Upcoming events: Open Access Book Launch; Berkman Center Open House; Certificate Authority Collapse

Book Launch: Open Access

Tuesday, September 11 , 6:00pm ET, Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West A Room. Co-sponsored by the Harvard Office of Scholarly Communication and the Harvard Law School Library.

The internet lets us share perfect copies of our work with a worldwide audience at virtually no cost. We take advantage of this revolutionary opportunity when we make our work “open access”: digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Open access is made possible by the internet and copyright-holder consent, and many authors, musicians, filmmakers, and other creators who depend on royalties are understandably unwilling to give their consent. But for 350 years, scholars have written peer-reviewed journal articles for impact, not for money, and are free to consent to open access without losing revenue. In this concise introduction, Peter Suber tells us what open access is and isn’t, how it benefits authors and readers of research, how we pay for it, how it avoids copyright problems, how it has moved from the periphery to the mainstream, and what its future may hold. Distilling a decade of Suber’s influential writing and thinking about open access, this is the indispensable book on the subject for researchers, librarians, administrators, funders, publishers, and policy makers. Peter Suber's work consists of research, writing, organizing, advocacy, and pro bono consulting for open access to research. He is the Director of the Harvard Open Access Project, Special Advisor to the Harvard Office for Scholarly Communication, Faculty Fellow at the Berkman Center, Senior Researcher at SPARC, Research Professor of Philosophy at Earlham College, Open Access Project Director at Public Knowledge, and author of the SPARC Open Access Newsletter. Special guests include: Stuart Shieber (School of Engineering and Applied Sciences), Robert Darnton (Harvard University Library), June Casey (Harvard Law School Library), David Weinberger (Berkman Center / Harvard Library Innovation Lab) and more. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

Berkman Center Open House

Monday, September 17 , 6:30pm ET, Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East Rooms.

Come to the Berkman Center for Internet & Society’s Fall 2012 Open House to meet our faculty, fellows, and staff, and to learn about the many ways you can get involved in our dynamic, exciting environment. As a University-wide research center at Harvard University, our interdisciplinary efforts in the exploration of cyberspace address a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. If you're interested in the Internet’s impact on society and are looking to engage a community of world-class fellows and faculty through events, conversations, research, and more please join us to hear more about our upcoming academic year! Paid part-time research positions will be available in the fall, and you can visit http://cyber.harvard.edu/getinvolved/internships_academicyear to see the current available openings. People from all disciplines, universities, and backgrounds are encouraged to attend the Open House to familiarize yourself with the Berkman Center and explore opportunities to join us in our research. We look forward to seeing you there! RSVP Required. more information on our website>

Certificate Authority Collapse

Thursday, September 20 , 12:30pm ET, Harvard Law School.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (‘HTTPS’) has evolved into the de facto standard for secure web browsing. Through the certificate-based authentication protocol, web services and internet users protect valuable communications and transactions against interception and alteration by cybercriminals, governments and business. In only one decade, it has facilitated trust in a thriving global E-Commerce economy, while every internet user has come to depend on HTTPS for social, political and economic activities on the internet. Recent breaches and malpractices at several Certificate Authorities (CA’s) have led to a collapse of trust in these central mediators of HTTPS communications as they revealed 'fundamental weaknesses in the design of HTTPS’ (ENISA 2011). The research finds that the EU eSignatures proposal lacks an integral vision on the HTTPS value chain and a coherent normative assessment of the underlying values of HTTPS governance. These omissions lead to sub-optimal provisions on liability, security requirements, security breach notifications and supervision in terms of legitimacy and addressing the systemic security vulnerabilities of the HTTPS ecosystem. Nico van Eijk is Professor of Media and Telecommunications Law and Director of the Institute for Information Law (IViR, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam). Axel Arnbak is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Information Law. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

DPLA Midwest Conference

October 11-12 , Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL.

DPLA Midwest—taking place on October 11-12, 2012 in Chicago—is the third major public event bringing together librarians, technologists, creators, students, government leaders, and others interested in building a Digital Public Library of America. Convened by the DPLA Secretariat at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and co-hosted by the Chicago Public Library, the event will assemble a wide range of stakeholders in a broad, open forum to facilitate innovation, collaboration, and connections across the DPLA effort. Registration Required. more information on our website>

Brad Abruzzi: Amazons, Witches, and Critics – A Liberated Novelist Asks, “Now What?”

In the olden days, a writer hoped to catch the eye of an aristocratic patron who might supply a well-placed word of endorsement. The Gutenberg press wrested authors free from this feudal condition, only transfer writers' indenture to publishers, who by owning the means of [re]production acquired the final say regarding what volumes would and would not land on store shelves. This gatekeeping privilege of publishers largely survives to this day, and depending on how well you think they do the work, we might celebrate publishers as Stewards of Culture or lament the state of a Literature Held Hostage. Now digital media and the Internet propose to devolve the means of [re]production upon authors themselves. Any would-be novelist can flog his work in a digital format over Amazon KDP, Smashwords, and other open outlets for textual works. video/audio on our website>

RB 206: Unlocking Research

Disseminating knowledge was once a costly undertaking. The expenses of printing, distributing, and housing the work of researchers and scholars left most research in the hands of publishers, journals, and institutions in a system that has evolved over centuries. And the licensing model that has arisen with that system butts heads with the quick, simple, and virtually free distribution system of the net. The key to breaking free of the traditional licensing model locking up research is the promise of the "Open Access" movement. And the movement has already made significant strides. Over the summer the United Kingdom was enticed enough by the potential for greater innovation and growth of knowledge to propose Open Access for any research supported by government funds. But Open Access still remains a wonky, hard to understand subject. Today, Peter Suber — Director of the Harvard Open Access Project — shares insights with David Weinberger from his new guide to distilling Open Access, called simply Open Access. video/audio on our website>