Course requirements: 1000 word essays – twice during the course of the semester; addressing an idea that you consider important on the wiki; prof revises and comments, until you reach what you think is the finished product. - grade is based on the revision process.

Substance:

The world as we know it is ending – societies are undergoing rapid social changes on a scale not seen in many centuries; this is a course about the end of the world. We are in the middle of the end.

-the end of the world is causing heartache to the rich and the powerful; they are trying to keep the structure in being. -what is the context of this social change?

Two groups: Private law – use of social force when the state is not officially a party to what the law touches Public law – where the state is a party with an interest that it pursues

The course treats the state as an entity relevant but not motivated in the questions.

Traces the development of the internet. – what we have been watching is an exponential growth which took us from a world where there wass a few dozen digital computers, but where there are now billions.

 what we call the internet is neither really a place (cyberspace) or a thing. It’s the name of a condition in society. It’s the condition of actual or potential interconnection of one human being to everyone w/o any visible controlling intermediary. Previously, the party that controls this connection is considered authority; e.g. censorship (a statement of social control, for the purpose of keeping power).

 goal is not for student to agree with the prof.; but understand that there are ways of making the dialogue more rich

Hacking – of freedom

Three centers – technology, politics, and law - there is some technology you need to know about where we are moving in politics and law; - question – if something can be subject to copyright protection (and thus made public) why is it that computer programs can still be kept secret (e.g. microsoft programs are subject to both copyright and trade secret protection)

See Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003) which was a court case in the United States challenging the constitutionality of the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). Oral argument was heard on October 9, 2002, and on January 15, 2003, the Supreme Court held the CTEA constitutional by a 7-2 decision.

The network is changing us; the change is predictable and controllable.

-- AllanOng - 26 Sep 2009