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How to Make Your Research Open Access; The growing trade in software security exploits; Configuring the Networked Self

Berkman Events Newsletter Template
Upcoming Events / Digital Media
October 18, 2012

Remember to load images if you have trouble seeing parts of this email. Or click here to view the web version of this newsletter. Below you will find upcoming Berkman Center events, interesting digital media we have produced, and other events of note.

berkman luncheon series

How to Make Your Research Open Access (Whether You're at Harvard or Not)

Tuesday, October 23, 12:30pm ET, Harvard Law School. This event will be webcast live. Co-hosted by the Office for Scholarly Communication at Harvard University.

berkman

How do you make your own work open access (OA)? The question comes up from researchers at schools with good OA policies (like Harvard and MIT) and at schools with no OA policies at all. We invite you to join Peter Suber and Stuart Shieber of the Harvard Open Access Project, the Berkman Center community, and Office for Scholarly Communication in an open forum on the Harvard OA policies, concrete steps for making your work OA, and questions on any aspect of OA, especially from the perspective of publishing researchers. 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. Stuart Shieber is James O. Welch, Jr. and Virginia B. Welch Professor of Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

co-sponsored talk

The growing trade in software security exploits: free speech or cyber-weapons in need of regulation?

Wednesday, October 24, 12:00pm ET, Harvard Law School. This event is organized and co-hosted by the HLS Journal of Law and Technology.

berkman

Over the past year, the public has started to learn about the shadowy trade in software security exploits. Rather than disclosing these flaws to software vendors like Google and Microsoft who will then fix them, security researchers can now sell them for six figures to governments who then use them for interception, espionage and cyber war. These flaws are only useful for their intended purpose if software vendors remain in the dark about them, and if fixes never reach the general public. As such, the very existence of government stockpiles of software security flaws, whether for law enforcement, espionage or military operations means that government agencies are exposing consumers, businesses and other government agencies to exploitable security flaws which could otherwise be fixed. What should be done, if anything, about this part of the security industry? Are researchers who sell exploits simply engaging in legitimate free speech that should be protected? Or, are they engaging in the sale of digital arms in a global market that should be regulated? Chris Sogohian is the Principal Technologist and a Senior Policy Analyst with the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

special event

Configuring the Networked Self

Wednesday, November 7, 6:00pm ET, Harvard Law School.

berkman

The models of individual behavior upon which U.S. legal scholars and policymakers habitually rely are too narrow and unrealistic to yield useful insights into information policy problems. Configuring the Networked Self seeks to remedy this deficit, and in the process to develop a unified framework for conceptualizing the social and cultural effects of legal and technical regimes that govern information access and use. It offers guiding principles for information policy reform that move beyond the themes of “access to knowledge” and “network neutrality.” The everyday behaviors of ordinary people require spaces where they can be enacted, tools with which they can be pursued, and meaningful legal guarantees in which they can claim shelter. This requires more careful attention to the semantic structure of the networked information environment. The mixture of freedom and control that human beings require to flourish is achieved most effectively when regulat ory architectures are characterized by operational transparency—by access to the underlying logic of information systems—and by semantic discontinuity—by gaps and inconsistencies within systems of meaning that leave room for the play of everyday practice. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

special event

DPLA Appfest Hackathon

November 8-9, Chattanooga Public Library, Chattanooga, TN.

berkman

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is delighted to announce our first Appfest, an informal, open call for both ideas and functional examples of creative and engaging ways to use the content and metadata in the DPLA back-end platform. The first Appfest will take place on November 8-9, 2012, at the Chattanooga Public Library on The 4th Floor. We’ll have access to their new 1 gig wireless internet connection, so anything you build should be smokin’ fast! more information on our website>

video/audio

Niva Elkin-Koren on Fair Use for Education: Taking Best Practices to the Next Level

berkman

Over the past two decades copyright law has become a major impediment to learning and teaching processes. The use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes is, indeed, at the core of fair use. Yet, the high level of uncertainty regarding the particular scope of permissible uses prevents universities and colleges from exercising fair use on behalf of their students. In this talk, Niva Elkin-Koren — former dean of the University of Haifa Faculty of Law and the founding director of the Haifa Center for Law & Technology (HCLT) — shares some insights based on the building of a coalition of higher education institutions in Israel and drafting a code of fair use best practices. video/audio on our website>

Other Events of Note

Events that may be of interest to the Berkman community:

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