materials), is…
The Books et al. section in the current issue of Science features two Berkman Center-related pieces of interest to the wider community. Yochai Benkler considers Lawrence Lessig's…
An exchange between John Palfrey and Adam Thierer concerning tweaking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was published today in Ars Technica...
This week has been thick with Berkman-related audio: conversations with Judith Donath, John Palfrey, David Hornik, and Esra'a Al Shafei all made their way onto the Net...
John Palfrey was recently interviewed by James Goodale on two questions: "Does anyone care about privacy anymore?" and "What to do about lies on the internet?"
The Berkman Center is pleased to announce that Faculty Co-Director John Palfrey and Faculty Fellow Urs Gasser's "Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital…
Yesterday, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law heard testimony on "Global Internet Freedom: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of…
John Palfrey named new head of Harvard Law library
With more than a little bit of pride and enthusiasm, we celebrate the appointment of our dear friend and colleague John Palfrey as Harvard Law School's first Vice Dean of Library…
David Weinberger, who has been teaching The Web Difference at HLS this semester with John Palfrey, tells us, "In case you were wondering, we have scientifically determined that…
Yesterday, OpenNet Initiative Principal Investigators Ron Deibert, John Palfrey, and Jonathan Zittrain spoke about their book, Access Denied, on Public Radio International's The…
Berkman Executive Director and OpenNet Initiative (ONI) Principal Investigator John Palfrey is featured this week on the New York Times podcast Tech Talk. Host Bettina Edelstein…
Jonathan Zittrain, evelyn douek, and John Palfrey share insights on the consequences of social media after a Facebook whistleblower dominated headlines last week.
"Regulators…
The Harvard Law Bulletin showcases work from members of the Berkman Klein community on mis- and disinformation and the Center’s projects and programs that produce it.
Students in this course will work in teams to solve a series of hard problems related to cyberlaw and intellectual property, leveraging the problem-solving methodology of teaching…
What sorts of problems do lawyers solve? How do they solve them? What intellectual constructs do they bring to bear? What practical judgments? This workshop-style course will help…
Lawyers spend most of their time trying to solve their clients' problems.
What sorts of problems do lawyers solve? How do they solve them? What intellectual constructs do they…
The Internet, digital media and new computational tools raise new challenges while also offering new opportunities for ways to study our social world and the social, political,…
Using a variety of cyberlaw-related case studies drawn from recent, actual controversies, along with targeted readings, court filings, real-life testimony, deposition videotapes…
Using a variety of cyberlaw-related case studies drawn from recent, actual controversies, along with targeted readings, court filings, real-life testimony, deposition videotapes…
This course will consider some of the most intriguing of the political and legal issues to which the advent of the Internet gives rise. The course will seek to frame these…
This seminar will consider some of the most intriguing of the issues to which the advent of the internet has given and continues to give rise. It will focus on a cluster of topics…
Using a variety of cyberlaw-related case studies drawn from recent, actual controversies, along with targeted readings, court filings, real-life testimony, deposition videotapes…
This seminar will focus on recent developments in cyberlaw with impact on commercial and cross-border transactions. The course is not exclusively an international or comparative…
Over the past 15 years, digital information and communication networks have spread rapidly across the globe, bringing with them hopes for, and claims of, fundamental change in the…
The Internet is maturing. With it, the laws and the norms that surround the use of Internet technologies have less of an edgy feel than they did just a few years ago. Yet much of…
with author John Palfrey, Head of School at Phillips Academy, Andover
Often in today’s political climate our commitments to liberty and equality are set at odds with one another. This tension is nowhere more evident than when we pit free expression…
with John Palfrey, Yochai Benkler, Intisar Rabb, Zeynep Tufekci, Catherine Bracy, and Jonathan Zittrain
A creative discussion about the impact of the networked public sphere on global events, power dynamics, and our society at large, and how that influence may be changing in years…
This publication is the expanded and updated version of the critically-acclaimed 2008 book, Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of DigitalNatives. The new edition…
John Palfrey argues that anyone seeking to participate in the 21st century needs to understand how to find and use the vast stores of information available online. Libraries play…
with Professor John Palfrey, Harvard Law School & Berkman Center for Internet & Society
John Palfrey of the Berkman Center will engage the Commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission’s policy and enforcement initiatives in the area of online privacy and data…
John Palfrey, Berkman Center Faculty Co-Director and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School + Special Guests
Entrepreneurs, corporate managers and nonprofit administrators should look at intellectual property as a key strategic asset. In his new book, “Intellectual Property Strategy” …
In 1961, Newt Minow – then Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission – delivered a landmark speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on “Television and the…
Come to the Berkman Center for Internet & Society’s Open House to meet our faculty, fellows, and staff, and to learn about the many ways you can get involved in our dynamic,…
Social media — from blogs to wikis to tweets — have become academic media, new means by which scholars communicate, collaborate, and teach. Hear from a distinguished faculty panel…
John Palfrey, Henry N. Ess Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School & Berkman Center Faculty Co-Director
On the occasion of his appointment as the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law, John Palfrey will give a lecture entitled, "The Path of Legal Information."
The Harvard Law School Law.Gov workshop on June 18 is the last in a 6-month series of such workshops that have taken place throughout the country. In this final workshop,…
Do we have access to all primary legal materials in Massachusetts? What are the best practices for making information accessible? Join a Law.gov workshop focused on outlining the…
John Palfrey, danah boyd, Dena Sacco, Laura DeBonis
John Palfrey, danah boyd, Dena Sacco, Laura DeBonis, directors of the recently concluded Internet Safety Technical Task Force, discuss the findings and recommendations from the…
The Berkman Center celebrated the release of John Palfrey and Urs Gasser's "Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives" at Harvard Law School.
John Palfrey and Urs Gasser Present New Research on Interoperability
This joint report followed the Roadmap to Open ICT Ecosystems released in 2005, as it navigates the nuanced territory of consumer, corporate, and governmental interests in the…
The Summer Doctoral Programme (SDP) is a joint effort of the Berkman Center and the Oxford Internet Institute, which provides top doctoral students from around the world with the…
Robert Faris and John Palfrey previewed Access Denied
Rob Faris and John Palfrey gave us a preview of the OpenNet Initiative's most recent publication, Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering.
February 5, 2004. The Accountable Net - Harvard-Yale Cyberscholar Working Group. Three problems of online life: spam, informational privacy, and network security lend…
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