Politics and Technology of Control: Introduction: Difference between revisions

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* What kind of arguments or ideological stands would you make to support your position one way or the other?
* What kind of arguments or ideological stands would you make to support your position one way or the other?
* What was the U.S.'s (and the world's) response to Wikileaks' disclosure of diplomatic cables?   
* What was the U.S.'s (and the world's) response to Wikileaks' disclosure of diplomatic cables?   
* What are the legal and/or free speech implications involved in this decision by Amazon to stop hosting the Wikileaks site?
* What do you feel these articles show about the nature of the Internet?
* What do you feel these articles show about the nature of the Internet?


Revision as of 11:23, 9 December 2010

The Net has great potential for “good” (e.g. innovation, economic growth, education, and access to information), and is likewise is a great platform for the bawdy, tawdry and illegal. Is this platform about fundamental social, political and economic change, or about easier access to pornography, cheap pharmaceuticals, free music and poker at home? This question leads us to a host of interesting issues that weave their way through the course related to openness, access, regulatory control, free speech, anonymity, intellectual property rights, democracy, transparency, norms and values, economic and cultural change and cyber-terrorism, as well as scamsters and thieves.


Preparation (Assignment "Zero")

To frame the issues we will be talking about in class and to get the discussion started, we'll start with the recent controversy involving Wikileaks. Take some time to read through the articles below. Come to class prepared to answer the following questions and to pose some questions of your own.

  • What is Wikileaks? Is it a journalism organization? A terrorist organization? A criminal syndicate?
  • Do we need an organization like Wikileaks?
  • What kind of arguments or ideological stands would you make to support your position one way or the other?
  • What was the U.S.'s (and the world's) response to Wikileaks' disclosure of diplomatic cables?
  • What are the legal and/or free speech implications involved in this decision by Amazon to stop hosting the Wikileaks site?
  • What do you feel these articles show about the nature of the Internet?

Readings

Optional Readings

Videos Watched in Class

Class Discussion

Please use this space for comments/discussion you would like to share with the rest of the class.

Other Useful Links

Retrieved from "http://cyber.harvard.edu/is2013/?title=Politics_and_Technology_of_Control:_Introduction&oldid=4993"