May 7th, 2012 | by Kendra Albert | published in Future of the Internet | 1 Comment
Last week, a number of developers reported that Apple was rejecting iOS applications that used Dropbox, a popular cloud file storage and backup system. An initial thread on the Dropbox developers’ forum has led to a outpouring of tech news full of hyperbolic claims. However, none of this reporting has covered the real problem – [...]
May 2nd, 2012 | by jz | published in Future of the Internet | 1 Comment
We at the H2O project are seeking a full-time Project Manager. H2O is an online platform for textbook development and distribution, currently in a pilot stage. H2O is based on the open source model – instead of locking down materials in formalized textbooks, we believe that course books can be free (as in free speech) [...]
March 21st, 2012 | by jz | published in Future of the Internet | 14 Comments
I participated in the Berkman Center’s fascinating HyperPublic symposium in the summer of 2011. When moderating a panel I invoked the aphorism that “When something online is free, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.” It’s a way of encapsulating the idea that online free services usually make money by extracting lots of data from [...]
February 17th, 2012 | by jz | published in Future of the Internet | 4 Comments
This week, Apple announced that it was moving to a new, faster OS X operating system development cycle, starting with the release of Mountain Lion next summer. It previewed a number of features for the OS, and released some parts in beta. Mountain Lion is slated to include a feature called Gatekeeper as part of [...]
February 13th, 2012 | by jz | published in Future of the Internet | 3 Comments
A British insurance company called Motaquote has teamed up with TomTom, the GPS manufacturer to offer insurance prices based on data gathered by GPS. Fair Pay Insurance, Motaquote’s new program, is an opt-in insurance pricing scheme where drivers will get a free GPS unit in return for potentially lower (but possibly higher) premiums. The GPS [...]
January 27th, 2012 | by Kendra Albert | published in Future of the Internet | 8 Comments
This semester, we’re starting an exciting new class, aimed not at lawyers, but undergraduate CS students here at Harvard. It’s called CS42: Controlling Cyberspace – and we’re sharing the syllabus online. Anything big we’re missing?
January 27th, 2012 | by Kendra Albert | published in Future of the Internet | 1 Comment
Computers Gone Wild: Impact and Implications of Developments in Artificial Intelligence on Society was an informal discussion that took place at Harvard Law School on December 8th, 2011. Hosted by Jonathan Zittrain, Marin Soljačić and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, we brought together eighteen mostly local guests to discuss the ways that AI is changing [...]
December 14th, 2011 | by Kendra Albert | published in Future of the Internet | Comments Off
Here at Future of the Internet, we’ve already talked a little bit about Apple’s content requirements for both the iOS and Mac App Stores in JZ’s The PC is Dead post. As JZ said, “Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore found his iPhone app rejected because it contained “content that ridicules public figures.” Fiore was well-known enough [...]
December 7th, 2011 | by jz | published in Future of the Internet | 3 Comments
Last week several members of Congress — Senators Wyden, Cantwell, Moran, and Paul, and Reps. Issa, Lofgren and Chaffetz — floated a proposal to substitute for the contentious proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, previously discussed here. Sen. Wyden’s office has commented on the compromise, and TechDirt has a writeup and a copy of the document [...]
December 2nd, 2011 | by jz | published in Future of the Internet | 4 Comments
A Close Look at SOPA Jonathan Zittrain, Kendra Albert and Alicia Solow-Niederman This document is a guide to the Stop Online Piracy Act as proposed in the United States House of Representatives. Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), H.R. 3261, 112th Cong. (2011). It represents our notes as we sought to understand exactly what it does and [...]
Tweets from Z