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),
The course will be administered through Zoom. The link will be available within an hour or so of the first class.
There will be groupwork during most classtimes, but not the first day. Usually I don't like to do readings for the first day either, but because the Summer is shorter, there are a few. No big pressure though, there are no deliverables for these as of yet.
Contacting me should be done through regular email, at jmarks@fsu.edu
Note: I'm also a big fan of Discord (link for my thoughts and information on it, if unfamiliar) It is not 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.
Invite: https://discord.gg/MjwV5Ews
Feel free to peruse the older readings (available at the jrm4.com mirror of the site if you can't see them here, check to the side or below if you're on your phone once you've clicked through - - https://jrm4.com/FSU_Courses/LIS5411.html Though, note, the readings and course arc may change drastically, given that the real world of information and tech policy has some *very* interesting upcoming matters to deal with.
Week 11 - Wrapping Up
https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/nationalize-internet-net-neutrality/
https://solmaz.io/thoughts/digital-hygiene-feeds/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/02/outdated-and-misleading-is-it-time-to-reassess-the-very-concept-of-money?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/economics/64492/the-end-of-money-cashless-society
https://graydon2.dreamwidth.org/193447.html
An unfortunate perfect storm all around:
https://fortune.com/2025/07/26/tea-app-hack-images-online-leaks-users-selfies/
The future?
https://www.freedombox.org/
Week 10 - AI and FAI, etc
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-conversational-ais-like-chatgpt-work-ivan-voras/
https://weaviate.io/blog/how-ai-creates-art
Longer:
https://jalammar.github.io/illustrated-stable-diffusion/
https://futurism.com/singularity-explain-it-to-me-like-im-5-years-old
vs
https://aeon.co/essays/your-brain-does-not-process-information-and-it-is-not-a-computer
https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/27/bruce_perens_post_open/
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/24/everything-not-mandatory/#is-prohibited
Week 9 - FAI II
Review Copyright from below, and:
Alternate Modes
COMPULSORY LICENSING?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_licensing
https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/music-copyright-compulsory-cover-license.html
Orphan Works
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_work
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2008/10/orphan-works-copyright-reform-fails-in-wake-of-bailout-bid/
Piracy?
https://gizmodo.com/the-eu-suppressed-a-300-page-study-that-found-piracy-do-1818629537
DMCA (as a model for prediction of consequences)
https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/files/dmcapdf.pdf (skim for pertinent info)
https://www.wired.com/2008/10/ten-years-later/
https://www.eff.org/files/2014/09/16/unintendedconsequences2014.pdf
GNU GPL
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt
https://opensource.com/article/17/9/open-source-licensing
https://qz.com/981029/a-federal-court-has-ruled-that-an-open-source-license-is-an-enforceable-contract/
Week 8 - Freely Available Information
The Basics:
The Four Types of Intellectual Property Protection - GameAcademy.com
TRADEMARK
Trademark law - Modern Wiki - Fandom
PATENT LAW
Patent Law: Everything You Need to Know
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Basics
Rethinking things:
Intellectual? Property?
Did You Say Intellectual Property? Its a Seductive Mirage
Property Rights and Intellectual Property
Heavy ideas: Compare Anarchism Triumphant with Enforcing Copyright
Week 7 - Privacy and Policy, cont'd
Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have 'Nothing to Hide' - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education
https://web.archive.org/web/20210817005525/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/04/26/constitution-digital-privacy-loopholes-purchases/
https://neustadt.fr/essays/against-a-user-hostile-web/
http://www.livescience.com/37398-right-to-privacy.html
The Right of Privacy: Is it Protected by the Constitution?
Privacy Paper
Obfuscation: how leaving a trail of confusion can beat online surveillance | Data protection | The Guardian
Snowden warns new surveillance measures will outlast the coronavirus
European Commission
https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/09/ixnay-on-the-webcams/
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/protecting-privacy-in-an-ai-driven-world/
Week 6 - Social Media
Social Media Is a Denial-of-Service Attack on Your Mind
Death of the private self: how fifteen years of Facebook changed the human condition | Facebook | The Guardian
Why RSS Still Beats Facebook and Twitter for Tracking News
RSS Is Better Than Twitter
Week 5 - 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 4 - Intro to Privacy and Verification
Note: You *will* find discrepancies among the below readings, and that is part of the point.
https://jrm4.com/slides/Privacy_and_Verification.html
https://www.wired.com/story/europe-break-encryption-leaked-document-csa-law/
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://www.zdnet.com/article/7-password-rules-security-experts-live-by-in-2025-the-last-one-might-surprise-you/
time permitting:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_bitcoin_works
http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/21/cryptocurrency-explainer/
Week 3 - Internet Regulation
https://jrm4.com/slides/LIS-5411_Telecom_And_Internet.html
The History of the Internet in a Nutshell
The Internet: Computer Network Hierarchy | HowStuffWorks
How big telecom smothers city run broadband
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
The coronavirus crisis proves internet should be a public utility
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/03/nx-s1-5247840/net-neutrality-fcc-struck
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/07/federal-consumer-protection-is-dead-the-fate-of-net-neutrality-warned-you-it-was-coming/
Week 1
If you need the refresher-- Journal:2021:01:03:Basic-Civics
Intro to Info Policy
On Econ
https://acroll.substack.com/p/what-comes-after-the-attention-economy
On Law
Transcendental Nonsense
The Law of the Horse
Telecom
http://som.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/471/hout/telecomHistory/
https://www.construction-physics.com/p/building-the-bell-system
Backlinks: Home FSU Courses