6.805/STS085 General Information

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Fall Semester, 2010

MIT 6.805/STS085: Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier (3-0-9)
Privacy and Transparency

General information

Class meetings: Mondays 7-10PM in room 32-124

Instructors

Hal Abelson Prof. of Computer Sci. and Eng., MIT hal@mit.edu 32-386, 617-253-5856	Mike Fischer Prof. of Anthropology and Sci. Tech. Studies, MIT mfischer@mit.edu E51-201B, 617-253-2564
Danny Weitzner Associate Administrator, Office Policy Analysis and Development National Telecommunications and Information Administration US Department of Commence djweitzner@ntia.doc.gov
Les Perelman Director, WritingAcrosstheCurriculum perelman@mit.edu 12-119, 617-253-3375	Don Unger Lecturer, PWHS & WAC donunger@mit.edu 12-112 617-253-3039

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 persepectives on the Internet.

See the course calendar for the complete list of topics.

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

http://mit.edu/6.805

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.

Important: There are class readings, and also a writing assignment due before the first class. These must be completed and the writing assignment turned in by email before 11PM on Thursday, September 9. No one will be admitted to the first class without having completed this assignment. See the description of the pre-semester assignment in the material for the first class.

Syllabus

The course syllabus and weekly assignment can be found on the course calendar web page.

Readings

The class will have many readings, mostly short. 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 weekly short writing assignments. Many assignments will have two parts: (1) writing your own paper; and (2) commenting on other students' papers. All assignments will be posted on the class web site for everyone in the class to read.
Term project: You will be required to do final paper. You can make this an individual project, or work with a partner. (At most two people to a paper.) This will be a major project, and you should expect to devote a lot of time to it throughout the semester. The project can be purely a research paper, or it can involve design and implementation (but this still requires a paper). Papers may be selected for inclusion in the class archive of student papers on the Web. You should browse through the paper selections to get an idea of the scale of work expected.
Oral presentation: At least once during the semester, you will be required to make an oral progress report on on your project,
Midterm Exam: There will be an in-class midterm on October 235.
Final Exam (not): There is no final exam.

MIT 6.805/STS085: Ethics and Law on the Electronic Frontier (3-0-9) Privacy and Transparency