Technology and the Public Interest
Books, essays, and commentary from John Palfrey
Essays
Notes from AI Action Summit in Delhi, India, February 2026
Reflections on AI, governance, and the public interest from the AI Action Summit in Delhi.
Read essayConcord Free Public Library 150th Anniversary Celebration
Remarks on libraries, civic institutions, and the enduring importance of public knowledge.
Read essayInvesting in the Arts—in Chicago and Beyond
Thoughts on philanthropy, culture, and why investing in the arts matters for public life.
Read essayCommentary from John Palfrey
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Google Books Settlement: Two Events
Tonight, the Boston Public Library is hosting an event on the GBS: July 21 at 6:00 p.m. at the BPL, moderated by Maura Marx of the Open Knowledge Commons. On July 31, we at the Berkman Center are hosting an open workshop on alternative futures for digitizing of books in the shadow of the GBS. …
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Hiring Empiricists at HLS Library
One of the new efforts underway at the Harvard Law School Library is providing support for the growing number of faculty who perform empirical research. It’s something that a few other libraries have begun to do, and we think it’s a great idea. After a successful pilot this past year (where we were swamped with…
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Daily Kos on Kids, Health and Politics
The Daily Kos has an interview with my mom, Dr. Judy Palfrey, about kids and health care reform. My mom has recently been elected president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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The Future of Education: Technology and How People Learn
No small issue on the agenda here at Aspen Ideas Festival — the future of education, technology, and how people learn — but the panel assembled is in fact up to the task. Connie Yowell (MacArthur Foundation, whose brainchild is the $50 million Digital Media and Learning initiative), Howard Gardner (Harvard Graduate School of Education),…
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Green Dam Implementation Delayed in China
Xinhua is reporting that the MIIT in China has decided to delay implementation of the Green Dam Youth Escort software program. (HT: Rebecca MacKinnon, who has been doing a terrific job documenting the proposed Green Dam regulation from the start on her blog.) Much to their credit, leaders like Commerce Secretary Gary Locke of the…
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SCOTUS Denies Cert in Cablevision (Good Call!)
The Supreme Court says: “08-448 CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., ET AL. V. CSC HOLDINGS, INC., ET AL.: The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied. The Chief Justice and Justice Alito took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.” (The Solicitor General wrote a terrific brief urging the Court to take…
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WebEcology Study on Tweets in the Iran
Congratulations to the Berkman-affiliated WebEcology project on their near-instant empirical study of tweets on the Iran election. They’ve tracked more than 2 million Tweets over the past 18 days.
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NYT story on Iran Elections and Technology, with Linkage to Green Dam
The New York Times’ Brian Stelter and Brad Stone have a very thoughtful piece in the paper today about the changing role of censorship in an Internet age, with references to ONI work. The final point, made in the story by Ethan Zuckerman, draws an appropriate connection to the Green Dam story in China from…
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ONI Releases New Iran Study
We at the OpenNet Initiative have released our 2009 study of Internet censorship in Iran, including new data from our most recent rounds of testing.
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Internet & Democracy: China, Iran, the Arabic Blogosphere
These are heady days for the study of Internet and its relationship to the practice of politics and the struggles over democratic decision-making. Three stories — in China, in Iran, and throughout the Arabic-speaking world — make a powerful case for the deepening relevance of the use of new technologies by citizens to the balance…
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ONI Releases Green Dam Software Analysis
At the OpenNet Initiative, we’ve spent much of this week looking hard at the Chinese Green Dam software that the state is asking all PC manufacturers to ship with their hardware. The analysis highlights — and confirms — a variety of problems with the software. As we argue in this ONI Bulletin, this announcement is…