Scholars from a range of disciplines discuss research methods, theories, and conceptual approaches in the study of internet governance. The design and governance of the internet has become one of the most pressing geopolitical issues of our era. The stability of the economy, democracy, and the public sphere are wholly dependent on the stability and security of the internet. Revelations about election hacking, facial recognition technology, and government surveillance have gotten the public's attention and made clear the need for scholarly research that examines internet governance both empirically and conceptually. In this volume, scholars from a range of disciplines consider research methods, theories, and conceptual approaches in the study of internet governance.
A study of Internet blocking and filtering around the world: analyses by leading researchers and survey results that document filtering practices in dozens of countries. Many countries around the world block or filter Internet content, denying access to information that they deem too sensitive for ordinary citizens—most often about politics, but sometimes relating to sexuality, culture, or religion. Access Denied documents and analyzes Internet filtering practices in more than three dozen countries, offering the first rigorously conducted study of an accelerating trend. Internet filtering takes place in more than three dozen states worldwide, including many countries in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Related Internet content-control mechanisms are also in place in Canada, the United States and a cluster of countries in Europe. Drawing on a just-completed survey of global Internet filtering undertaken by the OpenNet Initiative (a collaboration of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University, and the University of Cambridge) and relying on work by regional experts and an extensive network of researchers, Access Denied examines the political, legal, social, and cultural contexts of Internet filtering in these states from a variety of perspectives. Chapters discuss the mechanisms and politics of Internet filtering, the strengths and limitations of the technology that powers it, the relevance of international law, ethical considerations for corporations that supply states with the tools for blocking and filtering, and the implications of Internet filtering for activist communities that increasingly rely on Internet technologies for communicating their missions. Reports on Internet content regulation in forty different countries follow, with each two-page country profile outlining the types of content blocked by category and documenting key findings. Contributors Ross Anderson, Malcolm Birdling, Ronald Deibert, Robert Faris, Vesselina Haralampieva [as per Rob Faris], Steven Murdoch, Helmi Noman, John Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski, Mary Rundle, Nart Villeneuve, Stephanie Wang, Jonathan Zittrain
The first scholarly book in English on Minitel, the pioneering French computer network, offers a history of a technical system and a cultural phenomenon. A decade before the Internet became a medium for the masses in the United States, tens of millions of users in France had access to a network for e-mail, e-commerce, chat, research, game playing, blogging, and even an early form of online porn. In 1983, the French government rolled out Minitel, a computer network that achieved widespread adoption in just a few years as the government distributed free terminals to every French telephone subscriber. With this volume, Julien Mailland and Kevin Driscoll offer the first scholarly book in English on Minitel, examining it as both a technical system and a cultural phenomenon. Mailland and Driscoll argue that Minitel was a technical marvel, a commercial success, and an ambitious social experiment. Other early networks may have introduced protocols and software standards that continue to be used today, but Minitel foretold the social effects of widespread telecomputing. They examine the unique balance of forces that enabled the growth of Minitel: public and private, open and closed, centralized and decentralized. Mailland and Driscoll describe Minitel's key technological components, novel online services, and thriving virtual communities. Despite the seemingly tight grip of the state, however, a lively Minitel culture emerged, characterized by spontaneity, imagination, and creativity. After three decades of continuous service, Minitel was shut down in 2012, but the history of Minitel should continue to inform our thinking about Internet policy, today and into the future.
This publication is intended to help community leaders launch KickStart initiatives to bring their communities onto the information superhighway. Contents: connecting people and communities to the information superhighway (realizing the benefits; highlighting the ingredients of success; showcasing success tories); a leadership guide to getting there (identifying costs and sources of funding); resource on intellectual property, privacy and security; resources for communities (print and online resources; examples of acceptable use policies).
One of the most far-reaching transformations in our era is the wave of digital technologies rolling over—and upending—nearly every aspect of life. Work and leisure, family and friendship, community and citizenship have all been modified by now-ubiquitous digital tools and platforms. Digital Technology and Democratic Theory looks closely at one significant facet of our rapidly evolving digital lives: how technology is radically changing our lives as citizens and participants in democratic governments. To understand these transformations, this book brings together contributions by scholars from multiple disciplines to wrestle with the question of how digital technologies shape, reshape, and affect fundamental questions about democracy and democratic theory. As expectations have whiplashed—from Twitter optimism in the wake of the Arab Spring to Facebook pessimism in the wake of the 2016 US election—the time is ripe for a more sober and long-term assessment. How should we take stock of digital technologies and their promise and peril for reshaping democratic societies and institutions? To answer, this volume broaches the most pressing technological changes and issues facing democracy as a philosophy and an institution.
While societies have always had information infrastructures, the power and reach of today's information technologies offer opportunities to transform work and family lives in an unprecedented fashion. This volume, a collection of six papers presented at the 1994 National Academy of Engineering Meeting Technical Session, presents a range of views on the subject of the revolution in the U.S. information infrastructure. The papers cover a variety of current issues including an overview of the technological developments driving the evolution of information infrastructures and where they will lead; the development of the Internet, particularly the government's role in its evolution; the impact of regulatory reform and antitrust enforcement on the telecommunications revolution; and perspectives from the computer, wireless, and satellite communications industries.
No Code Required presents the various design, system architectures, research methodologies, and evaluation strategies that are used by end users programming on the Web. It also presents the tools that will allow users to participate in the creation of their own Web. Comprised of seven parts, the book provides basic information about the field of end-user programming. Part 1 points out that the Firefox browser is one of the differentiating factors considered for end-user programming on the Web. Part 2 discusses the automation and customization of the Web. Part 3 covers the different approaches to proposing a specialized platform for creating a new Web browser. Part 4 discusses three systems that focus on the customized tools that will be used by the end users in exploring large amounts of data on the Web. Part 5 explains the role of natural language in the end-user programming systems. Part 6 provides an overview of the assumptions on the accessibility of the Web site owners of the Web content. Lastly, Part 7 offers the idea of the Web-active end user, an individual who is seeking new technologies. - The first book since Web 2.0 that covers the latest research, development, and systems emerging from HCI research labs on end user programming tools - Featuring contributions from the creators of Adobe's Zoetrope and Intel's Mash Maker, discussing test results, implementation, feedback, and ways forward in this booming area
