Category Archives: social justice

OpenCourseWare: a value-added model?

As we discussed in class on Wednesday, the last decade has seen an international push for open access to research and educational information. The Budapest Open Access Initiative, launched out of an internationally attended meeting in 2001, outlined a collaborative … Continue reading

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Anonymous Arrests to Halt Hacktivism? Not Likely.

Last week, members of the Lulz Security (LulzSec) faction of the Anonymous collective (a computer hacker group widely associated with acts of international “hacktivism”) were arrested and charged with hacking-related offenses.  The LulzSec group has claimed responsibility for several high-profile … Continue reading

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When Ethics Meets Law: Should We Keep Secret?

It was just few days ago that WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2012.  Regardless of the fact that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has been receiving criticisms, this nomination itself causes a great controversy. The … Continue reading

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F.C.C. Looks to Weigh In On Intentional Cellphone Service Interruptions

Throughout the quarter we’ve frequently discussed the ways in which the Digital Age and its resulting technical innovations have found a way of falling outside the bounds of the established interpretations of our legal system. We’ve seen it with copyright … Continue reading

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Let’s start at the very beginning: Is Internet access a human right?

In his article published last Friday on the Forbes website, Shel Israel responded to the Obama administration’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights by saying, “The White House is… correct, that the issue is how basic, self-evident human rights get transferred … Continue reading

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Policing the police who police us…

Faced with a lawsuit by the ACLU on behalf of a man whose camera was confiscated and its contents deleted after taping an arrest at the Preakness, the Baltimore Police Department has released a “new” policy about citizens recording police … Continue reading

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Will the Underdogs Unite? RIAA, Copyright Infringement, and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

  It’s well known that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) are not the ideal supporters of file sharing and do a lot to prevent copyright infringement in this area. But … Continue reading

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Political Smear Campaigns Use Fair Use

Two political ads have recently tried to take gross advantage of Fair Use in order to slander opponents. This month, Mitt Romney has been running an ad that blatantly steals footage from NBC’s Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, a show … Continue reading

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Your DNA as Information: Private or Publishable?

As Elaine discussed earlier this week, DNA is a form of biological information: though it had previously been classified by the US Patent office as a chemical, “the main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information.” As … Continue reading

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Cyber-Bullying: Parents & Social Networks New Problem

Bullying has been a part of the adolescent experience for ages; kids can be awful to each other when they are trying to fit in or when they are scared of people who are different. In the last decade the … Continue reading

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