Reddit revolts, a guilty pleasure, destroying the Internet, a love letter to libraries, and the fight against human trafficking
Berkman Center News We're thrilled to welcome the new fellows, affiliates, and faculty associates who will be joining us for the 2015-2016 academic year! Read all about them in our announcement.
A guilty pleasure. "There's something shameful but compelling about mildly invading a politician or celebrity's privacy," writes Berkman fellow Josephine Wolff. In her essay for the New Republic she explores why all those boring emails are so darned compelling.
Will a new proposal make harassment easier? "The ICANN working group and the entertainment lobby didn’t set out to aid and abet online harassment, but that is what this proposal would do," according to Sarah Jeong and Berkman affiliate Kendra Albert in their WIRED op-ed arguing against a plan that could limit access to proxy and privacy services for domain registrants.
"Pretty horrible and totally infeasible." That's how Berkman fellow Bruce Schneier described how things might play out if the UK tried to implement an encryption ban, something prime minister David Cameron is proposing. "It wouldn't work," Schneier told Business Insider, "and trying would destroy the Internet."
WATCH: BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever In An Age of Google Berkman co-director John Palfrey discussed his new book on June 22, 2015.
Palfrey argues that anyone seeking to participate in the 21st century needs to understand how to find and use the vast stores of information available online. Libraries play a crucial role in making these skills and information available, but they are at risk.
LISTEN: How to Stop Traffic A new episode from Radio Berkman
While the Internet plays a role in enabling human trafficking and child exploitation, new technology is also contributing to the efforts to police and prevent these crimes.
In this episode, we speak with MIT's Mitali Thakor who is is studying the tangled web of efforts, players and technologies involved in the search for solutions.
