Berkman Center for Internet & Society

Call For Papers: Regulation of Privacy

From the announcement: Call for Papers: Workshop on Regulation of Privacy On-and Off-line in the Age of Technology, Cape Town, 3-6 January 2005.This workshop will focus on regulation of privacy as it is currently impacted by technological developments, including, but not restricted to, the growth of the information society, growth in uptake of digital technologies, medical technological advances, security and surveillance technology advances, and database and data-mining developments.

Crisis Averted: Lobby the Lawmakers

We're talking about solutions today at Preventing the Internet Meltdown.

Experts Flummoxed By Impending Regulations

The second day of the Preventing the Internet Meltdown conference focused on a number of wedge issues that could alter the existing architecture of the Internet.

Meltdown Underway?

The eye-catching conference title, Preventing the Internet Meltdown, has drawn a number of experts and early Internet pioneers to Los Angeles this week to discuss the thorny and elusive problem of Internet governance.

Weinberger, Others Blog Convention

Senate Committee Looks to Tax VoIP

The Senate Committee on Commerce has changed proposed legislation regarding Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) from guarding against regulation, to enabling states to levy taxes and compensate traditional phone companies for use of their phone lines.  In an article on News.com, Declan McCullagh writes that "VoIP lobbyists claim that those fees are already being paid directly or indirectly," and so are unhappy with the changes to the bill.  This development comes as Verizon rolls out its own VoIP service.  The House of Representatives, meanwhile, is considering other potential legislation in this area.

Digital Media in Higher Ed

Universities across the country are working on creative ways to reduce illegal file-sharing on their networks.

Internet & Society 2004 Coming This Fall

The fifth conference in a series, Internet & Society 2004: Transformational Politics will take place this December 10th.  Along with sponsors eBay and the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, the Berkman Center is working on a program which will take a hard look at how information and communication technologies affect the political process.  Please visit the preliminary conference web page to request more information when it is available.  The conference will be open to the entire Harvard community as well as the general public.

What Would Thoreau Do?

When Eric Eldred drove his Internet Bookmobile to Walden Pond several weeks ago, he wanted to distribute free books to visitors.

Internet Governance -- Who's Running this Show?

A group of scholars from Syracuse University and Georgia Institute of Technology have joined forces to form the Internet Governance Project -- an initiative to understand the complicated and quickly evolving field of Internet governance.

Internet Activists: More Powerful than Tree-Huggers?

A new report from The Convergence Center argues that activist groups focused on the Internet and communications policy have come of age, taking a prominent place in political discourse alongside the environmental movement and other more established public interest causes.

Tune In Online

The Washington Post calls it a "bottomless grab bag full of radio pieces." The Public Radio Exchange -- a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, MA -- is an online clearinghouse for radio producers and listeners to share content directly.

Spotlight on IP

The recently released Harvard Law Bulletin provides a spotlight on the current state of Intellectual Property.

KerryEdwards.com: For Sale on eBay?

"It's the only fair thing to do," said Kerry Edwards, an Illinois man who has owned the domain name kerryedwards.com for years.

International Spam Fighters

The International Telecommunication Union is hosting a conference this week dedicated to initiatives to fight spam, a "plague" of today's online world, according to the ITU.

Politics -- Plug In!

With the 2004 elections just around the corner, questions about youth and political participation have fallen into the spotlight once again.

iTunes Europe – A Preliminary Report

Zittrain on COPA and the First Amendment

Yesterday, the Supreme Court again blocked enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), citing that it has not yet been proved that voluntary use of Internet filters would not work as well as legally enforced use.

Judge Upholds Barbie Art

Since 1999, Mattel, the manufacturer of Barbie, has been locked in lawsuits with artist Tom Forsythe for his controversial artwork that depicts the doll in various poses.

Don't Beat Them, Join Them

In an op-ed in today's The New York Times, Berkman Center Director William Fisher puts the latest round of recording industry lawsuits in perspective.