The Internet and the Information Society

Professor Jack M. Balkin

William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai'i-- January 2007 Term

Syllabus

Note: All of the readings for the course are available on the Internet.

After the assigned readings for each class 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

1. Virtual Worlds and Social Software (1/8/2007)

• Julian Dibbell, A Rape in Cyberspace
  

• Jack M. Balkin, Virtual Liberty: Freedom to Design and Freedom to Play in Virtual Worlds
  
• Cory Ondrejka, Escaping the Gilded Cage
  
• Yochai Benkler, There is No Spoon
  
• Clay Shirky, A Group is its Own Worst Enemy

Optional Readings

• Greg Lastowka and Dan Hunter, Virtual Crime
  

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

2. Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace (1/9/2007)

A. Democratic Culture

• Jack M. Balkin, Digital Speech and Democratic Culture

B. Speakers and Conduits

• Internet Service Provider Liability Exception 47 USC §230
  

• Barrett v. Rosenthal (California Supreme Court 2006) [Additional version]
  
• Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under the Law, Inc. v. Craigslist, Inc., 1:06-CV-00657 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 14, 2006)
  
• Wikipedia, The Sigenthaler Controvery
  
• Summary of Digital Millennium Copyright Act Liability Provisions

Optional Readings

• Online Policy Group v. Diebold
  

• RIAA v. Verizon

3. Filtering and Free Speech (1/10/2007)

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

• ACLU v. Ashcroft (COPA case)(3d Circuit)
  
• Ashcroft v. ACLU (COPA case)(S. Ct.)
  
• United States v. ALA

Optional Readings

• CDT v. Pappert

4. Copyright and Free Expression (1/11/2007)

• Eldred v. Ashcroft
  

• Neil Netanel, Locating Copyright Within The First Amendment Skein

Optional 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], and [here]
  
• Lawrence Lessig, Copyrighting the President

5. Innovation Policy (1/12/2007)

A. Peer to Peer Systems and Software Innovation

• MGM v. Grokster (Supreme Court opinion)

B. Search Engines

• Jonathan Band, The Google Print Library Project: A Copyright Analysis

C. 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

Optional Readings

• Universal Studios v. Corley
  

• Field v. Google
  
• Perfect 10 v. Google

6. Politics and the Blogosphere (1/19/2007)

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

• Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrell, Web of Influence
  
• Cass Sunstein, "The Daily We," from Republic.com
  
• Jack M. Balkin, What I Learned About Blogging in a Year
  
• Jack M. Balkin, The Internet and Democratic Organization
  
• Henry Farrell, Bloggers and Parties

Optional Readings

• Lada Adamic and Natalie Glance, The Political Blogosphere and the 2004 Election: Divided They Blog
  

• Ezter Hargatay, Cross-ideological conversations among bloggers
  
• Clay Shirky, Is Social Software Bad for the Dean Campaign?