Week 2

Week 2: Relevance of Law in Cyberspace

While digital technologies have firmly entrenched themselves into daily life, the dramatically different architecture of cyberspace from real space, makes it impossible to simply transpose the protections afforded by the Bill of Rights onto online activities. This class will consider questions about who, if anyone, should govern the Internet and how the Internet should be governed.

Required readings:

• Lawrence Lessig, The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach.
• John Perry Barlow, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace.
• Laurence H. Tribe, The Constitution in Cyberspace: Law and Liberty Beyond the Electronic Frontier.
• Michael Froomkin, An Introduction to the “governance” of the Internet.
• Julian Dibbell, A Rape In Cyberspace.