A Harvard University research center that studies the impact of cyberspace on life has turned its attention to student privacy, in both K-12 and higher ed. As a product of a student privacy initiative, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society has released three reports that touch on aspects of cloud computing and mobile device usage in the K-12 environment.
via Harvard Reports Examine K-12 Student Privacy — THE Journal.
In a brief post on his blog, Bruce Schneier said that he had held a roundtable discussion with six House members, organized by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), to discuss the NSA’s activities.
Schneier, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, co-authored a Guardian article with reporter Glenn Greenwald on the NSA’s attempts to hack an anonymizing web service and has taken a peek at many of the documents that Snowden leaked.
via ‘The NSA Wasn’t Forthcoming,’ So A Computer Security Expert Briefed Congress Instead.
To address this, Zittrain has proposed that Twitter allow people not only to retract or correct a tweet, but to create a feature that relays that fix through all the people who retweeted it. “It seems to be an untaken opportunity to be able to spread correction or refinement so easily,” he says.
via How Corrections Would Help Avoid Twitter Libel Lawsuits.
But rather than despair, this is a moment of opportunity. The court didn’t make its decision because it was opposed to net neutrality, but because the F.C.C. had painted itself into a regulatory corner, having developed a convoluted, contradictory set of rules regarding Internet access over the last decade.
In allowing the case to go to trial, the judge in the case soundly rejected that argument. Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard professor of law and computer science, agrees with the judge that Twitter shouldn’t reshape the way courts see defamation. The distinctions courts use to decide whether a statement is libelous—whether it’s presented as fact (potentially libelous) or opinion (usually protected), whether the writer knew the statement to be false—don’t disappear because the writing in question is a tweet rather than an essay.
via Courtney Love’s Libel Trial Inspires This Proposed Fix for Twitter Defamation – Businessweek.
“There is language in the opinion for the commission to take solace,” said Jonathan Zittrain, former chairman of the FCC’s open Internet advisory committee. “The FCC chairman has signaled his view that this affirms the commission’s ability to go case by case, calling problems as they see them.” He said it was telling that stock prices on most affected companies “haven’t budged” in light of the decision.
via Appeals court sets aside Internet neutrality rules | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Angel Fair: More an event than a organization, Angel Fair is the brainchild of Ghanaian entrepreneur Eric Osiakwan, Scottish entrepreneur Jamie Clyde, and Artlogic, an events company that produces high end boutique fairs supporting the arts in Southern Africa. The first Angel Fair took place this past September in Johannesburg. It is part of a longer conversation that included a gathering at the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School, where investors, entrepreneurs and academics discussed how to make angel investing work in Africa.
via 5 major players in the Africa startup ecosystem – Global Business Hub – Boston.com.
“Just like Standard Oil, they’ve cornered the market on a commodity that’s essential for every part of American society to operate. High-speed Internet access undergirds every policy direction the country wants to take. And yet, control over this commodity is centralized in the hands of a very few providers,” said Crawford, a co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. “It’s so unbelievable and that’s why I spend so much time and so much energy talking about it.”
“If they’re small, they may not be able to afford to pay AT&T for the privilege of reaching AT&T’s data customers,” says Susan Crawford, visiting professor at Harvard Law School and author of “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age.”
Jeff Hermes, director of Harvard University’s Digital Media Law Project, said the lawsuit shows Google is willing to look at copyright infringement accusations on a case-by-case basis.
via Google, Iowa firm clash over blog photo | Great Falls Tribune | greatfallstribune.com.