2009 Spring Information Society

The Information Society

Professor Jack M. Balkin

Yale Law School

Syllabus

Note:

The assigned books for the course are Jack M. Balkin and Beth Simone Noveck, eds., The State of Play (2006); C. Edwin Baker, Media, Markets, and Democracy (2002); Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks (2006), Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet (2008), Neil Netanel, Copyright’s Paradox (2008), Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody (2008), and Cass R. Sunstein, Republic.com 2.0 (2008).

All other readings for the course are available on the Internet.

After the assigned readings for each week I will sometimes also list a set of additional readings on related subjects if you are particularly interested in the subject. They are optional.

 

Part I: Introduction– Some Key Concepts

1. Code (1/26/2009)

• Julian Dibbell, A Rape in Cyberspace
   

• Universal Studios v. Corley

• Lawrence Lessig, The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach

Additional Readings (N.B. all additional readings are optional)

• Lawrence Lessig, Regulation By Code, from Code 2.0
   

• James Grimmelman, Regulation by Software

2. Democratic Culture (1/27/2009)

• Jack M. Balkin, Digital Speech and Democratic Culture

Additional Reading

• Yochai Benkler, Property, Commons, and the First Amendment: Towards a Core Common Infrastructure (Brennan Center White Paper, March 2001)

 

Part II: Virtual Worlds and Social Software

3. Regulating Virtual Worlds (2/2/2009)

• The State of Play, pp. 13-186

4. Virtual Worlds as Social Software (2/3/2009)

• The State of Play, pp. 189-216
   

• Clay Shirky, A Group is its Own Worst Enemy

• James Grimmelmann, Facebook and the Social Dynamics of Privacy
• Beth Simone Noveck, A Democracy of Groups
• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, Chapter 10, pp. 356-377

Additional Readings

• T.L. Taylor, Beyond Management: Considering Participatory Design and Governance in Player Culture
   

• dana m. boyd and Nicole B. Ellison, Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship

• danah boyd, Friendster Lost Steam. Is MySpace Just a Fad?
• danah boyd, Friends, Friendsters, and Top 8: Writing community into being on social network sites
• danah boyd, Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace
• Mikael Jakobsson & T.L. Taylor, The Sopranos Meets Everquest: Social Networking in Massively Multiplayer Online Games
• danah boyd, Facebook’s “Privacy Trainwreck”: Exposure, Invasion, and Drama
• Clay Shirky, RELATIONSHIP: A vocabulary for describing relationships between people
• Adam Mathes, Folksonomies - Cooperative Classification and Communication Through Shared Metadata

 

Part III– Media and Information Policy

5. Audiences, Markets and Models of Democracy (2/9/2009, 2/10/2009 and 2/16/2009)

• C. Edwin Baker, Media, Markets, and Democracy
   

• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, pp. 35-58.

• Jack M. Balkin, Media Access, A Question of Design

 

Part IV – Content Control over the Internet

6. Collateral Censorship and Control over Conduits (2/17/2009, 2/23/2009 and 2/24/2009)

A. Section 230

• Jack M. Balkin, Free Speech and Hostile Environments
   

• Jack M. Balkin, The Future of Free Expression in a Digital Age

• Rebecca Tushnet, Power Without Responsibility: Intermediaries and the First Amendment
• Internet Service Provider Liability Exception 47 USC §230
• Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC
• Wikipedia, The Sigenthaler Controvery

Additional Readings

• Barrett v. Rosenthal (California Supreme Court 2006) [Additional version]
   

• Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under the Law, Inc. v. Craigslist, Inc. (7th Cir.)

• Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under the Law, Inc. v. Craigslist, Inc., 1:06-CV-00657 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 14, 2006)
• Doe v. MySpace, (W,D. Tex., February 13, 2007)

B. The DMCA

• DMCA Section 512
   

• Chilling Effects discussion of DMCA Section 512

• Summary of Digital Millennium Copyright Act Liability Provisions

Additional Readings

• Digital Millennium Copyright Act Summary– U.S. Copyright Office
   

• Online Policy Group v. Diebold

• RIAA v. Verizon

C. Policy Justifications for Regulating Conduits

• Doug Lichtman, On holding Internet Service Providers Accountable
   

• Nancy Kim, Imposing Tort Liability on Websites for Cyber-Harassment

• Steven J. Horowitz, Defusing a Google Bomb
• James Grimmelmann, Don’t Censor Search

Additional Readings

• Jonathan Zittrain, A History of Online Gatekeeping
   

• Zeran v. America Online (4th Cir. 1997) [Alternate version]

• Blumenthal v. Drudge, 992 F.Supp. 44 (D.D.C. 1998) [Alternate version]
• Ken S. Myers, Wikimmunity: Fitting the Communications Decency Act to Wikipedia
• Douglas Lichtman and Eric Posner, Holding Internet Service Providers Accountable, SSRN

D. Search Engines as Conduits

• Jeffrey Rosen, Google’s Gatekeepers
   

• James Grimmelmann, The Structure of Search Engine Law [alternative version 1] [alternative version 2]

• Frank Pasquale and Oren Bracha, Federal Search Commission? Access, Fairness and Accountability in the Law of Search

Additional Readings

• Field v. Google
   

• Perfect 10 v. Google

• Search King v. Google
• Rescuecom v. Google
• James Grimmelmann, The Google Dilemma
• James Grimmelmann, Information Policy For the Library of Babel
• Frank Pasquale, Ratings, Rankings and Reductionism
• Eric Goldman, Search Engine Bias and Demise of Search Engine Utopianism [alternative version]
• Langdon v. Google
• Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation [alternative version]
• Jonathan Band, The Google Print Library Project: A Copyright Analysis

8. Filtering and Rating Systems (3/2/2009 and 3/3/2009)

• Reno v. ACLU (Reno I), 521 U.S. 844 (1997) (The CDA Case) [Additional version]
   

• Ashcroft v. ACLU (COPA case)(S. Ct. 2004)

• ACLU v. Mukasey (3d Circuit 2008)
• CDT v. Pappert
• United States v. ALA

Additional Readings

• ACLU v. Ashcroft (COPA case)(3d Circuit 2003)
   

• ACLU, Fahrenheit 451.2, Is Cyberspace Burning

• COPA Commission Final Report
• Jack M. Balkin et al., Filtering the Internet, a Best Practices Model
• Tim Wu, The World Trade Law of Internet Filtering, SSRN
• Jonathan Ezor, Busting Blocks: Appropriate Legal Remedies for Wrongful Inclusion in Spam Filters Under U.S. Law, SSRN

 

Part V – Copyright and Free Expression

9. Copyright and Free Expression (3/09/2009, 3/10/2009)

• Netanel, Copyright’s Paradox
   

• Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture, pp. 116-173

• Eldred v. Ashcroft

Additional Readings

• Suntrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin Co.
   

• Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc. v. Carol Publishing Group, Inc.

• Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God, Inc.
• Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture [here], [here], [here], and [here]
• Lawrence Lessig, Copyrighting the President
• C. Edwin Baker, First Amendment Limits On Copyright
• David McGowan, Why The First Amendment Cannot Dictate Copyright Policy
• Jed Rubenfeld, The Freedom of Imagination: Copyright’s Constitutionality
• Rebecca Tushnet, Copy this Essay
• Benkler, Free As The Air To Common Use: First Amendment Constraints On Enclosure of The Public Domain

 

Part VI – Innovation Policy

11. Digital Control of Information (3/23/2009)

A. Broadband Policy, Open Access, and Network Neutrality

• Tim Wu and Christopher Yoo exchange on Network Neutrality, Keeping the Internet Neutral, in Legal Affairs
   

• Jack Balkin, The Democratic Case for Network Neutrality

• Memorandum Opinion and Order, In Re: Free Press and Public Knowledge, FCC 08-183

Additional Readings

• Susan Crawford, The Internet and the Project of Communications Law
   

• National Cable and Telecommunications Association v. Brand X

• FCC Report and Order (September 23, 2005) (order eliminating mandated sharing requirements for DSL companies)
• FCC Broadband Network Management

B. Copyright and Innovation Policy

• MGM v. Grokster (Supreme Court opinion)
   

• Viacom v. YouTube complaint

• Doug Lichtman, The Case Against YouTube

Additional Reading

• Sony Corp v. Universal City Studios

C. Theoretical Considerations

• Lawrence Lessig, The Future of Ideas (selections)
   

• Lawernce Lessig, Free Culture, pp. 175-206

• Niva Elkin-Koren, It’s All About Control
• Yochai Benkler, From Consumers to Users: Shfiting the Deeper Structures of Regulation Towards Sustainable Commons and User Access

12. The Internet and Innovation Policy (3/24/2009, 3/30/2009)

• Zittrain, The Future of the Internet

 

Part VII – Privacy

15. Privacy and Surveillance (3/31/2009)

A. Surveillance and Governance

• Balkin, The Constitution in the National Surveillance State

B. Privacy and the First Amendment

• Note on Data Privacy (including selections from Volokh, Freedom of Speech and Information Privacy, and Schwartz, Free Speech versus Information Privacy)
   

• Neil M. Richards, Reconciling Data Privacy and the First Amendment

Additional Readings

• C. Edwin Baker, Autonomy and Informational Privacy
   

• Bartnicki v. Vopper

• Gonzales v. Google [N.D. Calif. 2006 Discussing privacy interests of users against subpoenas.]

 

Part VIII– The Political Economy of Information Production

16. The Political Economy of Information Production (4/6/2009, 4/7/2009, 4/13/2009 and 4/14/2009)

A. Open Source and Peer Production Models

• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, Ch. 2-5, pp 35-175
   

• Steven Weber, The Political Economy of Open Source

Additional Reading

• Cameron Marlow, Mor Naaman, danah boyd, and Marc Davis, HT06, Tagging Paper, Taxonomy, Flickr, Academic Article, ToRead

B. Wikipedia as a case study in peer production systems

• Aaron Swartz, Wikipedia at the Crossroads
   

• Roy Rosenzweig, Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the History of the Past, 93 Journal of American History 117

• Larry Sanger: Toward a New Compendium of Knowledge
• Clay Shirky, Larry Sanger, Citizendium, and the Problem of Expertise
• Clay Shirky, Social Facts, Expertise, Citizendium, and Carr
• Jim Giles, Internet Encylopaedias Go Head to Head

C. Peer Production Models and Social Software

• Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

D. Peer Production Models and Governance

• Beth Noveck, WikiGovernment (available on Blackboard)

Additional Readings

• Eric S. Raymond, The Cathedral And The Bazaar
   

• The Open Source Definition

• GNU General Public License
• BSD Open Source License
• Hahn, ed., Government Policy Toward Open Source Sotware
• Benkler, Freedom in the Commons: Toward a Political Economy of Information
• Benkler, Coase’s Penguin, or Linux and the Nature of the Firm
• Benkler, Sharing Nicely: On shareable goods and the emergence of sharing as a modality of economic production
• Beth Noveck, The Peer to Patent Project (Read the Project Summary and the FAQ)

 

Part IX – Journalism, Democracy and Politics

19. Journalism, the Blogosphere, and Legal Scholarship (4/20/2009, 4/21/2009)

A. New Journalistic Forms and the Future of News

• Dan Gilmore We the Media

• Pew Research Center, Newspapers Face A Challenging Calculus
• Ed Baker, The Future of News, Part One and Part Two
• John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney, The Life and Death of Great American Newspapers
• Clay Shirky, Help, The Price of Information has Fallen and It Can’t Get Up
• Clay Shirky, Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
• Clay Shirky, It’s Not Information Overload, It’s Filter Failure
• Paul Starr, Goodbye to the Age of Newspapers (Hello to a New Era of Corruption) [print version]
• Yochai Benkler, A New Era of Corruption?
• David Swensen and Michael Schmidt, News You Can Endow
• Ackerman and Ayres, A National Endowment for Journalism
• Steve Brill, Turning Around the Times– And Journalism
• Journalism Online Press Release

B. Blogs, Opinion, and Legal Scholarship

• Jay Rosen, Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press

• Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrell The Power and Politics of Blogs
• Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrell, Web of Influence
• Jack M. Balkin, Online Legal Scholarship: The Medium and the Message
• Jack M. Balkin, The Revenge of the Blog

Additional Readings

• Bree Nordenson, Overload!

• Clay Shirky Interview on Journalism and Information Overload, Part One, Part Two

20. The Networked Public Sphere and Democracy (4/27/2009, 4/28/2009, 5/4/2009 and 5/5/2009)

• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, Chapters 6-7, pp. 176-272
   

• Cass Sunstein, Republic.com 2.0

• Henry Farrell, Bloggers and Parties
• Jack M. Balkin, What I Learned About Blogging in a Year
• Jack M. Balkin, The Internet and Democratic Organization
• Lada Adamic and Natalie Glance, The Political Blogosphere and the 2004 Election: Divided They Blog
• Ezter Hargatay, Cross-ideological conversations among bloggers
• Eric Lawrence, John Sides and Henry Farrell, “Self-Segregation or Deliberation? Blog Readership, Participation and Polarization in American Politics”
• Eszter Hargittai, Jason Gallo and Matthew Kane, Cross-Ideological Discussions among Top Conservative and Liberal Bloggers (on Blackboard)

Optional Readings

• Cass Sunstein, “The Daily We,” from Republic.com
   

• Responses to Sunstein

• Clay Shirky, Powerlaws and the Web
• Clay Shirky, The FCC, Power Laws and Inequality
• Clay Shirky, Is Social Software Bad for the Dean Campaign?
• A. Michael Froomkin, Habermas@discourse.net: Toward a Critical Theory of Cyberspace

* * * * *

Additional Topics and Readings

A1. Access to Knowledge (4/20/2007)

• Amy Kapczynski, The Access to Knowledge Mobilization and the New Politics of Intellectual Property
   

• Jack Balkin, What Is Access to Knowledge?

• Yochai Benkler, the The Idea of Access to Knowledge (Also look at the accompanying Powerpoint presentation)
• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks, Ch. 9, pp 301-355
• Margaret Chon, Intellectual Property and the Development Divide
• Apunam Chander and Madhavi Sunder, The Romance of the Public Domain

A2. Standards Setting

• Christopher S. Gibson, Technology Standards - New Technical Barriers to Trade?
   

• Mark A. Lemley, Ten Things to do About Patent Holdup of Standards (and One Not

• To)
• Pam Samuelson, Questioning Copyright in Standards
• Carl Cargill, Eating Our Seed Corn: A Standards Parable for Our Time
• Alan Davidson, John Morris, and Robert Courtney, Strangers in a Strange Land:
• Public Interest Advocacy and Internet Standards
• Rishab Ghosh, An Economic Basis for Open Standards

 

A3. Innovation Policy

• Susan Crawford, Transporting Communications
   

• Recent Exemptions to DMCA (U.S. Copyright Office)

• Universal Studios v. Corley
• Chamberlain Group v. Skylink Technologies
• Terry Fisher, Promises To Keep (Chapter 6)
• Neil Weinstock Netanel, Impose a Noncommercial Use Levy to Allow Free Peer-to-Peer File
• Wu, Copyright’s Communications Policy
• The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis
• Liebowitz, Will MP3 downloads Annihilate the Record Industry? The Evidence so Far
• A&M v. Napster
• In Re Aimster
• Clay Shirky, File Sharing Goes Social
• Clay Shirky, Fame vs Fortune: Micropayments and Free Content