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Ethics and the Law on the Electronic Frontier
Art: Palmer, Edward, 1803-1872, Figures 113-123. Plate Electrical Machines, 1840 · Public domain
- Instructors
- Prof. Daniel Weitzner, Prof. Harold Abelson, Prof. Michael M.J. Fischer
- Term
- Fall 2005
- Level
- Undergraduate
- What's inside
- 1 lecture note · 1 reading · 78 other files · 34 web pages
- Materials open
- MIT OCW
About this course
Source: MIT OpenCourseWare 6.805 Ethics and the Law on the Electronic Frontier, Fall 2005, Prof. Daniel Weitzner, Prof. Harold Abelson, Prof. Michael M.J. Fischer — original course page on ocw.mit.edu ↗. License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Study order: MIT's own listing order, section by section. Taken from MIT's published course files, downloaded from ocw.mit.edu on September 23, 2026. How RedLectern is built.
Materials are grouped the way MIT organized them. A verified, course-wide order has not been established here.
Before you start
Prerequisites are not listed here. Check MIT's own syllabus for this course.
How this course was organized
What's here, and what isn't
- A lecture sequence of 12 items is confirmed. Assignment and exam materials exist too, but MIT's own order for them could not be verified, so they're shown as materials below rather than a sequence.
Not included here
107 items from the source could not be safely included:
- MIT's page format for this item wasn't recognized clearly enough to place it safely. (106 items)
- Referenced in a table, but without MIT's own verified order, so it isn't used to claim a sequence.
Materials by section
Grouped by section, as MIT organized them. Not sequenced or ordered.
Readings
40 items in this section
Computer Crime
- Appellate court ruling on Steve Jackson Games Suit, October 31, 1994 Download
- Here is an Amicus brief filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in the appeal of the Thomases’ conviction. Download
- Here is another Amicus brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. Download
- Here is the Appeals Court decision upholding the conviction. Download
- F. Lynn McNulty, Internet Security Download
Computer Communications and Freedom of Expression
- Here are some hypothetical discussion cases on university computing policy, created by Greg Jackson, formerly MIT’s Director of Academic Computing: Alpha Sigma Download
- Jane Thatcher Download
- Judy Hamilton Download
- Malekh Salimi Download
- Michael Zareny Download
- Typhoid Mary Download
Information and Intellectual Property
Encryption and National Security
Software and Copyright Law
7 files
- Appeals court decision of March 9, 1995, reversing the District Court’s 1992 ruling. Download
- Lotus’s petition to the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, June 7, 1995. Download
- Borland’s brief in opposition to petition for certiorari, July, 1995. Download
- Lotus’s reply in support of the petition. Download
- Amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court against the Lotus position, on behalf of a group of computer science professors. Download
- Amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court against the Lotus position, on behalf of the League for Programming Freedom. Download
- Amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court against the Lotus position, on behalf of a group of copyright law professors. Download
The Internet Censorship Saga: 1994-1997
7 files
- Excerpt from the Congressional Record of June 26, 1995. Download
- Here is the final version of the CDA Download
- Full text Download
- Government’s appeal, filed with the Supreme Court on January 21, 1997. Download
- Complete transcript of the oral arguments. Here is an excerpt Download
- November 8, 1997, Remarks of Sen. Coats in introducing his new legislation. Download
- Text of the bill as introduced. Download
1994: Clipper (The Escrowed Encryption Standard)
- Classified Presidential Directive of April 15, 1993, authorizing the Clipper initiative. Download
- Public announcement of the Clipper initiative, April 16, 1993. Download
- This file contains the OTA report summary for Information Security and Privacy in Network… (8pager.pdf) Download
- This file contains the summary for the OTA report (14rptbrf.pdf) Download
1995-97: From Clipper to Key Recovery
Sampling from the Crypto Debate -- 1997
- Freeh, Louis, FBI Director. “Statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee.” July 9, 1997. Download
- Gephardt, Richard, House Majority Leader. “Encryption is vital to the Net.” August 20, 1997. Download
- Lott, Trent, U.S. Senate Majority Leader. “Statement before the Senate on the encryption debate.” October 21, 1997. Download
Selected Items on Clipper -- 1994
Lecture Notes
11 files
- Lecture 2 · The Internet meets the U.S. Constitution · Lecture outlines Download
- Lecture 4 · Fourth Amendment Foundations and the First Century of Electronic Surveillance · Lecture outlines Download
- Lecture 5 · International Issues · Lecture outlines Download
- Technology-driven Public-private Boundary Shifts The Crypto Wars Download
- Lecture 6 · Technology-driven Public-private Boundary Shifts The Crypto Wars · Lecture outlines Download
- Lecture 7 · Profiling and Datamining Post-9/11 · Lecture outlines Download
- Lecture 8 · Anonymity vs. Transparency · Lecture outlines Download
- Lecture 9 · Personal Information on the Web · Lecture outlines Download
- Lecture 10 · Transparency in Consumer Protection and Commercial Regulation · Lecture outlines Download
- Lecture 11 · Origins of Broadcast Regulation · Lecture outlines Download
- Lecture 12 · Semantic Web Public Policy Challenges · Lecture outlines Download
Assignments
Assignment 1
Assignment 9
Assignment 10
Exams
Projects
17 files
- Guidelines and Expectations for Final Papers Download
- Facebook: Threats to Privacy Download
- The Freedom of Information Act: Holding Government Accountable Download
- Policy and Practice in Student Records Download
- MIT Privacy Protection of Job Applicant and Employee Information Download
- The MIT ID Card System: Analysis and Recommendations Download
- Updating Copyright Laws to Address Concerns of Google’s Cached Page Service Download
- Progress Against the Law: Fan Distribution, Copyright, and the Explosive Growth of Japanese Animation Download
- Analysis of Fair Use and Fan Culture on the Internet Download
- TCPA and Palladium: Are the Benefits of the Hardware Changes Enough to Justify an Upgrade? Download
- Roshan Baliga, Deb Dasgupta, Anna Dreyer, and Allan Friedman · Paper topics Download
- PARANOIA Security Standard for Wireless Networks Download
- A Proposal for a Ubiquitous Privacy Notice Standard Download
- The Personal Internetworked Notary and Guardian (PING): The Policy Implications of a Patient-Controlled Electronic Medical Record Download
- Carnival Booth: An Algorithm for Defeating the Computer-Assisted Passenger Screening System Download
- Digital Balance Download
- Analysis of Local Boston Television News Story Selection Bias, 1993-2002 Download
Other materials from this course
- l9_privacy.pdf Download
- leahyjuly21.pdf Download
- This resource includes information on personal data collection by google services, information… (google.pdf) Download
- This resource includes information on the law and technology of anonymity (sensors.pdf) Download
- This resource includes information on design solution, system evaluation, and its feasibility (netwatcher.pdf) Download
- This resource includes information on a policy analysis of the MBTA?s new automated fare collection… (mbtafinal_prvacy.pdf) Download
Course outline
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 2: The Internet meets the U.S. Constitution
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 3: The Legacy of Reno : The Strengths and Limits of Filtering and User Control
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 4: Fourth Amendment Foundations and the First Century of Electronic Surveillance
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 5: International Issues
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 6: Technology-driven Public-private Boundary Shifts The Crypto Wars
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 7: Profiling and Datamining Post-9/11
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 8: Anonymity vs. Transparency
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 9: Personal Information on the Web
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 10: Transparency in Consumer Protection and Commercial Regulation
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 11: Origins of Broadcast Regulation
Calendar · Lecture Notes
Lecture 12: Semantic Web Public Policy Challenges
MIT OpenCourseWare, Prof. Daniel Weitzner, Prof. Harold Abelson, Prof. Michael M.J. Fischer, 6.805 Ethics and the Law on the Electronic Frontier, Fall 2005.
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Edition: Fall 2005 · Open the original course on OCW ↗
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