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[h2o] Bob Clark Questions
>Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 12:47:16 -0400
>To: clark@law.harvard.edu
>From: Charles Nesson <nesson@law.harvard.edu>
>Subject: Re: May 20 gathering -- <http://www.opencode.org>
>Cc: clark@law.harvard.edu, marc_goodheart@harvard.edu,
>harvey_fineberg@harvard.edu, sullivan@harvard.edu,
>jorge.contreras@haledorr.com, zittrain@law.harvard.edu,
>lessig@law.harvard.edu,
>
>Dear Bob,
>
>Your questions are wonderful. Sorry to hear you have the flu. Perhaps
>engaging somthing fun to think about will lift your spirits. I look forward
>to talking as soon as you are well.
>
>Here are summary responses to your questions. I will circulate your
>questions to get help from others as well.
>
>1. Why, precisely is a separate corporation wanted?
>
>Independence is the key reason. If H20 is to function as a consortium of
>university and philanthopic communities contributing to an open digital
>commons, then an entity independent of Harvard is needed. It may be that a
>Massachusetts nonprofit corporation is not the best form. We would certainly
>value your thoughts on this. You are, after all, the guy who wrote the
>Corporations book.
>
>
>2. What exactly would its purposes be?
>
>ITs goal will be to generate a global open code digital commons for purposes
>of promoting freedom of expression, justice, education, security, privacy,
>and commerce. We want to express the power of openness with respect to each
>of these purposes, all with open spirit. We regard this as the spirit of
>Harvard and the Net.
>
>3. What would be the likely specific terms of its contracts with other
>institutions?
>
>Agreements will be with contributors. The most significant will be
>agreements to insure interoperability, documentation, support, and
>dedication to the public domain of the code we contribute. Agreements will
>also be with workers. We believe a cadre of open-spirited
>professionally-skilled opencoders and managers will be willing to work for
>moderate money compensation, knowing their work will be open to all.
>
>4. Who would review, approve, and monitor them?
>
>Review, approval, and monitoring on the H20 side will be done through a
>governing structure still to be designed. The objective is to represent the
>interests of the internet community at large, present and future. The
>challenge is to create an entity firmly bound to ITs open mission, strongly
>led, and truly grounded in informed consensus. Rough Consensus and Running
>Code - mantra of the net. We, together with Jorge Contreras, our lawyer at
>Hale & Dorr, have learned a lot from our work on ICANN.
>
>Review, approval, and monitoring on the contributors side will be done by
>contributors, whoever and whatever their process may be. In the case of the
>Berkman Center, for example, we want to contribute and dedicate the teaching
>platform tools and content we have collectively developed to the public
>domain. If you feel you need to approve, we would be happy to have your
>approval. We are anxious to demonstrate for you as soon as you are able. We
>want to show you what we are doing both from the teacher and the student
>point of view.
>
>5. How would the corporation's purposes, activities, procedures, and power
>arrangements fit -- or not fit -- with the purposes and policies of Harvard
>University?
>
>I see harmonious and mutually productive fit. The basic mode of H20 is to be
>pull, not push. Contribute to the Commons only if you want to. If there are
>two sides to a question, we want to know about IT.
>
>Permitting contribution by faculty and students of their collective work to
>the digital public domain would fit well with Harvard's purposes and
>policies. Far from damaging Harvard, ITs name will be enhanced. The
>attraction of Harvard as a place to learn and teach and live and love and
>work will swell with the Net as we demo how to be and do good in our world.
>The pride of our graduates and friends expressed in cash and bequests will
>grow.
>
>Charlie
>
>Bob, an afterthought. You should know that we are not trying to leave the
>reservation. We gave Harvey notice of our intention along with invitation to
>be a guest of honor at our banquet, just as we did you. We welcome your
>questions and the opportunity this process will provide to focus the
>attention of the President and Governing Boards and whole Harvard community
>on them.
>
>eon
>
>At 04:04 PM 4/12/99 , clark@law.harvard.edu wrote:
>>Dear Charlie,
>>
>>We will certainly need to have a meeting to discuss this proposal. From
>>the little I know, I couldn't support it.
>>
>>I have many initial questions, and they will probably take more refined
>>shape after we talk. (Why, precisely, is a separate corporation wanted?
>>What exactly would its purposes be? What would be the likely specific
>>terms of its contracts with other institutions? Who would review, approve,
>>and monitor them? How would the corporation's purposes, activities,
>>procedures, and power arrangements fit -- or not fit -- with the purposes
>>and policies of Harvard University? Etc.)
>>
>>In addition to questions, I have a very strong starting presumption against
>>creating a separate corporate entity that is, in effect, a subsidiary of a
>>nonincorporated subdivision of a nonincorporated faculty of Harvard
>>University. From a corporate law standpoint, such a development could
>>seriously complicate and confuse the allocation of decision making
>>authority within Harvard. The arguably analogous precedents that I know
>>fairly well (e.g., the HLS Alumni Association and the Harvard Law Review
>>Association, which are legally separate though unincorporated
>>"associations") give me no desire whatever to support additional separate
>>entities.
>>
>>I am now home with a flu or cold, complete with fever, but will make it a
>>point to give you a call when I return.
>>
>>- Bob Clark
>>
>>
>>
>>At 4:37 PM -0400 4/10/99, nesson@law.harvard.edu wrote:
>>>Bob-
>>>
>>>Pursuant to the Provost's email which I am forwarding to you, the Berkman
>>>Center hereby asks your permission and seeks your support to form in
>>>conjunction with other philanthropic and educational institutions the
>>>nonprofit corporation styled h2o. We are proposing formation of an entity
>>>independent of the Berkman Center so that other educational and
>>>phinlathropic communities can participate with us as partners.
>>>
>>>h2o seeks to promote and support a vibrant opencode community to make a
>>>commons in cyberspace a reality.
>>>Our supporting documentation and unfolding process of discussion and
>>>resolution is at http://opencode.org .
>>>
>>>You should, of course, feel free to call or meet.
>>>
>>>Charlie
>>>
>>>eon
>>>
>>>>Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 08:01:04 -0400
>>>>Subject: Re: Fwd: May 20 gathering -- <http://www.opencode.org>
>>>>Sender: harvey_fineberg@harvard.edu
>>>>To: nesson@law.harvard.edu
>>>>From: harvey_fineberg@harvard.edu
>>>>Cc: clark@law.harvard.edu,
>>>> marc_goodheart@harvard.edu,
>>>> sullivan@harvard.edu
>>>>
>>>>Charlie-
>>>>
>>>>Please be aware that the Berkman Center is not authorized to sponsor the
>>>>formation of any new entity outside of Harvard. Sponsorship of any new
>>>>entity by a constituent part of Harvard can only be authorized by the
>>>>President and Fellows.
>>>>
>>>>I urge you to discuss any ideas you may have about such new entities with
>>>>Bob Clark, whose approval would be a necessary step to gaining
>>>>consideration by the President and Fellows. I would be happy to discuss
>>>>this further with you and Dean Clark, if you and he would like.
>>>>
>>>>Harvey
>>>>
>>>>At 08:56 AM 4/5/99 -0400, you wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>To: CyberProf@mail.law.utexas.edu
>>>>>>Reply-To: CyberProf@mail.law.utexas.edu
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Fellow CyberProfs--
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The Berkman Center is in the process of sponsoring the formation of an
>>>>>>independent non-profit entity comprising university and philanthropic
>>>>>>communities that want to contribute to and benefit from a commons of open
>>>>>>code teaching and learning tools. We want you to join in however it
might
>>>>>>suit your interest and time, and to pass the word to those in your
>>>>>>university community with affinity and resource for our joint venture.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Our plan is to raise and conduct online discussion of the key
questions to
>>>>>>be decided before we become a legal entity, and to arrive at effective
>>>>>>conclusions before or at a meeting to be held May 20, 1999, at the Boston
>>>>>>offices of our attorney, Hale & Dorr, and simultaneously through
Internet2
>>>>>>at other university centers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The idea in brief: The Net offers amazing prospects for transforming the
>>>>>>way we teach, both adjunct to physical world classrooms and in its own
>>>>>>right as a teaching medium. These prospects are as much in their infancy
>>>>>>as the internet itself, and could ultimately find definition in software
>>>>>>code, server and client, emerging from proprietary development
>companies or
>>>>>>from the non-profit educational sector itself. We're interested in
>ways to
>>>>>>structure development of pedagogical software by the very people who
would
>>>>>>teach and learn from it. The new non-profit organization that would do
>>>>>>this would have membership and leadership open to all individuals,
>research
>>>>>>centers, and universities who wish to contribute to its vision and/or
>>>>>>actively sponsor the development of open software for pedagogy. By
"open"
>>>>>>we mean freely sharable and extensible by all who will themselves share
>>>>>>their work on it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Through the Berkman Center we've been taking the first steps towards a
>>>>>>kernel for such software, and wish to contribute it--both the code itself
>>>>>>and some means of linking to the virtual teaching network it
>>>>>>anticipates--to this new organization, which in turn will make it
>available
>>>>>>to everyone.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>To find out more--including a vision of the new organization and the need
>>>>>>to which it might respond; a look at the software teaching kernel in use;
>>>>>>to express interest in attending the May 20 meeting physically or
>>>>>>virtually; and to sign up for an announcements list about it--please
check
>>>>>>out <http://www.opencode.org>.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Questions we hope to work on, and would love to discuss on CyberProf,
>>>>>>assuming it's fine with Mark--
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1/ What teaching/communications tools are needed most? How can we think
>>>>>>outside the box of the current "threaded messaging/chat/html/streaming
>>>>>>multimedia" apps?
>>>>>> 2/ How should common code and content be licensed, if at all? (cf.
>>>>>>Stallman's "General Public License" at <http://www.gnu.org>.
>>>>>> 3/ How should a new non-profit that could gather and hold sway over code
>>>>>>and content in the public interest be inclusively governed?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Thoughts?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -- Larry Lessig, Charles Nesson, Jonathan Zittrain
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Jon Zittrain
>>>>>>Harvard Law School
>>>>>>Executive Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
>>>>>>http://cyber.law.harvard.edu
>>>>>>Lecturer on Law
>>>>>>http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/is98
>>>>>>http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/msdoj
>>>>>>+ 1 617 495 4643
>>>>>>+ 1 617 495 7641 (fax)
>>>>
>>>
>>>Charles Nesson
>>>Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at HLS
>>>http://cyber.harvard.edu/eon
>>>http://opencode.org
>>>
>>>Wm. F. Weld Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
>>>http://cyber.harvard.edu/evidence99
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>Robert C. Clark
>>Dean
>>Harvard Law School - G200
>>Cambridge, MA 02138
>>Tel. 617-495-4601
>>Fax 617-495-5115
>>Email: clark@law.harvard.edu
>>