6.805/STS085 General Information

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Fall Semester, 2018

MIT 6.805/STS085/STS487: Foundations of Information Policy

Meets: Thursday 1-4, room 66-168
Enrollment limited, Permission of instructor required

General information

This page is a draft. The information here is from fall 2017 has not yet been updated for fall 2018.

Instructors

Danny Weitzner Principal Research Scientist, MIT CSAIL djweitzner@csail.mit.edu
David Edelman" Director, Project on Tech, Econ & Nat'l Security, MIT CSAIL rde@mit.edu	Mike Fischer Prof. of Anthropology and Sci. Tech. Studies, MIT mfischer@mit.edu E51-201B, 617-253-2564
Jessie M Stickgold-Sarah Lecturer, WAC jmss@mit.edu	Michael Trice Lecturer, WAC mtrice@mit.edu

Welcome

In this class, we will consider the interaction between law, policy, and technology as they relate to the the evolving controversies over control of the Internet. This fall, we be doing an in-depth segment on a new approach to privacy on the Web, which replaces the traditional emphasis on secrecy and access control, by policies and technologies to make data use more accountable and transparent.

Topics we will explore include:

Legal background for regulation of the Internet.
Fourth Amendment Law and electronic surveillance
Fundamentals of privacy law.
Technology and regulatory regimes for transparency and accountability.
Fundamentals of copyright law, seminal court cases relating to copyright on the Web
International perspectives on the Internet.

All information for this course is maintained on the Web via the class web site:

http://mit.edu/6.805

The syllabus and weekly assignments are linked from the course calendar web page.

The site contains course information, including pointers to assigned readings and source material, as well as archives of exemplary papers by students in the class.

Prerequisites and enrolling

Course 6 students may use this subject as one of Advanced Undergraduate Subjects (AUS) required for graduation, or as general engineering concentration subjects (EC electives) required for the S.B. or M.Eng. As an alternative, students may use the subject for HASS elective credit.

Students who want to use the subject to satisfy a department requirement (AUS or EC elective), should register for 6.805. Those who want to use it for HASS elective credit should register for STS.085. Graduate credit can be granted through STS (not Course 6), although this will require making special arrangements with Mike Fischer for extra work.

There are no formal prerequisites for this subject, but students should be prepared to do extensive independent research, involving both technology and policy analysis. In selecting participants for the class, we will be looking for people with appropriate backgrounds, such as knowledge of 6.033. Also, due to the importance of class participation, class attendance is mandatory.

Readings

The class will have many readings. Most of these are on the web and will be posted along with the weekly class assignments. There many of the readings will include judicial opinions. Here are some helpful hints on locating judicial opinions.

Grading and required work

Grades will be based on

Class participation: We expect you to participate actively in class discussions, contributing your own ideas and commenting on the ideas of others. The readings assigned each week should be done before class. In class, we will call on you and ask you to answer questions about the readings and to contribute to the discussion. The quality of class participation will be a factor in grades. If you are the type who "does not like to talk in class" you should consider whether you really want to take this class. Class attendance is mandatory.
Short writing assignments: There will be regular short writing assignments. These will be turned in using the 6.805 Stellar site.
Term project: You will be required to work in a team project that will last most of the semester. Much of this work will be done in conjunction with a mentor who is active in the area of Internet policy. The term project/paper is the major part of the grade.
Final Exam (not): There is no final exam.

Collaboration policy

We encourage students to discuss the content of assignments in this subject with other students and teaching staff.

When you submit an assignment under your name, we assume that you are certifying that the writing and details are entirely your own work and that you played a primary role in the conception stage.

For group assignments, each student contributes equally. We would like each group to write individual author contributions at the end of each group assignment.

At the end of the final project, students will submit a document to the teaching staff detailing the contributions of each team member.