Assignment 2 Submissions

Submission Instructions

Please note that we have updated the final project page's FAQ section based on some student questions that have come to us over the past week.

This assignment is due on February 25. Grading for this assignment is on a 5-point scale; late assignments will be docked 1 point for each day they are late (assignments submitted 4 days late or later will have a maximum grade of 1 point).

Please name your file "wikiusername_Assignment2," where "wikiusername" is replaced with your username, to avoid overwriting someone else's assignment or causing errors in the Wiki by including forbidden characters. So if your username is "jdoe" and your file is a Word document your file should be named "jdoe_Assignment2.doc."

Upload your rough draft here: Upload file. If you have trouble finding the file you uploaded, check the list of uploaded files.

In the submissions section below please post the following information:

• Name or pseudonym:
• Prospectus title:
• Link to prospectus: (add your link here)

Comments

Everyone will receive an additional participation grade for this assignment. You should read through everyone's proposals after they are uploaded and add constructive comments below the proposal on which you're commenting. Comments should be submitted by March 5 so you have time to incorporate them, if applicable, into your project outline. Please remember to sign your comments by adding four tildes (~~~~) to the end of your contribution. This will automatically add your username and the date/time of your post. If we don't know who you are we can't give you credit for finishing this assignment!

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• Name: Jolie Ho - Wan Lap Ho
• Instagram vs Flickr
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/sites/is2014/images/Jolie_Assignment_2.docx

Jolietheone 16:15, 25 February 2014 (EST)

How do you propose to collect data to answer the last question? Ichua 15:22, 27 February 2014 (EST)

Hey Jolie! You picked a really fascinating topic to cover! Just a few thoughts I hope will help. How do you plan on pinpointing how all the users behave differently, just because there are so many registered accounts you might be able to find people who behave nearly the same or certain individuals who have accounts on both Instagram and Flickr. Just as a mere suggestion maybe you can find a niche that is unique to each site and compare them? Maybe Instagram has thousands of pictures of food and seflis while Flickr has more professional content? I hope this will help you! Emmanuelsurillo 15:15, 1 March 2014 (EST)

I really like your topic to dive into why Instagram has been so successful compared to Flicker. It may be interesting to compare the age groups of each users. Instagram seems more accessible because it is a phone app that is simple and immediate to use, whereas Flicker users upload a batch of vacation photos, etc. I like Emmanuel's suggestion to compare the content between users. Another suggestion which relates to the selfies/food photos may be to compare the users themselves. I think older people tend to use Flickr and therefore may not post as much. However, younger people (who no long user facebook) posting to instagram all the time would provide a way for facebook to get back that market. (Margorm 14:31, 2 March 2014 (EST))

Hi Jolie: This is a very interesting topic, with many possible areas focus on! (Also, a nice mix between the tech and creative worlds.) You mentioned that Instagram and Flickr diverge where mobile apps are concerned. This looked particularly interesting, especially following the Flickr app's overhaul. Anecdotally, via Twitter, it looked as though the Flickr update was a major talking point in both the Instagram and Flickr user groups. My thought was that it may be interesting to look at whether this major app update had any bearing on either of the two communities, as it may have impacted some of your research questions. Best! Twood 09:33, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Jolie, good choice of topic. Flickr and Instagram are great examples of user generated content applications where control practices play a integral part. I like your idea to compare and contrast the sites. Also, I think it's insightful how you noted that Flickr has been around longer but is not as successful, and your desire to find out why, Instagram is more successful. That question I think, leads you into a analysis of the successful tactics of each site. However, instead of viewing their success in light of stock prices as is usually done, in keeping with our class theme it seems that you will ask how do the sites control practices help with their success or failure. Perhaps as you look for those answers, you may find some trends that other companies may want to emulate or avoid to make their sites/apps successful. Your research could lead to consulting work for you! All the best on your project.Mikewitwicki 12:43, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hello Jolie, very interesting topic choice, both Flickr and Instagram represent emerging content applications that are quite popular. My one concern with your topic would be your question pertaining to the behavior of users on the site. Both Flickr and Instagram are massive sites and would be very difficult to mine for information without some type of selection bias. Have you considered sourcing a third-party site that tracks information on these two applications? Possibly a forum about rules for these two sites? I just think it would be a very daunting task to use Flickr and Instagram as your sources. I can't wait to see the final result, good luck. Drogowski 14:05, 4 March 2014 (EST)

-- Hi Jolie, Great topic! I would love to see how the privacy policies of flickr differ from that of Instagram as well as that of Facebook, being a Publicly traded company,whose privacy policy from user perspective seems to be waning on one hand and waxing on the other. since Instagram is now a Facebook company do you plan to explore Facebooks privacy policy as well? This may be helpful and interesting since, a company that been acquired usually subscribes to the parent company's policies, sooner or later. Can't wait to view your final project. 404consultant 17:16, 4 March 2014 (EST) aka Ronika Lewis

____ Hi! This is a huge topic for what is driving consumers today. I would be interested to see what the demographics of the users are in your study. If that is even identifiable for you. It seams that instant gratification, and ease of use(less steps to posting & feedback) on Instagram also drive higher traffic. Good Luck! TriciaBy 08:49, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

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• Name: Drogowski - Daniel Rogowski
• Regulating Digital Currencies: The Bitcoin Conundrum
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Regulating_Digital_Currencies-_The_Bitcoin_Conundrum_Daniel_Rogowski.docx

Drogowski 14:58, 25 February 2014 (EST)

How would this differ from other imaginary items of trade like currency/commodity derivatives and futures and virtual commodities like pork bellies? Ichua 15:17, 27 February 2014 (EST)

Dear Daniel, What an interesting topic! I was not even aware that state governments recognized these currencies. Would you be able to come up with more material if you focus on one or two countries and their reaction to the online currency? Also Ichua gave great advice; maybe one country’s reaction and policies to multiple online currencies would help in the scope of observation. Your idea of creating a website to report and share your findings is really novel! Emmanuelsurillo 15:26, 1 March 2014 (EST)

Very interesting topic Daniel. Ive been following the progress of Bitcoin as a personal interest. Apart from the regulatory challenges Bitcoin poses for Governments, its also vulnerable to cyber attacks which can erode trust in using the currency. Whilst the actual Bitcoin itself is heavily encrypted, the Bitcoin exchanges are vulnerable to hacking and cyber theft as evidenced recently by the successful attacks on Mt Gox, one of the world's largest Bitcoin exchanges. It would be interesting to observe the effect (if any) this would have on the regulatory view of the currency by Governments. Marissa1989 07:47, 2 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Daniel, you've picked an interesting, and narrowly defined topic, and you have concrete steps for your methodology of answering the questions that you've come up with. I think you have a very good framework with which to start your project, all that's left is to fill in the blanks to the outline you've created for yourself. Good work up front. Also, presenting your project in website form is quite appropriate I think for your topic, it underscores your point in a way.Mikewitwicki 12:55, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Great topic!! Have you considered discussing the ways in which bit coins are used for illegal purposes?(ex: The Silk Road- Where people can use bit coin to anonymously purchase illegal goods such as narcotics and firearms)

Benh 13:31, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Daniel: This really is a fantastic topic! Your research questions are very focused, which is great given the many ways you could run with the subject. I'm not certain if this will help, but: Here in Canada, there has been quite a lot of coverage regarding Bitcoin ATMs popping up. Here's one such article: http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg-s-first-bitcoin-atm-now-accepting-cash-1.1688529. And another: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/bitcoin-machine-comes-to-montreal-1.2525050. However, who knows how long these machines will remain in operation given the buzz now surrounding Canadian banking self-regulations: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/02/19/bitcoin-bank-of-montreal_n_4817319.html. Looking forward to reading more. Twood 14:37, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Daniel,

Cryptocurrencies "present a significant regulatory challenge," yet should they be regulated? I posit that, indeed, the regulation of cryptocurrencies are a conundrum precisely because they are not intended for governmental manipulation or regulation. What-say-you? The focus of your research "on the intended effect and consequences of legislation on Bitcoin by analyzing responses to regulation" is, as you know, timely and relevant and it seems if every few days there's a new chapter to the saga... Mt.Gox!

Do you think, in the scope of this project and the time given for this class, it will be possible to track Bitcoin in visual ways v. textual ways, i.e., mapping the activity of Bitcoin in areas rumored to be hit through regulation v. chat rooms, forums, and news/article posts.

Specifically, can it be shown that Bitcoin activity increases or decreases after news reports of regulations and/or arrests are announced, e.g., BitInstant? Is activity greatest after rumors of regulation or published reports of regulation? Can new users be tracked and, if so, are they most active after newsreports of regulation initiatives? I believe these are some specific trends you may want to look at.

Altruistically, I am interested in Bitcoin, as I'm sure everyone, particularly in this class, could say that, and my original intent was to focus on Bitcoin and/or revolutions. I believe this class and our chosen topics provide an opportunity for mutual assistance and editing, and, perhaps (gasp) collaboration. Finally, recently, I heard someone say, or rather I read, that the people who want regulation for Bitcoin and who are clamoring for government regulation are not true to the revolutionary ideals of Bitcoin and thus compromise the system as a whole. Do you think this can be proven?A. Tom Anteus 17:31, 4 March 2014 (EST)

- Daniel, I hope you plan to have a blog on your website! I am super excited about your final project. I was just reading on Bitcoin, given all talk of it, and my research left me with the impression that Bitcoin, like Litecoin, is not SEC regulated since no once seems to know who started it, yet it is trackable and traceable (think ICANN). With only 42 million bitcoins issuable (If I remember correctly), the assumption is that at some point bitcoins will be issued in the .0000001 and .0000001 increments. This is why I believe it is unregulated in the US currently since the US Treasury (to my knowledge) doesn't have a cap on how many bills can be in circulation, yet they print and destroy money at their leisure. All the best in your research Daniel404consultant 17:31, 4 March 2014 (EST)aka Ronika Lewis

___ Great topic! It will be an interesting comparison of nations that have created laws for this currency and why? How does it affect them, negatively or otherwise? Such a current issue, great choice! TriciaBy 08:57, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

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• Pseudonym: Marissa1989
• Prospectus title: The rise of the collaborative consumption movement: Analyzing effective control of communication, structures of gaining trust & verification, and legal issues.
• Link to prospectus: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Assignment_2_Barkey-2.pdf

Marissa1989 23:37, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Hi, Marissa! I used AirBnB to rent out my apartment last summer and it actually resulted in me being robbed by the person to the tune of $10,000-- not including the rent for the summer, which he didn't pay (I didn't get any of it back, either, despite the insurance). It was a nasty situation. Anyways, from what I understand, the majority of communication on AirBnB is done privately. Without staging anything or intervening, how do you plan to observe enough to answer your question(s)? I think this is basically the same concern with one of the other treatments I read, regarding Facebook. I do think the security of platforms like AirBnB is of great concern and would be a very interesting subject to study in depth!Castille 21:16, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Thanks for the Feedback, Castille, That is such a rough situation to have been in and likely one of biggest fears of hosts on airbnb.com. So sorry this happened to you! The security concern on Airbnb.com will be an important piece in my project, especially since so many people worldwide are using the site and opening their homes to strangers. There are a few horrific airbnb experiences, and I will research how airbnb.com handled these security flaws in their trust and verification system Marissa1989 03:31, 5 March 2014 (EST)

Dear Marissa, I loved the idea for your prospectus! Just as a suggestion, would you consider comparing a few corresponding sites like 9flats, Couchsurfing International, or Hospitality Club? You could analyze how they handle different verifiability and security issues while also comparing how the sites are constructed to better “vet” their users. This may yield insight on how trustworthy their users are to each other. You might even want to inquire if one has had “major” legal issues in the past. I hope this helps! Emmanuelsurillo 15:32, 1 March 2014 (EST)

Marissa, (I posted this comment on Saturday, March 1st, but it looks as though it was deleted somehow.) I cannot wait to read your paper. Your research topic focuses on a very interesting tension; you write of the concept of "virtual social capital," which attempts to take the sociological concept of "social capital" and see how it translates in present day collaborative consumption environments. For background on social capital look to Pierre Bordieu. Your topic also speaks to another tension: the intersection of internet-based activity and the potential repercussions that this activity has in "meat-space." That is, renters attempt to gauge the social capital of tenants because they fear theft, property destruction etc. in their homes. Therefore, social capital is extremely important in the home-sharing economy. My suggestion to you is that you narrow your focus. AirBnB is an expansive community so you wish to focus on one geographic location and look at rental profiles in a specified price range. As your reader, I would be curious to know: do higher priced rentals equal greater social capital as measured by "response rate" and "overall quality." These are quantifiable measures that you can implement in exploring your topic. Great idea! Vance.puchalski 18:00, 4 March 2014 (EST)(originally posted March 1st, 2014)

Thank you, Vance. I like the idea of perhaps shifting the prospectus to an angle on the importance of social capital in regards to trust and verification online. There is a high value placed on reputation/ratings in digital peer-to-peer marketplaces. I appreciate the feedback! Marissa1989 03:31, 5 March 2014 (EST)

Greetings Marissa!

Your topic is very interesting and it appears we have a few of the same elements in the companies we have selected to research: Verification and trust. From what I understand, you are addressing issues of users on auction/garage sale platforms surrounding the tiers of user verifiability. In other words, who is protecting one user from being taken advantage of by another user.

The comment you posted on the wiki under my topic in regards to the effectiveness of how the sites that I have selected deal with inaccurate comments made about companies by the general public are dealt with is of great importance-the public can ruin a business for no other reason than spite. In other words, who protects the companies from users.

The proposal you submitted intrigues me in many ways. By studying the community of airbnb.com, it appears you will be analyzing the controls implemented to make the site successful (verification, quality feedback, security, payment, userability and collaboration).

In summary, it appears we are both working on protection issues, and if the verification process is significant enough to gain consumer trust.

Would you mind if I ask how you plan to analyze the user? I would be interested in your methodology, and we may even find each other’s approach helpful to each other. We may even be able to compare and contrast the communities with a similar approach and work together if you would be interested. --Melissaluke 15:18, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Melissa, I'd love to discuss methods for analysing users on both our projects and perhaps collaborate on how reputation is built in our communties. Marissa1989 03:31, 5 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Marissa, great topic! You are hitting on many of the themes of the class with your proposal. One thing I thought about when reading your prospectus was how this collaborative way of business could be a model for types of activities. This community type platform that you are studying could be used in other settings that could help communities to work more closely together by sharing resources, and collaborating when they need to buy and sell things. Perhaps, your research will highlight the ways that these communities are successful and not successful. And furthermore, your research could highlight the processes that other businesses and governments could take to emulate the best of these sites(indirectly by from the behavior and processes you observe). I know that this is not necessarily what your research will be focused on but perhaps a social scientist or entrepreneur reading your final project with find tools within your analysis to help them to build something we might not have seen before. All the best on in your work!Mikewitwicki 13:19, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Marissa,

I am very interested in your topic, for I live on a hotsprings in the California desert, a former BnB, and I dream to rent it out full-time as a BnB. Many of my acquaintances use airbnb to make a living or at least as an income supplement, yet I have never used airbnb.com. How am I to know their "methods of implementing trust and verifiability assures the highest measure of safety to make the host or traveler feel comfortable, notwithstanding the possibility of theft, vandalism, or legal issues that are at risk? Am I, as an interested non-user, simply to take this as fact. I don't understand how this is possible. What does it mean, given the experience of Castille above?

How does airbnb.com succeed or fail in "user trust" as it pertains to "security, usability, verification, payment, collaboration, and quality feedback." Do you think Castille, if willing, could help narrow your focus or shed light into the project? Finally, airbnb.com has been involved in legal proceedings brought by NYC and other locales. Do you think you'll have any time, or interest, in focusing on these pressing issues, for the intervention of government may wreak havoc into their business model. What are users and hosts saying about this government encroachment into private party contracts. Will it spell the doom of the business model?A. Tom Anteus 17:31, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Melissaluke 18:36, 25 February 2014 (EST)
• Change.org vrs Ripp Off Report
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Harvard_Research_Paper-Final.docx

Dear Melissa, What a great topic and area of coverage!!! I’m hoping my comments and questions will be of help to you! Which site succumbs more readily to outside pressure and take down requests? Also you mentioned that a susceptible compliant to both is that they are accused of not “vetting” their sources. You could possible test to see which one (if either of them do) checks them more thoroughly. This might be, and I know nothing about it, accomplished by putting posts of your own and noting if they require any amount of proof, citation, source, or quote of any kind. I really hope this helps you! Emmanuelsurillo 15:35, 1 March 2014 (EST)

Thank you so much Emmanuel! Your ideas are superb and very helpful! --Melissaluke 13:17, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Melissa, these sites can be a boon for consumers in helping to identify unscrupulous businesses and thus avoiding them. The issue that I find with these sites, that's never been effectively dealt with, is how do they identify and remove potentially inaccurate comments attacking a business as a result of say, a personal vendetta by a disgruntled employee or a customer who was unreasonable. Many small and medium size businesses rely on word of mouth for new customers. If the site allows the comments to remain, it may affect the business. This in effect may lead to possible blackmail of businesses by threatening to post inaccurate information on these sites. I'm also very interested in the sample groups and postings that you choose. Great topic! Marissa1989 07:47, 2 March 2014 (EST)

Marissa, Excellent insight and the problems posed are valid. Your questions are helping to me and assist in narrowing the topic-which is clearly too broad at the moment. --Melissaluke 13:17, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Melissa, Just a quick note, because I loved your prospectus so much (it's such a creative take on the assignment, but still seems to hit on all the prof's requirements, really amazing job). With your Q1, Why would one site be more popular?- I can;t help but wonder, does the fact that it has such a simple, perfect 1-word URL have any effect? Also, due to the time (2007) & place (USA) I automatically assumed this website was somehow related to Obama's election campaign- though from quick Google search there doesn't seem to be any direct link. Anyways, just wanted to say, I really like your prospectus. Erin Saucke-Lacelle 21:49, 3 March 2014 (EST)

These are great questions! I had actually looked at Ripoffreport.com’s trajectory as a topic initially.

As I am certain you have found through your research, the company has come under great scrutiny by virtue of their corporate arbitration program. Allegedly, the tool is offered by the company to allow firms who have received negative reviews on the Ripoffreport.com site to resuscitate their reputation. There is a catch, however, of which irony—given what Ripoffreport.com claims to stand for—that is not lost on watchers. The arbitration program itself charges an initial fee of $1500 to $2000 with slighted firms paying upwards of $100k, as some have alleged. Moreover, the “arbitration” is not dealt with by reputable non-profit arbitration organizations; instead, slighted companies allege that Ripoffreport’s own lawyers arbitrate cases, which is clearly a conflict. As such, this goes back to an excellent question you raise about the lack of vetting process for consumer reviews, which should really be the initial point-of-contact for the model. Arguably, Ripoffreport.com’s business model is largely seen by tech industry insiders as belonging to a certain group of tech founders born out of the early 2000’s tech boom, who engage in questionable business practices. This peripheral group of tech founders bring no real, quantifiable engineering innovation to the tech ecosystem; instead, they create channels—via website(s)—to advance financial schemes, providing quasi-products to consumers. I look forward to reading your paper, and kudos to you for what I believe will be an interesting read indeed! Watson 15:45, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• MikeJohnson 14:32, 25 February 2014 (EST)
• Twitch Plays Pokémon – How Mediating Gameplay Changes the Game
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/sites/is2014/images/MikeJohnson_Assignment2.docx

Hey Mike, it would absolutely be my pleasure to provide feedback to you. I won't go too far before having the time to focus & read it completely- so my first feedback to you is: if you didn't pick such an interesting topic, I would have actually read the full prospectus. However after reading your first paragraph, I ended up watching TPP and reading its subreddit and forgot to finish reading your prospectus! hahaha. But this weekend I'll spend time focusing and try to provide you feedback, hopefully as good as the feedback you gave me (: Erin Saucke-Lacelle 10:34, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Mike! After reading Jkelly's comments below, I'm kinda worried about posting my comments, cus I think I understood your questions from a different point of view.

• First of all, my question- how do you approach your 2nd qualitative question? I'm not completely sure I understand what you mean by vulnerability.
• Second, my advice, feel free to take it or leave it: to keep within scope of this project (2500 word paper seems so short!), I believe it may be easier to tackle Qualitative questions #1 & 3, and your second quantitative question (Has it helped or hurt the game to impose such controls?). I get the impression that these questions would be the ones that would be easiest to answer from following the community discussion on the subreddit. That being said, if we were writing 8000 word papers, it would be so much fun for you to really dive into the architecture & UX of the game itself, while paralleling it with the subreddit(!!!). Really awesome topic & prospectus.

Erin Saucke-Lacelle 22:16, 3 March 2014 (EST)

After reading your prospectus, I have a few questions based on your questions, or maybe some questions that combine the ones you already have. It seems clear from what you write in your prospectus that the user experience is absolutely vulnerable to the controls imposed by the game, but I'm curious to know in what ways. Were users bumping up against controls they didn't like before there were changes, or was it only after the controls of the creator were made clear (he made himself known in an explicit way, rather than operating quietly in the background) that users began to find fault? (Another way of thinking about this might be- were a lot of users thinking about the controls imposed by the game before the creator's changes forced them to think about it?) If I understand the current set up correctly, it seems that users still have the option to have commands parsed as they go instead of waiting for them to be tallied and then implemented. So, were the controls only seen as problematic once users considered that there was one person making a decision that affected every user? Is the lack of democratic decision-making behind the scenes a bigger problem for users than the actual changes in user experience?

As far as your quantitative question goes, I'm wondering if there's any way for you to know how many users stopped playing the game after the creator made changes? Do you have a means of seeing the changes over time? Jkelly 14:16, 2 March 2014 (EST)

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• Mikewitwicki 14:03, 25 February 2014 (EST)
• How does the online Flickr community operate within the Creative Commons feature? How do they share their work, and work together?
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/sites/is2014/images/Prospectus_for_final_paper_Michael_Thomas.docx

Dear Michael, I find your prospective very interesting! I thought to give you these few suggestions. I hope they will help! You might want to see what percentage of Flickr users are a part of the Creative Commons community and whether it consists of a majority or a minority. Another area of research might be into the other forms of control that Flickr uses to protect copyrighted material, and then to compare them with Creative Commons to see if they are as effective, prevalent, or well known. Also, when there are infringements in copyright policy, do people respond to correction or do they just ignore and continue violating the rules? Lastly, how does the Creative Commons community handle repeat violators (if there are any)? Wish you the best! Emmanuelsurillo 15:43, 1 March 2014 (EST)

You've mentioned architectural methods used to encourage correct attribution, but another architectural detail to consider is how and whether Flickr encourages users to publish their content under (cc) as opposed to (c) and if so, whether the users are in fact aware of the rights they retain and give away. --Seifip 12:28, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Michael: I think this is an interesting and nicely focused way to examine Creative Commons — through one very robust example. And even if you don't end up using a comparison of communities in your final project, my thinking is that it may be worth doing a comparison, even for your own purposes. Perhaps a comparison with another leviathan of online Creative Commons, like a YouTube or Vimeo. Because, although their systems aren't perfect, the act of comparing and contrasting may offer some perspective. Just a thought. Hopefully it helps! Twood 15:02, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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Luciagamboaso 10:42, 25 February 2014 (EST)

• Framework of control in government run collaborative platform
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Assignment_2_LGS.docx‎

Hi Lucia, are there specified rules of engagement so that government effort to filter or modify inappropriate inputs are minimized? Ichua 13:32, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Lucia, This is looks to be very interesting - I was wondering if you can be more specific on what types of data the initiative is exploring. Are they looking for statistical data mainly, do you vote on what subjects you are going to put on the website or research? It looks like a great example of policy control via the government. I would to know more about the website and its overall goals - something that helps define its missions parameters, as I visited the website main page and got an idea of what they were saying - I am just needing some more clarity that's all. But again, the subject looks like a great idea and should be very interesting...Dancoron 18:48, 2 March 2014 (EST)

Hey Lucía! I think your choice of study fits perfectly with the theme of the course! Perhaps you can also investigate to see if they are stifling public opinion or whether they are flooding the docs with pro-government voices to influence the theme towards their agenda? Also as a suggestion, can you see if it is truly open to everyone? Maybe you would like to find another similar program that the government has tried in the past (assuming that they have tried). Do the number of participants fluxuate? Is there a trend in what the government sees as inappropriate? Or is it just random edits that are corrected by the government? I hope these comments can help you! Emmanuelsurillo 00:13, 3 March 2014 (EST)

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Lucia, Great idea and I also like the organization to your thought. Will you get enough data from your set? Do you plan on mentioning the privatization by using GoogleDoc. (Google, Inc.)? I like how specific you question is and I like the attention you pay to it. I hope you might consider briefly touching on other potential influences on your study, such as, how you categorize comments, what is keeping your community small if it is truly open to everyone and other questions posed in the above comments. Overall this seems to be the start of a potentially intriguing paper. Good Luck! - Art.Mescon

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• Assignment 2:
• Gendered Online Communities: Targeted Harassment and Successful Interventions
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Akk22_assignment2.docx
• akk22 10:23, 25 February 2014 (EST)

I'd really like to read and comment on your prospectus, but it seems like the file didn't upload. Happy to respond to it once it's up!

Jkelly 20:57, 26 February 2014 (EST)

I second Jkelly's comment. This look very intriguing and I'd like to learn more about your plans for the project! Twood 23:14, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Third. --Seifip 11:58, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Sorry everyone, the link was working for me- I've re-uploaded! Many thanks for letting me know. akk22

Anne --

I absolutely LOVE your topic and the way you intend to carry it out is such a great idea, especially with the connections you have! Sexism is alive and well in society, and I am curious to see how it plays out in the cyber world. While harassment is fairly straightforward to observe, the underlying sexist/negative remarks may be more troublesome to pinpoint. For example, assessing how female contributors receive more scrutiny (or less praise) from the male audience than from the fellow female viewers. In contrast, it would be interesting to see how males react to male contributors in contrast to female-led discussions on the same theme.

Another observation I anticipate you will find is that there will be more comments based on the appearance of the female contributor. This may be more obvious or revealing based on whether the broadcaster has a photo posted versus those who chose opting to simply use their name. For example, blondes have a stereotype of being "less intelligent", and there have been studies that actually show how men are less likely to take them seriously in the professional world. It is a sad reality of our time as more women are taking on leadership roles and surpassing men in higher education. I digress, but a fellow feminist friend of mine told me that she thinks the more intelligent women are more frequently targeted and harassed by (insecure) men. Concurrently, the rise in women's career/academics have perhaps aggravated these types of men to a higher degree, thereby prompting more harassment.

In any event, I applaud your work on this project and look forward to seeing what you uncover! The results could be groundbreaking and will certainly shed light on a topic in much need of enhanced public awareness.

--AmyAnn0644 08:52, 5 March 2014 (EST)

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• Assignment 2:

• Can websites with online forums, control the behavior of its members for the sake of growth?

• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Dan_Coronado_assignmen_2b.docx

Dancoron 09:47, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Hello, Dan! Admittedly, I had never heard of “Anandtech.com” prior to reading your prospectus, but I’m glad that you told me about it. I really like their “Cable TVification” assessment of the internet in recent years. After reading your prospectus it seems to me that you are focusing on Lessig’s norms as regulators within the site’s forums, as well as “laws" instituted by the website. It is an interesting subject, because as you say, this particular forum is very successful in fostering an environment where users are likely to return. That said, I see that you qualify users of the site as “good,” and I’m curious to know how you will operationalize this term for your project. You mention words like “courteous” and “helpful,” but I’m wondering: what characteristics do you think you will look for when observing, in order to qualify a “good user.” For comparison, do you have an example of what behavior that “bad” users might entail? Lastly, I see that there are literally millions of post on the forum; you may wish to focus on a specific topic and/or date range in order to have a more manageable data set to observe. I’m interested to see what you’re project will entail, especially being that I am also observing forums for my project. Vance.puchalski 23:00, 1 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Vance, thanks for taking the time to look at my prospectus - Basically, what I meant to convey is that these are the characteristics of a "good" website, a website that demonstrates use and activity to by the administrators and its members/users. What I will be focusing in on is, how is the site's control policy administered and conveyed to its members, both historically and presently, through the links in my prospectus – and to answer your question about bad behavior in online forums, yes I will, as I think that is a critical component regarding context – And this also goes out too Marissa as well, what I really wanted to focus in on was how does bad behavior and is control policies in its forums, effect a webite economically - as I think ths would even go further towards Lessig's FOUR norms of regulation on where the dot lands - but for obvious reasons, that could end up being too big. However, I still might toss something like that in - My goal is to pick out a couple of instances of the control poliy being implemented and see what the results were based on specific incident/instance was there a ban and how long was it for - what was the reason, what was the community's response to that action and so forth... - Again, thanks for the input and suggestions.Dancoron 09:59, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Dan, forums have proven very useful mediums for learning and troubleshooting. What would be interesting is how forums deal with covert advertising I.e. Forum posters who may be businesses, subtly advertising their own goods or services under the guise of responding to threads without paying for advertising rights. Would paid advertisers pose potential conflicts of interest to the neutrality of forums? I'd also be interested in seeing how you compare the Anandtech's forum controls against others. Would you choose similar types of forums with respect to content type? Marissa1989 07:47, 2 March 2014 (EST)

Marrisa, I tried to include your response with Vance's up top :O) Dancoron 09:59, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Hey Dan! If you are mainly comparing Anandtech’s forum site policies, maybe you could also compare past versions of the rules? Also, you might want to see if Anandtech has any unique features in toxicity control that would make it standout from other less successful forums. Overall the concept is fantastic! Emmanuelsurillo 00:16, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Emmanuel, thanks for the feedback - ya, I am going to try and put some type of onus on Anandtech as well, and see if some of their reactions to their policies could be considered a little over zealous or a bit too far reaching. Most times, their admins/moderators are pretty decent, but again, like everyone else, there are times when a few of their admins/moderators could be having a bad day and maybe be a little too heavy handed - we'll see, stay tuned to find out. just a little humor :o) Thanks again for the input.Dancoron 09:59, 3 March 2014 (EST)

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• Assignment Two:

• A Web of Lies and Licentious Lure: Temptation, Divorce, and the Internet

• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Divorce_and_the_Internet_Harvard_Project.docx

--AmyAnn0644 17:24, 24 February 2014 (EST)

First of all, GREAT TITLE!!! Second of all, this seems like an extremely interesting subject and I'd love to read more about it. I do wonder whether you'll be able to get access to the material you might be looking for by doing "undercover investigation" and the other research methods you listed. It seems to me that the kind of exchanges you're discussing would be difficult to observe on Facebook as they likely wouldn't be out in the open. I may be completely mistaken, but I was also under the impression that the assignment encouraged examining a more open forum or something of the like where observation was more feasible. I know that there are public matchmaking sites and I would assume there are also forums geared towards those who wish to have illicit affairs, so that might be an area into which you may want to delve. Castille 02:19, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Castille - Thank you for your uplifting encouragement and I am also glad you brought up the open forum. I did not realize that we could not go undercover in doing this but now I am in the process of searching for an open forum like the ones you mentioned that are targeted towards marriage communities grappling with the problems of infidelity on the internet. I am crossing my fingers that I can find the right resource because I am passionate about the topic! --AmyAnn0644 15:22, 4 March 2014 (EST)

I also love the topic and find the subject very interesting! I share Castille's concerns above. It seems challenging to get access to the materials you will need to answer these questions. I wonder if there is an open forum somewhere in the internet where angry divorcees can go to vent about how social media ruined their marriage? It may be a biased site, but it may provide resources to other statistics or materials that may help? Or if there is a community you could observe and monitor the degree of online flirting? (Margorm 14:48, 2 March 2014 (EST))

Margorm - Thank you for the feedback. I admit I am less advanced in studying the internet and technology as a whole, but I am in the process of finding a more narrowed down open forum that targets this topic. Due to my occupation, I do not have social media and have lived my personal life mostly "off-line" unlike most in my generation. That being said, this is a great learning opportunity for me to delve into these online communities and construct a study that unveils cyber social norms and how they impact the modern family. --AmyAnn0644 15:22, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Wow very cool subject - and one I am sure that deserves a lot of attention these days. With that said, it seems that this subject matter could be a thesis or dissertation as the material collected probably seems to be endless. I was wondering what specific community are you going to target on facebook, as this looks to be potentially a very large paper? I have to admit that I am fascinated to see what other statistics this might uncover, as I am sure we all have heard stories of spouses leaving their significant other for someone they met online. Yet maybe, you can focus on something more specific then a facebook community - as there might be other communities or even forums that have support groups for such instances or circumstances that you mentioned earlier. Maybe seeing how they interact with each other and what rules or policies can be observed and commented on. Overall the topic is really great and I am sure it will have some very interesting content that is fascinating.Dancoron 19:13, 2 March 2014 (EST)

Dancoron - I appreciate the compliment and the insight! I mentioned to the others that I am in the process of searching for the perfect forum to study but finding one is harder than I had hoped. I know there are sites like Ashley Madison which are extremely controversial in that they actually are tryst websites for married couples who want to have discreet affairs. There is actually a group out there that is advertising and trying to garner support to shutdown the site, but this goes back to the freedom of speech dilemma that we have been discussing in class. Obviously, controversial sites like this and sugardaddy.com have a negative impact on society but measuring or controlling this is more complex. I think an open forum where users discuss the issue would be most beneficial for me to find; yet, I am wondering how to compile the data of my observation? It will be more qualitative driven than quantitative depending on what I uncover.--AmyAnn0644 15:22, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Your title choice definitely catches the eye and I think you are on to a very interesting subject choice here. I am going to echo the sentiment of a few others here who have pointed out that you may want to explore other forums for gathering information. I think a facebook community would be difficult to uncover what you are looking for. Is there a blog somewhere in which people go to ask advice in dealing with such issues? If this really contributes to 60% of divorces I am sure there are more sites out there that you can leverage for your research. It also seems to me like you are hinting at two different subjects, the first being pornography and divorce, the second being social media and divorce (in particular facebook). I would reccommend sticking to the first subject, not only is it more unique, but it also removes the issue associated with using facebook as a source (I think we were asked to avoid it). I think you have a great start here and can't wait to see the final result. Drogowski 13:56, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Drogowski - Thank you for your helpful and supportive comments! I think that the pornography angle may be better than trying to deal with social media as a whole. That was my initial thought but the feedback helps! I will look into forums targeting pornography addiction online and divorce. I am sure there has to be some forum out there for struggling marriages in these situations. In college I will never forget an amazing presentation from a man who came to our school to preach against online pornography. This man traveled around the country to give his presentation because he said his online addiction ruined his marriage and he wanted to educate and bring awareness to the issue.--AmyAnn0644 15:22, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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Very interesting subject matter Amy!

You may have selected one of the most controversial and highly emotional subjects out of all proposals presented. I would agree with Dancoron. The questions outlined could lead to a doctoral dissertation. Additionally, Castille does bring a good point to light, in that we are encouraged to avoid any work as an “alias”.

I think many of us are having trouble (to include myself) narrowing the research down to a tolerable amount of data collection for an in depth analysis.

In your proposal, you suggested comparing and contrasting divorce rates. What sources would you be comparing and contrasting? Are you speaking to different communities in the United States or on a larger level? Or, are you addressing the male/female divorce ratio?

Secondly, will you be cross-examining two nations who have access to Facebook, in efforts to compare and contrast divorce ratios in direct correlation to Facebook usage?

If your research goals are to use Facebook as the platform for study concerning divorce, it may be difficult to get access to this information unless you are accepted into a person’s profile, group or community. In efforts to stay objective, I don’t think you would want to study anyone that you personally know. Pornography could be a difficult study, in direct correlation to pornography with the controls Facebook allows for each individual user.

Would it be possible for you to follow a smaller, more open group that readily blogs/views pornography that is open to the public for data collection in a short period of time?

Unfortunately this is completely out of my arena. I have never been married and I don’t view porn sites. But, your topic is fabulously interesting.

Good luck with your research and I can’t wait to see your results.

--Melissaluke 20:29, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Melissa - Thank you so much for your encouraging words and helpful feedback! I did not realize that this could be a future dissertation but if I end up really enjoying the research I might turn into one as I still have not decided my topic yet! I am very passionate about the topic because the internet has become such a part of our lives and no doubt impacts families, relationships, marriages, and the way we (on a human level) think about what is right and wrong morally.

When I wrote up my Prospectus I was a bit general with it but I think I will stick to pornography online and its impact on marriage. For now, I will steer away from comparing/contrasting different nations, divorce rates, etc. because that might be too wide/inconclusive in scope. My research may be more qualitative than quantitative but it appears that may be the case for many projects. I have always gravitated towards controversial topics and this one has been a long passion of mine since college. For now, I am in search of online forums that target couples struggling with pornography online addictions and my aim will be to analyze their conversations and draw my conclusions on these observations. In the analysis, I am wondering if we are allowed to quote the users or how we can effectively encapsulate the findings? Any advice on this avenue is highly appreciated!

Thanks again for the help! I feel fortunate to have this information-sharing forum with my classmates! --AmyAnn0644 15:22, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Assignment Two:
• Who has the right to control our personal genetic information?
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Monroe_Assignment_Two.docx

Margorm 18:30, 23 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Margo, I'm not sure if you'll ever read this, but if you do, would you by any chance be interested in working on your project in a group? I'm highly interested in this topic (in part because I'm considering founding my next startup in this field), and I've been following it both from a distance as an observer, and from the inside as a customer of 23andMe. I'd love to dig deeper and work with you on this project. Cheers, Philip Seyfi --Seifip 19:28, 24 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Margorm! I love your topic. Your prospectus, combined with our brief discussions in class have really made me wonder- if 23andme is part of the first iteration of DNA decoding tools for personal use, where will we be in 25 years (: Just my general thoughts on this great topic- my comments specifically regarding your prospectus are below:

• I really like that you asked whether the FDA is the best agency to regulate DNA testing, especially your last sentence what regulatory bodies outside of the FDA should be paying attention to this personalized and identifiable database?. Throughout this class, I've had similar types of questions many times.
• It is very cool that you are taking an empirical approach to the community discussion, however it seems that the data you will collect (assessing changes in attitudes of community members) will be more apt to answer your 2nd question (How has the ban on delivering health-related risk assessments to the 23andMe community impacted the consumer’s trust toward the product?), rather than the underlined question that I referred to in my previous bullet.

Please note that I am most interested in your underlined question regarding the FDA! However my advice is that your second question regarding attitudes & trust may be easier to study with respect to your methodology.

Erin Saucke-Lacelle 12:07, 25 February 2014 (EST) - updated 03 March 2014 ~11pm

It seems clear that although institutional positions and statements are mostly contrary to the patentability of human genes as such, however international patent offices (U.S., Europe, and Japan) have accepted the patenting of human DNA sequences if they meet the technical and legal requirements, including the “utility”. DNA occurs naturally in the human body and should not be patented by a single company that can then use its patents to limit scientific research and the free exchange of ideas. As said by Koepsell “Laws of patent are meant to be used to protect inventions — things that engineers are doing — not things that scientist discover” (Holman, 2007). A regulatory block of decoding tools for personal use would seem to be an exercise in economic control. I believe you'll find an ample supply of public opinion in regards to attitudes of community members. VACYBER 10:28, 4 March 2014 (EST)

-Margo- In relation to your topic, what is your opinion as to Apple recently integrating fingerprint scanners into the iPhone (5s)? Do you believe that Apple can store our personal information through this technology? Benh 13:49, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Margo- Absolutely love the topic choice you've made. I recently took a course that focused on the ethics of biotechnology and found it to be one of the most intriguing topics I have studied. 23 & me is an excellent site to discuss in your work, as I am sure you are aware of the relationship between the site and google. There will be no shortage of sources for your research and I think judging from your prospectus you are off to an amazing start. If you would be interested in working together on this as a group project I would be very interested in collaborating with you. I would propose creating a website of our findings (which I can create) and can provide some additional insight on the topic. Please send me an email @ danielrogowski@fas.harvard.edu if that would interest you. Regards, Daniel. Drogowski 14:17, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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Hi Margo,

I am sorry that I have never heard of 23andme. However, you have opened my eyesight into this new subject and has raised my attention to this concern. Also, I am really interested in your question "is the FDA the correct agency to regulate 23andMe, a company who claims to be an information - not diagnostic - service?" This also leads to another question, can we hold 23andme liable for the health information that they provide to the users as they are claiming to be an information - not diagnostic - service?

Jolietheone 15:37, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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Castille 18:58, 22 February 2014 (EST)

• Assignment Two:
• LESS IS MORE?; Tumblr's Policies Against Self-Harm
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:CastilleRath_ASSIGNMENT_TWO.doc

Castille, I think you have a really excellent topic here. My first thought is that it would probably be helpful to choose a particular self-harming behavior that's discussed on Tumblr to help narrow the scope of your work. Additionally, while these issues can and often are related, I imagine that the Tumblr communities that surround each issue probably have a distinct culture. This topic makes me think of the Jessica McKenzie piece, "Obeying French Courts, Twitter Hands Over Identities of Users Who Employed Anti-Semitic Hashtag" we read in week four. I would be curious to know how many of the controversial hashtags are actually used in subversive ways. Some of the reactions to Tumblr's policy change seem to touch on this when users write that they use these tags to address their own struggle with self-harming behavior. After these policy changes got some press, did it shed enough light on these self-harm blogs to inspire users to use these potentially triggering hashtags in new and positive ways?

Jkelly 13:56, 26 February 2014 (EST)

Thanks for your feedback! I'm planning to narrow the scope to primarily center on pro-suicide blog postings, but I think I'll have to use some other examples such as cutting and possibly even pro-eating disorder blogs, as they all seem to interact with each other. It appears from my research thus far that the communities are intrinsically linked much more so than I expected. I agree, it would be interesting to see if things have changed-- though I'm not quite sure how to gauge pre-policy versus post-policy changes. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them! Castille 02:19, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Castille, fantastic topic! I like your approach to analysing this topic and its a subject which is very controversial & personal. I agree, the main challenge for any Government is to try and regulate the numerous blogs and hashtags on sites like Tumblr, effectively putting a suicide watch on them. Would this be an effective use of tax payer funds and how many suicides could this prevent? What would be the process be if a potential suicide victim was identified? We have to be careful not to act in a knee-jerk reaction when there is a death and expect the Government to do something about it. I think there needs to be a balance of responsibility between these site operators and the Government. I'm very interested in the outcome of your topic. Marissa1989 07:47, 2 March 2014 (EST)

Castille --

This is such an excellent topic choice and it is so important for our society today, in particular for the youth and young vulnerable minds of our generation. The fact that the site changed its policy to allow blogs that engaged in "discussion, support, encouragement, and documenting the experiences of those dealing with difficult conditions like anorexia, bulimia, and other forms of self-injury” may actually make the policy more convoluted for the website than it had hoped. In one sense, it seems that they were making amends to promote free speech and also to allow healthy dialogue about such behaviors. However, there becomes a "grey line" as to what discussions are supportive or encouraging against such behaviors. For example, an element of perception is involved in that some users (particularly immature, younger generations) may view discussion boards about anorexic "experiences" as an enticement of curiosity to engage in such behaviors rather than to refrain from them. As your research unfolds, it will be interesting to see how the "new" policy fares amongst the users. Often times, it seems when a website makes a new policy, it is loosely "enforced" for a while and then it eventually dies out and goes back to square one. Maybe a compare and contrast of the impact before and after the two policies were enacted could be an interesting angle.

I am interested in how you would monitor the data from the group within or just as an outside observer? You mentioned that you would like to join the group (if that is allowed), and I am thinking of doing the same thing in my research. However, someone had mentioned that this may not be allowed or that we are not supposed to use an alias? It looks like we both need to clarify this part.

Great work and I look forward to seeing the results!

--AmyAnn0644 13:14, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Watson
• To Publish Or Not: Social Media and the Syrian Conflict
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Watson_Assignment2.docx

Watson 23:33, 23 February 2014 (EST)

Greetings Watson!

A few questions:

How would you determine which distribution channel the Syrian opposition used the most?

How would you be able to detect the limitations of public information if it has not been disclosed?

If you were to select two media channels to compare/contrast, would there be enough data available in those two communities to properly “diagnose”, or is the data withheld from the public?

If you chart a paper on what capacitated the Syrian opposition groups to communicate their cause, will this information lead to a report or a true communal study on the Internet?

Very interesting proposal and I wish you the best in your research!

--Melissaluke 20:47, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Thank you for the insightful questions, Melissa!Watson 15:45, 4 March 2014 (EST)

This is a very interesting topic. There is a lot to examine here, especially since a large part of the attacks and arguments happened online. An interesting topic would be to mention the Syrian Electronic Army and the many acts of online vandalism that they did. You can find more info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Electronic_Army The Internet was certainly a tool in the conflict. An interesting focus would be to investigate their motives and the impact this electronic army had on the Syrian conflict.

Lpereira 21:01, 3 March 2014 (EST)

This is very helpful, thank you!Watson 15:45, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Greetings, Watson!

I am intrigued by your topic because I truly believe that social media is becoming the new stomping ground for collective action and has incredible potential to spawn modern revolutions of many types. Have you considered comparing and contrasting how the Wall Street movement/protest was influenced by social media comparable to the events in Syria? I read an article a while back that discussed how the internet in Syria was literally shut down for several days and there was great speculation that this was actually an inside job to prevent the power of social media and communication. What a frightening and disturbing abuse of power! This act alone may show to a certain extent how the power of the internet and social media was suppressed by the regime. I wish I could recall the article but if I find it I will send it your way.

I am speculative that social media is more powerful than youtube in terms of collective action, but this is a conjecture. The youtube video tried in that Garcia vs. Google case was said to have prompted the entire uprising yet only about 500 people had actually viewed the video. It seems the video became a type of "figure" for the push and was used as more of a platform by the social media community to promote action even if most had not even seen the video. For better of worse, the "mob mentality" is alive and well on the internet. In any event, I am curious to see how your research pans out!

--AmyAnn0644 13:33, 4 March 2014 (EST)

You raised some excellent points, thank you for helping! Watson

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• Assignment 2
• Instagram: a public space for free expression?
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:LRS_IS_prospectus.docx

Lrsanchez 21:42, 24 February 2014 (EST)

Laura – Instagram is not only the biggest mobile photo sharing app, but is also now owned by Facebook, and thus a disproportionate amount of mobile peer to peer communication falls to the censorship whims of this company. This is an incredibly worthy area to research, if not lofty. Since Instagram now allows direct, private communication of photos, you have to wonder if there is a difference in how moderated these communications are versus a post intended for the public that uses hashtags (let us not forget that the hashtag’s original use was searchability, not irony). That said it might be very difficult monitor the differences in speed and effectiveness of what gets censored without interfering with the community you’re observing. One way may be to follow news events (such as this recent one: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9448993) that show Instagram’s policy enforcement in action. The issue with that approach is that it is cherry picking the successful takedowns rather than observing uncensored posts that are breaking the terms of service. Another option may be monitoring Instagram’s list of banned hashtags and searching synonyms or alternate hashtags, but again this is a difficult aspect of their policy to observe in action.

I believe there is still strategizing to be done to design your observation of the community, above merely reporting their policy. I hope my take somehow helps you with this endeavor!

MikeJohnson 09:55, 1 March 2014 (EST)

Hi, Laura! I think Instagram is a really great topic and will provide a massive amount of material, which I think can be beneficial and detrimental. It seems you might want to consider focusing on a specific aspect of censorship on Instagram, like nudity, drug references, or profanity (if any of those are prohibited-- I don't know their specific terms of use). What aspect of Instagram's censorship do you find to have the highest potential to become problematic? Is their choice as a company to disallow certain messages/images actually infringing on free speech, when they don't have any power over whether an individual chooses to express himself (IE he/she is still capable of posting the material on another site), they merely control/monitor the postings on their own site? Castille 02:19, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Laura!

I am not familiar with Instagram but I know it is a very popular application with my friends and I feel out of the loop for not being involved with it. As you mention this application is extremely popular worldwide so studying the nodes of its infrastructure and the social norms, policies, etc. associated with it is a valiant effort for understanding our modern generation and evolving cyber world. Are there any particular rules or norms that you are aiming to target? For example, perhaps studying one specific violations related to pornography, harmful behavior, violence, etc. may help to narrow it down. I admit I am not familiar with Instagram, but I would imagine a site of this magnitude has a tremendously challenging struggle in policing such offenses. Is there a way for users to report offenses observed within the community? If so, I would be curious to know how often reports are filed and whether or not they are acted on. Many times, I feel that users on sites like this witness offensive material but refrain from acting on it because they do not believe their report will be followed-up on. It would be interesting (I know this would be difficult to do) to find which types of users are most judicious in filing reports on offensive behavior. For example, I would guess that the teenage generation is less concerned or bothered by offensive material that may have become immune to them in contrast to members of the older generation that have jumped on the social media bandwagon later in life.

Best of luck in your cyber adventure!

--AmyAnn0644 14:08, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Jradoff 21:56, 24 February 2014 (EST)
• Comparing Regulation of Free Expression in Online Game Forums
• Prospectus Text

Hi Jon- My first thoughts on your prospectus have to do with scope. In comparing these three different games, I think there might be too many factors to consider-- subscription-based vs. free, PC vs. iOS, etc. I wonder if it wouldn't be more manageable to tackle your research questions if you focused in on two games that were more similar so that you have fewer variables to contend with when you're thinking about your research questions. My instinct is that working with WoW and League of Legends would work since you can still attempt to tackle each of Lessig's four forces. I'm not sure how much the law in the US varies from that in Finland, but removing Clash of Clans from the equation might help the narrow your scope in that sense as well. Jkelly 14:27, 2 March 2014 (EST)

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• jkelly
• Does "toxic" online culture stifle feminist discourse?
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Jkelly_Assignment_2.odt

Jkelly 22:15, 24 February 2014 (EST)

Jane – It is a great idea to compare feminist discussion within the confines of a feminist-oriented website to discussion in a public space without this slant. The regulations on discussion are obviously going to be wildly different in each of these communities. You identify Facebook and Twitter as less thoughtful in their discussion for feminist topics - perhaps as a result of their differences in comment policy? I was interested in the comment policy of Bitch Media that you mentioned in the prospectus, so I looked it up. (For others: it can be found here: http://bitchmagazine.org/comments-policy) One line that stood out to me was the following: “As far as moderation of this space goes, guest bloggers moderate the comments on their respective posts, but website moderators will step in when necessary.” – Does this mean that each blog post is technically regulated in a different way? It is not a deal killer if so, because it sparked the following idea: Because FB and Twitter are big places, could you find a smaller community (that is not inherently feminist-oriented) that is discussing the same thing as mentioned in one or a few of the Bitch Media posts, and compare the discussions directly? Just a thought!

MikeJohnson 11:54, 26 February 2014 (EST)

Does anyone else see the awesome irony of a woman named Jane writing about Bitch magazine? Am I the only one on here who was a teenage girl in the '90s? I remember clear as day, reading Bitch's criticisms of Jane back in 1998. BTW Jkelly I hope you understand that as a very longtime fan of Bitch magazine I am in no way criticizing your project, I actually think it's such a cool topic. You & I would probably have been awesome friends as teenagers. p.s. This doesn't count as a comment on the prospectus!!! I hope. Erin Saucke-Lacelle 21:44, 26 February 2014 (EST)

Haha, thanks so much for sharing that Erin!! I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing, but when you see words and phrases like "fake, sanctimonious," "self-obsessed," "narcissism," "blithe unconcern with which they suggest spending huge amounts of money on items of debatable utility," and "overweening focus on the superficial, ersatz do-it-for-you tone, and fake individualism" in just a quick scan of the article, it's bound to be a fun read. Thanks! Jkelly 08:53, 27 February 2014 (EST)

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Watson, It looks like you have powerful ideas to work with. It seems like you have found a great, debatable field to jump into. You first paragraph had a number of broad, bold questions, and you did slightly narrow your possibilities as you continued. To narrow it further than social media sites, which are quite large, would you consider choosing, perhaps a specific community page on different site to compare? Something like a Facebook group page on both sides of the conflict and a myspace page from both sides as well? If I were writing your paper based on social media, those 4 pages alone would be more than enough data. That being said, I think you will find a great topic here given what sounds like a strong, interesting research subject. If this were your first draft of a short paper I would recommend eliminating a lot of vague questioning from the beginning, but here, it presents a number of good ideas from which to find your niche. Good Luck! - Art.Mescon

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• Name: Erin Saucke-Lacelle
• Prospectus title: Effect of rules & regulations on political discussion
• Link to prospectus: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/sites/is2014/images/ErinSaucke-Lacelle-Assignment2.pdf

Erin Saucke-Lacelle 23:33, 24 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Erin, I agree with your hypothesis about alienation. For example the weak and poor citizens do not have access to the internet and will be left out of the discussion. Their needs are often under-represented or not represented at all. Ichua 08:04, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Thank you for the feedback Ichua! Your comment makes me wonder though- for this project, we are assigned to studying an online community. Wouldn't the nature of the assignment therefore assume that all students completing this assignment will be leaving out the interest and opinions of people who do not have access to the Internet? Also, I am curious what you mean when you refer to 'weak' citizens? Again, thanks so much for the feedback! Erin Saucke-Lacelle 11:47, 25 February 2014 (EST)

"Weak" = "Not powerful", have no voice or influence in government discussions and policy-making. Some politicians even believe these people should not participate in voting. Typically viewed as a country's liability rather than an asset. In a country like the Philippines with a total population of 90 million, a great economic revolution can happen if the 40 million in poverty and unemployed are mobilized. Ichua 13:49, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Erin - I think the comparison of two subreddits with different regulations is a solid method of studying the effect of regulation on political discussion. I also believe the two subreddits you have chosen make for a great comparison. The only reservation I have in your prospectus is the focus on word count of the regulations as indicative of the rigor of the moderation. For example, one subreddit may simply say "Discussion of Russia is forbidden" - which in five words hampers more conversation than either of the two sets of regulations do in actuality. I do not think the word count is a meaningful statistic. Apropos your question of whether those without internet access will be under-represented in our studies, I would say that because we are focusing on specific small communities to begin with, we are under-representing the reactions (to control) of everyone in the world who is not in that community. The vast majority of the world is not included. Our focus is on only those within the community itself that we can observe. Ultimately I believe your project is designed very well. Since I too am studying a subreddit for my project, I will be following your progress closely!

MikeJohnson 11:23, 26 February 2014 (EST)

Hi MikeJohnson! Thank you very much for the feedback, very good point about the empirical data on the rules, hopefully I can expand when I have 2500 words to work with. BTW, I just wanted to comment- the question about people without Internet access was actually Ichua's question. My understanding of the assignment is to study only online communities for this assignment (and not offline humans, which excludes anyone who doesn't or can't access the Internets). My question that Ichua commented on is whether "users are intimidated by the effort or research required to post, thus limiting participation to a narrow audience". Sidenote- Thank you very much for introducing us to the Twitch Plays Pokémon phenomenon in class. So freaking cool. My God do I ever love the Internet.-Erin Saucke-Lacelle

Thanks Erin! I think it is absolutely amazing as well, and I've never played Pokémon. If you would like to read my prospectus and help me think about potential research questions using their subreddit, I am all ears. MikeJohnson 11:34, 27 February 2014 (EST)

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• Name: Ian Chua
• Prospectus title: Resolving National Issues With Online Collaborative And Interactive Cognitive Mapping
• Link to prospectus: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/sites/is2014/images/LSTU-E120_Assignment2_IanChua.pdf

Ichua 06:31, 25 February 2014 (EST)

I learned from Erin that a project of this nature has its limitations. Government leaders or concerned individuals need to go to Ground Zero and observe for themselves the problems of the poor and weak citizenry. And if democratic rule has failed to eliminate poverty, why not consider compassionate rule?

@Ichua you know, I might be wrong!!! Not sure yet, I guess, til we hear back from more students, or the prof/TAs (: Erin Saucke-Lacelle 15:40, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Ian, great topic and I like the innovative approach you're taking. I agree that social media is an important medium for Governments to gauge public mood or opinion. In fact, Australia's Prime Minister, Tony Abbott recently spent $4 million to analyse social media and gauge the public mood on certain policies he introduced. From my understanding, you're looking to build something like a mind map to organise the social media feedback and also meta tag it? This would effectively allow content to be searched and categorised similar to a knowledge base. Just a couple of questions though....How will you apply the cognitive map? Do you have a specific social media medium and Government in mind? Looking forward to reading the final outcome! Marissa1989 07:42, 2 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Ian, I believe your cognitive map is a great tool to solve the problem of transparency and traceability of complaints towards government policies posted on social media. However, I believe that building the tool yourself is not only time consuming but it makes the second part, which is the essence of the assignment, depend on the success of the map. I would propose for you to focus on a map that serves similar purposes (if existing) that is already running with an established community. I do not mean to get your hopes down but just help you be aware of the time constraints. Luciagamboaso 15:09, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Ian - This is such an incredible idea! You are recognizing a major dilemma in that internet users are not being provided with adequate channels for voicing governmental concerns in a consolidated manner. The biggest problem is having a website "catch on" and stick within the greater online community, especially under a national construct. As we have seen many websites live and die online, it is crucial to establish a site that everyone will gravitate towards and hopefully continue to do so. From our Wikipedia project we can see the qualities of a site that appears to flourish online based on its usability and "familiarity". How do you plan to advertise the map and to create it in such a way that it attracts a large pool of participants and to ensure that it is "user-friendly"? Drawing on such tactics can enhance the product and reach a wider audience especially amongst communities of varying backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses (particularly those communities with little access to the internet whom may have the deepest qualms with the government). I applaud your creative approach to this problem! Good luck on your medical exams! - Amy --AmyAnn0644 08:49, 12 March 2014 (EDT)

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• Name: P. Scott Lapinski
• Prospectus title: “Crowd Control”. Content and community controls which impact scholarly communication within the PubMed Commons scientific forum
• Link to prospectus: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/sites/is2014/images/PSL_Assignment2.rtf

Psl 11:57, 25 February 2014 (EST)

I was unaware of this community exits, and I think it will be a great place for graduate students and researchers to find which papers they should be reading. For example, if I need to utilize a method that is slightly outside of my field, this community will help identify the appropriate and esteemed papers. This may also serve as a better model for Peer Review (one day). Because PubMed is already an exclusive database primarily for biomedical researchers, I am interested to what you observe. I am worried that because only pubmed users (or people using a University IP address) have access to pubmed articles, open access will play a minimal role in which articles spark more conversation. Unfortunately, people tend to converse about papers in high-impact journals like Nature and Science, and I would expect these articles to compete with the open access ones. Perhaps an observation of which articles receive complaints about not being open-access for the curious science lover who is no longer in academia may be an interesting perspective.. (Margorm 13:45, 2 March 2014 (EST))

Hi Paul! Thank you for introducing me to PubMed Commons! I have to agree with Margorm: people who are 'allowed' to comment on PubMed articles often have access to most articles through their Universities or Institutions. That being said, since first reading your prospectus, I've thought so much about the access to PubMed Commons. In order to be part of the community, the major factor is that you are an author of a paper appearing in PubMed. An author can 'invite themselves' only if PubMed has your email address on file. For personal/professional interest of being a member of this site, I've checked with 8 different people (who are all corresponding authors on separate PubMed articles) whether they could invite themselves, and only 1 of the 8 authors could gain access. I understand why it is important for PubMed to confirm identity, however I believe this factor will strongly limit the adoption of PubMed Commons. It should also be noted that I am not an average PubMed author- most scientists I talked to about this think 'social media is stupid' or a waste of time. Very few will go through the trouble of asking 8 separate authors to try to log in, until they find one person who can. However, exactly as Margo pointed out, "This may also serve as a better model for Peer Review (one day)".

Erin Saucke-Lacelle 23:29, 3 March 2014 (EST)

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• Name: VACYBER
• Prospectus title: Regulatory steps for hacking tools in light of the tremendous potential for fiscal and data loss
• Link to prospectus:http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:VACYBER_Assignment2.docx

VACYBER 12:46, 25 February 2014 (EST)

I can see where this topic would make an interesting focal point for a review article or commentary on the exploitation opportunities, (legal and criminal) that open source software packages like these permit. As an administrator of several IT systems myself, reading your prospectus has made me curious to learn more about NESSUS and Metasploit, and perhaps use them to test out weaknesses in my own servers.

Let's continue along that thought...and say I will download and experiment with this software... I'm using this scenario "hypothetically" in hopes that it may help you focus more on the key question(s) you are hoping to answer, and to also consider "from where" you will be able to make some observations to address that question. In other words, where might you be able to follow some online community activity over the next few weeks, and observe some interactions between the users, developers, and IT administrators who work with these software packages?

So, after just now learning of these open source packages, I want to download them on my Linux box and experiment. I want to see how others have installed, implemented, and customized the software to exploit a variety of possibilities. Is there an open community where I can lurk and maybe participate in a discussion to learn about various ways I can use this software to test out my servers for vulnerabilities and bugs? What kind of controls might I be subjected to within that community that may prevent me from discussing specifics about what known vulnerabilities have been discovered, and what security holes one can exploit? If I discover a major security flaw, can (or should) I document this within that online community? Are there normative, legal, and/or architectural controls that prevent or discourage divulging too much information within his community? I noticed a discussion forum at http://discussions.nessus.org/welcome, and https://community.rapid7.com/community/metasploit... would these be the communities you were considering?

Anyway, hoping this helps out. I just wanted to raise these questions as a way to help you identify the specific online community where some observable activity will occur, and focus in on what controls you hope to be able to see playing-out during the rest of the semester. You may already have that in mind, but it wasn't in the prospectus, so I thought I'd raise the questions here. I think knowing the answer to these questions will help put the ideas into the context of the Final Project's objectives and should also help with the next task of building the outline in Assignment 3. Psl 14:25, 3 March 2014 (EST)

This is excellent topic! Cybersecurity or technology security—and its development, in general—is a burgeoning field in the tech space. From what I gather, your topic addresses security and privacy issues between entity and consumer, and the ramifications of such. A good question you raised was, “Should hacking tools be regulated considering the tremendous potential for fiscal and data loss?” Absolutely, there should be some kind of regulation. One could think of hacking tools (i.e., those for systems testing) as analogous to dangerous materials in that in the wrong hands, they could wreak havoc once deployed. For instance, there are certain international regulations for nuclear material, the mount kept or obtained by a certain country, and the like. The question may go down to intent. Is an entity obtaining and/or using such material for good ends? Hacking is somewhat of a nebulous word, because hacking for good reasons (i.e., testing) is an integral part of systems, but hacking for nefarious reasons by an unknown entity is another thing altogether. As a matter of opinion, there is a stasis in the ‘white-hat’ versus ‘black-hat’ idiom, as it does not fully encapsulate the various areas in the field. That said, it is worth noting that some large tech companies have systems locks in the event of an unknown entity trying to access their servers, despite their release of patches.

I hope this is helpful and I look forward to reading your paper! Watson 15:45, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Name: Twood
• Prospectus Title: Online Independent Music Communities: The Mechanisms and Effects of Copyright Control
• Link: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Twood_Assignment2.rtf

Twood 14:03, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Somehow the uploaded RTF file had been converted to a CALC spreadsheet file, making some of the contents hard to read. Ichua 15:08, 27 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Twood. I find your paper topic to be incredibly interesting and well-thought out. I wish I had constructive criticism to give you, but I find that you are on the right path. My only question at the moment: how do you plan on measuring the response of community members to the each sites' control mechanisms? Lrsanchez 11:41, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Twood, I find this to be a very cool topic and being a musician myself, makes it even more so. I have never ever been a fan of sampling music outright and then adding a new beat and some remixing to make it one's own, just not my style. I like the prospect of you examining a smaller or less commercialized community musically (as compared to You tube). Again, as own who owns small studio at home and records pretty solidly, it is always great to see musicians recording and producing their own stuff from scratch with small home studio setups. I hope you show an example of a community catching someone in the act of stealing another's music or idea and what the outcome of that interaction will be - because as musicians we always borrow, modify or improves someone else's cord progression or guitar lick to make it our own. So, it would be great to see if you could hint about that distinction - as I am sure it comes up a lot in communities like this. But, overall really nice topic to concentrate on.Dancoron 19:42, 2 March 2014 (EST)

You have a clearly focused thesis! The topic of copyright law as it relates to online communities is arguably still in its early development stages. Digital music and the conventional music industry as a whole (which some former music executives have asserted as hardly the industry it once was!) struggles to reformat their former hard copy-based business model. BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC have had to make significant changes to the collection of mechanical royalties, which makes your analysis of the independent ecosystem all the more relevant. It will be interesting to see where and how the communities will develop given the changes in technology, and how laws to same might become more specialized. The beginnings of a Web 2.0-influenced idea will surely evolve via the adaptation of Web 3.0, which is still not quite a framework.

Best of luck in your paper!Watson 15:45, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Name: Cheikh Mbacke
• Prospectus Title: Re/Code: A Neutral Endorser of Disruptive Technology Companies
• Link: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Cheikh_Mbacke_Assignment_2.txt

cheikhmbacke 15:15, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Cheikh, I'm looking forward to reading your paper. Online technology journalism is indeed a most interesting industry... after all, a tech journalist with sufficient influence can single-handedly kill an up and coming technology project with billions in R&D costs, and this is particularly worrying given how easy it is for a competing company with a sufficient budget to influence said journalists, as well as how often these journalists write reviews having used the product in questions for mere minutes, or without necessary expertise in the are where such product can be useful. That said, my suggestion to you is to narrow your topic to one single research question. At the moment, you paper risks going astray as you intend to cover a wide array of very different concerns. --Seifip 12:06, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Cheikh, I too echo Seifip's suggestion about a more narrowed focus- this is a fascinating topic but could easily get bogged down. I have a friend who writes for wired and this is a common concern, that particularly influential voices in the consumer and tech review space can impact the success of a product or the cache of a given brand based on subjective and not always sound journalistic coverage. There is also a concern about sponsorship or heavy-handed promotion of certain products to tech journalists (or any niche industry coverage for that matter). Looking forward to the report! akk22 16:11, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Name: Emmanuelsurillo
• Prospectus title: "emmanuelsurillo_Assignment2.doc."
• Link to prospectus: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:%22emmanuelsurillo_Assignment2.doc.%22.docx Emmanuelsurillo 15:41, 25 February 2014 (EST)

You raise some great research questions to examine within these communities. You might want to narrow your focus more. Will you be talking about the legalities of “jail-breaking” and it’s effect on the Apple and Android market? Considering the topics we discussed in class, it might be interesting to develop your research to mention the view of major companies toward these forums and the rogue developers. Once an iphone is jail-broken, it losses its apple warranty coverage. This might be a topic you want to bring up with your research. Good luck! Lpereira 21:36, 3 March 2014 (EST)

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Greetings Emmanuel,

You have selected a really “hot” topic. Mobile applications appear to be taking over actual web development these days. I’m in the process of creating a new site, for the general public, to locate assistance after they have been harmed by other entities. The developer of my site highly recommended that I create a mobile app at the same time. He is correct and the only reason I do not plan to follow his suggestion is directly related to cost.

I’m unclear of the real statistics, but Internet users seem to be using phones as their selected source of information more frequently than computers. Most people carry their phones (even to bed) but fewer seem to be in constant travel with their laptop.

I am not familiar with the sites you listed in your proposal since I am not a mobile application developer, but I am happy to learn there are forums to enhance applications through large communities.

It appears many of our classmates are attempting to use a compare/contrast approach, which seems logical, if we want to identify how resourceful one community is versus another. Your research will be extremely useful to many, and I would like to pass your results onto my developer after you have completed all the hard work (smile).

A few questions for you:

“I want to compare how useful and productive these web sites are to the users end for accomplishing these goals.”

1. How do you plan to compare and contrast the central 7-9 questions outlined in your proposal for the final project? In other words, will you be able to summarize the data from each research question in one succinct paragraph to meet the page requirements? 2. Do you think it would be easier to select 2-3 questions presented in your proposal to dig a little deeper or perhaps ask a few others from the class to join you on a team to cover all the questions presented?

I ask these questions, because I am struggling with these issues myself. I believe if I ask enough people in our community who are using a similar approach, I will (eventually) determine a model that may be useful for my own research.

Another suggestion: Could we potentially find a group of people in our research community (class) that are interested in using a similar approach, but still collectively analyze the communities we selected for personal purposes? In other words, I am certain most students have selected the entities of study for some reason, such as personal satisfaction or business achievement. However, Andy has made it clear that he would entertain teams multiple times. In fact, the option has been posted on every page of our instructions for the main project. In fact, the option has been posted so many times that I am beginning to think he may be giving us a subtle hint or clue: “This assignment will be more effective if you work collectively together and you may gain more valuable research by teaming”. I don’t read minds, but…

Example:

I am attempting to look at the effectiveness of two sites created to allegedly help people who have been taken advantage of by either an entity or a person. Section 203 under the Communication Decency Act assists people in their ability to say whatever they think, regardless if correct.

You are comparing two mobile application sites to analyze how useful and productive the sites are for the users to include accuracy and validity.

Marissa is researching the validity of airbnb.com, and looking at the controls put in place by the website to protect people.

I still have many proposals to read today, but it does appear that many of us are running in a few general hypothetical areas of question:

Which site is more effective due to the controls implemented by the site itself? (Compare/Contrast)

Can the data on these sites be considered valid? Is so, why or why not?

Could we potentially work together on a research methodology for all three sites to compare and contrast if the model is effective in and of itself while measuring the data across the board for multiple communications? In summary, we could compare and contrast the model that we collectively created against the sites we personally selected.

My biggest concern with many of our proposals is that they are too broad and we will not find the depth. Most of our topics could be potential dissertations; unfortunately we are lacking 5 years of research time (smile). I plan to look for commonality in proposals submitted-perhaps we can all make this better together. Could we potentially try to use our class community to research the depth of the Internet communities.?

Just thoughts.

Cheers! --Melissaluke 17:07, 3 March 2014 (EST)

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Hi Emmanuel,

Great topic!! I am not sure if you would like to go into that direction, but from my point of view, I would say there is a big difference in the active level between iphone users via Android users in forum. Iphone users are usually not as active as Android users in forum. And I think this is a really interesting topic to look into.

On the other hand, I think it would be a good idea to narrow down your topic as there are 9 research questions that you are planning to coverin your paper. It would be difficult to talk about each question in depth with the words limit.

Jolietheone 03:42, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hello Emmanuel, Have you considered discussing recent legislation rendering unlocking phones illegal in the United states? Benh 14:11, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Emmanuel, This is a great topic! After reading your prospectus, It made me wonder if the companies that own the patents have ever had issue, sent cease and desists or sued anyone from those sites? It would be an interesting addition to learn the outcome of these sites to the originators of the software. TriciaBy 08:33, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

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• Seifip 15:42, 25 February 2014 (EST)
• Architectural choices for a better Q&A community (StackOverflow)
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/sites/is2014/images/LSTUE-120Assignment2.pdf

Hi Seifip! Few bits of feedback for you. First of all, I like that you tied back to Lessig's regulators. Very strong prospectus overall. Second, I wonder how you define an effective way of shaping an online community ? I assume that you didn't define 'effective' because of the 400-word limit for this assignment. My advice would be for you to perhaps draw specific comparisons between StackOverflow and another online developer support community. Alternatively (and perhaps more fun), you might change the phrasing of your research question to something like 'In what ways does X architectural element affect conversation on StackOverflow?'. Overall though, I think this is a very strong topic for your final project, because developer communities are some of the most in-depth technical discussions on the web. Erin Saucke-Lacelle 23:47, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Thanks for your feedback, Erin! I'll consider narrowing down the research question to a single element. --Seifip 10:57, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Philip, Great topic! I think that, given the increase in number of programmers relying more and more on credible forums Such as StackOverflow (which has elements of Wikis, blogs, etc) for Q&A, API, CMS, and other Web documentations, it's not only relevant to reflect on the architecture of such forums but necessary as well. You raised a very interesting question about the effectiveness of shaping an online community based on that community's user interface's architecture. I definitely encourage you to proceed with this great topic and look forward to reading more. By the way, thank you very much for your valuable time and feedback. Indeed, I will take your observations into consideration. --cheikhmbacke 13:13, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Philip, total code noob here!...

As stated, "genuinely dangerous" wikis, etc. are problems. Can you show how the architecture of StackOverflow corrals, or fails to corral, the potentially dangerous code within its architecture. Is the architecture of StackOverflow analogous to architecture in the physical world, e.g., holding cells, drunk tanks, SCIF "skiff" areas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_Compartmented_Information_Facility, not to mention bank vaults, moats (water and dry), atm machines, and police car backseats, etc? What are the structural components used to contain the potentially dangerous code? Again, can physical architecture be used to explain the structural elements, e.g., bricks/mortar, razor wire/concertina wire/barbed wire, reinforced steel? Personally, I'd love to know as I went to school for architecture, yet I’m not strictly working in the field, and I find the concept of computing architecture fascinating... are there parallels that can be used to build a better site, have they been used, can parallels be made for the non-informed reader?

Are we to assume that StackOverflow has configured a successful or unsuccessful solution? Is it better, worse, or different than its rivals? Is it successful, and thus continues to exist (and possibly thrive), because of the criticisms from Programming Reddit and Experts Exchange users?

Your Lessig quote, can you expound upon it within the paper? If so, perhaps, providing example(s)of what it means in re your project?

Is there a better way of delineating the questions in StackedOverflow that have been skewed beyond their original intention?A. Tom Anteus 14:57, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Name: Art.Mescon
• Title: Do Etsy’s regulations aim to help buyers and/or sellers or are they primarily protective of the company itself, leaving third parties on their own to seek out reputable transaction partners?
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Art.Mescon_Assignment2.docx

You raise some great ideas in your prospectus that would make for an interesting research paper around Etsy. However, I wonder if it might be best to focus more on the controls for which you can already observe playing out within the Etsy community's online activities? In other words, the community norms and architecture controls within Etsy itself (user-"self-regulation" and Etsy's-"private-regulation") might be the most reliable "observable data" that you will be able to anticipate over the next few weeks. The government level controls (public-regulation) you suggest may require moving outside this community, and I am not sure that a useful discussion (with observational data) will be possible within the page limit, nor would it be crucial to answering your research question.

I like the research question very much, and I think it couches the challenges you hope to observe within the methodology you propose. Also, I anticipate that the community interactions over the next couple of months should provide you with enough observational data to answer your question. One more tip on the question... What would you think about starting the question with "How" rather than "Do"...? Play around with the phrase of your question, and see how it feels. My thinking is that you will allow yourself some flexibility in what you will truly have to report on when it comes time to write up the results. The answer to a "Do" question requires one to choose a yes or no and your findings will likely challenge any "absolute" judgment call... So don't let yourself get cornered into having to make that choice (at least not at this early stage). By starting the question with "How do Etsy’s regulations...", will allow you to have more flexibility to report on what the observations will show, and your can balance your discussion section on some good and not-so-good controls that play out over the next few weeks.

Last point. In your sentence "I intend to identify how Etsy controls, or fails to control content in a manner that is advantageous to their users.", I wasn't sure if by "users" you meant the buyers, sellers, or both. My mind is interpreting that "user" is the buyer in this sentence’s context, and the word "content" is used to define both the items and community sellers that are being controlled. True? That distinction may be important to clarify as the full report gets written, because the Etsy controls and observations being gathered will (I suspect) impact buyers vs sellers vs content each a little differently. On a similar note... To cut down on the need to follow every buyer, seller and thing in "Top Searches" for this community, do you think it would be helpful to focus on just one type of craft? I don't know enough about Etsy specifically to determine if that would work for this project, but it might be another way to find a sub-group/sub-community limit, and still provide you with enough observational data to draw some conclusions.

Hoping these comments are helpful! Psl 12:22, 28 February 2014 (EST)

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Title: YouTube Comment Filtering and Other Cyberbullying Initiatives

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Lpereira_Prospectus.docx

Lpereira 16:07, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Might be interesting to determine whether and how Youtube encourages positive comments and discourage negative or hate comments. Ultimately, it would be ideal if the character of misbehaving individuals could be improved. Some ideas might be the use of "Like" and "Dislike" votes on these comments and/or the award/deduction of "attitude points". The individuals posting hate and aggressive comments could be prohibited from further postings if the attitude point reaches a certain limit. Ichua 15:02, 27 February 2014 (EST)

I really like the focal point you will be observing, and you are quite right in pointing out that this "negativity" is becoming an unfortunate reality for many "open comment" sections within these online spaces. Even what can begin as constructive dialog and healthy debate, can quickly degenerate into blather, flames, and hate words when anonymity can be so effectively used as a shield. Interestingly, we can't always point our finger at just one "troll" injecting some deliberate provocation...because sometimes the breakdown occurs with the 3 or 4 community members who (hither to) we're exchanging words in a perfectly eloquent & respectful manner. But the hate, racism, and bullying that poison the dialog on these comment-boards are on a much more disturbing level, and one that certainly will make for an interesting study.

So, The broad question that I am hearing in your prospectus is "What are the most important controls that an online service provider can successfully implement to intercept and discourage cyberbullying, hate-speech, and irrelevant negativity? The sub-question then would be "How effective and/or constraining are those controls on the community's ability to engage with each other in a meaningful unbiased dialog about the content? (YouTube in this example)?

Have you given some thought to the subject matter that you will focus on, as a way to observe how these comments progress? It may be helpful to put your lens onto a consistent subject to observe the cycle of communication. From there you should be able to witness what prompts the conversation to begin in the first place; when do counter-points get introduced, how long is constructive dialog able to bridge back and fourth, what is the "poison-pill" that kills the conversation, and when do the controls kick-in?. (Observing where the controls kick in would obviously be the essential part to report on, not so much each of those elements of the cycle of communication I itemized there.)

I’d be curious to also know if the observation shows that the cycle of communication is more (or less) positive throughout based on the type of subject that initiates the conversation? News stories on "hot button" topics or baseball contrasted with (say) a page dealing with baking fudge probably have different trajectories of "success" in remaining positive. (I am thinking about the inherent behavior of the potential community members themselves… one lends itself to polarized opinions with predictable “zealots” appearing in either camp, while the other community may be more welcoming of differing opinions and tastes). SO for example, thinking of an individual wearing that New York Yankees hat in Fenway Park on game day....vs... a group of bakers talking about chocolate vs. peanut butter fudge recipes…The former is likely to risk some taunting, a black eye, a broken tooth, and perhaps a small riot... while those in the latter group, might, at worst, receive only a cavity. Anyway, my point is that it might be interesting compare a couple of focused topics of conversation as a way of discovering a smaller sub-community that builds around a YouTube comment-board (With one engaging in a "Hot button" topic.... While the other group is discussing something seemingly non-polarizing.)Psl 12:00, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Hate speech and Internet harassment are major players in the controversy surrounding freedom of speech. While it is a newsworthy topic, it is very broad and difficult to condense into a single essay. Building upon PSL’s suggestion about separating research, there are some controls you may wish to include in your research. For example, topics like a YouTube video claiming President Obama is the Anti-Christ are more likely to receive negative comments than a video of a kitten playing with yarn. Additionally, current events have a huge impact on the attention a video may receive. Looking back on the kitten video, there would be a massive public reaction if the yarn the kitten was playing with had a toxic dye in it that was killing kittens shortly after playing with it. Current events and the way stories are portrayed in the media have a significant impact over how users react in comment sections on YouTube. Julie 13:20, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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I really like your topic about company removing comments to avoid negativity on websites. I would like to comment on the part where Youtube is trying to enable a tool for the video up-loaders to review the comments before they are published. I understand this is a tool to avoid cyberbullying, however, I think this one tool might be over limiting on freedom of speech. Users can choose not to publish the comments that are harassing, they can also remove comments that are criticizing or even just some comments that they do not like. Youtube needs to control this tool in a better way to avoid that.

Jolietheone 15:17, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Ben Harmatz
• Government Entities: Internet Surveillance and Censorship
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Harvard_NSA_1_draft_copy.doc

Benh 16:49, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Ben. While I think your prospectus brings up the interesting and very pertinent topic of government control, surveillance, and censorship, I think that it is simply far too broad of a topic. For the assignment, we are supposed to monitor the activities of users on a particular site or group of sites, but looking at the internet as a whole is far too much for an 8-10 page paper! Perhaps consider government control, surveillance, and censorship while observing a particular website that has been named as a victim (by the media) of NSA's surveillance and dig deeper there. Lrsanchez 13:02, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Ben! I believe your topic and outline focus on a topic extremely relevant to class and pose good research questions; however, as you mention yourself you are proposing more of a thesis research type project rather than looking at how these questions apply to a specific community or small set of communities online. Perhaps you can find a concrete example of an online platform were content from its community has been regulated by a government agency. You could look at https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/government/ there is a specific request to from a local law enforcement official to remove a search result linking to a news article about his record as an officer. They say that they did not remove the search result so maybe you can identify what article it was and see if any community responded to this request for takedown. Just an idea.. Hope my feedback is of help!

Luciagamboaso 15:56, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hello Ben! Your thesis is definitely an interesting and pressing issue. However, as LRsanchez said, it may be too broad for an 8-10 page paper. You may want to narrow the focus of your issue from either a domestic or international perspective, where issues of legality and ethics vary widely. Choosing one perspective will also narrow down some of your questions and help you zero in on a specific community. Julie 15:43, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Patricia Byrnes
• Title: Are moderators effective for policing and protecting a site from illegal use?
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Patricia_Byrnes_Assig._Two.doc

TriciaBy 16:59, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Patricia, First off, love your idea, moderating internet speech, as well as your methodology: if what you want to measure is moderating behavior, norms, and free speech concerns, the “Politics & Leaders” forum is a fantastic place to do so since It appears that discussions there can turn from heated to vituperative in the blink of an eye! With respect to your research question, by specifying “effective,” I assume that you will quantify instances of behavior that violate the established rules of the site. This method is good since you give yourself a verifiable and quantifiable measure. You can then use Lessig’s and other scholars work to explain these data. Now, you say that you wish to "research the rules and regulations of the site,” which looks like it might be an insurmountable task. I visited the site’s “Super Editor handbook” and I see that it is quite extensive. Perhaps you might want to focus specifically on one type of violation, such as "3.4.1 Discouraged Ranking Themes - Personal Experience / Personal Preference Rankings” ? Vance.puchalski 23:00, 1 March 2014 (EST)

This is a very interesting topic, and a complement of sorts to mine. As Vance has mentioned, it might be a good idea to focus on a single type of infringement. Also, keep in mind that looking up formal charges for infringement may not lead to a very accurate data point given that many take down notices are delivered through more traditional, private systems such as email (as an owner of several websites, I've received quite a few infringement notifications pertaining to content post by our users, all of them as a personal email, none through the official DMCA means or through our hosting provider). --Seifip 12:23, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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Hi Ben, You topic hits home for many of us. I like the social value of the topic you are discussing. I was wondering what angle you were intending on pursuing and which communities you are intending on focusing on. Things to consider might be: how you are going about your research?; are you discussing a specific incident like Verizon giving data to the NSA or Comcast selling data? Will you be studying public chatrooms, Facebook groups, news outlets or legal cases? In terms of the angle of your paper, will it be economic, philosophical, environmental, legal or what? I really like you subject matter on a broad level, but how are you planning on developing you arguments? Good Luck! - Art.Mescon

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• Name or pseudonym: Vance.Puchalski
• Regulators and the Spread of (Mis)Information
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Puchalski-Assignment2.docx

Vance.puchalski 17:17, 25 February 2014 (EST)

As an extension student and a reader of both sites, I agree that extension student is often more accurate especially due to the required affiliation. You should consider when collecting your data that often information is not so black and white. A lot of people on these treads seek opinion, which is more of a personal thought rather than right or wrong. A lot on forums is opinion based, not fact based and so I think you should prepare for your data to be filled with a lot of gray areas, which you might already be expecting. The correlation between accuracy and monitoring is certainty an interesting topic. Anyway, great research topic and I’m interested to see your findings. Good luck! Lpereira 21:20, 3 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Vance! I was pleased to read your prospectus and intent to "shed new light on the issue of censorship, regulators, and accuracy of information on the Internet." I also enjoyed your comparison of Harvard's forums and how each of their architectures play an important role in the accuracy of the information they produce. I also think that you raised very interesting questions and effectively correlated regulating forces vis-a-vis the accuracy of information. I am definitely looking forward to reading more. Good job!

cheikhmbacke 17:01, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• A. Tom Anteus
• Cryptocurrency Uses in Conflict Zones Around the World
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Cryptocurrency_Uses_in_Conflict_Zones_Around_the_World.pdf

A. Tom Anteus 17:26, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Tom, intriguing topic! I'm a keen follower of the Bitcoin revolution myself so have been naturally drawn to your prospectus and Daniel's as well. However I would say its quite difficult to follow your proposal. I'm not quite sure how you intend to analyse and measure the use of cryptocurrency in conflict zones. Which conflict areas will you be targeting? Do you intend to follow forums or analyse chatter on various websites. If so, which ones? Marissa1989 07:36, 2 March 2014 (EST)

One interesting avenue to explore might be how government control of internet in countries like China affect, and could affect the adoption and use of Bitcoin. I've followed Bitcoin for a long time and one of my concerns has always been that Bitcoin is dependent on some infrastructure that is relatively vulnerable to government control and influence, and that if Bitcoin ever grew sufficiently to compete with official state currencies it might invite even more internet regulation. --Seifip 12:14, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Tom, I dont know much about Bitcoin, but do keep up on International news and revolution. It's a very interesting concept. I think you would be well served to stick with the different revolutions world wide instead of the "televised" parts and media involvement. I't a bit off topic to your point of Bitcoin financing revolutions. I am interested to read your finding! TriciaBy 08:41, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

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• Julie Dubela
• Mapping Social Media Debate on the OHCHR Report on North Korea
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Julie_Assignment2.txt

Julie 18:37, 25 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Julie, great prospectus. I find the whole North Korea situation appalling from a global response perspective. A lot of the articles, commentary and reactions from people around the world have been effectively muzzled. Your approach to analyse public reaction through social media is methodical and well thought through. Your plan to use specific tools to collect information from twitter hash tags, Google trends etc and follow up by analysing them to find common themes and trends is great. I look forward to reading the final report! Marissa1989 07:52, 2 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Julie! Good job on your topic selection. I think that you raised very interesting points that are worthy of discussion. The problematic of human rights in North Korea is a sensitive and complex one to deal with. However, I am very intrigued by your methodology and strategy to intelligently use social media and other reliable analytic to scale your findings. I personally did not know some of those tools that you intend to utilize to track and illustrate your results (so thank you for mentioning them on your prospectus). I'm absolutely looking forward to reading more and finding out how you would execute your strategy. cheikhmbacke 14:44, 4 March 2014 (EST)

Hi Julie, this is a terrific topic. I am very impressed by the effort you are prepared to undertake to collect and analyze public reaction via social media, especially given the extraordinary measures taken by (likely) gov't actors to manage messaging about anything having to do with national interest and activities. During the second class session when country-specific examples of regulation and online community engagement were raised, I thought specifically of the North Korean Case and greatly look forward to this report! akk22 15:54, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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• Andrew Grant
• Quantified Self and Qualified Liability: Strava and Lessig's Four Forces
• http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is2014/File:Andrew_Grant_Assigmnment_Two_02252014.docx

Andrew Grant

Andrew, your prospectus sounds fantastic. Lots of interesting questions being asked in light of Lessig's Four Forces and the Quantified Self movement. I think that you many be asking too many questions for an 8-10 page paper, if you are to go into sufficient depth for each one. Do you think that it's realistic to answer the five research questions in so short of a paper? Other than that, I think you are off to a great start and I am interested in hearing more about it. Lrsanchez 11:49, 28 February 2014 (EST)

Hi Andrew! I believe the behavior of the community you are analyzing is interesting particularly after the incident tied to it. I would only recommend, if you have not already considered it, that you focus particularly on how Lessig’s four forces exert or fail to exert control over this particular community. I believe that a before and after as your question 5 proposes would be a great way to approach this if there is a way to compare community participation in these two time periods.

Luciagamboaso 16:17, 4 March 2014 (EST)

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ALL: In general, it might be helpful to state why your project is important and how the outcome of the research might help regulate/control or improve human behavior on the internet. Ichua 19:58, 27 February 2014 (EST)

Ichua - this is an interesting comment. I am not sure that I agree. This project, from my understanding, is to observe a community and an aspect of its regulations. To state how the outcome of the research might help regulate/control would require our participation in said community (which has been discouraged vis-a-vis this assignment).

In order to state how our research could improve human behavior on the internet, we would need to define 'improve', which I believe to be matter of opinion, or too philosophical for the scope of this course. This is just my understanding of the assignment though, I hope that if I am wrong, it will be clear before we write our final project! Erin Saucke-Lacelle 13:50, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

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