1. 269111 – Communication Technology in a Changing World
Dr. Ken Cosh
Week 10

2. Recap… Last Week We talked about the future of ICT
Ubiquitous Computing
Technology blends into the environment
Technology is pervasive with touchpoints throughout
Augmented / Virtual Reality

3. This Week Originally the plan was: Politics But…
And how ICT is impacting on politics
But…
So instead, Regulation
Regulation in Cyberspace

4. But First Briefly, How has ICT affected Politics?
Electronic Voting Machines
Censorship
Connection between politicians and population
Tweeting
What else?

5. Regulation Lawrence Lessig
Professor of Law and Harvard Law School (previously at Stanford)
Author of
Free Culture
The Future of Ideas
Code and the other Laws of Cyberspace

6. The Laws of Cyberspace Lessig argues…
The world is regulated by four constraints
Law
Social Norm
Market
Architecture

7. Law Law regulates by sanctions ex-post
Don’t pay tax -> Go to jail
Steal my car -> Go to jail
But while Law is an obvious regulator, it is not the only regulator.
You don’t always go to jail for not paying taxes.

8. Social Norms Regulate behaviour by “what I ought to do”
I ought to wear a shirt (& tie), rather than a dress
You ought to sit and listen to me for a while

9. The Market
Markets through the mechanism of ‘price’ regulates opportunities
Price dictates what I can afford
The price also dictates what I can charge for various abilities
People would spend less on “The greatest hits of Dr. Ken” than they would on “Madonna’s greatest hits”

10. Architecture The architecture of the world regulates our abilities
We can’t see through walls
We can’t come to class if we are in a wheelchair
We can’t fly…

11. 4 Regulators
The ‘real world’ is regulated by a combination of these 4 regulators
As we consider regulating the cyberspace world, the same 4 regulators have an impact

12. Laws in Cyberspace Laws exist in cyberspace, and are punishable
Copyright law
Defamation law
Sexual harrassment law
Behaviour is constrained by law, just as in the real world.

13. Social Norms in Cyberspace
Social norms also constrain cyberspace
Forum rules
Banning / Kicking from chat rooms

14. Market in Cyberspace Prices in cyberspace also constrain that world.
We can access a wider market, but the price still constrains us.

15. Architecture in Cyberspace
It exists, but is different from the architecture of the real world
Hardware / Software
Protocols
Password to gain access
Encryption
Tracking transactions
We can’t choose whether to obey the architecture (just as in the real world)
Unless we are a hacker…

16. Regulating Cyberspace
Cyberspace then is regulated with the same 4 regulators
Law
Social Norm
Market
Architecture

17. Lets think about ‘Porn’
A lot of people have raised a lot of concerns about the amount of porn available on the web.
And how easy it is to access it
Moreover how easy it is for minors to access it
But there is plenty of porn in the ‘real world’ too
How is it regulated?

18. Real World Porn
Law: It is against the law for distributors to sell porn to minors.
Social Norm: Generally society looks down on distributing porn to minors.
Market: Porn is priced such that minors can’t really afford it.
All of these also apply to the cyberspace world.
So what about architecture?

19. Architecture In the real world. In Cyberspace Fake moustache? Stilts?
Deep voice?
In Cyberspace
Default anonymity

20. The Architecture
Because the architecture of cyberspace is different from the real world, regulation of cyberspace is different
But there is no one single architecture of the web
Organisations / Governments have choices about what architecture to use

21. Choice of Architecture
What happens when you try to surf the web at CMU?
How is it different from my old university?
If I encrypt a message, is it truly encrypted?
Or could the government read it anyway?
What happens if I go to a website considered ‘detrimental to society’ in Thailand?

22. Choice of Architecture
Can I host my porn site in the US?
Or my gambling site?
Can anyone see my drunken tagged photos on facebook?
Can I control who can see them?

23. Control vs Freedom Traditionally the web is considered a free space
But there is a choice of architectures allowing control over that space
Controlling Access
Controlling Use
Controlling Privacy

24. The Constitution
A nation’s constitution then often guides the architecture
Architecture of Control
Architecture of Freedom
Consider the architecture used in the US vs Burma vs China…

25. Encryption Software
We’ll come back to discuss encryption again later, but
The ability to (or not to) be completely anonymous in cyberspace is a big issue.
It affects the regulability of cyberspace
The ability for governments to regulate our activities online.
It also affects basic human rights
Freedom of Speech
Right to Privacy

26. Back to the “Real World”
We have passports
Travel is restricted based on passports
Movements are tracked by passports
Criminals are identified by passports
In some countries the burden of passports is greater than others
Government policies to stop peasants from flooding cities during famines

27. Cyberworld ID Consider having online passports Great! Awful!
Catch the criminals with minimal burden on the innocent
Awful!
Loss of freedom – complete government control
What do you think?