Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society

What will “libraries” in 2075 look like? Can copyright law be re-engineered? Should we trust Google to make decisions in the public interest? Those were some of the questions discussed at a workshop entitled “Alternative Approaches to Open Digital Libraries in the Shadow of the Google Book Search Settlement,” which took place at Harvard Law School on July 31.

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Center for Research in Computation and Society (CRCS), based at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), have joined their fellowship programs for the 2009-2010 academic year. This collaboration will intensify both Centers’ exchanges across the University and stimulate multidisciplinary research efforts in areas ranging from ethics to economics.

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University will conduct an independent expert review of existing literature and studies about broadband deployment and usage throughout the world. This project will help inform the FCC’s efforts in developing the National Broadband Plan.

A major research project from Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society’s Internet and Democracy Project has lent enormous insight into the previously unexplored flow of online communication in the Middle East and North Africa. The study, “Mapping the Arabic Blogosphere: Politics, Culture and Dissent,” comes at a time of tremendous political unrest and electronic activism in the Middle East.

In March, coinciding with the one-year anniversary of a crackdown on protests in Tibetan regions in China, people across the PRC found they couldn’t access YouTube—which had hosted videos of the protests the year before.

For students looking for cutting-edge legal work in the realm of new technologies, there may be no better place than the Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. In the fall of 2008, more than 40 students were involved in a wide range of projects that explored areas such as free speech, intellectual property and online child safety in the context of the Internet and other rapidly developing technologies. Many of the projects the center undertook involves issues being litigated for the first time.

Andrew McLaughlin ’94 has been named deputy chief technology officer for the Obama Administration. Most recently, McLaughlin served as head of global public policy for Google.

On May 5, Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan Zittrain ’95 was elected to a three-year term on the Internet Society’s Board of Trustees. A non-profit organization, the Internet Society seeks to provide leadership on internet related standards, education, and policy around the world.

The following article, written by Professor John Palfrey ’01, entitled, “Internet arms race,” appeared in the May/June 2009 issue of the MIT Technology review.

StopBadware.org, a project sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and Consumer Reports WebWatch announced today the full launch of BadwareBusters.org, a new online community for people looking for help preventing and countering viruses, spyware, and other “badware” on their computers and web sites.

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society launched a new Web site called ‘Media Cloud’ in conjunction with Thomson Reuters in July. The goal of Media Cloud is to provide a new search tool that illustrates the nature of news and how information flows between blogs and more traditional news outlets like newspapers.

Cooley Godward Kronish has established the first fellowship at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. The first Cooley Fellow will be announced this spring.

Urs Gasser LL.M. ’03, an associate professor of law at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, has been named executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. 

In a wide-ranging interview, John Palfrey and Jonathan Zittrain survey the future of the Internet.

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society received some major media recognition this week with the publication of a June 10 article in USA Today headlined "Berkman pioneers steer the course of cyberspace."

The Berkman Center for Internet and Society is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week at its Berkman at 10 Conference entitled "The Future of the Internet." The two-day event features discussions celebrating the work the Berkman Center has done over the past decade, as well as looking ahead to what it hopes to accomplish in the future.

Phil Malone and Wendy Jacobs ’81 have been appointed clinical professors of law, Dean Elena Kagan ’86 announced today.

Can law keep up with technology? Some Harvard lawyers are finding out.

HLS professor seeks to make copyrighted works accessible to students with disabilities.

HLS Recording Artists Project focuses on the legal side of the music industry.