LIS5411 - Introduction to Information Policy

Welcome to the Course!

This front page - in Canvas - is the primary source of material for this course; everything you need for the course will be available here. Many links go through http://jrm4.com (including a mirror of this page for backup and emergency purposes); feel free to browse that as well.

The course will be administered through Zoom, link below. There will be groupwork during classtime; to facilitate this I'll be using a trick that has served me well, essentially what you will do is prepend your team number before your name in Zoom so I am able to "move" you quickly and easily.

Note: I'm also a big fan of Discord. It is in no way required, but I will make my semi-private (non-profit) Discord server available to you all, with a channel dedicated to this class. You may use this for class-wide discussions, as well as a meeting point if you'd like to use Discord instead of the Zoom rooms.

Contacting me should be done through regular email, at jmarks@fsu.edu ( It is my informed opinion that "Canvas Conversations" should be avoided by all, standard email much better respects autonomy and privacy.)

Since the summer is a bit abbreviated, I'd like to hit the ground running. Please review the below readings. (feel free to peruse last classes readings at +older-front-page as well, though there will likely be changes)

This all being said, literally nothing will be due or required on the first day except your attendance. See you in class.
+Syllabus

Course Zoom Link: In Canvas, under Pages-Zoom Link and teams

Week 4 - Anonymity and Social Surplus

What Is Tor and Why Should I Use It?
This is what a Tor Supporter looks like: Laura Poitras | Tor Blog
No guarantees here, for information only: https://uglyduck.ca/blog-anonymously/

Why Pseudonymity Is Such an Important Concept | by Mark Suster | Both Sides of the Table
Facebook's Randi Zuckerberg: Anonymity Online 'Has To Go Away' | HuffPost

The Plot to Free North Korea With Smuggled Episodes of 'Friends' | WIRED
Obfuscation: how leaving a trail of confusion can beat online surveillance | Data protection | The Guardian

The Right to Read

Weath of Networks - Chapter 1
Playing With Toys While People are Dying | by Paul Kilduff-Taylor | Medium
Online communities are the best thing about the Internet - Biznology

How the Internet Is Saving Culture, Not Killing It - The New York Times
Teens Arent Partying Anymore
Cognitive Surplus - a more moral choice


https://onezero.medium.com/the-gig-economy-is-failing-say-hello-to-the-hustle-economy-13ae3aa91954
https://time.com/4370834/sharing-economy-gig-capitalism/
-
https://www.investopedia.com/the-great-work-from-home-migration-5184172
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/pandemic-sparks-labor-reckoning-job-anymore/story?id=77870374


Week 3 - Intro to Privacy and Verification


Today:
https://www.wired.com/story/europe-break-encryption-leaked-document-csa-law/

aka "I was right, 3rd party password managers are a bad idea"
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2023/03/03/why-you-should-stop-using-lastpass-after-new-hack-method-update/?sh=40d52d5c28fc
https://bitcoinist.com/ledger-expose-bitcoins-private-keys-subpoena/

The tech
How internet encryption works | Data protection | The Guardian
Public key cryptography - Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange (full version) - YouTube
TrueCrypt audit shows no sign of NSA backdoors, just some minor glitches | PCWorld

What is Cryptographic Hashing? MD5, SHA, and More
https://www.troyhunt.com/we-didnt-encrypt-your-password-we-hashed-it-heres-what-that-means/

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/08/18/nists-new-password-rules-what-you-need-to-know/

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_bitcoin_works
http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/21/cryptocurrency-explainer/
Basic Civics



Week 2 - Internet Regulation

TelecomRegulation

Federal Communications Commission
A short history of the telephone industry and regulation
The Invisible Barbecue

The History of the Internet in a Nutshell
The Internet: Computer Network Hierarchy | HowStuffWorks

How big telecom smothers city run broadband
A decentralized web would give power back to the people online
Rural America Is Building Its Own Internet Because No One Else Will

Nationalize the Internet: Why the Fight for Net Neutrality Is Just the Start
Ending net neutrality will end Internet as we know it: Wozniak Copps

The coronavirus crisis proves internet should be a public utility

- (new)
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210104/08093445992/could-digital-divide-unite-us.shtml
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/08/man-who-built-isp-instead-of-paying-comcast-50k-expands-to-hundreds-of-homes/


Week 1 - Intro to Info Policy (2023-05-15)

Intro to Info Policy

The Econ I'm (not) talking about
How economics became a religion

On Econ
Wealth of Networks - Benkler
The Attention Economy and the Net

On Law
Transcendental Nonsense
The Law of the Horse



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