The Information Society

Professor Jack M. Balkin

Yale Law School

Syllabus-- Spring Semester 2010

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), Lawrence Lessig, Remix (2008); Neil Netanel, Copyright's Paradox (2008), and Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody (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.

Dates marked with an asterisk (*) may be rescheduled.

Part I: Introduction-- Democratic Culture

1. Democratic Culture and Freedom of Speech (1/25/2010)

• Jack M. Balkin, Digital Speech and Democratic Culture
  

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

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

• Yochai Benker, From Consumers to Users: Shifting the Deeper Structures of Regulation Toward Sustainable Commons and User Access

Part II: Virtual Worlds and Social Software

2. Regulating Virtual Worlds (1/26/2010)

• Julian Dibbell, A Rape in Cyberspace
  

• The State of Play, pp. 13-186
  
• Clay Shirky, A Group is its Own Worst Enemy

Additional Readings

• James Grimmelman, Regulation by Software
  

• Lawrence Lessig, Regulation By Code, from Code 2.0
  
• Lawrence Lessig, The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach

3. Social Software Platforms, Identity, and Privacy (2/1/2010)

• The State of Play, pp. 189-216
  

• James Grimmelmann, Saving Facebook

Part III-- Media and Information Policy

4. Audiences, Markets and Models of Democracy (2/2/2010, 2/8/2010, 2/9/2010)

• 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

5. Collateral Censorship and Control over Conduits (2/15/2010, 2/16/2010)

A. Section 230 and the DMCA

• Internet Service Provider Liability Exception 47 USC §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
  
• DMCA Section 512
  
• Chilling Effects discussion of DMCA Section 512
  
• Wikipedia, The Sigenthaler Controvery

B. Intermediaries and Cyberbullying

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

• Bradley Areheart, Regulating Cyberbullies Through Notice-Based Liability
  
• Nathaniel Gleicher, John Doe Subpoenas: Toward A Consistent Legal Standard

Additional Readings

• Jonathan Zittrain, A History of Online Gatekeeping
  

• Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC
  
• Summary of Digital Millennium Copyright Act Liability Provisions
  
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act Summary-- U.S. Copyright Office
  
• Ken S. Myers, Wikimmunity: Fitting the Communications Decency Act to Wikipedia
  
• Doug Lichtman, On holding Internet Service Providers Accountable
  
• Douglas Lichtman and Eric Posner, Holding Internet Service Providers Accountable, SSRN

Part V -- Copyright and Free Expression

6. Copyright and the First Amendment (2/23/2010)

• Eldred v. Ashcroft
  

• Neil Netanel, Copyright's Paradox

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.
  
• Jed Rubenfeld, The Freedom of Imagination: Copyright's Constitutionality
  
• Benkler, Free As The Air To Common Use: First Amendment Constraints On Enclosure of The Public Domain

7. Copyright and Free Culture (3/1/2010)

• Lawrence Lessig: Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy 1-114, 253-294

Additional Readings

• Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture, pp. 116-173 The entire book is available [here], [here], [here], and [here]

Part VI -- Digital Control of Information and Innovation Policy

8. Broadband Policy, Open Access and Network Neutrality (3/2/2010)

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

• Tim Wu, Network Neutrality FAQ
  
• Jack Balkin, Remarks at FCC Workshop on Freedom of Speech, Democratic Engagement, and Network Neutrality
  
• Tribe and Goldstein, Proposed "Net Neutrality Mandates Could be Counterproductive and Violate the First Amendment
  
• Michael Burstein, Towards a New Standard for First Amendment Review of Structural Media Regulation
  
• Yochai Benkler, et. al., Berkman Center Report on Next Generation Connectivity

Additional Readings

• Turner Broadcasting v. FCC (Turner I)
  

• Turner Broadcasting v. FCC (Turner II)
  
• C. Edwin Baker, Turner Broadcasting: Content Based Regulation of Persons and Presses
  
• Kyle McSlarrow, “Net Neutrality: First Amendment Rhetoric in Search of the Constitution”
  
• Susan Crawford, The Internet and the Project of Communications Law
  
• Barbara Esbin: Net Neutrality: A Further Take on the Debate
  
• Memorandum Opinion and Order, In Re: Free Press and Public Knowledge, FCC 08-183
  
• National Cable and Telecommunications Association v. Brand X
  
• Jack Balkin, The Democratic Case for Network Neutrality

9. Search Engine Policy (3/8/2010, 3/9/2010)

A. The Google Book Settlement

Special guest lecturer: James Grimmelmann

• James Grimmelmann, The Google Book Search Settlement
  

• Pam Samuelson, Google Book Search and the Future of Books in Cyberspace
  
• Lateef Mtima and Steven Jamar, Submission to the court on the benefits of the GBS for access by disadvantaged commuities
  
• Comments of National Federation for the Blind on behalf of the GBS
  
• Comments by members of the Stanford CS department on behalf of the GBS
  
• Robert Darnton, The Library in the New Age
  
• Robert Darnton, Google & the Future of Books

Additional Reading

• Jonathan Band, The Long and Winding Road to the Google Book Settlement

 
B. Search Engine Regulation (3/9/2010)

• Jeffrey Rosen, Google's Gatekeepers
  

• James Grimmelmann, The Structure of Search Engine Law [alternative version 1] [alternative version 2]
  
• Steven J. Horowitz, Defusing a Google Bomb
  
• James Grimmelmann, Don't Censor Search
  
• Searchneutrality.org comparison of network and search neutrality
  
• Frank Pasquale, Internet Nondiscrimination Principles: Commercial Ethics for Carriers and Search Engines

Additional Readings

• Eric Goldman, Search Engine Bias and Demise of Search Engine Utopianism [alternative version]
  

• Frank Pasquale and Oren Bracha, Federal Search Commission? Access, Fairness and Accountability in the Law of Search
  
• Search King v. Google
  
• James Grimmelmann, Information Policy For the Library of Babel

10. The Internet, Generativity, and Cybersecurity (3/22/2010, 3/23/2010)

• Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet

Part VII -- Privacy

11. Privacy and Surveillance (3/23/2010, 4/5/2010)

A. Surveillance and Governance

• Balkin, The Constitution in the National Surveillance State

B. Privacy and the Networked Self

• Julie Cohen, Configuring the Networked Self, Chapters 3,4,5,7 and 8 (on Blackboard)

Part VIII-- The Political Economy of Information Production

12. Networked Peer Production of Information Goods (4/6/2010, 4/12/2010 and 4/13/2010)

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
  
• Lawrence Lessig, Remix, pp. 117-249

B. Wikipedia as a case study in peer production systems

• Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet, pp. 127-48
  

• Clay Shirky, A Speculative Post on the Idea of Algorithmic Authority
  
• Roy Rosenzweig, Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the History of the Past, 93 Journal of American History 117

C. Peer Production Models and Social Software

• Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

Additional Readings

• Eric S. Raymond, The Cathedral And The Bazaar
  

• The Open Source Definition
  
• GNU General Public License
  
• BSD Open Source License
  
• Yochai Benkler, Freedom in the Commons: Toward a Political Economy of Information
  
• Yochai Benkler, Coase's Penguin, or Linux and the Nature of the Firm
  
• Yochai Benkler, Sharing Nicely: On shareable goods and the emergence of sharing as a modality of economic production

Part IX -- Journalism, Democracy and Politics

13. Journalism and the Blogosphere (4/19/2010)

A. New Journalistic Forms and the Future of News

• Pew Research Center, Newspapers Face A Challenging Calculus
  

• Jay Rosen, Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press
  
• Leonard Downie, Jr., and Michael Schudson, The Reconstruction of American Journalism
  
• 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
  
• 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

Additional Readings

• Knight Commission Report on The Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy
  

• Jeff Jarvis, New Business Models for News
  
• 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
  
• Dan Gilmore We the Media
  
• Bree Nordenson, Overload!
  
• Clay Shirky Interview on Journalism and Information Overload, Part One, Part Two

14. The Networked Public Sphere and Democracy (4/20/2010, 4/26/2010 and 4/27/2010)

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

• Cass Sunstein, "The Daily We," from Republic.com
  
• Responses to Sunstein
  
• Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro, Ideological Segregation Online and Offline [SSRN version]
  
• Matthew Hindman, “What Is the Online Public Sphere Good For?”
  
• Matthew Hindman, Not the Digital Democracy We Ordered
  
• Micha Sifry, Critiquing Matthew Hindman's "The Myth of Digital Democracy"
  
• Micah Sifry, The Obama Disconnect

Optional Readings

• Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrell The Power and Politics of Blogs
  

• Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrell, Web of Influence
  
• Henry Farrell, Bloggers and Parties

* * * * *