RE: [h2o-discuss] concerning the h2o list

[John Wilbanks <wilbanks@cyber.law.harvard.edu>]

Just to step in and clarify a few points...

Most of use here at the Berkman Center are not faculty.  We have Jon
Zittrain, a Lecturer on Law, Charles Nesson, Professor on Law, and Larry
Lessig, Professor on Law (Larry is spending this academic year in Germany)
on this list.  I don't believe any other faculty members are subscribed.
And Jonathan generally deals with an email backlog that streches into the
400s.

We have a wide cast of undergraduates, law students, practitioners and just
plain folks.  I'm one of the just folks, not having a law degree or training
in the law (FWIW, I have a philosophy degree w/ french minor, political
experience and training in networks and voice recognition software
design...I also love live music).  But what I've found is that the
@law.harvard.edu confers an authority to one's words that shouldn't be
trifled with, and I don't want anyone taking my statements as solid legal
advice or theory. Perhaps I should post as a private citizen, not
Berkmanite, from another accout...but that seems to be a semantic dodge.

I watch this list relatively carefully, and when it seems to fade I try to
jump in and send links, articles, or comments to spark discussion.  But I'd
rather this list be driven by the participants, not the Center.  

I'm actually very curious to see if such a list can sustain itself.  So far,
thanks to Eric Eldred and the other regulars, it has.  I enjoy reading the
arguments and would like to make a push this year to broaden the membership
well beyond its current state.  I invite everyone to recruit new list
members.

For Berkman, I do actually have an idea for h2o-discuss.  We've received
remarkable interest from the first year law students this year, and I am
hoping to have them write a series of short papers (perhaps 5 pages)
exploring controversial concepts or axes of conflict.  The papers would be
published online at the BCIS website with our annotation engine frames, so
that anyone could add comment or opinion.  I assumed that h2o-discuss would
be a natural place both to glean the concepts and to seed the
comment/opinion areas after each paper is published online.

The goal of this is to establish, in an open-content spirit, archives of
information, links, and opinion on important and timely topics.

So, what say you?  In lieu of our faculty jumping in and talking, would some
regular open content be acceptable?  I will certainly make a personal effort
to post more often now that I've made clear my nonlawyerly status...and I
would to thank each and every one of you who participates on the list.  It's
an honor to watch the fur fly around here.

jtw

John Wilbanks
Assistant Director
Berkman Center for Internet and Society
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu> 


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-h2o-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
[mailto:owner-h2o-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu]On Behalf Of
dcabell@law.harvard.edu
Sent: Friday, September 17, 1999 10:29 AM
To: h2o-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
Subject: Re: [h2o-discuss] concerning the h2o list


We do beat to an academic pulse.  At present, students and faculty are
caught up in the frenzy of the beginning of school term.

It is my impression that faculty drop in and out of list discussions
depending on the ebb and flow of underlying events, just like anyone
else.  It is not anyone's job at Berkman to act as spokesperson for a
faculty member or support any challenge to their opinions.  We argue
violently among ourselves.

You suggestion that there should be a BCIS list owner is a good one.  I
am new this year and possibly the student who ran the list has graduated
and another must now be identified.  Thanks for calling it to my
attention.

Diane Cabell
Berkman Fellow
Harvard Law School


----- Original Message -----
From: Jon Garfunkel <garf@look.boston.ma.us>
To: <h2o-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu>
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 1999 10:22 PM
Subject: [h2o-discuss] concerning the h2o list


> What's the story of this list? It's nice to hear from populist
publisher
> Eric Eldred, j proctor at UMass, John Kwasnick of Oakland, Alex
Chudnovsky
> of the UK, and the cast of other contributors, but where are the
Berkman
> affiliates? Are they lurking in the background, mulling over recycling
the
> ideas developed by the list into their own content?
>
> Obviously, the list's lifetime has spanned the summer, so maybe I'm to
> assume that the BCIS scholars were otherwise diverted. If so, would it
then
> be beneficial for someone to summarize some of the outstanding points
made
> over the course of the last few months? I recall that I had some
points for
> Lessig to address...
>
> Not that I expect the BCIS faculty to contribute so much time to this
list.
> But if I direct a challenge to to a Berkman professor, shouldn't one
of his
> supporters address that challenge?
>
> I appreciate being part of the community of "Digital Citizenry" for
the h2o
> list, but I would like to see some of the BCIS people spell out their
> commitments.
>
> Jon
>