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, link forthcoming. There will be groupwork during most classtimes, but not the first day.

(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. We will *not* be doing groupwork on the first day of class, so do not worry about this just yet.)

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.)

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.

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.
+Syllabus

Due to the abbreviated Summer session, there are readings for the first day, please find them below. Note: No *deliverables* will be due until the following week, so these readings are not meant for you to "master completely," but for good background for future material.


Week 10 - FAI Now and Future


Probably the wildest RIGHT NOW: - https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-copyrighted-material-parliament

https://slate.com/technology/2023/01/streaming-libraries-dvds-blu-rays.html

https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/28/23617624/pluto-tv-dmca-mpa-github-playlists

https://www.eff.org/wp/unfiltered-how-youtubes-content-id-discourages-fair-use-and-dictates-what-we-see-online

Piracy?
https://gizmodo.com/the-eu-suppressed-a-300-page-study-that-found-piracy-do-1818629537

https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/27/bruce_perens_post_open/

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/24/everything-not-mandatory/#is-prohibited

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/04/stable-diffusion-copyright-lawsuits-could-be-a-legal-earthquake-for-ai/

https://web.archive.org/web/20240117023143/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/who-owns-this-sentence-a-history-of-copyrights-and-wrongs-david-bellos-alexandre-montagu-book-review

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-internet-archive-provides-a-model-of-free-knowledge-for-all/ar-BB1iJ2c9



Week 9 - FAI II


Review Patent and 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

TRADE SECRET
https://www.litigationandtrial.com/2010/05/articles/the-law/for-non-lawyers/iron-mans-suit-isnt-patented-its-a-trade-secret-seriously/

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

https://web.archive.org/web/20240415184452/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/blackplanet-social-media-history/677839/?utm_source=feed

https://www.dailydot.com/debug/tiktokers-speculate-meta-tiktok-ban/
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/29/22752850/mastodon-trump-truth-social-network-open-source-gab-legal-notice

https://www.theverge.com/23990974/social-media-2023-fediverse-mastodon-threads-activitypub
https://nfraprado.net/post/vcard-rss-as-an-alternative-to-social-media.html

Week 5 - Anonymity and Social Surplus


./5411-Anonymity-and-Social-surplus.pdf

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

we will revisit the access material in future classes

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/



Week 3 - Internet Regulation and Access

Review the INTERNET access materials from below and...
https://graydon2.dreamwidth.org/193447.html

Interesting contrarian perspective: https://www.osnews.com/story/6282/the-command-line-the-best-newbie-interface/

Accessibility
http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/6164/4898

https://www.vox.com/recode/22351108/dark-patterns-ui-web-design-privacy

https://fabrity.com/blog/ux-ui/voice-user-interfaces-the-future-of-ui/

https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/dark-patterns-new-frontier-privacy-regulation-2021-07-29/

ALA Policy (review)
http://www.ala.org/asgcla/resources/libraryservices

https://www.siteimprove.com/glossary/ada-compliance/

https://www.startribune.com/lawsuits-targeting-company-websites-for-ada-violations-on-the-rise-visual-hearing-accessible/600275196/




Week 2 - Telecom and Internet Regulation



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

If you need the refresher-- Journal:2021:01:03:Basic-Civics
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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