Technology and the Public Interest

Books, essays, and commentary from John Palfrey

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Books

Wired Wisdom

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The Connected Parent

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Born Digital

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Commentary from John Palfrey

  • Digital Dossiers

    Kanu Tewari, a Berkman Center intern with us from Egypt for the summer, has produced a fabulous video on the topic of one the chapters — Dossiers — in our forthcoming book, Born Digital.  Kanu’s blog post accompanying the video is here. (We build on the term “digital dossiers” popularized by Prof. Solove.)  I couldn’t…

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  • Prof. Obama's Con Law Exams

    The most promising lawyer in my law school section, Jodi Kantor, dropped out after a semester to join Slate as a reporter. She’s since become a big-shot at the NYT, now covering national politics. She’s returned to her law school roots in writing about Sen. Obama’s teaching of constitutional law. Her article was great. Even…

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  • Two Videos: The Ballad of Zack McCune and Learning to Type with Diana Kimball

    The Digital Natives project intern crew is astonishingly good this summer. They’re showing off their creative skills by making videos about issues related to young people living with technology in wired societies. The first is by Diana Kimball, about how she learned to type. The second is a multi-part series about Zack McCune’s experiences with…

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  • Entrepreneurship, the Patent Law, and Scale of Firms

    I’m at a wonderful summer program hosted by the Kauffman Foundation on Law, Innovation, and Growth. They’ve convened a truly interdisciplinary crowd interested in how law can affect rates of innovation and growth. Many, though by no means all, of the conversations are about innovation in technology-related fields. All the papers presented will be posted…

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  • Join the Berkman Center

    We seem, at the Berkman Center, always to be looking for more great people to join our team.  A new opening: a clinical fellow in cyberlaw.  The posting is here.  The job would be great for an entrepreneurial lawyer who would like to teach law students applied cyberlaw in innovative ways through our clinic.  The…

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  • Katie Salen, ed., "The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning"

    The first book that I read in the series of MacArthur/MIT Press’s Digital Media and Learning series was “The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning,” edited by game designer and educator Katie Salen (open access version here). As with the other books in the series, it’s a very important contribution to the scholarly…

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  • Daniel Solove's The Future of Reputation

    The first book I’ve read in full on my Amazon Kindle is Daniel Solove‘s “The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet.” It’s a book I’ve been meaning to read since it came out; it did not disappoint. I was glad to have the joint experience of reading a first full book…

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  • Leaked Cisco Document: Chinese Censorship among "Opportunities"

    As WIRED is reporting, a leaked Cisco presentation (online here) makes clear that, in 2002, Cisco team members saw censorship in China as an opportunity to sell equipment to the state. The presentation, in slide 57, cites what appears to be a Chinese official saying that one of the goals of Operation Golden Shield (what…

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  • Testimony on Internet Filtering and Surveillance

    Mister Chairman, distinguished members of the Committee: I would like to offer my deep appreciation for the Committee’s interest in this important matter. Congressional engagement is an important factor in deepening understanding of the nexus between global Internet freedom and corporate responsibility, and an essential element for ensuring that the Internet continues on its path…

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  • Digital Natives Myth-Busting Session at Berkman@10

    Our session on Digital Natives as part of the unconference day 2 is focused on Myth-Busting. We put up on the conference wiki a bunch of myths online that we’ve been working to bust (or to affirm). Our mode is to put these myths to the attendees, see which ones they would like to discuss,…

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  • A Kick-Off for The Publius Project

    This morning, at our 10th Anniversary celebration, we are talking about the future of politics and the Net. The notes I’ve prepared with my colleagues in advance of the session are here, on the conference wiki; have at them!) Before we start the real-space conversation, a quick pause to introduce a new project, called Publius. …

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  • Congratulations to Phil Malone and Wendy Jacobs

    The Harvard Law School just announced the promotion of Phil Malone (in cyberlaw and intellectual property) and Wendy Jacobs (in environmental law) to the full-time faculty as clinical professors. Phil Malone has been the director of the Berkman Center clinical program for the past few years, first with Jeff Cunard and Bruce Keller as co-directors…

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