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Upcoming Events and Digital Media Roundup

BERKMAN CENTER FOR INTERNET & SOCIETY AT HARVARD UNIVERSITYFebruary 10, 2010 // Upcoming events and digital media

[1] [TUESDAY 2/16/10] Berkman Center Luncheon Series: "Meme-tracking and the dynamics of the news cycle" with Jure Leskovec, assistant professor of Computer Science at Stanford University (http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2010/02/leskovec)

[2] [SAVE THE DATE 2/22/10] Berkman Special Event: Jonathan Zittrain on "Minds for Sale" (http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2010/02/zittrain)

[3] [SAVE THE DATE 2/25/10] Berkman Special Event: Wireside Chat with Lawrence Lessig: Fair Use, Politics, and Online Video (http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2010/02/lessig)

Berkman Center Co-Sponsored Events

[FRIDAY 2/12/10] Patent Policy and Innovation (Hosted by The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics) (http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2010/02/patents)

[2/12-2/13] A2K4: Conference on Access to Knowledge and Human Rights (Yale Law School ISP) (http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2009/02/a2k4)


[TUESDAY] BERKMAN LUNCHEON SERIES on MEME TRACKING AND THE DYNAMICS OF THE NEWS-CYCLE
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2/16/10, 12:30 PM ET, Berkman Center Conference Room @ 23 Everett St., Cambridge, MA
RSVP is required for those attending in person (rsvp@cyber.harvard.edu)

This event will be webcast live

Topic: Meme-tracking and the dynamics of the news cycle
Guest: Jure Leskovec, assistant professor of Computer Science at Stanford University

The news cycle --- the set of temporal patterns by which news grows and fades over time --- has increasingly come to be seen as an integral part of public discourse and the political process. But despite extensive qualitative research, there has been very little work studying the properties of the news cycle at a quantitative level.

I will discuss our analysis of approximately 1.6 million mainstream media sites and blogs for a period of three months, covering about 1 million articles per day. We developed methods for tracking quoted phrases through this collection of articles, using a combination of techniques based on graph partitioning and sequence alignment. We found that tracking such phrases provides a level of resolution capable of exposing novel and persistent temporal patterns in the news cycle. In particular, we observed a typical lag of 2.5 hours between the peaks of attention to a phrase in the news media and in blogs respectively, with divergent behavior around the overall peak and a "heartbeat"-like pattern in the handoff between news and blogs. We also developed and analyzed a mathematical model for the news cycle that captures some of the dynamics we observe.

This is joint work with Lars Backstrom and Jon Kleinberg.

About Jure:

Jure is an assistant professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. His research focuses on mining and modeling large social and information networks, their evolution, and diffusion of information and influence over them. Problems he investigates are motivated by large scale data, the Web and on-line media. He received of three best paper awards and a ACM KDD dissertation award, won the ACM KDD Cup in 2003 and topped the Battle of the Sensor Networks 2007 competition.

This event will be webcast live; for more information and a complete description, see the event web page: http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2010/02/leskovec


[SAVE THE DATE 2/22] MINDS FOR SALE with JONATHAN ZITTRAIN
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2/22/10, 5:30 PM ET, Austin East Classroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School
Registration Required ($5): http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2010/02/zittrain

Topic: Minds for Sale
Guest: Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society

The Harvard Alumni Association and the Berkman Center invite you to join Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law School Professor and Co-Founder of the Berkman Center, for an evening of discussion on “Minds for Sale.”

Cloud computing is not just for computing anymore: you can now find as much mindshare as you can afford out in the cloud, too. A new range of projects is making the application of human brainpower as purchasable and fungible as additional server rackspace.

What are some of the issues arising as armies of thinkers are recruited by the thousands and millions? A fascinating (and non-scare-mongering) view is offered of a future in which nearly any mental act can be bought and sold.

About Jonathan

Jonathan Zittrain is a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, a co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and served as its first executive director from 1997-2000.

Zittrain's research includes digital property, privacy, and speech, and the role played by private "middlepeople" in Internet architecture. He has a strong interest in creative, useful, and unobtrusive ways to deploy technology in the classroom.

This event will be webcast live; for more information and a complete description, see the event web page: http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2010/02/zittrain


[SAVE THE DATE 2/25] WIRESIDE CHAT with LAWRENCE LESSIG: FAIR USE, POLITICS, AND ONLINE VIDEO
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2/25/10, 6:00PM ET, Austin North Classroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School
RSVP is required for those attending in person via the form on this page: http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2010/02/lessig
This event will be webcast live
Co-organized by the Open Video Alliance (OVA)

Topic: Wireside Chat with Lawrence Lessig: Fair Use, Politics, and Online Video
Guest: Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School

On February 25, 2010, Lawrence Lessig will deliver a talk on fair use and politics in online video from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, MA. Come in person, or tune in to a live webcast at http://openvideoalliance.org/lessig.

In conjunction with the Cambridge event, OVA is hosting screenings in cities around the world. Many of these screenings will be followed by special presentations. In New York, check out a curation by the ReMixed Media Festival. In Los Angeles, take part in a Critical Commons workshop. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, check out a live audiovisual demonstration by Eclectic Method at Stanford Law School. For more details, or to host your own event, visit http://openvideoalliance.org/lessig.

Lessig's talk will explore copyright in a digital age, and the importance of a doctrine like fair use for free expression on the Internet. Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, and is essential for commentary, criticism, news reporting, remix, research, teaching and scholarship with video. As a medium, online video will be most powerful when it is fluid, like a conversation. Like the rest of the internet, online video must be designed to encourage participation, not just passive consumption.

If you have questions or comments, or if you'd like to host your own event, please email us at conference@openvideoalliance.org.

This event will be webcast live; for more information and a complete description, see the event web page: http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2010/02/lessig


Berkman Center Co-Sponsored Events


[FRIDAY] PATENT POLICY AND INNOVATION
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2/12/10, 12:00 PM ET, Pound Hall Room 213
Hosted by The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics

Topic: Patent Policy and Innovation

This panel will focus on how patent law affects various industries differently. The pharmaceutical and high-tech industries offer perhaps the most vivid examples of this divergence. The panel will also discuss whether patent law currently is or should be technology specific. Finally, the panel will also explore which institutional actor is in the best position to craft substantive patent law to promote innovation policy. Judge Sharon Prost of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Dan Burk, and Clarisa Long are among the panelist who will offer their observations on these challenging issues.

For more information, see this page: http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/petrie-flom/workshops_conferences/upcoming_events.html


[FRIDAY-SATURDAY] A2K4
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2/12-13/10, Yale Law School

A2K4: Conference on Access to Knowledge and Human Rights

This conference seeks to lay the groundwork – conceptual and strategic – to build bridges between the A2K and human rights communities pursuing common goals of promoting greater access to knowledge, culture, technology and tools for innovation worldwide.

The two-day conference will feature a diverse range of academics and practitioners in plenary panels on topics ranging from Technologies of Dissent and Freedom to Innovate, to The Right to Science and Culture and Digital Education and the Right to Learn.

Berkman Center Fellow Carolina Rossini will be moderating a panel on "The Right to Education: Realizing the Potential of Digital Tools".

The conference is open to the public; online registration is now open: https://www.regonline.com/a2k4


OTHER EVENTS OF NOTE
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[1] 2/1-2/12: Google Book Search in Depth (http://cipcommunity.org/s/1039/index.aspx?sid=1039&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=951&ecid=951&crid=0&calpgid=303&calcid=807)

[2] 2/10: "Out of the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America" with Mary Gray // Microsoft Research (http://marygray.eventbrite.com/)

[3] 2/10: EFF's 20th Birthday with Adam Savage and Friends // San Francisco (http://www.eff.org/calendar/2010/02/10/effs-20th-birthday-with-adam-savage)

[4] 2/11: Securing the Pseudo-commons: International Issues for Cybersecurity // MIT CSAIL (http://ilp-www.mit.edu/display_event.a4d?eventId=5717)

[5] 2/13-14: Free Culture Conference 2010 // Keynoted by Berkman Faculty Co-Director Jonathan Zittrain // Washington, DC (http://conference.freeculture.org/) -- Registration

[6] 2/24-26: Limiting Knowledge in a Democracy // Featuring Berkman Faculty Co-Director Jonathan Zittrain and Berkman Fellow Julie Cohen // New School, NY (http://www.socres.org/limitingknowledge/)

[7] 2/25: Dilemmas of Privacy and Knowledge, a lecture by Berkman Faculty Associate Harry Lewis // Cornell University (http://www.ucpl.cornell.edu/)

[8] 3/6/10: Gov 2.0 Camp New England // Harvard Kennedy School of Government (http://gov20ne.eventbrite.com/)

[9] 3/12: Cloud Computing Conference // Berkeley Center for Law & Technology // Berkeley, CA (http://www.law.berkeley.edu/institutes/bclt/cloudcomputing/about.html)

[10] 3/19-3/21: LibrePlanet Conference // Harvard Science Center (http://groups.fsf.org/wiki/LibrePlanet2010)

[11] 3/26: Fourth Law and Information Society Symposium: Hate Versus Democracy on the Internet // Center on Law & Information Policy (http://law2.fordham.edu/ihtml/cal-2uwcp-calendar_viewitem.ihtml?idc=10320)

The Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conference has extended its deadline for proposals to March 1 (http://www.cfp2010.org/submissions/)


DIGITAL MEDIA: Watch and Listen
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Did you miss this week's luncheon talk? Catch up with Berkman videos, podcasts, pictures, and dig in to our archive at http://cyber.harvard.edu/interactive.

-Berkman Luncheon Series with JOE KARAGANIS on "Media Piracy in Emerging Economies" (http://cyber.harvard.edu/interactive/events/luncheon/2010/02/karaganis)

-Radio Berkman Mini: A Failing Fantasy of Intellectual Property with LAWRENCE LIANG (http://cyber.harvard.edu/node/5911)


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BERKMAN CALENDAR & UPCOMING EVENTS PREVIEW
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See our events calendar if you're curious about future luncheons, discussions, lectures, conferences, and more: http://cyber.harvard.edu/events. All of our events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

4/30-5/1: ROFLCon II at MIT (http://cyber.harvard.edu/events/2010/04/roflcon)

6/28-6/30: COMMUNIA Conference 2010: Universities & the commons/cyberspace (http://cyber.harvard.edu/node/5608)


ABOUT US
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The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University was founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. For more information, visit http://cyber.harvard.edu.