Future Of The Internet & How to Stop It –Harvard Law Pub

[johnkarls]

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Editorial Notes:

From the description of this book below and on linked web sites, it appears that (among other things) the government has mandated that GPS devices in cars have a built-in capability enabling the monitoring of all conversations occurring in all cars equipped with GPS devices!!!

Laudatory comments below come from (among others) the General Counsel of Microsoft and HLS Prof. Laurence Tribe (one of Barack Obama’s principal advisors and the attorney who argued Al Gore’s three 2000 Florida-election cases before the U.S. Supreme Court).

The author, Jonathan Zittrain, is the Jack N. & Lillian R. Berkman Visiting Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, where he co-founded its Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and the Chair in Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University.

Lillian Rothschild Berkman was my closest personal friend until her demise on 5/1/2001. In addition to serving for many years on the Harvard University Board of Overseers (and chairing the Harvard Law School Oversight Board), she served for several years as the Chairman of my “I Have A Dream” Foundation which provided tutoring/mentoring/college tuition for 200 housing-project kids and as a Director of IHAD-National when I served as its Treasurer.


---------------------------- E-Mail Message ----------------------------
Subject: Re: Book Talk - April 11 - Jonathan Zittrain
From: John Karls
Date: Mon, April 7, 2008 6:34 pm
To: rtabasky@cyber.law.harvard.edu
Cc: Hilary Karls
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Dear Becca,

Thank you very much for the invitation.

Unfortunately, I will not be in town on Friday.

However, I have purchased the book via Amazon.com and will recommend it to a book group that I lead.

Please convey my best wishes and congratulations to Prof. Zittrain.

John Karls


---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Book Talk - April 11 - Jonathan Zittrain
From: "HLS Berkman Center for Internet and Society"
<gulliksn@law.harvard.edu>
Date: Mon, April 7, 2008 12:21 pm
To: "Alumni and friends" <john@johnkarls.com>
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Reply to: rtabasky@cyber.law.harvard.edu

Dear friends and colleagues in New York,

The Berkman Center is sweeping through New York City! We'd love to see you on the 11th of April, when Professor Zittrain will be speak about his new book, The Future of the Internet and How To Stop It.

Please find the invitation below, and feel free to be in touch beforehand should you have any questions. If you plan on joining us, and we hope you do, RSVP to me at rtabasky@cyber.law.harvard.edu. It's certain to be a fun afternoon and evening, and we look forward to seeing you!

All best,
Becca

*****
You are Invited to Jonathan Zittrain's The Future of the Internet and How To Stop It Book Talk

Please join the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School; Jeffrey Cunard and Bruce Keller, partners at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; and Susan Crawford, Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School for a discussion featuring Professor Jonathan Zittrain previewing his forthcoming book, The Future of the Internet and How To Stop It.

Book Web site:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publicatio ... To_Stop_It.

Logistics: Friday, April 11 - 4:30-6:00 p.m. - with a reception to follow
Tribeca Grand Hotel
2 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10013

Please RSVP to Rebecca Tabasky at rtabasky@cyber.law.harvard.edu

*****
About the Book:

North Korean radios that are altered to receive only the official stations. Cars that listen in on their owners' conversations. Digital video recorders ordered to self-destruct in viewers' homes thanks to a lawsuit against the manufacturer thousands of miles away. Jonathan Zittrain's extraordinary book pieces together the engine that has catapulted the Internet ecosystem into the prominence it has today—and explains that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of consumers, the Internet is on a path to a lockdown, a closing off of opportunities and innovation. Zittrain explains that the Internet and much of what is built on top of it is "generative"-it welcomes change from anyone, anywhere. The benefits of generativity are innovative output (new things that improve people's lives), and participatory input (the opportunity to connect with other people, work with them, and express oneself). But security issues online, like viruses, spyware, and invasions of privacy, will see this generative infrastructure replaced by fashionable "tethered appliances," including iPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos. These devices are not generative -- they can't be modified easily by users, even as they are continuously regulated and controlled by their makers. Zittrain offers an accessible discussion of the looming problems of an "appliancized" future and provides a set of visionary solutions to help stop it.

*****
Praise for the Book"

"This book is fundamental. It will define the debate about the future of the Internet, long after we haven't stopped it. Absolutely required reading."
***
Lawrence Lessig, Professor, Stanford Law School, Author of Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace and The Future of Ideas

This remarkably researched and highly entertaining book is a must-read. Zittrain's analysis is first-class and should be widely heeded by leaders from all sectors of society.
***
Dr. Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum

Zittrain provides a compelling account of the changes that have shaped the Internet and where it is heading. His assessment of the future of communications, collaboration, and privacy provides important food for thought for everyone who will shape--or be shaped by--the future of this
technology.
***
Brad Smith, General Counsel, Microsoft Corp.

"The most compelling book ever written on why a transformative technology's trajectory threatens to stifle that technology's greatest promise for society. Zittrain offers convincing road maps for redeeming that promise."
***
Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law Harvard Law School

"A superb and alarming discussion, from one of the most astute and forward-looking analysts of the Internet. Zittrain explains how the glorious promise of the Internet might not be realized and points the way toward reducing the current risks. Absolutely essential reading."
***
Cass Sunstein, Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence, The University of Chicago Law School, and co-author of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

*****
About the Berkman Center:

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School is proud to celebrate its tenth year as a research program founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. Running through the 2007-2008 academic year, the celebration includes an event and distinguished speaker series; major releases of books by Berkman projects and people; a culminating conference--"The Future of the Internet"--on May 15-16, 2008; and a gala on May 16.