Michael Froomkin, the Laurie Silvers & Mitchell Rubenstein Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Miami, discusses his new paper prepared for the Oxford Internet Institute entitled, Lessons Learned Too Well: The Evolution of Internet Regulation. Froomkin begins by talking about anonymity, why it is important, and the different political and social components involved. The discussion then turns to Froomkin’s categorization of Internet regulation, how it can be seen in three different waves, and how it relates to anonymity. He ends the discussion by talking about the third wave of Internet regulation, and he predicts that online anonymity will become practically impossible. Froomkin also discusses the constitutional implications of a complete ban on online anonymity, as well as what he would deem an ideal balance between the right to anonymous speech and protection from online crimes like fraud and security breeches.

Download

Related Links

• Lessons Learned Too Well, by Froomkin
• “With passwords ‘broken,’ US rolls out Internet identity plan”, ARS Technica
• “What’s in a Pseudo-name? Privacy, Free Expression & Real Names on Google+ & Facebook”, Technology Liberation Front

Alisdair Gillespie, Professor of Criminal Law and Justice at De Montfort University in Leicester UK, discusses his new paper in the International Journal of Law and Information Technology, Restricting Access to the Internet by Sex Offenders. Gillespie discusses whether access to the Internet is a human right, and if so, when that right can be curtailed. He establishes that access to the Internet could be a negative right, then turns to how Internet access can be restricted in the case of sex offenders. Gillespie talks about different ways to prevent these offenders from using the Internet for ill, including complete restriction as well as technological tools similar to parental control software, and the difficulties that arise when trying to implement any one of these schemes.

Download

Related Links

• Restricting access to the internet by sex offenders, by Gillespie
• “The U.N. Declares Internet Access a Human Right”, The Atlantic Wire
• “If Banning The Internet For Sex Offenders Is Unfair, Is Banning The Internet For Copyright Infringers Fair?”, Tech Dirt

Elias Aboujaoude, a psychiatrist and author based at Stanford University, discusses his new book, Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality. Aboujaoude says that the internet has positive effects, but he’s worried that most of our day-to-day online activities are negatively affecting us. He explains how, in his view, behaviors like compulsive online shopping and angry commenting on blogs is seeping into our offline lives, with profound negative effects. He also talks about why he thinks the internet is different from previous technologies that caused techno-fear, why he thinks it’s often difficult for online norms to develop, and what he thinks proper roles are for medicine, psychiatry, and government in the online sphere.


Download

Related Links

• “The Information: How the Internet gets inside us,” The New Yorker
• “Attention loss feared as high-tech rewires brain,”The San Francisco Chronicle
• “The Computer Made Me Do It,” The New York Times

Susan Maushart, a columnist, author and social commentator, discusses her new book, The Winter of our Disconnect. Maushart talks about her experience unplugging herself, and her three teenagers, from most screen-based technologies for 6 months. She discusses how she got her kids to go along with the plan, how she found support in Thoreau’s Walden, what boredom is, and whether she found balance through the experience. Maushart also talks about limits to allowing your children the luxury of choice, commenting on Amy Chua’s Tiger Mother philosophy.


Download

Related Links

• “The winter of their disconnect – how Susan Maushart and her family lived without technology for six months”, an edited excerpt from Maushart’s book
• “Information flatulence”, Irish Times
• “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, by Amy Chua

William Powers, a writer who has been a columnist and media critic for such publications as The Washington Post, The New Republic, and National Journal, discusses his new book, Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age. In the book, Powers writes, “You can allow yourself to be led around by technology, or you can take control of your consciousness and thereby your life.” On the podcast, he discusses historical philosophers’ ideas that can offer shelter from our present deluge of connectedness, how to create gaps that allow for currently elusive depth and inward reflection, and strategies that help him and his family regain control over their technology.


Download

Related Links

• “Born to Check Mail”, The New York Times
• “To Tweet, Or Not to Tweet”, The Wall Street Journal
• “Stop the World”, by George Packer

Birgitta Jónsdóttir, Member of the Icelandic Parliament for the Movement party, and one of the chief sponsors of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, discusses the initiative.  She explains how it was crafted, who it would protect and how, and Wikileaks’ influence on it.  Jónsdóttir specifically discusses the proposal’s impact on journalists, sources, whistleblowers, libel tourism, superinjunctions, freedom of information, prior restraint, and government transparency.  She also talks about the inspiration behind the initiative, which stems partly from her background as a writer and activist, and her path to the Icelandic Parliament.


Download

Related Links

• Icelandic Modern Media Initiative
• “Iceland aims to become a legal safe haven for journalists”, guardian.co.uk
• “What will Iceland’s new media laws mean for journalists?”, Nieman Journalism Lab
• “No Secrets: Julian Assange’s mission for total transparency”, The New Yorker
• Birgitta Jónsdóttir official blogspot

Gilbert Wondracek, research fellow at the International Secure Systems Lab and postdoctoral fellow at the Vienna University of Technology, discusses his research on the online porn industry.  He addresses various economic roles of online porn providers and the industry’s connections to malware and cybercrime.  Wondracek also explains how he investigated the industry, how he set up adult websites to assess user vulnerabilities and examine traffic, what he learned, and how he got approval for the project.


Download

Related Links

• “Is the Internet for Porn? An Insight Into the Online Adult Industry” (pdf), by Wondracek et al.
• “How the Internet Porn Business Works”, MIT Technology Review blog
• “Slave Master: How Pornography Drugs & Changes Your Brain”, Salvo Magazine
• “Measuring Porn’s Effects: What About the Users?”, Psychology Today

Adam Thierer, president of The Progress & Freedom Foundation and the Director of its Center for Digital Media Freedom, discusses the future of media.  He explains recent proposals to subsidize journalists and media companies.  Thierer outlines problems with the proposals, such as threats to free speech and separation of press and state.  He also addresses newspapers as non-profits, shared experiences vs. diversity, and journalism ethics in the context of the recently scooped iPhone.


Download

Related Links

• Progress & Freedom Foundation comments on the FCC’s Future of Media proceeding (.pdf) by Adam Thierer, Berin Szoka, and Ken Ferree
• FCC’s Future of Media proceeding
• Adam Thierer on Media Regulation at Technology Liberation Front

Daniel H. Kahn, a recent Harvard School of Law graduate and clerk on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, discusses his new article forthcoming in the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review on social intermediaries and their potential to radically improve the social life of the Web. The discussion also turns to portable identities, code-backed norms, and trolling.


Download

Related Links

• Social Intermediaries: Creating a More Responsible Web Through Portable Identity, Cross-Web Reputation, and Code-Backed Norms by Daniel H. Kahn
• Online Comic xkcd on YouTube Comments
• Slashdot
• Social Network at Wikipedia
• Identity Disaggregation and Mob Aggregation from Cyber Civil Rights by Danielle Keats Citron
• OpenId at the OpenID Foundation
• Open Social at the Open Social Foundation
• A New Open Stack: Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts by Joseph Smarr at JosephSmarr.com
• Trademark Law and the Social Construction of Trust: Creating the Legal Framework for Online Identity by Beth Simone Noveck
• Phishing at Wikipedia