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Internet and Society: Technologies and Politics of Control

LSTU E–120 - Harvard Extension School - Spring 2014 - Tuesdays 5:30-7:30 pm EST

Berkman Center for Internet and Society - 23 Everett Street - Conference room, 2nd floor

It is hard to overstate the role that networked computers play in our lives. The Internet has developed not only as the greatest means of producing and sharing information that the world has ever known, but also as a fundamental tool in global political, social, and economic processes. The Net has been heralded by many as nothing less than a means of fundamentally transforming our world into one that is more just, more democratic, and more affluent, while redrawing the boundaries of political and economic power. But the Net is no longer a frontier, and the early days of the Internet exceptionalism have given way to increased regulatory responses and skepticism. Just as the Internet allowed users to discover new and interesting ways to transform lives, those who seek to control the Internet have discovered means of regulating its content and dissemination, through technological, monetary, normative, and legal means. And (as recent events have illustrated) control of the Net and its users also has a more subtle side: regulation of citizens online through powerful mechanisms of surveillance.…(4 credits) continued...

Syllabus at a glance

Jan 28	Politics and Technology of Control: Introduction
Feb 4	Paradigms for Studying the Internet
Feb 11	A Series of Tubes: Infrastructure, Broadband, and Baseline Content Control	(Assignment 1 due)
Feb 18	Regulating Speech Online
Feb 25	Copyright Part 1: Guiding Principles and Online Application	(Assignment 2 due)
Mar 4	Copyright Part 2: Enforcement and Balances
Mar 11	Collective Action, Politics, and Protests
Mar 18	No class - Spring Break
Mar 25	Peer Production: Development from the Edges and from the Crowd	(Assignment 3 due)
Apr 1	Privacy Part 1: Corporate Data Gathering
Apr 8	Privacy Part 2: Government Surveillance
Apr 15	Informing the Public in the Internet Age
Apr 22	Hacking, Hackers, and Hacktivism	(Assignment 4 due)
Apr 29	The Internet as a Tool of Education
May 6	No class - final project preparation	(Optional Extra Credit due)
May 13	Final class - wrap up and student presentations	(Final Project due)

Course Information: Class Participation Grading Statement on Plagiarism

Assignments & Projects: Assignments Complete List of Assigned Readings Final Project

Resources: Recorded class videos Powerpoint Slides from Class How to edit a wiki Extension School Writing Center

External: Upcoming Events

People: Staff Contact Info List of User Profiles

Participating During Class (Tuesdays 5:30-7:30 pm EST)

You can participate during class either by attending in person or through Adobe Connect:

• The class will be held in the conference room at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St., Second Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138 (directions)

• You can use Adobe Connect to participate during class time from a remote location. Further information about that will be on this page as the class approaches.

• We will be experimenting with remote audiovisual presentation through the Adobe Connect platform. We recommend that, if you would like to speak during class, you use a combination headphone/microphone to participate. Alternatively, you may use headphones along with your computer's built-in mic. As a last resort, you can use your computer's built-in mic without headphones, but please be aware that this may cause audio issues for both you and the class as a whole.

• If you have any trouble running Adobe Connect, please go to the support page on Adobe Connect's site or click on the "Help" button in the upper right corner of the Connect window.

Participating Asynchronously

• The recorded videotapes of the class produced by Harvard Extension School will be made available at a special website after the class begins.

• Please note that if you are participating asynchronously we expect you to place comments in the "class discussion" section of that class day's page before 4pm ET on that day of class. Further information can be found on our class participation policy page.

Contact Information

• All questions, comments, etc. should be sent to: is2014 [at] cyber [dot] law [dot] harvard [dot] edu.
  • There are no set office hours; feel free to send an email, and the TAs will respond to it as soon as they can.
• If you need to contact an instructor or TA individually, please use their personal contact info located on the Staff Contact Info page.