Internet Infrastructure and Regulation

April 17

In this class, we will cover the politics, policy, economics and technology of deploying broadband infrastructure. We will look at the year-old US National Broadband Plan and the Berkman Center review of international experiences in broadband policy. Additionally, we will look at the substance and politics of the net neutrality debate.

Assignments

Assignment 4 due

Readings

• Executive Summary of the National Broadband Plan [1]

• National Broadband Plan Commission Meeting: National Purposes Update, February 18th 2010 [2]

• Next Generation Connectivity: A review of broadband Internet transitions and policy from around the world, Berkman Center [3]

• Net Neutrality 101 [4]

• More Confusion about Internet Freedom [5]

• Hands Off the Internet [6]

Optional Readings

• The Federal Communications Commission
• National Broadband Plan
• OpenInternet.gov
• The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
• The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
• The Telecommunications Act of 1996
• FCC - Wireless Spectrum Auctions
• Powell's Four Freedoms

Class Discussion

April 17: Internet Infrastructure and Regulation Just Johnny 17:13, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Interesting article in Slate that's basically a profile of "_why" (a well known programmer/sort of online folk hero in the online community before he disappeared one day) but also goes into the problem of of the "Little Coder's Predicament" quite a bit since that was one of the main things _why was interested in. That predicament is the lack of accessibility to the code behind the devices we use so often; it is incredibly easy and intuitive to play Angry Birds on your phone or use Excel on your laptop, but hard (and getting harder) to learn how to access and manipulate the code that creates and alters those sorts of programs.

This is an issue that has come up quite a bit in class, and I thought the author does a good job of explaining some neat tools for the layman to use to get into programming. The article is a fun read and touches on a lot of issues of public v. private online, identity online, the importance of being a creator and not just a consumer, etc. Thought you all might enjoy!

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/03/ruby_ruby_on_rails_and__why_the_disappearance_of_one_of_the_world_s_most_beloved_computer_programmers_.html

Off topic for this week's class but I saw this article hit the Washington Post and thought it was an interesting read for those interested in Copyright and internet sales.http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/thai-students-money-making-effort-at-center-of-supreme-court-copyright-case/2012/04/16/gIQAJHqQLT_story.html?hpid=z3 --Hds5 18:21, 16 April 2012 (UTC)