<-- The Filter --> October 2004
No. 6.12 <--The Filter--> 10.22.04
CONTENTS:
[1] In the News
[2] Berkman News
[3] Case In Point
[4] Conference Watch
[5] Bookmarks
[6] Quotables
[7] Filter Facts
[1] IN THE NEWS
================
* International Filtering
A number of recent stories have highlighted the range and complexity of international web censorship programs. In Norway, for example, law enforcement has teamed up with a private Internet provider to filter child pornography. In China, the government recently began a campaign of offering citizens bounty payments of $240 for reporting online pornography. A new report from the OpenNet Initiative -- an ongoing research partnership by the Advanced Network Research Group of the University of Cambridge, the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, and the Berkman Center to monitor international Internet censorship -- considers the diversity of filtering programs and their impact on international law, communications, and policy. The paper, "Legal Implications of Internet Filtering," is now available from the ONI website.
Norway's Filtering Program: <http://press.telenor.com/PR/200409/961319_5.html>
China's Reward System: <http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/9894264.htm>
OpenNet Initiative's Legal Implications Paper: <http://opennetinitiative.net/docs/Legal_Implications.pdf>
More on Internet Filtering: <http://www.opennetinitiative.net>
* Trends in Digital Media Law
This month's news in digital media, both in the U.S. and abroad, is more lawsuits. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has filed 459 new suits against users accused of illegal file sharing in countries such as the UK, France, and Austria. In the United States, the Supreme Court rejected the RIAA's request for an appeal of RIAA v. Verizon – a decision that affected how such suits unfold. The Court let stand a ruling that blocked a fast-track process for obtaining information about individuals accused of copyright violations. Not entirely thwarted, the RIAA and the film studios have turned their attention to appealing the recent Grokster decision, which held that P2P networks are not liable for copyright violations of their users.
IFPI Lawsuits: <http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20041007.html>
Status of RIAA v. Verizon: <http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65321,00.html>
More on the crisis in digital media: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/media>
* Diebold Denied
It was a landmark decision for advocates of free speech and civil liberties Earlier this month, a California court sided with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, dozens of college students, and activists around the country that had opposed Diebold's use of the DMCA to stifle criticisms of its electronic voting machines. The company sent cease-and-desist letters threatening websites over the claim that Diebold's emails were protected by copyright law. The court disagreed: "No reasonable copyright holder could have believed that the portions of the email archive discussing possible technical problems with Diebold's voting machines were protected by copyright."
The Decision: <http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/diebold.pdf>
The EFF's Files on E-Voting: <http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/>
An Op-ed by John Palfrey on the Decision: <http://news.com.com/Electronic+voting+and+copyright/2010-1028_3-5395784.html>
[2] BERKMAN NEWS
=================
* iLaw Eurasia
This December marks the introduction of a new program: iLaw Eurasia. The weeklong, intensive seminar will train advanced policy experts from Eurasian countries about issues related to information age policy and the law. Participants will come away from the Program with a greater awareness of these issues and an opportunity to connect with other regional and international experts. The program is organized by the eGovernance Academy Estonia, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Advanced Network Research Group, the Open Society Institute, and the Berkman Center and sponsored by the Open Society Institute and its National Foundations (Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation, Azerbaijan; Soros Foundation Kazakhstan; International Renaissance Foundation, Ukraine; and the Open Society Foundation, Georgia), Hivos and John I. Forry, Esq. Visit the website for more information.
<http://cyber.harvard.edu/ilaw/eurasia_2004>
*Berkman Discussion Series Off and Running
Two Berkman Fellows have recently launched discussion series to spark debate about Internet-related issues. Berkman Fellow John Clippinger has created a roundtable series in conjunction with the Gruter Institute to examine the role of trust in social and economic exchange. The series draws experts from a range of fields including evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, evolutionary game theory, and behavioral economics to discuss the implications for online communities. David Weinberger's series, "Web of Ideas," meets every two to three weeks to examine the effect of the Web on how we understand ourselves and our shared world.
Gruter-Berkman Series: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/home/gruterberkman>
Web of Ideas: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/home/webofideas>
[3] CASE IN POINT
==================
Join us for another round of online discussion in preparation for our December conference on politics and the Internet, "Votes, Bits & Bytes." This month's topic comes from a posting by H2O user Nick Caramello who asked, "Do we only browse to what we agree with? Internet search engines are designed to find the best match to our queries. Does this lead interested individuals to web sites that reflect back to them their own political opinions? Television is a passive medium, the Internet is an active medium. Is the Internet its own worst enemy?"
Join our H2O Internet & Society project to discuss: <http://h2o.law.harvard.edu/JoinProject.do?projectID=271>
Votes, Bits & Bytes: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/is2k4/index.html>
[4] CONFERENCE WATCH
=====================
October:
* October 26-29, 2004, Seoul, Korea - International Symposium on Public Participation in Internet Governance <http://int.nic.or.kr/index.htm>
* October 27-29, 2004, New Orleans, Louisiana - IAPP Privacy & Data Security Academy & Expo <http://privacyassociation.org/html/conferences.html>
* October 29, 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts - Negotiating Peace in Sudan <http://platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent/2004/10/negotiating_pea.html>
November:
* November 25-28, 2004, Baku, Azerbaijan - Digital Divide and Knowledge Economy: Problems and Solutions <http://www.global-ict.mincom.gov.az/about.php>
December:
* December 1-5, 2004, Cape Town, South Africa - ICANN Meeting <http://www.icanncapetown.co.za/>
* December 10-11, 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts - Internet & Society 2004: Votes, Bits and Bytes <http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/is2k4/index.html>
* December 13-17, 2004, Tallinn, Estonia - iLaw Eurasia
<http://cyber.harvard.edu/ilaw/eurasia_2004>
[4] BOOKMARKS
==============
Induce Act Blog:
<http://www.techadvisor.com/induce>
Podcasting/DIY Radio:
<http://garage.docsearls.com/node/view/462>
Robolawyer:
<http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/view.html?pg=2?tw=wn_tophead_10>
[5] QUOTABLES
==============
"It's a good day for privacy and the First Amendment."
-Wendy Seltzer, Electronic Frontier Foundation, on the Supreme Court's rejection of the RIAA's appeal in RIAA v. Verizon
<http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65321,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_html>
"I admit that when I think of the money one could make from all this, I get a little twinge. But I'm pretty happy with nerd values: Get yourself a comfortable living, then do a little something to change the world."
-Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist on the temptation to cash-out of the grassroots business <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.09/craigslist.html>
"The most common format of music on an iPod is stolen."
-Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, on Apple and Microsoft's stance on DRM
<http://news.com.com/Ballmer+iPods+packed+with+stolen+tunes/2100-1027_3-5395870.html?tag=nefd.top>
[6] FILTER FACTS
==================
* Talk Back
Tell us what you think -- send feedback and news announcements to filter-editor@cyber.harvard.edu.
* Subscription Info
Subscribe or Unsubscribe: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/filter/subscribe>
* About Us
Filter is a publication of the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School.
Editor: Mary Bridges
Contributing Writer: Wendy Koslow
*Not a Copyright
This work is hereby released into the public domain. Please share it. To read the public domain dedication, visit <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain>.
CONTENTS:
[1] In the News
[2] Berkman News
[3] Case In Point
[4] Conference Watch
[5] Bookmarks
[6] Quotables
[7] Filter Facts
[1] IN THE NEWS
================
* International Filtering
A number of recent stories have highlighted the range and complexity of international web censorship programs. In Norway, for example, law enforcement has teamed up with a private Internet provider to filter child pornography. In China, the government recently began a campaign of offering citizens bounty payments of $240 for reporting online pornography. A new report from the OpenNet Initiative -- an ongoing research partnership by the Advanced Network Research Group of the University of Cambridge, the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, and the Berkman Center to monitor international Internet censorship -- considers the diversity of filtering programs and their impact on international law, communications, and policy. The paper, "Legal Implications of Internet Filtering," is now available from the ONI website.
Norway's Filtering Program: <http://press.telenor.com/PR/200409/961319_5.html>
China's Reward System: <http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/9894264.htm>
OpenNet Initiative's Legal Implications Paper: <http://opennetinitiative.net/docs/Legal_Implications.pdf>
More on Internet Filtering: <http://www.opennetinitiative.net>
* Trends in Digital Media Law
This month's news in digital media, both in the U.S. and abroad, is more lawsuits. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has filed 459 new suits against users accused of illegal file sharing in countries such as the UK, France, and Austria. In the United States, the Supreme Court rejected the RIAA's request for an appeal of RIAA v. Verizon – a decision that affected how such suits unfold. The Court let stand a ruling that blocked a fast-track process for obtaining information about individuals accused of copyright violations. Not entirely thwarted, the RIAA and the film studios have turned their attention to appealing the recent Grokster decision, which held that P2P networks are not liable for copyright violations of their users.
IFPI Lawsuits: <http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20041007.html>
Status of RIAA v. Verizon: <http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65321,00.html>
More on the crisis in digital media: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/media>
* Diebold Denied
It was a landmark decision for advocates of free speech and civil liberties Earlier this month, a California court sided with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, dozens of college students, and activists around the country that had opposed Diebold's use of the DMCA to stifle criticisms of its electronic voting machines. The company sent cease-and-desist letters threatening websites over the claim that Diebold's emails were protected by copyright law. The court disagreed: "No reasonable copyright holder could have believed that the portions of the email archive discussing possible technical problems with Diebold's voting machines were protected by copyright."
The Decision: <http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/diebold.pdf>
The EFF's Files on E-Voting: <http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/>
An Op-ed by John Palfrey on the Decision: <http://news.com.com/Electronic+voting+and+copyright/2010-1028_3-5395784.html>
[2] BERKMAN NEWS
=================
* iLaw Eurasia
This December marks the introduction of a new program: iLaw Eurasia. The weeklong, intensive seminar will train advanced policy experts from Eurasian countries about issues related to information age policy and the law. Participants will come away from the Program with a greater awareness of these issues and an opportunity to connect with other regional and international experts. The program is organized by the eGovernance Academy Estonia, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Advanced Network Research Group, the Open Society Institute, and the Berkman Center and sponsored by the Open Society Institute and its National Foundations (Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation, Azerbaijan; Soros Foundation Kazakhstan; International Renaissance Foundation, Ukraine; and the Open Society Foundation, Georgia), Hivos and John I. Forry, Esq. Visit the website for more information.
<http://cyber.harvard.edu/ilaw/eurasia_2004>
*Berkman Discussion Series Off and Running
Two Berkman Fellows have recently launched discussion series to spark debate about Internet-related issues. Berkman Fellow John Clippinger has created a roundtable series in conjunction with the Gruter Institute to examine the role of trust in social and economic exchange. The series draws experts from a range of fields including evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, evolutionary game theory, and behavioral economics to discuss the implications for online communities. David Weinberger's series, "Web of Ideas," meets every two to three weeks to examine the effect of the Web on how we understand ourselves and our shared world.
Gruter-Berkman Series: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/home/gruterberkman>
Web of Ideas: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/home/webofideas>
[3] CASE IN POINT
==================
Join us for another round of online discussion in preparation for our December conference on politics and the Internet, "Votes, Bits & Bytes." This month's topic comes from a posting by H2O user Nick Caramello who asked, "Do we only browse to what we agree with? Internet search engines are designed to find the best match to our queries. Does this lead interested individuals to web sites that reflect back to them their own political opinions? Television is a passive medium, the Internet is an active medium. Is the Internet its own worst enemy?"
Join our H2O Internet & Society project to discuss: <http://h2o.law.harvard.edu/JoinProject.do?projectID=271>
Votes, Bits & Bytes: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/is2k4/index.html>
[4] CONFERENCE WATCH
=====================
October:
* October 26-29, 2004, Seoul, Korea - International Symposium on Public Participation in Internet Governance <http://int.nic.or.kr/index.htm>
* October 27-29, 2004, New Orleans, Louisiana - IAPP Privacy & Data Security Academy & Expo <http://privacyassociation.org/html/conferences.html>
* October 29, 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts - Negotiating Peace in Sudan <http://platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent/2004/10/negotiating_pea.html>
November:
* November 25-28, 2004, Baku, Azerbaijan - Digital Divide and Knowledge Economy: Problems and Solutions <http://www.global-ict.mincom.gov.az/about.php>
December:
* December 1-5, 2004, Cape Town, South Africa - ICANN Meeting <http://www.icanncapetown.co.za/>
* December 10-11, 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts - Internet & Society 2004: Votes, Bits and Bytes <http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/is2k4/index.html>
* December 13-17, 2004, Tallinn, Estonia - iLaw Eurasia
<http://cyber.harvard.edu/ilaw/eurasia_2004>
[4] BOOKMARKS
==============
Induce Act Blog:
<http://www.techadvisor.com/induce>
Podcasting/DIY Radio:
<http://garage.docsearls.com/node/view/462>
Robolawyer:
<http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/view.html?pg=2?tw=wn_tophead_10>
[5] QUOTABLES
==============
"It's a good day for privacy and the First Amendment."
-Wendy Seltzer, Electronic Frontier Foundation, on the Supreme Court's rejection of the RIAA's appeal in RIAA v. Verizon
<http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65321,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_html>
"I admit that when I think of the money one could make from all this, I get a little twinge. But I'm pretty happy with nerd values: Get yourself a comfortable living, then do a little something to change the world."
-Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist on the temptation to cash-out of the grassroots business <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.09/craigslist.html>
"The most common format of music on an iPod is stolen."
-Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, on Apple and Microsoft's stance on DRM
<http://news.com.com/Ballmer+iPods+packed+with+stolen+tunes/2100-1027_3-5395870.html?tag=nefd.top>
[6] FILTER FACTS
==================
* Talk Back
Tell us what you think -- send feedback and news announcements to filter-editor@cyber.harvard.edu.
* Subscription Info
Subscribe or Unsubscribe: <http://cyber.harvard.edu/filter/subscribe>
* About Us
Filter is a publication of the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School.
Editor: Mary Bridges
Contributing Writer: Wendy Koslow
*Not a Copyright
This work is hereby released into the public domain. Please share it. To read the public domain dedication, visit <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain>.