Assigned Readings
This page contains the readings for the entire class. Please keep in mind that readings will be updated over the course of the semester, so check back frequently to make sure you aren't missing anything!
January 29 - Politics and Technology of Control: Introduction
Readings/Watchings
- Ethan Zuckerman, History of the Internet (approx. 6 minutes, watch all)
- Jonathan Zittrain, How the Internet Works (approx. 4 mins., watch all)
- Eszter Hargittai, The Digital Divide and What to Do About It (New Economy Handbook) (focus on Sections I-III)
- Hargittai’s data is from 2003. For more recent data, see Pew Internet & American Life Project, Digital Differences 2012 (read intro, skim the sections).
- Rebecca MacKinnon, Let’s Take Back the Internet! (TED.com) (approx. 15 mins., watch all)
Optional Readings
- Chris Locke, Doc Searls & David Weinberger, Cluetrain Manifesto (just the manifesto)
February 5 - Paradigms for Studying the Internet
Readings
- danah boyd, White Flight in Networked Publics? How Race and Class Shaped American Teen Engagement with MySpace and Facebook (read 1-11, skim 12-18, read 19-end)
Optional Readings
February 12 - A Series of Tubes: Infrastructure, Broadband, and Baseline Content Control
Readings
- Yochai Benkler, Next Generation Connectivity (executive summary and introduction)
Optional Readings
- Dawn Nunziato, Virtual Freedom (Chs. 1 & 7) (pending)
February 19 - Whose Values? International Issues with Internet Regulation
Readings
- Biz Stone and Alex Macgillivary, The Tweets Must Flow and The Tweets Still Must Flow
- Case Study: The Innocence of Muslims
Optional Readings
February 26 - Regulating Speech Online
Readings
- David Ardia, Free Speech Savior or Shield for Scoundrels: An Empirical Study of Intermediary Immunity Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (Read all of Section I, Parts C&D of Section II, and Conclusion)
- Case Study: The SPEECH Act
- Wikipedia, Funding Evil (focus on the “Libel Controversy” section)
Optional Readings
Links
Links from Adobe Connect Session
US Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
State constitutions: http://www.constitution.org/cons/usstcons.htm
US regulations are in the Code of Federal Regulations: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionCfr.action?collectionCode=CFR
Map of the circuit courts and their jurisdictions: http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/images/CircuitMap.pdf
The Supreme Court has been taking fewer and fewer cases: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/us/29bar.html?_r=0
The International Shoe test: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Shoe_v._Washington
A very influential case addressing websites is a district court case from Pittsburgh called Zippo Manufacturing v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippo_Manufacturing_Co._v._Zippo_Dot_Com,_Inc
A more recent case of "Libel Tourism" - this time concerning parties from Ethiopia: http://blog.indexoncensorship.org/2013/02/25/london-libel-ruling-against-ethiopian-dissident-shows-urgent-need-for-reform/
Shaari v. Harvard: http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/427/427mass129.html
This org has done a lot to make sure that online sites have to remove child porn: http://www.missingkids.com/home
The NPR talk show On Point with Tom Ashbrook had a segment on Cyberbullying and Sexual Shaming: http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/01/28/cyberbullying
March 5 - Copyright Part 1: Guiding Principles and Online Application
Assignments
The second half of assignment 2 (commenting on prospectuses) is due before class today. Information on the assignment can be found here.
Readings/Watchings
- U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 1: Copyright Basics (read only Who Can Claim Copyright?, What Works Are Protected?, What is Not Protected by Copyright?, How to Secure a Copyright, and How Long Copyright Protection Endures)
- Lawrence Lessig, It is About Time: Getting Our Values around Copyright (watch first 6 minutes)
- Lawrence Lessig, Remix: Making Art and Culture Thrive in the Hybrid Economy (Introduction only)
- Creative Commons, A Shared Culture (video, watch all) and Spectrum of Rights
Optional Readings
- Jessica Litman, The Exclusive Right to Read (introduction and Sections I and II only)
- Julian Sanchez, Ars Technica, 750,000 Lost Jobs? The Dodgy Digits Behind the War on Piracy
March 12 - Copyright Part 2: Enforcement and Balances
Readings/Watchings
- Digital Media Law Project, Claims Based on User Content and Protecting Yourself Against Copyright Claims Based on User Content
- Chilling Effects, About and peruse the weather reports.
Case Study: SOPA/PIPA
Case Study: ISP "Six Strikes"
Optional Readings
March 19 - No class (Spring Break)
March 26 - Collective Action, Politics, and Protests
Assignments
As a reminder, Assignment 3 is due before class today. You can submit that assignment here.
Readings/Watchings
- Yochai Benkler, SOPA/PIPA: A Case Study in Networked Discourse and Activism (approx. 16 mins., watch all)
Optional Readings
- Jillian York, Policing Content in the Quasi-Public Sphere (focus on the Introduction, and “Social Media: Privacy Companies, Public Responsibilities”)
April 2 - Peer Production: Development from the Edges and from the Crowd
Readings
- Yochai Benkler, News, Information and the Wealth of Networks (video, watch from 8:32 to 26:07)
- if you’re not familiar, you may want to spend a little time looking at Wikipedia’s entry on Seti@home.
- James Surowiecki, The Wisdom of Crowds (read excerpt)
- Jonathan Zittrain, Minds for Sale (video, watch all)
Optional Readings
- Eric Von Hippel, Democratizing Innovation (Chapter 1, focus on pages 1-3 and 13-15, skim rest)
April 9 - Hacking, Hackers, and Hacktivism
Readings
- Molly Sauter, Activist DDOS Campaigns: When Similes and Metaphors Fail (video, watch from to 1:56 to 21:44)
- Sauter uses the term "DDoS" throughout. This is an abbreviation for "distributed denial of service," a specific form of attack to a web server described in more detail here.
- United States Department of Justice, Prosecuting Computer Crimes (read pages 1-11: Introduction to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Key Definitions)
Optional Readings
- Intelligence Squared Debate: "The Cyberwar Threat Has Been Grossly Exaggerated" (an Oxford-style debate with Marc Rotenberg, Bruce Schneier, Mike McConnell, and Jonathan Zittrain; watch the video of the debate)
- Benjamen Walker, Doing it for the LULZ (from Too Much Information) (11:00 to 22:45 only, language at times is NSFW)
April 16 - Informing the Public in the Internet Age
Readings
- Persephone Miel and Rob Faris, News and Information as Digital Media Come of Age (read executive summary)
- RonNell Anderson Jones, Litigation, Legislation, and Democracy in a Post-Newspaper America (Section I only, remaining optional)
- Federal Communications Commission, Information Needs of Communities (read executive summary, skim overview)
- Brendan Nyhan, Biases Abound (video, watch all)
Optional Readings
- Jonathan Zittrain, 2009 Richard S. Salant Lecture on Freedom of the Press (the lecture starts at 19:45)
April 23 - Privacy
Readings
- Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen, and Harry Lewis, Blown to Bits (Chapter 2) (focus on pages 36-42: “Why We Lost Our Privacy, Or Gave it All Away”)
- Lawrence Lessig, Code 2.0 (Chapter 7) (read “Solutions” through “Rules to Enable Choice About Privacy”)
Optional Readings
April 30 - The Profitability of the Internet
Readings
Optional Readings