The Law of Cyberspace
ONLINE SURVIVAL GUIDE

Here's some vital information gathered in one place from 1/3's class. First, specifics on getting your computer to work with the class sites. It may look bizarre, but it should work in short order. If something's not behaving as expected, please don't hesitate to drop by (Hauser 404), call (495-4643), email (zittrain@law.harvard.edu), or otherwise get in touch with Jonathan. Second, a summary of the online projects mentioned during class. Assembled all at once it may appear a little overwhelming, but it boils down pretty readily.

There are three specific online activities with which to become familiar: The class web site, the class newsgroup, and the class moo. The first two activities can be done with Netscape. The latter requires a "telnet" program such as EWAN (Windows) or Telnet (Mac). The web site contains information and links to other web sites relevant to the course, along with the syllabus and late-breaking news. For example, it'll contain this document. The class newsgroup is the messaging area where you can publicly post thoughts and questions, and where the respective groups of three will post notes and views daily. The class moo is where you can meet other members of the class (if not other classes) in real time.

The following is necessary to reach each of the three areas, followed by detailed instructions. It might seem really obscure at first, but can become second nature very quickly.

The web site is active now at the following address (also called "URL"):
/courses/law-cyberspace

The newsgroup is active now as harvard.law.cyber

The moo is active now as connections.sensemedia.net, port 3333.

For any network programs used from home:

You must establish a "SLIP" connection to Harvard each time you want to do something online such as running Netscape, checking your mail, or using the moo. If you can currently check your mail, chances are good you have a SLIP connection ready to work, and start it just before checking. In any event, the disks you received from the HLS computer people way back when should have the software and instructions necessary to start the connection. If you don't have any network software from Harvard, check in with the computer services people in the Hauser basement to get set up. Their helpdesk number is 495-0722.

Using Netscape to view the class web site:

1. Run Netscape. If you installed all the software mentioned above, it should waiting on your desktop as an icon. Windows users may find it under the "HLS Network" icon; Mac users may have to use "Find..." under the "File" menu to search for "Netscape Navigator" and then double-click it when it shows up. If it doesn't show up or you can't find it, the computer services people should be able to get it going for you--the first thing they'll tell you is that it was on your original HLS software package, though, so if you don't have Netscape on your computer but do have the original HLS disks, you can try (re)installing everything from those disks.

2. Netscape will open to the HLS home page. From there you can click on "HLS Courses ..." and then "The Law of Cyberspace" to get to the class web site. Alternatively (particularly if Netscape opens to some other location or none at all), click in the "Location:" line at the top of the screen and enter

/courses/law-cyberspace

If you don't see anything looking like "Location:", you can ask to "Open new location..." from Netscape's "File" dropdown menu and then fill in the same http line. Once you see the main page, you can ask to add a bookmark for it under the "Bookmarks" drop down menu. From then on, the Bookmarks menu should contain a choice that will take you to the page and you won't need to type in the location or navigate from HLS central each time you want to go there.

Using Netscape to read from and post to the class newsgroup:

1. See (1) above to find Netscape and get it running. If the window ever shrinks (as it seems to sometimes on a Windows machine), you can click on the up-pointing wedge in the upper right corner of the Netscape window. That grows it back to full size.

2. Select "Mail and News Preferences..." from the "Options" dropdown menu at the very top of Netscape's window. Click on the "Servers" tab. Then find the following blanks and fill them in as follows (some screen snapshots are attached so you can see exactly where these go):

Incoming mail (POP) server: law.harvard.edu
Outgoing mail (SMTP) server:law.harvard.edu
POP User ID: your email account, e.g. zittrain. No "@law.harvard.edu" required.

News (NNTP) server:news.fas.harvard.edu

Now click on the "Identity" tab and fill it out by analogy to the second attached screen snapshot. (It's just your name in the first box, and email address in the second and third boxes.) When done, click OK.
You will only need to fill in these blanks once. After you've filled them out, Netscape should remember for next time.

3. Find the "Location:" box at the top of Netscape's main screen, or ask to "Open new location..." from Netscape's "File" dropdown menu. Enter

news:harvard.law.cyber

in the box and a new window should appear with the group highlighted in the upper left corner. New messages will appear in the upper right; click on them to view their contents along the bottom.

4. To post a new message to the group, click on the "To: News" button in the upper left corner of the screen and follow the prompts. To reply to a message you're reading instead of posting a wholly fresh message, use the "Re: News" button instead. Notice that the text within the old message to which you're replying will conveniently (?) appear as part of your message. You can delete that or leave it and begin your reply below. Note that when you post it goes out to the group, and is readable by anyone who may stumble into harvard.law.cyber.

5. To check out other newsgroups, ask to "Show All Newsgroups" under the "Options" menu and be a little patient as all the available groups stream in. As you read old messages in harvard.law.cyber they may disappear--ask to "Show All Messages" instead of "Show Only Unread Messages" under options and they'll reappear.

6. Note that you can also use Netscape to check your email and send new email. Look at "Netscape Mail" under the "Window" dropdown menu to see how that works. If you're already happy with Eudora or some other mail program, no need to switch.

Using EWAN/Telnet to access the "Connections" moo.

1. If you're using a Windows machine, find EWAN and double-click on it. The computing services people swear it was among the software installed from your HLS disks, so it should be there somewhere. (They'll recommend a re-install before doing anything else if you can't seem to find it and you still have your original HLS disks.) If you're using a Macintosh, find NCSA Telnet and double-click on it.

2. For EWAN (Windows users), a "Connect to site" menu of connections should pop up. If no menu pops up, ask to "Open..." under the "File" dropdown menu. You then need to install the moo on your menu by doing the following one time only:

a. Click the "New" button on the pop up menu.

b. Fill in the "Name:" blank with connections.

c. Fill in the "Network address or host name:" blank with
connections.sensemedia.net

d. In the "Service (port):" area, click on the word "Custom" and then fill 3333 into the blank.

e. Click "OK."

f. Now you're back to the "Connect to site" menu, and "connections" should be featured on it. Double-click on that--you'll see it in the menu every time from now on, so you won't have to do steps (a)-(e) again--and you should be ready to follow Tari's worksheet to enter your password, walk around connections, and otherwise get started. Your password will have arrived by separate email.

3. For NCSA Telnet (Mac users):

a. You'll see "Preferences>" under the "Edit" dropdown menu once telnet is running. Move the mouse down to "Preferences>" and marvel as another menu appears to the right and below that word. Keep holding the mouse button down and move the pointer over to "Sessions," then let go.

b. Click the "New" button in the box that appears.

c. Fill in the first three blanks that appear as follows:
Alias: connections
Hostname: connections.sensemedia.net
Port: 3333

d. Click "OK."

e. Now you're ready to access Connections. Note the "Open special>" choice from the "File" dropdown menu. Using the same selection technique as (a), keep holding the mouse button down while hovering over "Open special>." You'll see a new menu appear; you can move the mouse over to "Connections," let go, and you're in. This menu option will now be available each time you use Telnet so you shouldn't have to go through steps (a)-(d) again. Follow Tari's worksheet to enter your password, walk around connections, and otherwise get started. Your password will have arrived by separate email.

The web:* As you use Netscape to explore the web, you should be accumulating links--"bookmarks"--into a portfolio that you think might be of particular interest or relevance. Quality beats quantity. In practice this means using the "Add Bookmark" menu option from the "Bookmarks" dropdown menu in Netscape when you encounter a site you want to save.

* On 1/3 you signed up in sequential groups of three. The group listing is attached. When your turn comes up (group one is up Saturday, 1/4), you should have settled upon a link on the Web that you'll be prepared to present for a few minutes. In practice this means bearing the "url"--the line beginning with "http://"--that will take anyone's Netscape to the site you found. That url should appear in the "Location:" box at the top of the screen while you're visiting the site in question.

The newsgroups: * As class unfolds, harvard.law.cyber is there for questions and commentary. Others from around Harvard--or elsewhere--may stumble into the group and also start participating by posting messages. Figure on checking daily.

* On 1/3 you signed up in sequential groups of three. The same day the group presents its web link it's charged with posting some notes from that day's class and any derivative thoughts. It's not intended as busy work--the intensity of winter term makes it easy to get overwhelmed, and the daily summary is ideally a sort of clarifying & distilling guidepost rather than a recitation. It'll also keep any extra-class lurkers somewhat informed about what we're talking about.

The moo:* You'll receive your password to Connections by email. It's a real time place. With luck other classes will be joining us there. It's up all the time, though the "8 p.m." mantra from 1/3's class was intended as a single time where there'd be a guarantee that someone else will be around to say hi. A similar time will be announced on 1/4, but otherwise drop by as time and inclination permit.

Finally, the computer lab in Areeda 140 worked out pretty well on 1/3 as a place for technical help--there'll be another opportunity to drop by there with questions after class on Saturday, 1/4. There's no structured activity there that you'll miss out on if you're already set technically.

You can also log in to the various sites through the Hauser basement computer lab and the new cyber cafe in the Hark.

Web site presentation / newsgroup note troikas