2011 Syllabus

CPSC 183: Introduction to Law & Technology
Brad Rosen (brad.rosen@yale.edu)
Fall 2011: M W, 4:00-5:15, DL 220

CPSC 183 is a class that is open to non-majors.  You do not need a background in tech or computer science to enjoy the class.  The class offers some project options for CS majors as well.

As a general rule, we will adapt the syllabus to take into account current events.  We may need to add supplemental readings if breaking news changes the topics being discussed.   Please review the syllabi from previous years: 2009 and 2010.  These should give you a flavor of what the class will ultimately look like.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

2011 Midterm Video Links

The following individuals comprise the CPSC 183 teaching team:

• Teaching Assistants (TAs)
  • Xiyin Tang (xiyin.tang@gmail.com)
  • Robert Gray (robert.gray@yale.edu)
  • Adam Hockensmith (adam.hockensmith@yale.edu)
  • Lauren Thomas (lauren.thomas@yale.edu)
  • Isabella More (isabella.more@yale.edu)
  • Yoni Cohen (yoni.cohen@yale.edu)
• Course Assistants (CAs)
  • Joel Sircus (joel.sircus@yale.edu)
  • Adi Kamdar (adi.kamdar@yale.edu)
  • Evin McMullen (evinmcmullen@gmail.com)
  • Stephanie Rivkin (stephanie.rivkin@yale.edu)
  • Sebastian Park (airizel@gmail.com)
• Legal Research Fellow
  • Christopher Nofal (christopher.nofal@gmail.com)

Please note: the course topics and speakers are subject to change as the semester progresses and due to speaker availability.   After the start of the semester, we will post the provisional syllabus here, but you should pay attention to announcements in class and check back here in case there are changes.

Course Wikipedia Page

1.) Introduction:  Freedom, Paywalls, and “Hacking” & Intro to Wikipedia – 8/31

[Note: Time will be set aside to discuss an overview of the course, as well as grading and what you can expect.  These readings are to stimulate a class discussion.]

• Swartz Articles (short)
• U.S. v. Swartz, Indictment

2.)  The Past and Future of Cyberlaw – 9/5

• John Perry Barlow, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace
• Lawrence Lessig, Code 2.0 (Preface to the First Edition, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Preface to the Second Edition – read preface to the second edition last – p. xii-23, ix-xi)
• Frank Easterbrook, Cyberspace and the Law of the Horse, 1996 U. Chi. Legal F. 207
• Mike Madison, Is Cyberlaw Making Us Stupid? (also read the comments)
• David R. Johnson and David G. Post, Law and Borders–The Rise of Law in Cyberspace, 45 Stan. L. Rev. 1367 (1996) [excerpt]
• Lawrence Lessig, The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach, 113 Harv. L. Rev. 501 (1999) [excerpt]

3.) The Past and Future of Cyberspace – 9/7

• Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet — and How to Stop It (Chapters 1, 2 – p. 11-35)
• U.S. v. Morris (Concentrate mainly on the “Facts” section, don’t worry if you don’t understand some of the more complicated issues in the “Discussion” section)
• Jack L. Goldsmith, Against Cyberanarchy, 65 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1199 (1998) [excerpt]

4.) “15 Minutes of Fame”  – 9/12

• Jason Chen
  • This Is Apple’s Next iPhone [VIDEO]
  • NEWSWORTHY
    
  • Journalist shield law may not halt iPhone probe
• Lee Paige
  • DEA Cop Shoots Himself [VIDEO]
  • DEA Agent In Foot Shoot Suit
  • DEA Agent ND
• Jessica Beagley
  
  • Abusive Mom on the Dr. Phil Show [VIDEO]
  • ‘Dr. Phil’ mother who punished son for lying by squirting hot sauce in his mouth AVOIDS jail
• Jessica Slaughter
  
  • Why My Daughter Will Never Have a Webcam: The Jessi Slaughter Story [VIDEO]
  • Know Your Meme: About Jessica Slaughter [VIDEO]
• Andrew Meyer
  
  • University of Florida Taser Incident [VIDEO]
  • About University of Florida Taser Incident
• Amber Lee Ettinger
  
  • Crush on Obama [VIDEO]
• Ghyslain Raza
  
  • Star Wars Kid [VIDEO]
  • American Dad Meets Star Wars Kid [VIDEO]
  • About Star Wars Kid
• Antoine Dodson
  • Reaction to an attempted rape of a Huntsville, Alabama woman [VIDEO]
    
  • Bed Intruder Song [VIDEO]
  • About Antoine Dodson

5.) Introduction to Digital Copyright and Fair Use – 9/14

• Constitution Art 1 Sec. 8 clause 8 (Only read the first part and the clause starting with “To promote the progress..”)
• 17 USC §102
• 17 USC §103
• 17 USC §105
• 17 USC §106
• Feist v. Rural Telephone
• Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture (Ch 6-7, 85-99)
• Christina Mulligan, Copyright and Glee
• Andrew Leonard, The Copyright Wars Come to”Glee”

6.) Fair Use Part Deux and the DMCA – 9/19

• 17 USC §107
• Warner Bros. v. RDR Books (Skim “Conclusions of Law” and “I. Copyright Infringement,” but pay special attention to “II. Fair Use”)
• Lenz v. Universal
• Pierre Leval, Toward a Fair Use Standard

7.) Fair Use and Remix Culture – 9/21

• Francesca Coppa, A Fannish Taxonomy of Hotness
• Francesca Coppa, Women, Star Trek, and the early development of fannish vidding
  
• Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music
• Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. [summary]
• OPTIONAL: Rhythm, melody, life: Human hearts have always warmed to the rhythm of music

8.) P2P Law and “Piracy” – 9/26

• Sony  v. Universal [Majority Opinion]
• Arista v. Limewire (read pages 1-5, and 26-49)
• Remitting the Remittal of Joel Tenenbaum’s Remittitur Motion
• Appeals Court Reinstates $675,000 File Sharing Verdict
• Pirate party snatches seats in Berlin state election
• Pirates’ Strong Showing in Berlin Elections Surprises Even Them

9.) DRM and Anticircumvention – 9/28

• Gabriella Coleman, Legal Tinkering, Expertise, and Protest Among Free and Open Source Software Developers (p. 435-448)
• Lexmark International, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. (read section IV only)
• Spore Complaint (read p. 1-15)
• Richard Stallman, The Right to Read
• James H. Billington, Statement of the Librarian of Congress Relating to Section 1201 Rulemaking (July 26, 2010),
• EFF Press Release, EFF Wins New Legal Protections for Video Artists, Cell Phone Jailbreakers, and Unlockers
• Randall Picker, Razor-and-Blade Myth(s) (skim)

10.) Free Software, Patents, Copyleft – 10/3

• Obama Signs Patent-Approval Law
• Priority Rules: An Empirical Exploration of First-to-Invent Versus First-to-File (only read pages 1–14)
• The Effects of the America Invents Act on Technological Disclosure
• GNU General Public License (read Preamble and 2, 3, 4, 12)
• Ira Heffan, Copyleft: Licensing Collaborative Works in The Digital Age, 49 Stan. L. Rev. 1487 (July 1997) (skip footnotes, skip appendix)
• Christopher M. Kelty, Two Bits (read 98-117)
• Jonathan Zittrain, Normative Principles for Evaluating Free and Proprietary Software, 71 U. Chi. L. Rev 265 (2004) (p. 1-9)

11.) Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy – 10 /5

• Malcolm Gladwell, In the Air: Who Says Big Ideas Are Rare?
• Jessica Livingston, Founders at Work, Interview With Steve Wozniak
• Jessica Livingston, Caterina Fake
• Paul Graham, How to Start a Startup
• Paul Graham, Six Principles for Making New Things
• Paul Graham, Why Smart People Have Bad Ideas
• Vivek Wadhwa, Can Entrepreneurs Be Made?
• Om Malik, Tips on Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Jeff Bezos
• Robert Scoble, Why Google Can’t Build Instagram

12.) Memes & Online Communities – 10/10

• Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (read Chapter 11 – Memes: the new replicators)
• Rob Walker, When Funny Goes Viral
• Alex Leavitt, Memes as Mechanisms: How Digital Subculture Informs the Real World
• Malcolm Gladwell, Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted
• XKCD, Map of Online Communities
• Roxanna Myhrum, Couchsurfing Paper (skim)
• Brad Rosen & Elizabeth Stark, Is Trolling a Valid Pedagogical Technique for Socratic Exploration of Course Material?
• Nope! Chuck Testa [VIDEO]
• Hampster Dance
• 50 Days of Lulz
• 50 Days of Mayhem: How LulzSec Changed Hacktivism Forever
• LulzSec
• OPTIONAL: Joshua A.T. Fairfield, Virtual Property
• OPTIONAL: Grimmelmann, Virtual Worlds as Comparative Law (skim)

13.) Intro to Free Speech – 10/12

• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) (read majority opinion)
• Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1997), (read majority opinion)
• Jonathan Weinberg, Rating the Net [Excerpt] (pay particular attention to section IV)
• Ashcroft v. ACLU
• Jack M. Balkin, The Future of Free Expression in the Digital Age, 36 Pepp. L. Rev. 2008 (Read pp. 102-112)
• Jack M. Balkin, Media Access: A Question of Design, 76 George Wash. L. Rev. 2008 (Read I,II,III, skim IV)
• Batzel v. Smith, 333 F.3d 1018 (9th Cir. 2003) (Read majority opinion only, 8431-8460)
• FCC v Fox, 556 U.S. ___ (2009) (Read: Syllabus and the Concurring Opinion by Justice Thomas.  Skim the Majority Opinion Sections “Statutory and Regulatory Background” and “Governing Principles.”)

14.) Defamation and Hate Speech – 10/17

• The Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 558 Elements of Defamation (only read § 558)
• Communications Decency Act §230
• Jonathan Zittrain, A History Of Online Gatekeeping, 19 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 253 (Spring 2006), (p. 257-263)
• Barrett v. Rosenthal, 40 Cal.4th 33 (2006) (1-34)
• Doe v. Ciolli (Order Denying Motion to Quash)
• Findlaw, Cyberbullying: A Rundown of Cyberbulling laws 
• D.C. v. R.R,  182 Cal App. 4th  (2d Dist 2010) (Read majority opinion; skim dissent for the posts made by commenters)
• Ars Technica, FCC Asked to Monitor “Hate Speech, Misinformation Online”

15.) Censorship I — Leaks and Creeps – 10/19

• Pentagon Papers Case a.k.a. New York Times Co v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971)  (read Per Curium Opinion and J. Brennan’s Concurrence)
• Miller v. California, 415 U.S. 15(1973) (read syllabus)
• New York v. Ferber, 485 U.S. 747 (1982) (read syllabus)
• United States v. Ortiz-Graulau, 526 F.3d 16 (2008) (read pp. 1-8)
• Wikileaks, About Wikileaks
• Wikipedia, Wikileaks (read History & Administration, Notable Leaks 2010)
• John F. Burns & Ravi Somaiya, WikiLeaks Founder Gets Support in Rebuking U.S. on Whistle-Blowers

16.) Censorship II & Great Walls – 10/24

• Google Transparency Report (skim)
• Jeffrey Rosen, Google’s Gatekeepers
• ONI, Cracking Down on Digital Communication and Political Organizing in Iran
• Bruce Schneier, Review of Access Denied
• Jonathan Zittrain, China and Internet Filters
• David Drummond, A New Approach to China
• Miguel Helft & David Barboza, Google Shuts Down China Site in Dispute Over Censorship
• S. 3804: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act
• Mike Masnick, Even Without COICA White House Asking Registrars to Voluntarily Censor Infringing Sites
• Browse http://www.herdict.org

17.) Search and Seizure in the Digital Age  – 10/26

• Fourth Amendment
• Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967)
• Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001)
• United States v. White, 401 U.S. 745 (1971) (read summary)
• United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696 (1983) (read summary)
• California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207 (1986) (read summary)
• EFF, Privacy: Searching and Seizing Computers (skim)
• Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985) (read majority opinion)
• Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (2007)  (read majority opinion by J. Scalia and J. Stevens’ Dissent)
• OPTIONAL: Scott v. Harris Chase Video
• Bryan v. MacPherson, 630 F.3d 805 (9th Cir. 2010) (superseding opinion)

18.)  Wikipedia, Collaboration, & Network Effects – 10/31

19.) Privacy: Who Can You Trust? – 11/2

• Daniel Solove, Justice Scalia’s Dossier: Interesting Issues About Privacy and Ethics
• Kashmir Hill, What Fordham Knows About Justice Scalia
• Kashmir Hill, Justice Scalia Responds to Fordham Privacy Invasion!
• Hoffa v. United States, 395 U.S. 293 (1966) (Read intro and section I, skim dissent of Warren, C. J.)
• Emily Steel & Geoffery Fowler, Facebook in Privacy Breach
• Ian Paul, Facebook Nails Developers Leaking User Data
• Google Agrees to FTC Settlement on Privacy Program (buzz)
• NYTimes, 11 Charged in LIRR Disability Fraud Plot

20.) Privacy in the Web 2.0 World – 11/7

• Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet — and How to Stop It (Chapter 9 – p. 200-221)
• Jennifer Van Grove, Are We All Asking to Be Robbed?
• Frank Groeneweld et al, Over Sharing and Location Awareness
• Stephanie Golberg, Does Facebook Know Who You’ll Date Next?
• Kashmir Hill, Facebook Responds to Firesheep Wifi Security Controversy
• TEDX TALK: Dave deBronkart: Meet e-Patient Dave
• If You’re Not Paying for It; You’re the Product
• CDT, The Role of Privacy by Design in Protecting Consumer Privacy

21.) Net Neutrality – 11/9

• Tim Wu, Network Neutrality FAQ
• Tim Wu and Chris Yoo debate network neutrality
• Read and Compare Comcast v. FCC with In re Apple iPhone 3G Products Liab. Litig.
• Julius Genachowski, The Third Way: A Narrowly Tailored Broadband Framework
• Alan Davidson and Tom Tauk, A Joint Proposal for the Open Internet
• Verizon-Google Legislative Framework Proposal
• EFF, A Review of Verizon And Google’s Net Neutrality Proposal
• Siva Vaidhyanathan, Google Net neutrality stance gives net’s future to corporations
• Optional But Highly Encouraged: Jonathan Zittrain and Larry Lessig Take on Net Neutrality

• BigLaw: Above the Law Founder David Lat
• BigThink Interview with David Lat (read the first seven question, i.e. stop reading at “How will the legal profession change in the upcoming years?”)
• Letter from the Editor: Welcome to Above the Law
• Kashmir Hill, How My Ass Lobster Got Into the Urban Dictionary
• David Lat Interviews Steve Brill (watch videos)
• Paul Bradshaw, When Journalists Blog: How it Changes What They Do
• Nicholas Lemann, Amateur Hour: Journalism without journalists
• Twittering the USAirways Plane Crash
• Declan Sullivan, Notre Dame student killed after video tower collapse, tweeted twice before fall 
• Huffington Post, Osama Bin Laden’s Death Leaked Via Twitter
• Hollywood Reporter, Twitter Users Learned of Tremors Seconds Before Feeling Them
• Kashmir Hill, Penn State Scandal Teaches Ashton Kutcher a ‘Google Before You Tweet’ Lesson
• ABCNEWS, Couple’s Break-Up At Burger King Becomes Twitter Spectacle
• Optional But Highly Recommended: Clay Shirky, Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
• Optional (added late): WSJ Blog, Twitter Lists Get A Tryout During Fort Hood Shooting
• Optional (added late): Steve Safran, How incorrect reports of Giffords’ Death Spread on Twitter

23.) Anonymity & Online Identity – 11/16

• David Margolick, Slimed Online
• Jose Martinez, Broadway Star of ‘Xanadu’ and ‘Wicked’ Sues To Reveal Twitter Poster Behind STD Claim
• Richard Koman, ‘Skank’ Blogger Talks, Sues Google for 15m
• Special Proceeding Order
• Kashmir Hill, Civilizing the Internet, One Lawsuit at a Time
• Kashmir Hill, Lessons Learned from Skanks in NYC
• Chris Soghoian, Twitter’s Privacy Policy and the Wikileaks Case
• Chris Soghoian, NYTimes, When Secrets Aren’t Safe With Journalists
• Parmy Olson, Lawsuits against Web Trolls are on the rise
• MSNBC Gadgetbox, How to Create a Fake Identity and Stay Anonymous Online
• Browse: PeekYou
• Daniel Solove, The Future of Reputation, Ch. 6 p. 136-150, Chapter 8: pp. 189-205
• Tor Project Overview

24.) Innovation vs. Applianciziation – 11/28

• Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It (Intro, Ch. 5, pp. 1-5, 101-126)
• Reed Abelson, FCC is Looking Into Rejection of Google App for iPhone
• Nick Saint, Apple’s 10 Dumbest iPhone App Rejections
• Mark Millian, Apple: No New Apps in Store During Holidays
• Jeff Helffereich, Apple Posts Guidelines for Mac App Store (and We Have Highlights)
• Chris Foresman, Could the Apple Mac Store Kill Software “Bundles”?
• Nicholas Deleon, Tread Lightly When Embracing the Mac App Store
• Roger Kay, Apple’s Mac OS Lockdown to End Developer Independence
• Nick Bilton, Android App Forwards Private Text Messages
• OPTIONAL: Jonathan Zittrain, The Generative Internet

The remainder of the courses listed below are still subject to change.  We will try to finalize all readings and course order at least 1 week before the course, but we sometimes cannot because of guest speakers.

25.) The Future of Education & Knowledge – 11/30

• Isaac Asimov, Profession
• Wikipedia, Khan Academy
• Wikipedia, Access to Knowledge Movement
• Katie Hafner, An Open Mind, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/education/edlife/18open-t.html?&pagewanted=all
• Capetown Open Access Declaration, http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/read-the-declaration
• Jonathan Zittrain, Future of the Internet and How to Stop It, http://futureoftheinternet.org/static/ZittrainTheFutureoftheInternet.pdf (p. 235-45 — Conclusion)