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Welcome to the iLaw 2011 Wiki!

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is very pleased to offer the iLaw 2011 Program, which will take place Tuesday, September 6th - Friday, September 9th. Please read this section closely, as it contains important information about the iLaw Program. This wiki will serve as a repository for information and materials related to the iLaw 2011 program. Here, you will find the iLaw Program Schedule, information about Program Logistics, program session descriptions, required and suggested reading assignments, and information about final student projects. We received an enormous amount of interest in this year's program. For this reason, and out of respect for others, we ask that all participants commit to attending all sessions in the program -- the evening events, however, are optional.

iLaw 2011 Program Overview

Since the last iLaw conference was held nearly five years ago, the debates at the intersection of technology, law, and policy have continued to evolve. The introduction of new technologies – and new uses of old technologies – raise a broad range of problems to explore. To name a few examples, the intervening years have seen the growth of social networking tools; Facebook has gained more than 750 million users worldwide and has found itself at the center of privacy debates. Information technologies have played an unprecedented role in recent protests in the Middle East and North Africa, at times in tension with US foreign policy and export controls. In the US, government regulators and major ISPs continue to struggle with finding the right balance points for network governance and regulatory authority.

Growing Internet usage trends, disruptive technologies, increased efforts by governments and private entities to control the online space continue to reshape the cyber landscape. These issues, alongside the actors who provide the technologies and the users who engage with them, are at the center of many global policy debates. iLaw 2011 will be a unique opportunity to reexamine these areas of inquiry and core questions while engaging with the new and emerging issues and thorny debates that are constantly reshaping the field.

The 2011 iLaw Program is designed to take participants through the evolution of information technologies and the Internet, including their past, present, and future. Each module will provide a bridge to the past, beginning with a brief sketch of how a particular issue has evolved over the course of recent decades, both from an intellectual history perspective and via changes in policy, practice, and technology. Faculty and selected guests will use this foundation to explore how technical, social, legal, economic, and policy trends and debates have evolved over time, and identify the primary questions and issues that currently define the online space.

• Recommended substantive areas to review before iLaw 2011

Logistics

See main page on Program Logistics

Program Schedule

iLaw Sessions
Tuesday, September 6
Wednesday, September 7
Thursday, September 8
Friday, September 9

See main page on Program Schedule

Program Materials

The iLaw program features a mixture of interactive lectures, roundtable-style and moderated discussions lead by Harvard Law School faculty members, Berkman Center researchers, fellows, and special guests. The sessions, which have been designed to expose students and audience members to the diverse nature of iLaw, will cover three types of substantive topical areas: (1) "Thematic Pillars" (the foundational topics and theories of iLaw), topics, (2) "Cross-sectional Themes" (which explore overlapping themes below the foundational surface), and (3) Case Studies (cases and examples of themes in practice).

Below are links to pages on this wiki categorized by topical area. These pages contain session overviews and links to the required reading assignments, suggested readings, and related Cross-sectional or Case Study sessions. For more information about the schedule or logistics, please consult the Program Schedule and Program Logistics pages.

Each day will end with an optional evening event. These events will offer unique opportunities to interact with Berkman Center and Harvard faculty, staff, fellows, and members of the community. Students and audience members are strongly encouraged to attend these events and learn more about the Berkman Center and it's diverse, enthusiastic community.

Pillars Themes of iLaw

Open Systems/Access
Online Liberty and Freedom of Expression
The Changing Internet: Cybersecurity
Intellectual Property
Privacy
Digital Humanities

Cross-sectional Themes of iLaw

The History of the Internet
User Innovation
The Global Internet
The Study of the Internet: New Methods for New Technologies
Mutual Aid
The Future of the Internet

Case Studies

Exploring the Arab Spring
Digital Libraries, Archives, and Rights Registries
Minds for Sale

Evening Events (Optional)

• Tuesday: Berkman Center Open House
• Wednesday: metaLAB (at) Harvard
• Thursday: Potential Thursday Evening Events

Pages being moved around

GNI/Role of Intermediaries
Youth and Media

Miscellaneous Information

• Information about Past iLaws
• Berkman Center Directors, Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Community
• Information about the Berkman Center Cyberlaw Clinic
• Information about Harvard's Center for Research on Computation and Society (CRCS)